The Expanse

[Theblazeuk]

The books are dumb fun, in my opinion. Much prefer the TV show though

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

*I was once told by one of its enthusiastic supporters that "no one should be allowed to write science fiction if they can't use a slide rule."

This person believes you shouldn't write about futuristic technology unless you understand an obsolete and completely outdated piece of technology? Actual scientists don't use slide rules anymore. The only time I've ever seen a slide rule in real life was when my old professor showed one in a tutorial and remarked on how quaint it seemed.

I hope you rolled your eyes in an exaggerated fashion at this silly person.
And tutted.
Loudly.

[Jim_Campbell]

I hope you rolled your eyes in an exaggerated fashion at this silly person.

I was too busy consulting my log tables...

[Funt Solo]

I've been getting into series 3 - I was frustrated with the first season because it didn't quite match what my imagination could throw up when reading the books.  Still: really enjoying series 3.

The real-physics tech stuff in the books I love - so many sci-fi things have magic gravity on ships that it was refreshing to read about the problems reality would throw up in particular situations.

There's a brilliant set piece (which we're not up to yet in the series) where an unexpected sudden change in acceleration decimates anyone not strapped in.  I'm being coy to avoid spoilers.

[Tjm86]

I
The real-physics tech stuff in the books I love - so many sci-fi things have magic gravity on ships that it was refreshing to read about the problems reality would throw up in particular situations.

There's a brilliant set piece (which we're not up to yet in the series) where an unexpected sudden change in acceleration decimates anyone not strapped in.  I'm being coy to avoid spoilers.

I've not read the books yet.  (In two minds)  That said, the scientific 'accuracy' is a pleasant change.  So much of this is a nice change from the lazy plotting of so much sci-fi.

The third season continues to impress.  The mix of political manipulation, scientific speculation and raw humanity mix well.  Granted it helps that it has nothing against which to compare at present but of all the thin gruel available at present it is the most satisfying.

[Rusty]

There's a brilliant set piece (which we're not up to yet in the series) where an unexpected sudden change in acceleration decimates anyone not strapped in.  I'm being coy to avoid spoilers.

There's two examples of this on the show I can recall in series 3. One was when someone was strapped in, and the other was an entire episode dedicated to the effects of such an event set on a larger scale, but with less speed and rapid deceleration involved. What I particularly loved about the attention to detail about that, is that it depicts how dangerous any kind of injury in zero gravity conditions would have, even if it would be relatively minor with 1G.

It's also got one of a few (possibly only?) true depictions of what a spontaneous fire outbreak would do and look like in zero gravity, even if it's the wrong colour.

[wedgeski]

There was also a moment I particularly liked in S3: [spoiler]a character's dying tears stuck by surface tension to her eyes.[/spoiler] Awesome.

[shaolin_monkey]

There was also a moment I particularly liked in S3: [spoiler]a character's dying tears stuck by surface tension to her eyes.[/spoiler] Awesome.

YES!! Noticed that also - genius!

There are occasional doubtful bits though. [spoiler]Everyone on the Mormon ship wearing magnetic shoes (before they got it spinning) so they don't float around in zero g, yet apparently alcoholic beverages can be poured from bottles into wine glasses no problem at all. [/spoiler] That confused the hell out of me.

[wedgeski]

That confused the hell out of me.

I mean, we could criticise how no-one's hair behaves like it should (except for stand-out moments like Julie Mau in the pilot), or their clothes. At some point we have to accept that they're doing the absolute best they can within a realistic budget.

[Keef Monkey]

I also had that 'why is their hair not floating?' moment, before reminding myself that for sci-fi on a telly budget they're actually addressing way more little details than most shows would bother with! I didn't even register the pouring drinks thing, I think it works in the show's favour that because everyone is walking around in magnetic shoes I almost forget there's no gravity for long stretches. I also thought the [spoiler]tears moment was really cool, such a small detail and was really neat that they did it.[/spoiler]

Another detail I liked was that they'd thought about how someone's dialect and accent adjusts to who they're around, it's most obvious with [spoiler]Naomi because she flits between the Rocinante and the belter community, and it's really cool how she slips in and out of belter lingo as she goes back and forth. Everyone does that when they visit home, but not sure I've noticed that detail in a show before.[/spoiler]

Have finished season 3 now and about halfway through it I turned to my wife and declared it my favourite show I've ever watched, and she agreed. Battlestar has been the king for a long time for me (so much so that it felt a bit like a betrayal to say it!) but it really has engaged me that much. Time will tell if it will stand up to that claim, or if I was just caught up in the moment, but right now I'm really excited about rewatching it all before season 4 appears later in the year, and I very rarely do that with TV shows.

I find one of the biggest strengths of it, particularly in season 3, is [spoiler]how with many of the conflicts it's not 'goodies vs villains', because there are a bunch of characters you've invested in and grown to love on all sides of the conflict and they're all just trying their best to carry out what their interpretation of the correct solution is. There are so many times that in the pursuit of that a character does something pretty awful, but it doesn't ever feel like a heel turn, you just feel for them and know they've been pushed into a position where that felt the only action. And man, Amos is just the best TV character in years. He is THE BEST, and he's so stoic and closed off that when he does his loyal friend thing it grabs me by the heart and squeezes all the feels out. I like all the characters that I'm genuinely tense as hell for a lot of it because there aren't any characters I wouldn't find gut-wrenching to lose![/spoiler]

In short, I love it, fantastic.

[Theblazeuk]

Amos is one of the reasons why I prefer the TV show to the book. Also, I don't have to stay inside James Holden's head for too long, and I also think the TV show interweaves the plotlines and characters more satisfyingly than the more episodic books (easier to work from a complete picture I imagine).

[Mardroid]

I love really Belter dialect. Sort of a mish-mash of west-indian, working class London* and something else. Well to my ears. The London is mild, more the lasy pronunciation of the le-uh tee. (See what I did there. Not that we all do it and not all the time, but I remember my mum reprimanding me as a kid "IT'S WAW-TER, NOT WAW-UH'. To this day I'm loathe to do that any any more, although it might creep in on occasion.) It's massively exaggerated in Belter, obviously.

Anyway, [spoiler]las' episode me watch was when dat bel'uh racing doof' goh 'im noggin spla'ered a' l gee.
[/spoiler]
*Granted there's more than one accent there, but I'm not cockney and I've encountered it. Sometimes out my own cake-ole.

[Keef Monkey]

I love really Belter dialect. Sort of a mish-mash of west-indian, working class London* and something else. Well to my ears. The London is mild, more the lasy pronunciation of the le-uh tee. (See what I did there. Not that we all do it and not all the time, but I remember my mum reprimanding me as a kid "IT'S WAW-TER, NOT WAW-UH'. To this day I'm loathe to do that any any more, although it might creep in on occasion.) It's massively exaggerated in Belter, obviously.

Anyway, [spoiler]las' episode me watch was when dat bel'uh racing doof' goh 'im noggin spla'ered a' l gee.
[/spoiler]
*Granted there's more than one accent there, but I'm not cockney and I've encountered it. Sometimes out my own cake-ole.

I do love the way the Belters talk, and wonder how much actors enjoy being allowed to go pretty hog-wild with an accent that doesn't really exist in the real world, seems it would be a fun challenge. I liked that it extended to their computer displays and readouts too, [spoiler]I forget which other spots I noticed that in but the computer monitors had something like 'ShowxaTings' on them[/spoiler] which was a nice bit of detail.

[Rusty]

The Belter accent sounds like Bob in this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TutMf0xPczI

2:08

[Tiplodocus]

I'm up to episode 4 of season 2 and have to agree,  this is really good stuff!