While Syfy’s version ofThe Expanseis long since over, and the books finished releasing even longer ago, fans are still clamoring for more of the phenomenal space opera excitement that James S. A. Corey’s series delivered in spades. Between the original books and the TV series,The Expanseturned an entire generation of new fans on tothe wonder of space operaas a genre – meaning now that it’s over, fans are left looking for something to filltheRocinante-shaped hole in their hearts.
Thankfully, with space opera being such a foundational genre for science fiction, there are plenty more book series out there for those so inclined, and one of the best is John Scalzi’sOld Man’s War. In a not-too-distant future where humanity is continually working to expand their colonial territory, the humans of Earth live a privileged and quiet life sequestered away from galactic politics; the only exception are the elderly, who are the only people from first world countries allowed to volunteer for service with the Colonial Defense Forces.
Old Man’s War Is Perfect For Fans Of The Expanse Who Wanted More Alien Weirdness
All The Best Space Operas Have At Least One Scene Involving Alien Governments Debating Politics
The Expanse’s aliens, while fascinating, never actually got any time in the spotlight throughout the series.The Ring Builders, whoever they were, had been dead for two billion years by the time of the books, and humanity only ever interacted with the technology and ruins they left behind. Meanwhile, the “dark gods,” as timeless entities from a reality beyond our own, never had any real screen time at all. What other little xenofauna shown in the series was either a Ring Builder construct, likethe “strange dogs” on Laconia, or lower-level life, like Ilus' death slugs.
Old Man’s War, by contrast, features a human race that is smack in the middle of some truly bizarre – and dangerous – interstellar political chicanery. As one of the youngest species trying to eke an existence out in a surprisingly crowded part of the galaxy, humanity struggles to find allies among the various other forms of intelligent life, who have organized into a loose government known as the Conclave, many of whose members would rather use humans as a resource – that is to say, food – rather than bother with diplomacy.
Large, crab-like religious zealots with unbelievably advanced technology
Inch-tall bipeds who compete with humanity for colonizable planets
Rraey
Bipedal reptilians who consider human beings an essential part of a balanced breakfast
Bear-like xenophobes
Bathunga
Pacifistic deep-sea jellyfish with long-standing philosophical traditions; one of humanity’s closest allies
Sentient cockroaches conspiring with the Rraey to destroy humanity
Salong
Deerlike, pleasant-seeming bipeds; the Colonial forces nicknamed them “baby-eating sons of bitches” for their love of human flesh
Gehaar
Blueish tentacled creatures; one of the first aliens to ally with humans
As the first book in the series,Old Man’s Wartells of how humanity fights to gain some kind of upper hand against the Consu, the Covandu, and the Whaidan, and even succeeds in bombarding the Whaidan back into the stone age, removing them as a potential competitor. Later books look at how that change in the galactic balance of power affects humanity and the sentients of the Conclave, both in terms of political power and in how the different species begin to regard each other.
John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War Tells A Different – Yet Similar – Story About Human Nature
Both Stories Explore Existential Threats To Humanity, From Without And From Within
InThe Expanse, it’s very clear that human beings are their own worst enemies. Whether it’s corporations like Mao-Kwikowski, the various governments, or self-proclaimed messiahs like Marco Inaros, the humans ofThe Expanseare often all too willing to risk their fellow humans' lives for the sake of either preserving the status quo or shattering it. The balance of power between Earth, Mars, the OPA, the eventual colonies, and even the Laconian Empire hinges on the implicit assumption that humanity is the greatest active force in the galaxy, and the only question is who deserves to sit on the throne.
WhileOld Man’s Warhas its fair share of internecine conflict among humanity, especially later in the series as the people of Earth realize just how badly the Colonial Union has been leading them on, there is absolutely nothing guaranteeing human provenance – or indeed, long-term survival – in the galaxy. Human colonies are constantly under threat of predation by other, more powerful species, and humanity’s greatest weapon often isn’t the Colonial Defense Forces, but diplomacy.
Yet diplomacy is an equally important tool inThe Expanse; characters like Chrisjen Avasarala, a career diplomat, put as much effort into finding nonviolent solutions as possible, in the face of tyrannical actors like Marco Inaros and Winston Duarte. The link betweenThe ExpanseandOld Man’s Waris clear; humanity’s greatest existential threat is our own willingness to put the effort into making war instead of peace. With that in mind, fans of the former will undoubtedly adore the latter – and thankfullyThe Shattering Peace, the seventh book in the series, will be released on July 11, 2025.
