The Expanse (novel series)


The Expanse is a series of science fiction novels, and related novellas and short stories by James S. A. Corey, the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The first novel, Leviathan Wakes, was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2012. The complete series was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2017. It later won, following its second nomination for the same award in 2020.
The book series is made up of nine novels and nine novellas compiled in Memory's Legion. The series was adapted for television for Syfy, also under the title of The Expanse. When Syfy canceled the TV series after three seasons, Amazon Prime Video acquired it and produced three more seasons.

Series overview

Novels

Short stories and novellas

No.TitleSettingPagesAudioPublication dateISBN
0.1"Drive"Before Leviathan Wakes2557m
0.3The ChurnBefore Leviathan Wakes752h 18m
0.5The Butcher of Anderson StationBefore Leviathan Wakes401h 1m
1.5"The Last Flight of the Cassandra"During Leviathan Wakes5
2.5Gods of RiskBetween Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate752h 20m
3.5The Vital AbyssFrom before Leviathan Wakes to Cibola Burn742h 26m
6.5Strange DogsBetween Babylon's Ashes and Persepolis Rising642h 29m
7.5AuberonBetween Persepolis Rising and Tiamat’s Wrath632h 25m
9.5The Sins of Our FathersAfter Leviathan Falls642h 23m
Memory's Legion: The Complete Expanse Story CollectionBefore Leviathan Wakes to after Leviathan Falls43216h 22m

Audiobooks

All novels and short works except the RPG exclusive short story have been released as audiobooks, with Jefferson Mays as the narrator for the novels and short works that include Drive, The Butcher of Anderson Station, The Vital Abyss, Strange Dogs, Auberon, and The Sins of Our Fathers. Erik Davies was originally the narrator for the novellas The Churn and Gods of Risk; but both have been re-released with Jefferson Mays narrating them as of December 28, 2021. While most of Memory's Legion is narrated by Jefferson Mays, the author's note portions are narrated by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.

Setting

The Expanse is set in a future in which, after the creation of the Epstein Drive, a fusion engine capable of producing continuous acceleration, humanity has colonized much of the Solar System. The series initially takes place in the Solar System, using many real locations such as Ceres and Eros in the asteroid belt, the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and small science bases as far out as Titania around Uranus, as well as well-established domed and underground settlements on Mars and the Moon, referred to as Luna.
At the series beginning, the governments of Earth and Mars control the solar system in an uneasy military alliance, although substantial tensions exist between the two superpowers. Residents of the outer planets, living in stations built in the asteroid belt and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, are referred to as "Belters". Due to the lack of gravity, they develop thin, elongated bodies, and have developed a creole language due to their physical isolation from Earth and Mars, with heavy influences from German and Chinese. Belters perform much of the gritty labor work to mine resources for the inner planets, which in turn control access to most necessary biological resources. As a result, substantial tensions exist between the Belt and the governments of Earth and Mars, proliferating itself through the existence of the Outer Planets Alliance, a fractured government and militant group that fights for Belter independence.
As the series progresses, humanity gains access to thousands of new worlds by use of the rings, an artificially sustained wormhole network, created by a long-dead alien civilization. The ring in the Sol system is a thousand-mile diameter structure located two AU outside the orbit of Uranus. Passing through it leads to a hub of starless space approximately one million kilometers across, with more than 1,300 other rings, each with a star system on the other side. In the center of this hub, which is also referred to as the "slow zone" after the third novel, a highly defended alien space station controls the gates and can also set instantaneous speed limits on objects inside the hub as a means of defense.

Characters

The story is told through the points-of-view of many main characters. There are two POV characters in the first book and four in books two through five. In the sixth and seventh books, the number of POV characters increases, with several characters having only one or two chapters. The eighth book returned to a more limited number with five. In the final ninth book, there is an increase in POVs with some chapters having multiple POV characters. Every book also begins and ends with a prologue and epilogue told from a unique character's perspective, who will occasionally interject in the main body of the novel.

Crew of the ''Rocinante''

The central characters of The Expanse are the crew of the Rocinante, a salvaged Martian naval gunship.
The main crew, present in all nine books, consists of:
  • James "Jim" R. Holden, the captain of the Rocinante, former UN Navy officer; from Earth.
  • Naomi Nagata, chief engineer and executive officer; a Belter.
  • Amos Burton, mechanic and general muscle; an Earther with a mysterious past.
  • Alex Kamal, pilot of the Rocinante, former Mars Congressional Republic Navy pilot; a Martian.
Throughout the progression of the series, several additional members join the crew for various lengths of time:
  • Roberta "Bobbie" W. Draper, Martian gunnery sergeant in the MCRN, of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, later UN diplomat. Part of the crew of the Rocinante from Book 6 to Book 8.
  • Clarissa "Claire" Melpomene Mao, a daughter of Jules-Pierre Mao, magnate of Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile from Luna; she uses the alias Melba Koh while working as a licensed electrochemical technician. After forming a bond with her, Amos gives her the nickname Peaches. Part of the crew of the Rocinante from Book 6 to Book 7.
  • Teresa Duarte, the daughter and heir of the High Consul of Laconia. Given the nickname Tiny by Amos Burton. Part of the crew of the Rocinante from Book 8 to Book 9.

    The Outer Planets

  • Josephus "Joe" Aloisus Miller, a Belter who worked as a detective for the Ceres station security firm, Star Helix Security. Frequently referred to as Detective Miller.
  • Juliette "Julie" Andromeda Mao, the oldest child of Earther plutocrat Jules-Pierre Mao, former pinnace racer and Outer Planets Alliance convert.
  • Frederick "Fred" Lucius Johnson, a former UN marine reviled as the "Butcher of Anderson Station," and now serves as the leader of the Outer Planets Alliance, a loose network which represents the Belters.
  • Dr. Praxidike "Prax" Meng, the chief botanist of the RMD-Southern soy farm project on Ganymede and father of Mei Meng.
  • Mei Meng, daughter of Prax.
  • Carlos "Bull" de Baca, a member of the OPA serving as chief security officer aboard the Behemoth.
  • Michio Pa, executive officer of the OPA ship Behemoth, later captain of the Free Navy ship Connaught.
  • Basia "Baz" Merton, a welder from Ganymede, later citizen of Ilus.
  • Manéo "Néo" Jung-Espinoza, a young Belter from Ceres
  • Marco Inaros, a commander of Free Navy, a radical OPA branch.
  • Filip Inaros, a teenage member of the OPA, and later Free Navy, and son of Marco Inaros and Naomi Nagata.
  • Camina Drummer, chief of security at Tycho Station, later president of the Transport Union
  • Jakulski, Roberts, Salis & Vandercaust, four techs, working for the Free Navy on Medina Station.

    Mars

  • Fayez Okoye-Sarkis, A geologist from Mars who worked on new colony worlds and later married Elvi Okoye.
  • Emil Sauveterre, the captain of the MCRN Barkeith.
  • Solomon Epstein, inventor of the "Epstein-Fusion Drive". He died testing his machine when he went into deep space with no way to get back.
  • Kit Kamal, Son of Alex Kamal from his second marriage. He leaves Mars with his wife and son to the Nieuwestad system.

    Earth

  • Dmitri Havelock, a security contractor from Earth and former partner of Detective Miller.
  • Chrisjen Avasarala, the UN Assistant Undersecretary of Executive Administration, later UN Secretary General. Most powerful official in the UN for most of her career.
  • Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist from Earth, now a leading figure among citizens of the new colonies.
  • Rev. Dr. Annushka "Anna" Volovodov, a Methodist pastor at St. John's United on Europa and Earth.
  • Namono "Nono" Volovodov, wife of Anna, with whom she has a daughter, "Nami".

    Laconia

  • Winston Duarte, High Consul of the Laconian Empire, a defector from the Martian navy.
  • Paolo Cortázar, a former member of Protogen's nanoinformatics research division, he is now the lead researcher on Laconia.
  • Santiago Jilie Singh, a captain in the Laconian Imperial Navy and commander of the Gathering Storm.
  • Anton Trejo, High Admiral of the Laconian Imperial Navy and captain of the Heart of the Tempest.
  • Aliana Tanaka, a Colonel in the Laconian Imperial Navy and a former officer in the MCRN until defecting.
  • Cara Bisset, a ten-year-old child who, with her parents, settled on Laconia. Cara died and was resurrected by the planet's repair drones.