#JAMES HOLDEN EXPANSE FULL#
Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace. In the thousand-sun network of humanity’s expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way.
#JAMES HOLDEN EXPANSE SERIES#
Corey’s New York Times bestselling Expanse series–now a major television series on Syfy. Persepolis Rising is the seventh novel in James S. The crew of the Rocinante is older, a little wiser, a little worn down, but a true family. Corey, hit a soft reset button and jump 30 years into the future. And that is very much the right call here.What can an author team do seven books into an extremely successful book series that is both a New York Times bestseller and the basis for a critically acclaimed television show? In the case of The Expanse by James S.A. It's that they decided to present this character in a way that feels less like he's sucking up all the air in the room.
#JAMES HOLDEN EXPANSE TV#
It's not that the TV version of the character isn't privileged, or sometimes shitty. The Magicians is possibly more interesting, since the show is practically centered on how much it knows its protagonist is a thoroughly useless dork (and you could read it as a pretty mean takedown of fanboy culture), but The Expanse instead mutes Holden’s worst qualities and lets its much more interesting characters shine brightly. Like the showrunners and writers on Syfy’s other current (and excellent) book adaptation The Magicians, the show knows the book protagonist is a turd, and they’ve ameliorated the problem onscreen. I’m not sure the first book knew Holden sucked so much, but by the second book (with the appearance of Avasarala and Bobbie especially), it’s clear that James SA Corey is aware of how bad Holden’s naive-but-helluva-guy schtick smells. Avasarala certainly thinks he is, and Bobbie’s appraisal of him as a guy she would think about sleeping with if he weren’t so full of himself made me laugh out loud while reading one night. To its credit, I’m pretty sure the book also thinks Holden is a doofus. I have no idea what Naomi is doing with him, and so far, we haven't had Naomi POV chapters to explain WTF is happening there. People die because he thinks he can Captain Kirk his way out of bad situations. And because Holden is a classic Man of Action, he doesn’t just think shitty things, he does shitty things. Like so much of his thinking, it’s so self-centered and unaware and infuriating. Holden goes over a conversation he had with his racist mom in his head, about how, upon meeting her, their racist beliefs (based on bad stereotypes from entertainment, would you believe it!) will melt away and they'll love her as much as he does.Ĭlassic clueless dude, right? But it’s dangerous. But perhaps worst of all are his dealings with Naomi, his genius executive officer and (spoiler!) later girlfriend, who he first describes in the least flattering fashion, in his inner dialogue.
He constantly broadcasts inflammatory things across the solar system, hailing “everyone has a right to know!” while basically never taking responsibility for the wars he starts. He thinks thoughts about how he is the only one of his crew who grew up rich enough to have real wood furnishings at home. A privileged asshole who grew up with multiple parents, all of whom poured love and attention on him, he is self-centered, obnoxious, and kind of toxic. In the books, though, we’re privy to his inner thoughts. He’s naive, yes, but he’s a good captain, clearly cares about his crew and doing Good Deeds. On the show, he’s a fairly bland but likeable hero-a guy who gets faced with a series of impossible challenges and does his best.
Avasarala, a salty elder politician who wields power and profanity with equal grace, is just wonderful in both.īut James Holden, handsome space captain dude who always tries to do the right thing (and is something of the de facto protagonist of the show and the books, despite both being an ensemble series) is positively insufferable in the books.
Bobbie Draper-a badass Martian Marine who witnesses something profoundly awful-experiences a far less dramatic turn of events in the books, but she’s funnier and more interesting. In most cases, it’s wonderful: Detective Miller, a down and out space cop who gets caught in way over his head on a kidnapping case, is much more likable when you’re privy to his inner thoughts and motivations. I’m not sure which I actually like better-the books are much more meandering, but give, of course, those important character insights that only POV chapters (or, the dreaded cinematic technique of voiceover, I guess) can do.
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