{"id":18462,"date":"2018-06-23T21:15:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T13:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/the-expanse-co-author-daniel-abraham-tells-the-inside-story-about-sci-fi-books-tv-and-politics\/"},"modified":"2018-06-23T21:15:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-23T13:15:26","slug":"the-expanse-co-author-daniel-abraham-tells-the-inside-story-about-sci-fi-books-tv-and-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/the-expanse-co-author-daniel-abraham-tells-the-inside-story-about-sci-fi-books-tv-and-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Expanse\u2019 co-author Daniel Abraham tells the inside story about sci-fi books, TV \u2026 and politics"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_429317\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-429317\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-429317\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/180622-abraham-630x524.jpg\" alt=\"Dan Abraham\" width=\"630\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/180622-abraham-630x524.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/180622-abraham-768x639.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/180622-abraham-1260x1048.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-429317\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Abraham, co-author of \u201cThe Expanse\u201d book series, gives a reading at Seattle\u2019s University Book Store. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s more to Daniel Abraham than \u201cThe Expanse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To be sure, the science-fiction saga about our future fractious solar system has been very, very good to Abraham and his co-author for the book series, Ty Franck.<\/p>\n<p>Writing under the pen name of James S.A. Corey, Abraham and Franck are just finishing up the eighth book in the series, \u201cTiamat\u2019s Wrath,\u201d and getting ready to start the ninth and final volume. (Abraham says he already knows the title, but is bound by Orbit Books to keep it secret for now.)<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the TV show: The third season of \u201cThe Expanse\u201d is wrapping up on the Syfy cable channel, and a month ago, Amazon picked up the show in dramatic fashion for a fourth season.<\/p>\n<p>That announcement was made at a space conference by none other than Amazon\u2019s billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos, with the cast of \u201cThe Expanse\u201d sitting out in the audience.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"callout clearfix\"><strong>Read more:<\/strong> Jeff Bezos says \u2018The Expanse\u2019 is saved, and the crowd goes wild<\/h4>\n<p>Abraham has compared the writing business to a casino, and says that \u201cwriters are, among other things, professional gamblers.\u201d If that\u2019s so, he\u2019s hit the jackpot with \u201cThe Expanse\u201d alone.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not his only play: He uses a different pen name, M.L.N. Hanover, for a long-running wizards-and-demons book series known as \u201cThe Black Sun\u2019s Daughter.\u201d Under his own name, Abraham writes fantasy novels (and has contributed to the \u201cWild Cards\u201d graphic novel series).<\/p>\n<p>Abraham, who lives in New Mexico with his wife and daughter, wore yet another hat this week: He served as an instructor for the&nbsp;Clarion West Summer Workshop, which brings a select few writers to Seattle\u2019s University District to sharpen their skills in speculative fiction.<\/p>\n<p>It was in that capacity that he gave a reading at University Book Store, and sat down in the store\u2019s coffee shop before the reading for a Q&amp;A with yours truly. Here\u2019s an edited transcript of the talk, which started out with the revival of \u201cThe Expanse\u201d TV series and ended up with a wide-angle look at politics in the Donald Trump era.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GeekWire: Right now, \u201cThe Expanse\u201d is the big thing, so let\u2019s start with that, and of course, the experience of going from Syfy to Amazon \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel Abraham:<\/strong> That was weird! We were all very much under the impression that we were done, and we\u2019d had a good run, and we were all coming to peace with it \u2014 and then we had to lurch back into gear and kick all the graveyard dust off our shoes. And now we\u2019re back in the room and moving forward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: In terms of how you work with the show as a producer, are you doing writing chores, or are you standing back and saying, \u201cThat sounds right,\u201d or \u201cThat needs some work\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> Ty and I have been able to be more involved in this project than anybody could have asked. We have been in the writers\u2019 room as writers from the first day of season one. Ty has been on set all of season one, a great chunk of season two, and all of season three. We\u2019ve written a bunch of the scripts.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Expanse: Novels vs. TV\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t2BlqKG1zJk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We started off as producers, and then we moved up to supervising producers, and then co-executive producers. We\u2019re now executive producers on the show, and we are slated to write several of the episodes this time out. I was spending a week in the writing room before I came up here. I\u2019m going to spend a week in the writing room when I get back. Ty is there the whole time. They have let us be part of the writing team in ways that I don\u2019t even know are well-advised, really.<\/p>\n<p>I think we actually do bring something really valuable to the process. Being a novelist is such a different skill set from writing screenplays. If we had gone in there thinking that we were going to do the thing and save the show, and show them how it\u2019s done, I think it would have been terrible. But we both went in there very clear that we were there to learn how to work in a new medium, and very interested in figuring out how the story shifts to fit the new constraints. It\u2019s been an education you couldn\u2019t pay for.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Without getting too spoilery, is there an example of something that\u2019s significantly changed in the shift from the books to the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, the big thing is that we wind up pulling things forward and combining characters. The example of that one is&nbsp;Drummer. She\u2019s a character we pulled forward from book five [\u201cNemesis Games\u201d] into some of the action in book one [\u201cLeviathan Wakes\u201d] because there were some things that we could do with her as a character, and some things that we could have her carry, that paid off.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s not somebody we used in the book until pretty late in the game. She was a major character later. By pulling her into earlier action, we were able to get rid of some other characters and fold their stories in with hers, so that we didn\u2019t have a cast of thousands you have to keep track of.<\/p>\n<p>I think it\u2019s worked out really well. It\u2019s changed some of the pacing of the plot, especially as we come to the end of season three. I love the way we told it in the books \u2026 and I love the way we told it in the show. They\u2019re very different, but they both worked for the arc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Do you think the arc of the show is going in basically the same direction as the arc of the books?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> We\u2019re doing what we need to do to tell the story we meant to tell.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What was it like to hear that Jeff Bezos was picking up the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> Mostly I found out about it when Cas Anvar and Wes Chatham [two of the show\u2019s stars] started sending me things. My phone blew up with them going, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! I heard the story told and retold and retold in the room. Everybody was blown away. I mean, it was one of those moments that doesn\u2019t happen, and they were all there with it happening.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1000234595680505856&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2018%2Fexpanse-co-author-daniel-abraham%2F&amp;sessionId=cdbd13ed0b90f52f39a92355ac65bc384e242eb7&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802911699760077=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#8217;ll just let him say it\u2026#TheExpanse#RocinanteIsSafe#BreakingNews<\/p>\n<p>Thank you @JeffBezos pic.twitter.com\/wxHN31zgJs<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Cas Anvar (@Casanvar) May 26, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>If we didn\u2019t love the show, it wouldn\u2019t be a big deal. I\u2019d be like, \u201cOh, we have a job,\u201d and that would have been great. But this was a central labor of love for everyone involved. It was such a disappointment that we weren\u2019t going to be working with each other anymore. To then see it come back to life, and come back to life so dramatically \u2026 it was amazing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Is there more pressure now, because, you know, Jeff Bezos has said great things about the show and may expect to continue to see great things?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s more pressure. We weren\u2019t half-assing it up till now, either. So it\u2019s like, \u201cWell, OK, keep going, keep pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working for Syfy, working for basic cable was a challenge. The distribution channel that they\u2019re working with is more and more difficult, and more and more restrictive. Going to a place where there\u2019s a completely different set of expectations and constraints and delivery distribution, that\u2019s weird. On the other hand, what we were doing before is telling the story absolutely the best way we could figure out how, and that\u2019s still what we\u2019re doing. So I feel like it should feel more different than it does.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re following up on conversations we had last year when we were at Syfy, and it\u2019s not really shifted much. The idea of how we want to approach the story is still how we want to approach the story. It\u2019s still kind of the way it was before. I hope Jeff likes it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: The author of \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d George R.R. Martin, took a lot of inspiration from historical accounts of the Wars of the Roses. Are there historical influences on \u201cThe Expanse\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> Absolutely. Ty&nbsp;has been a student of history his whole life, and I\u2019m catching up a little bit. The things we see in \u201cThe Expanse\u201d are things that we keep pulling from one place or another, and the patterns that you see happening over and over and over and over throughout history.<\/p>\n<p>For example,&nbsp;what happens when a new technology or a new discovery changes the balance of power? That\u2019s happened a lot. It happened when we found the New World. It happened when we invented refrigerated cargo ships, and all of a sudden, land-based nobility in Europe collapsed because you can get all of your food cheaper from South America.<\/p>\n<p>There are patterns that are really consistent throughout human history, and yeah, we\u2019ve been borrowing and reimagining those patterns. Because of that, we wind up looking weirdly prescient.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve talked about what happens with refugees in the aftermath of war, because that\u2019s an evergreen problem. It looks like we\u2019re talking about what\u2019s going on today, even though we wrote it eight years ago, because it\u2019s something that humanity revisits and revisits.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Expanse: Prax witnesses refugees getting thrown into space\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8yqODtJrRu0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We pull a lot from ancient history. Ty and I talk a lot about the Persian empire and the fall of Babylon, and what the pattern of that was in the ancient world. And then we relate that to what we\u2019re looking at in this imaginary world with spaceships and stargates.<\/p>\n<p>So much of the point of the books is that humans are humans, and the things we did before, we\u2019re going to keep doing wherever we go. The way that we fumbled along before is the way we will fumble along in the future. We\u2019ve gotten pretty far, and we\u2019ve done some amazing stuff, and we\u2019ll keep going and we\u2019ll probably keep doing amazing stuff. And it will be undignified, in the future as it was in the past.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Looking beyond \u201cThe Expanse,\u201d are there things in the current-day world that inspire your imagination for future stories?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> Sure. I&nbsp;think that we\u2019re at a fascinating time in American history. We\u2019re really in an unprecedented kind of place, at least in my lifetime. And you can\u2019t be living through that kind of history without it affecting you. Anything that we write is a reflection of our experience and the sense we make of the world. And I\u2019m struggling to make sense of the world right now, same as everybody.<\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t imagine that the stuff that\u2019s going on now won\u2019t shape what I\u2019m going to be writing, what I\u2019m going to be imagining, what I\u2019m going to be putting out in the next few years. For better or worse.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: I wanted to ask about the Twitter account that you have for James S.A. Corey \u2026 who deals with that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> In a sense, it\u2019s Ty, because I have my own&nbsp;\u2014 I have @AbrahamHanover, which is the one I use personally. It\u2019s Ty saying his opinions, but James also has developed his own voice.<\/p>\n<p>Ty does not have a social-media footprint. If we get to a place where we\u2019re done with James S.A. Corey as a project, Ty is just going to hand that over to a personal assistant, and he\u2019s not going to go back on. So I don\u2019t actually know how much of that Twitter account is Ty, and how much of it is Jimmy Corey.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: It\u2019s interesting, because the account gets very political.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> We are very political.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: I think there was a point where James S.A. Corey was saying, \u201cWe write books, but that doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have our own opinions.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> There is that thread of \u201cshut up and sing\u201d right now&nbsp;\u2014 in which artists, by being artists, should cease to be citizens and become these weird, allegedly apolitical objects. As if what we do isn\u2019t political. As if writing and making music, and making art, can happen outside the political context.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a weird idea. It tends to be a way to end a conversation.&nbsp;It tends to be the way to say, \u201cYou, who have the microphone, shouldn\u2019t be speaking.\u201d And it\u2019s a really dumb argument to make. It\u2019s stupid, because of course we are still citizens. Of course we are still members of our nation. Of course we are still patriots. Of course we still think that the people who are f\u2014ing up perhaps ought not. And also, we have a microphone. Fighting with the guy who has the microphone, practically, is just not a good idea.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1005630542543347712&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2018%2Fexpanse-co-author-daniel-abraham%2F&amp;sessionId=cdbd13ed0b90f52f39a92355ac65bc384e242eb7&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802911699760077=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Guys, no I&#8217;m not going to shut up. Something terrible is happening in this country and every patriot should be speaking out. I don&#8217;t care what your profession is, you&#8217;re allowed to have a voice. Does it make you angry? Good. I&#8217;m angry too. And when you tell me to shut up anyway? pic.twitter.com\/eyRsclV0xR<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 James S.A. Corey (@JamesSACorey) June 10, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: And that microphone comes with some responsibility. That goes against the idea that \u201cwe don\u2019t want to hear about anything except the pretty stories that you\u2019re telling us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> As if the pretty stories that I\u2019m telling aren\u2019t about women in color in positions of power, about gay and lesbian and bisexual people being part of society, as if all of that wasn\u2019t already deep in the fabric of what we\u2019re writing.<\/p>\n<p>It breaks my head a little bit. And also the idea that because I am an executive producer on a TV show, I should be OK with taking kids away from their families. I just don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n<p>The only way I think we\u2019re going to get through this phase is if we find ways to talk to each other without shouting at each other.&nbsp;I hope that we can come to a place where there is a drive to de-escalate the rhetoric, and calm people\u2019s fears, and get back to our better selves as a nation and as a culture. I think it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<p>I think a lot of what\u2019s going on right now is going on because we are being whipped into a frenzy, and I think a lot of the terrible things that are going on right now are \u2026 they\u2019re fear biting.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Fear biting?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> Fear biting. Like a dog. A dog gets too scared and lashes out, not because it\u2019s under threat, but because it thinks it is. I think a lot of people are doing some things that, if they were calm, if they felt safe, they would not do. I think people are justifying atrocities because of stories they\u2019ve been told that aren\u2019t true.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Are there lessons that people can get from \u201cThe Expanse\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> I think the argument I\u2019ve always made is that \u201cThe Expanse\u201d is a long argument that there\u2019s more to admire in humanity than to despise. Despite all the evidence, I still think that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think a future is possible in which we stop being the kinds of animals that we are. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a possible future that doesn\u2019t rhyme with history. But there\u2019s beautiful stuff in history, and there are moments of real grace and hope in history.<\/p>\n<p>As we look at all of the terrible things, all the tragedies and all of the refugees and all of the wars, there\u2019s also all of the peace accords and all of the art. And all of the bakers who get up in the morning and make bread and sell it to people who don\u2019t look like them or believe what they believe \u2014 and still pass them the butter.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the future I\u2019m reaching for. That\u2019s what I want.<\/p>\n<p><em>The final two episodes of season three of \u201cThe Expanse\u201d premiere on the Syfy channel on Wednesday, June 27. Earlier episodes are available for streaming via Syfy and Amazon Video. And while you\u2019re here, check out our story on the science of \u201cThe Expanse.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Abraham, co-author of \u201cThe Expanse\u201d book series, gives a reading at Seattle\u2019s University Book Store. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) There\u2019s more to Daniel Abraham than \u201cThe Expanse.\u201d To be sure, the science-fiction saga about our future fractious solar system has been very, very good to Abraham and his co-author for the book series, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4912,4418,4487,4482,21,5215,4551,4489],"class_list":["post-18462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon-prime-video","tag-books","tag-daniel-abraham","tag-science-fiction","tag-space","tag-syfy","tag-television","tag-the-expanse"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}