Anyone liking "The Expanse"

[Richard D]

On the Syfy network.
Seems like pretty good hard Sci-fi so far.

[SheilaT]

1. It looks as if I can actually watch it over the interwebs.

The SyFy network is streaming the first six episodes so far. Nice.

Not sure if I'll get around to it. So much to watch, so little time. Sigh. I've met Daniel Abraham, one half of S.A. Corey (the other half is Ty Franck) the writer of the books the series is based on. He's smart and funny.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. It's watchable

Tries a bit too hard to catch the Battlestar Galactica fans (the CGI and music are a direct imitation), but that's not a big problem. It's not great, but it's okay.

My biggest problem with it is the failure of imagination. It's set centuries in the future, but clothing and hair styles are those of today. The young men have stubble, and women wear high heels. Characters carry cell phones that are only a bit in advance of today's. Where are the robots and pervasive computer technology?

[SheilaT]

3. Interesting.

Since I haven't seen it, I wouldn't have known those things.

But it's often a problem in s-f, both on the screen and in print. As much as I love the Jack McDevitt books, it's quite true, as my son once pointed out, that it's all 20th/21st century people in them.

I often don't want to read books set in the distant future, because of that problem. Something that was truly far in the future would probably depict a world incomprehensible to most of us.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. It's a problem, all right

So we all make allowances and suspend our disbelief. But I wish the makers of this show had tried a bit harder with some of the details.

[SheilaT]

5. I have just started reading

Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein. Takes place in 2066. An alien spacecraft has gone into orbit around Saturn. This has some nice extrapolation of technology. Some people have implants that allow them to turn off the computer without touching it, and cars follow address sensors implanted in streets, and can be totally self-driven. Stuff like that.

I don't expect to make it all the way to 2066, and who knows exactly how the technology will progress, but it feels logical and right.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. That sounds good

I do hope to make it to 2066. I'll only be 123 -- a kid, by the standards of tomorrow, I hope.

[SheilaT]

7. Hah! I'll only be 118, so there!

Actually, only 117 at the start of the year.

However, I do have plans for my 97th birthday. There's a total solar eclipse I want to see.

And I've told my sons they need to plan to be in DC for the Tricentennial (one will be a mere 93, the other only 89 and they come from people who live well into their 90s) and tell every single person they see that day, "Our parents were here 100 years ago today."

I've actually decided to be on the Mall on July 4, 2026 and tell everyone I was there 50 years earlier. I've told my sons they need to be there also.

[bluedigger]

8. I thought it was quite good.

It's nice to have a show back in space on the syfy network. Zombies will probably show up for season 2.

[getting old in mke]

12. Yeah

From what I've read on-line, Season 1 covers mostly just the first two thirds of Book 1.

I'm only in the third book--I wanted to finish the first five before watching to be safe (not sure when Season 5 rolls out).

[Quemado]

9. Clearly the best science fiction TV show since the Battlestar Galactica reboot

I hope this show lasts at least seven more seasons.

[Richard D]

11. I so agree

Though I was sorely disappointed on how BG ended.

[HeartlandProgressive]

10. I wish they put up subtitles for the Belter language!

And I want one of the phones from that show.