Now that "The Expanse" has wrapped....

Anyone have any other SF series they'd nominate for a replacement?  I'd suggest "The Myriad" series by R.M. Meluch.  Space opera of the first order, but fun to read.

Battlestar Galactica (reboot) is a little on the lighter side but lots of fun.
After that, maybe Caprica.  It's a prequel to BG.
Firefly is a total hoot, but sadly very short.  At least you have the Serenity movie to round it out.
Westworld if you want robot boobs (roboobs?)
Travelers is a network-ish type thing but pretty neat.  It's like Blacklist with time travel
Orphan Black is also on the lighter side but worth it for Tatiana Maslany's brilliant talent.  Seriously.
Sense 8 is a great series with a ton of character development with some average joes who realize they share thoughts with just each other.
Dark Matter was a total ride, but it was canceled at the WORST time.
^ same goes for The Colony
Another Life really hit the mark for me, but they finished Season 1 pre-pandemic and then cranked out a crappy season 2 to appease fans.  Arrival meets Interstellar
Ascension is less sci fi and more the suggestion of sci fi, but I don't want to give spoilers.
Man in the High Castle.  Great story against the backdrop of alternate dimensions/what-ifs
Altered Carbon.  Sadly needed one more season.
Electric Dreams, Black Mirror, and Love Death & Robots are all in the "I need something short but mind-blowing" category.
Lost in Space seems to be loved by everyone but me, but give it a taste
Manifest is a lot like Lost.  It was a good show ruined by mediocre acting and network script writers
The 4400 is one I started and not sure if I'll stick with it.  It's like Manifest and Lost had a Netflix baby.
Umbrella Academy (obvi)
Russian Doll is pretty amazing when you get down to the symbolism and subtle paradoxes.  Can't wait for the next season.  It's Groundhog Day meets Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Dollhouse is a super-cheesy show about cute girls who get their memories wiped after being programmed to do something nefarious. Awful, but addictive.
 

Since you enjoyed The Expanse, I tried to lean toward SciFi that favored the story/characters instead of the space-y part.  Like Travelers; a great kinda cop/action series that happens to include time travel, unlike Star Trek that is all about redirecting tachion pulses through the main deflector dish to simulate a warp field (or other ridiculousness).  Stuff with meat, not just fluff.

Novels or TV?

Beer Baron said:

Novels or TV?

Looking for ideas on novels to be put on TV or film (or read)...

I don't have a ton of shows to recommend, I love Star Trek TNG and really highly recommend the animated Lower Decks series if that's at all your jam. Seriously funny and great.

For space novels I've really enjoyed these lately

• Gideon the Ninth - Space/Necromancy angsty fighting
• In the Quick - space exploration, realistic as in space is trying to kill you
• The Sparrow - An alien voice calls from the stars. The Jesuits send a team to investigate. Does it go well?
• Saga- a comic book/ graphic novel space opera. It's quite graphic. They'll make it a series some day and it will be bad.
• Descender - another space comic that's really good, by the writer of Sweet Tooth
• Project Hail Mary - By the writer of the Martian. I liked this one a lot.
• The Dispossessed/The Left Hand of Darkness - two classics, so good.
• The long way to a small, angry planet- A fun character-driven romp, pretty light
• Dune - you've read Dune, right?
• The Dreaming Void - I'm reading this right now. Good so far.

If you can't get them at a library, they are kind of spendy, but the Murderbot series is a really good read. 

Well, I suggested TV series (try reading the whole post, Curtis).  I read "wrapped" and instantly thought "chicken at 8"

But actually, most of those do have a novel series now that I look.

Old Man's War. Actually just about anything by John Scalzi. 

+1 for the Murderbot series
Crossover - 1st book of another good (but often too verbose) killer robot series
Ten Low - reviews compare it to the Firefly universe
Dauntless - 1st of Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet space opera series
Activation Degradation - more killer robots, reviews make it out as first contact story of the Murderbot series
More fantasy than sci-fi, but you can't go wrong with Terry Pratchett's Discworld series

To add to Curtis' tv show list:

Counterpart - sort of a Fringe vibe with the Farmer's Insurance actor
Beforeigners - time refugees from the past, Viking woman joins police force, surprisingly good series
Snowpiercer
The Silent Sea - Korean limited series, takes place on the moon
Killjoys
Defiance
12 Monkeys

CAinCA said:

Old Man's War. Actually just about anything by John Scalzi. 

Red Shirts was fabulous.

On PBS:  Vienna Blood.  A psychiatrist in the 1800s when Freid was brand new, works with a police detective to solve crimes.

Just started watching ST: Lower Decks. The Heavy Metal Orb reference in S1:E2 made my day.

As soon as i finish the ruins, im starting in on these suggestions for novels. I need more books 

+2 On the Murderbot Diaries series.  I finished book 1 and immediately ordered the rest of the available books (6 total).  I've been trying hard lately to read more.  Especially since I have so, so many unread books in my library.

As for TV/streaming, I've heard some really good things about For All Mankind, but it's on AppleTV, which I don't have and probably never will. 

- Pretty much anything by Peter F Hamilton (in particular I'd love to see the Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained duology as a TV series)

- Pretty much anything by Alastair Reynolds (Century Rain would make an awesome movie)

Those two authors have been tops on the SF lists for a couple decades now, so a few others that are less well-known:

- I quite like the "Palladium Wars" series by Marko Kloos

- "The Divide Series" by J.S. Dewes (first book is The Last Watch)

- Gridlinked (and the rest of the Polity series) by Neal Asher

- Linesman series by S.K. Dunstall

Erich said:

• Gideon the Ninth - Space/Necromancy angsty fighting

The entire series (it's up to three books now) is one thing on the surface, but has much deeper themes underneath. I like how everybody in the series is flawed in some way.

The author suffers from mental illness herself, so her inclusion of it in the book is a bit different from other representations I've seen.
Regret, identity, and grief also play very large roles. 

We're in a golden age of space sci-fi TV and I can't even keep up with it. More Star Trek serieseses are running than you can shake a stick at (including the Expanse-ish Picard), plus The Orville and For All Mankind.

Big +1's from me on Murderbot, Alistair Reynolds, and Peter F. Hamilton.

Ken Macleod released a new series recently that was a good read as well, "The Corporation Wars".

Every time there's a book thread, I always suggest Charles Stross. Out of curiosity, has anyone else read any of his stuff?

bluej (Forum Supporter) said:

Every time there's a book thread, I always suggest Charles Stross. Out of curiosity, has anyone else read any of his stuff?

I started reading one or two of his early books, but kinda bounced.

CAinCA said:

Old Man's War. Actually just about anything by John Scalzi. 

is that a show now?

Counterpart and Night Sky are both great. J.K. Simmons does an awesome job in both. 

FYI I checked Amazon today and the entire six season DVD set of "The Expanse" is set to release Nov 14.  I pre-ordered mine! 

I keep hearing that Morgan Freeman really wants to bring Rendezvous with Rama to the big screen and dang I hope it ain't just rumors.

Silo on apple TV was pretty good. Empire wasnt too bad either.