Binged all 5 seasons of The Expanse in 12 days, feel kinda lost now

I got a stomach bug last Tuesday and figured I'd put on episode 1 just to kill time. Next thing I know it's Sunday night and I've plowed through the whole series. My wife asked what I wanted for dinner and I just stared at her. I don't even know what shows are real anymore. Has anyone else had that weird empty feeling after finishing a long series?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulschmidt1mo ago

Check out @jamie_smith's book suggestion, I heard they explain the protomolecule way better than the show.

david_rivera41mo ago

Got the book suggestion from Jamie and it really helped me too. I was stuck after finishing The Expanse and just started reading the books from the beginning, which was like getting a whole new series. What worked for me was picking up Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space around the same time, it has that same mix of slow dread and big science fiction ideas without being too heavy. I also switched to some shorter novels for a break, like Michael Crichton's Sphere, because it has that trapped in the dark feeling with a weird alien thing. Taking a week off from space stuff entirely after that let me reset, then I came back to The Terror like Jamie said and it clicked perfectly. The emptiness is real but just find something with the same vibe, not the same plot, and you will be fine.

jamie_smith1mo ago

The Expanse hit different for me too. What helped was jumping into the books, seriously the written versions go way further into the story and actually have a satisfying ending. I also started The Terror right after because it has that same slow burn space horror vibe, kept the momentum going. Let yourself sit with the emptiness for a day or two, then find something with a similar slow dread and political grit. Protogen really set the bar too high for other sci-fi, man.