Exclusive: James S.A. Corey talks ending The Expanse novels

We sit down with the writers of The Expanse books, James S.A. Corey. What was it like ending the series, and what do they have planned next?

The time draws nigh for a conflict of interstellar proportions. Season 5 of The Expanse drops its first three episodes on Amazon Prime this coming Wednesday. Beyond that, the final book in the nine-book saga, Leviathan Falls, is slated to come out next year, bringing the journey of James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante to an end. And after that, there’s a sixth and final season of The Expanse coming round the bend.

To say it’s a big year for Expanse fans feels like an understatement, akin to saying the Protomolecule does bad stuff if you get it on you. It’s an awesome time to be a fan of this series, and if you have yet to check it out, it’s also a great time to get on board and see what all the hype is about.

Recently, we had the opportunity to ask a few questions of the two authors responsible for this incredible series: Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, who write the Expanse novels under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey. Below, we talk about everything from ending the book series to writing for the show to the authors’ future projects.

This is a spoiler-free interview, so no matter where you are in the books or show, you can read on without fear.

DANIEL Roman: So, to start off we have to talk about the big news: the final Expanse book, Leviathan Falls, is being released next year. What was it like to write “the end” on this story that you’ve been working on for the past decade?

JAMES S.A. COREY: It would be pretty to have the end be that definitive.  The way it works is we write “the end” and then we pass it off to the other fella to edit, and then the copy editor and then the galley proofs. There’s not that single, perfect moment of completion. But, that said, it’s satisfying to come to the end of a huge project. We’ll miss these characters some, but there are so many things that have been simmering on the back burners these last few years that getting the chance to turn our full attention to them more than makes up for the melancholy of leaving the old thing behind.

DR: Since the first Expanse book, Leviathan Wakes came out in 2011, you’ve released a book a year of the series like clockwork. Has your process changed at all over the course of working on this long project?

JSAC: Our process changed when the show started up. We went from having a book a year to having a book a year plus full-time TV writing jobs.  So we did slip a couple times with our delivery dates. But the process we have of outlining and editing seems robust.  It got us through, anyway.

DR: Looking back on the entire run of The Expanse novels, you’ve created a myriad of memorable and deeply developed characters. Now that you can see the series from the finish line, are there any who were each of your favorites to write?

JSAC: We like all of them. That’s kind of why they’re all in there. Ty always had the last pass on the Amos parts, Daniel was the voice of Avasarala. But [they] were all our favorites at one point and another.

DR: Was there a toughest part of the series to write (or a hardest book)? And if so, what was it that made that point in the series more difficult?

JSAC: The endings are always a little tricky, even the sort of internal endings. Babylon’s Ashes was the last moment before a big shift in the narrative, and of course Leviathan Falls is the last in the series. There’s a sense of inevitability in those moments that’s coupled with the understanding that you could still fuck it pretty much all up.

DR: Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve both been involved in the writer’s room of The Expanse television show since basically the beginning. As authors, what has it been like to be able to be so integral in molding a version of your work in a new medium? Has it afforded you the opportunity to explore any areas of the story that you hadn’t been able to get to in the novels?

JSAC: It’s been an amazing education. Six years apprenticing in television has been a whole different storytelling toolbox. And that it was retelling the story we’d already made gave us a way to [be] valuable to the process and a perspective on why the changes we made needed to be done that way. There were moments in the show that were awesome that just didn’t show up in the books. The relationship between Amos and Cortázar in season two was so rich and obvious in retrospect that it’s kind of amazing we didn’t have it in the novels.

DR: Obviously, with any screen adaptation of a book series there are going to be changes. Were there any specific alterations in the show that you especially loved?

JSAC: The reimagining of Camina Drummer and Klaes Ashford were both amazing. Part of the joy of a really vast collaboration like this is that you have really talented, experienced, thoughtful artists who come in and bring their tools to your story. Cara Gee and David Strathairn did great work with those two and the relationship between them. And it’s not just actors. The props department and the costume department, VFX and stunts and all the thousands of people who came together on this were the same in their ways. We got to see our work through their eyes. It was a trip.

DR: Along that same line, is there any one thing from the books that was cut from the show that you wish could have been kept?

JSAC: There were some things in the books that just weren’t possible to translate to screen on anything like a budget. The evacuation of the Barbapiccola at the end of Cibola Burn would have been pretty, but it would not have been cost effective.

DR: I read an article a while back that outlined how you two pushed for accurate science in the show’s writers’ room, and how that “helped add suspense and make for better stories.” I’d imagine that you both must have researched a mountain’s worth of scientific theories over the course of writing this nine book sci-fi epic and all its supplementary works. Was there any one theory or scientific concept that you discovered while working on The Expanse that was especially significant to its development?

JSAC: The thing is we went about this sort of the other way ‘round. We didn’t do a lot of research for The Expanse. We used the things we had already learned about — both formally and in a kind of broadly autodidactic way — and built a story out of them. Ty had a deep and abiding interest in the bodies of the solar system. Daniel has a biology degree. We both have an educated layman’s understanding of physics. Those all came into play when the writing started.

The critical bit, if there is one, was a paper Ty read years ago about a theoretical fusion drive that was the inspiration for the Epstein drive. He’s promised never to reveal what that paper was so that when it turns out everything in it was disproven, we don’t lose any ground.

DR: Are there any projects in particular that you’re really excited to work on once Leviathan Falls brings the story of The Expanse to a close? What’s next for James S.A. Corey?

JSAC: Well, we’re already under contract with Orbit for a new space opera trilogy that should be a lot of fun. It’s a very different project from The Expanse. Less Bester/Heinlein/Niven more Herbert/Le Guin. Other than that, there are some possibilities for writing for film and television that weren’t there before that we’re interested in. There are a lot of options.

DR: You’ve both worked pretty extensively with George R.R. Martin in the past — Ty as his assistant, and Daniel as a co-writer or contributor on a variety of writing projects. Since this is Winter Is Coming, I’d be remiss not to ask…do you guys have any favorite stories or moments from your times working with George?

JSAC: We do.  We don’t tell them, though.

<Douglas Adams voice>George is just this guy, you know?</Douglas Adams voice>

DR: Ending on a lighter note…if James S.A. Corey was boarding a long range transport ship bound for a distant world through the ring gate, what three books would he bring with him on the journey?

JSAC: The Riverside Shakespeare, Space Colony Management for Dummies, and Meehan’s Bartender Manual.

DR: Daniel and Ty, thank you both again so much for joining us! We’re really looking forward to the release of Leviathan Falls next year, as well as Season 5 of the The Expanse on Amazon!

JSAC: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for having us.

The first three episodes of The Expanse Season 5 premiere this Wednesday, December 16th on Amazon Prime Video, with a new episode landing every Wednesday until the finale on February 3rd, 2021. The final Expanse novel, Leviathan Falls, is due out next year from Orbit Books.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels