EXPANSE not a Sci-Fi show

[seth]

I got a recommendation to watch "the best science fiction series,' The Expanse.

So I jumped into S1. It's well acted, richly designed and with convincing flashing lights, space & spaceship exteriors, and other cool CGI stuff.

BUT, it is not a science-fiction series. It is a political, territorial, resource-conflict thriller that could have played out between any countries on Earth...that just so happens to be set in space.

When did it become the norm to refer to something as true sci-fi, just because it has spaceships traveling between various planets, when the entire plot is not about science, futuristic technology and interaction with advanced alien lifeforms - like the best Heinlein or Varley - but simply a resource war that has very little to do with futuristic science and everything to do with human greed and political gamesmanship, that could have been one of our World Wars or America's Civil War, right here in the 19th, 20th or 21st century?

So, I'll continue to watch it, cause it's entertaining and politically intriguing like, say, "The Diplomat." But if I recommend it to friends, I will not say it's science-fiction. I'll just say it's a gripping turf-war for essential resources like water and sovereignty...with the turf in question just so happening to be Earth, Mars and the asteroid belt.

[MissLucas]

On 3/22/2025 at 2:28 AM, seth said:

BUT, it is not a science-fiction series. It is a political, territorial, resource-conflict thriller that could have played out between any countries on Earth...

No, it could not. Keep watching.