So, there's a new series around and apparently it's based off a big series of SciFi books by the same name made by two authors working under a pseudonym. Anyway I don't know anything about the books, though that is part of the reason for making this thread (those who know of it, share your thoughts), but the show seems interesting enough so I thought we'd discuss it here.

(the show is not out on TV yet, it starts next Monday, but apparently it is available via streaming, I just pirated it so there's always that option)

It's quite a hard (believable) piece of science fiction, set 300 or so years from now, there is no FTL or any jawdropping tech that I could see. Humans have spread out across the Solar system to the Moon, Mars and the Asteroid Belt. The basic premise (from what I could gather) is that Mars is the rising power militarily, Earth (+ the Moon) are the 300 pound gorilla and the people of the Asteroid Belt (Belters) are the trodden upon undedog. Things are very tense in the Solar system and an event occurs which may well start to unravel the whole shebang.

I like the relatively low tech nature of the setting (having no FTL and so being set entirely in the Solar system is very interesting), people also suffer from their stay in unearthly environments, the Belters who primarily live on Ceres are very thin and tall due to low gravity, they appear quite misshapen and there are classist differentiations made visible by the consequences of being able to afford better or worse medication for your kid to combat the consequences of low gravity. The setting seems quite cynical and that works since it focuses more on low level players so far.
Of those my favorite was a common detective working on Ceres, somewhat bent, somewhat trying to do the right thing in a bent world he really feels real.

What I didn't like is that the portrayal of low gravity conditions was inconsistent, but I can forgive that due to budget constraints. They do show it well now and again and I can let the rest slide. I am also not sold on the most overt cause of the Belters' discontent. Apparently the ice which covered Ceres has been stripped and sold to Earth and Mars. I can get that Mars may need water (especially if any form of Teraforming is being attempted) but I think it is ridiculous to say Earth needs it. Anyway not a big deal.

Overall I quite enjoyed the show and I am looking forward to more, anyone else?

I haven't seen this, but I'm actually sort of curious about it. I'll see if there's a place where I can find it online, since I don't have a television at the moment.

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Holy crap, so besides the two episodes out so far they have released two more (for hype building purposes I imagine). And man am I hyped.

I just loved these four episodes, I can't wait to find out more of what's happening.

I wonder where these unknown fighters get their advanced tech from. The intrigue is vast and seems to tie in everything together, the powers that be on Earth and Mars, the detective from Ceres and the remaining crew of the Canterbury. Also I like the Mars guy, I hope he doesn't die.

Awesome show so far, and it promises to continue being good and interesting. I suggest it to everyone.

This sounds incredibly good, just like what I need right now, good new sci-fi. Gonna check it out.

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El. Psy. Congroo.

Seems I missed that you made a thread about this.

Well, my thread can die if some mods can bother, here's my post:

I must say, this is probably the best sci-fi I've ever seen outside of the cinemas. I t's a real treat for the sci-fi and space nutters out there as it's set in the 2200 where humanity has colonies on Mars and the Belt. All humans and no aliens. The Belters though could almost be called alien as after generations growing up in such a low gravity environment their bones have deteriorated quite abnormally.

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Watched first two - i'm hooked! Finally some decent sci-fi again!

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El. Psy. Congroo.

It's a great show, very unpredictable in a lot of ways, has some great casting in it. I'm generally a fan of not giving your lead the stereotypical "Hero six pack", but its SyFy so you can't blame them there. The scope of this show might explain why Tyreese got an out of nowhere dedicated death episode in the Walking Dead a while ago though as the actor is in here.

There are some pretty terrifying situations in the show though. The world itself is incredibly dense, the factions are super interesting especially Mars. There is some dialogue in there that will really make you speechless for a few minutes.

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I quite liked how they handled artificial gravity, by having the ships constantly accelerate by 1g, this is hard but possible with powerful engines. My friend speculates they use fusion + ion drive but I am not sure yet. The battle in ep.4 was amazing and felt really real. But while the action is nice I am really enjoying the political intrigue and the interaction between the characters (that Earth official-woman (still not caught up with names) is perhaps the most interesting now).

My gripe remains the water issue. I think even if Ceres was stipped of ice there'd be lots of ice on other Belt asteroids. More than enough for the Belt AND Mars. But it's not a big issue and the writers may surprise me with a plausible explanation yet.

Heh, figures you'd like Mars, it's basically the US in space. Though to the creators' credit they included some of its faults in addition to the ideal.

#MarsistheBest

Overall I get the world building feel which I often get from sci-fi anime. The expanding humanity in the solar system, workers against owners, the poor striving for better situations. Fight for resources and real politik. Mixed with intense space battles, contraband forces working in the shadows and super powers on the verge of war.

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Episode 5 is out now, just info for those who watched 3&4 early like I did that there is something new to watch.

Anyway the story remains to be great, I love the gritty feel of it and the awesome worldbuilding, pretty much what Yaska said.

I just hope SyFy doesn't cancel it randomly, I've noticed they tend to do that a lot.

From what we've seen of Mars so far, I think you've made some grave errors in your choice of comparison.

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Oh really? And what would you compare them to?

Staunch republicans (in the original sense), with marines, and fervent believers of individualism who slam Earth socialism. Honestly I'm half surprised no one said Manifest Terraform


PS. I forgot to mention that it kinda sucks that the Martian dude died, I was quite hoping he'd survive the Donager screw-up. Well, RIP, you were interesting.

It's back btw, 3 episodes out so far. Still loving it.

Chrisjen is awesome, so is all the intrigue around Eros (this includes the Cant crew, Johnson and Miller), can't wait to learn more about the protomolecule and I bet we'll be going back to Eros soon. The Martians are annoying me, except their leader (the bald guy) but I can see where they are coming from so they don't break my immersion. Shit, I wish it was all out so I could binge watch it :-P

So what are the odds this show does well enough that the entire series (or a larger portion of the series) of books gets made?

I've seen people call it the Game of Thrones of Sci-fi, which I'm pretty sure is a compliment.

I personally like it more than GoT, but I'm a big Sci Fi guy.

My guess? Decent.

The show is popular, there is lots of readily available material so writing it won't be a problem. Otoh it is an expensive show, I am guessing because of all the SFX, and SyFy has a bad reputation for canceling shows very often. Because of that people are now more leery of SyFy shows and so SyFy has worse rating and cuts them even more, again my guess there.
So in total its chances are decent but they can be improved if even more people were to watch it, so if you like it spread the good word.

The casting for Miller and Chrisjen are on point.

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Right season 3 has rolled around. No "wow" moments so far, well maybe the nuke that hit Brazil if that causes the war to escalate but probably not.

It is interesting though that for the first time the main cast of the series is one place, I am sure the Io expedition will be interesting and we already see flavors of that through the chat Chrisjen and Naomi had.