Space is notoriously hostile to human life, and keeping us ugly bags of mostly water alive requires carefully balanced environmental systems. The Expanse’s resource conflict applies just as well to smaller-scale conflicts. That’s the kind of conflict to light a fire under any protagonist and motivate them to have an exciting space adventure. Grain shipments might not sound exciting on their own, but if trade is cut off to Ceres, thousands of people will starve. This web of interplanetary trade creates many excellent opportunities for conflict, something worldbuilders should always be on the lookout for. This explanation is super intuitive, since it seems unlikely humans would colonize the solar system just for fun there must be something out there we want. It’s more complicated than that, of course, with plenty of trade between various colonies as well as between Earth and Mars, but that’s the gist. ![]() Hundreds of colonies on asteroids and moons harvest raw materials and ship them to the inner planets, who send back critical products like food, medicine, and spaceships. The Expanse’s solar community is built on the back of resources, both in terms of trade and extraction. It’s not unheard of, but it’s rare enough to seem new and exciting. There’s also just some extra novelty to be had in a space-opera setting that doesn’t include FTL drives. Using a funny story as a vehicle to get the information across means readers won’t be bored as they read it. And since these engines use a form of fusion that doesn’t exist in the real world, it’s important that they’re established as early as possible. Since Epstein Drives will literally propel much of the upcoming story, it’s important for readers to understand how they work. * This is also a signal to tech nerds that space travel is relatively cheap in The Expanse, which is important for a setting that depends on interplanetary trade. This allows ships to constantly accelerate as they travel, providing a type of artificial gravity. While you’re chuckling at the mishaps of technological progress, you’re also learning that ships in this setting use a type of high-efficiency fusion for both power and propulsion, giving them a long-lasting fuel supply. The Expanse pulls this off with a humorous anecdote about how the Epstein * Drive was invented. Since getting around is such a major part of the story, it’s important to establish how that works. The Expanse doesn’t have FTL technology, but it is a story where the characters zip back and forth between planets, moons, and asteroids. To see what really makes The Expanse tick, we need to dive deeper. That’s still pretty far in the future but doesn’t require anything so physics-destroying as an FTL drive. Most space opera requires incredibly advanced technology to navigate an interstellar setting, but The Expanse instead focuses on what’s going on in the distant orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Broadly, Corey does this by confining his story entirely to Earth’s solar system, at least at first. In fact, he’s effectively captured the epic feeling of space opera while keeping a strong semblance of realism. Corey * clearly put in a lot of effort laying the groundwork for his space adventure. There’s no doubt about it: The Expanse gets a lot right. ![]() At eight books and counting, plus a TV show adaptation, The Expanse is undoubtedly a financial success, but what about its worldbuilding? Is this a setting firing on full burn, or is it slowly leaking oxygen and credibility through cracks in the hull? Let’s find out! It’s got battles and fusion reactors and politics, oh my. ![]() ![]() This is especially true in books like The Expanse, a series that is sort of space opera but also sort of hard scifi. In addition to dealing with advanced technology, scifi writers have to consider the nearly infinite number of ways that human culture might change as it races into the future. Most of us are familiar with the enormous complexity of fantasy worldbuilding, but there’s another beast that’s just as difficult: science fiction worldbuilding.
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