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The Expanse

Nine novels, eight shorter pieces that slot between them, and a television series that adapts the first six books out of order.

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Where to start with The Expanse

The show is the easier way in and covers the first six of the nine novels; the books are the only way to reach the end. The path below starts on screen, because the first two seasons are the cheapest test of whether this is for you, and then hands over to the page at the exact point the adaptation stops.

  1. 1
    Season 1 The Expanse

    Ten episodes of three separate stories that take most of the season to converge. Slow to start and worth the patience; the detective plot is the hook.

  2. 2
    Season 2 The Expanse

    Thirteen episodes that finish the first novel and start the second. This is where the show settles and where most people decide they are staying.

  3. 3
    Season 4 The Expanse

    The move to Amazon after Syfy cancelled it, and a self-contained planet story adapting Cibola Burn. Shorter episodes counts from here, same cast and crew.

  4. 4
    Season 6 The Expanse

    Six episodes rather than ten, ending the story the show has been telling since season one. It is a real ending, and also not the end of the books.

  5. 5
    Persepolis Rising (2017) Persepolis Rising

    Book seven, and the first one the show never reached. It jumps roughly thirty years and starts a new conflict, so it is a clean place to switch from watching to reading.

Then what? Then Tiamat's Wrath and Leviathan Falls, which finish the series. If you would rather read the whole thing, start at Leviathan Wakes and go straight through the nine novels; the eight novellas are all optional and none of them is required to follow the plot, so slot them in at the positions shown in story order or leave them to a second pass. The Churn is the one worth reading in the intended place rather than at the end, because of what it does to Amos.

A suggested way in, not an official one. The full list is below — tick anything off in either place.

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