# The Expanse 51 Hacker News commenters recommended The Expanse and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend it for realistic space physics, political and economic worldbuilding, and strong novels; critics say the show takes liberties with realism and its characters are weak. ## Why people recommend it - Realistic, hard science fiction (4 comments): "That series strived for realism in that regard, and in using magnetic boots to work in zero gravity; which was admirable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46045277)) "The background world building was pretty good from a hard SF point of view." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48228875)) "offers a realistic take on what UBI would probably entail" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46628078)) - Political and economic worldbuilding (3 comments): "one of the most viable portrayals of what a society under UBI would look like" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48566820)) "pretty good at this; it sets up a world with complex political dynamics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46229255)) "how deftly it wove subtle economic and resource dynamics into the plot" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47614114)) - Excellent space combat visuals (2 comments): "they got that visually right. I cannot blame them because I haven't seen anything any space combat in shows or movies that is even half as exciting and well done." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48227267)) "it had no battles that were as well written or as memorable as this one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48231596)) - Better written than most sci-fi (2 comments): "Books were better than the show in many ways the the prose quality was pleasantly good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49902443)) "a saga like The Expanse is 100 times better written than all that new shit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49622614)) ## What people warn about - Characters bland, overwritten or gloomy (3 comments): "we got a ship full of gloomy self-loathing heroes with poor mental health" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47990876)) "the settings and production were fantastic, but I found the characters just became overwritten and annoying as the show went on" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50330258)) "Their main cast is utterly bland and have absolutely no chemistry with each other" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50331541)) - Show weaker than the books (2 comments): "I never found the Expanse television series to be very good when compared to the books." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185142)) "likes books to not read like a movie screenplay, same goes for The Expanse" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46347603)) - Takes liberties with realism (3 comments): "The show takes liberties to look cool, I think, which is okay." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48228884)) "The Expanse is a show/book - that doesn't actually portray any of this very well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47363015)) "they played a lot of artistic license to make it exciting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48227056)) - Rushed endings, depressing tone (2 comments): "The Expanse is basically Breaking Bad in space - a meaningless, ugly, depressing trash show only possible to produce in an empire in terminal decline." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50329953)) "the endings of neither felt satisfying and the final seasons - rushed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46180915)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Star Trek: The Next Generation](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-the-next-generation.md): 88 recommend - [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-deep-space-nine.md): 59 recommend - [Silo by Apple TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silo.md): 27 recommend - [Altered Carbon (Netflix series)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/altered-carbon.md): 23 recommend - [Scavengers Reign](https://hackerapproved.com/p/scavengers-reign.md): 18 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "The Expanse", https://hackerapproved.com/p/expanse/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).