The Expanse

In one sentence: David picks up Ben's earlier carve-out recommendation of The Expanse and runs with it on the Google Maps episode — "really, really great stories" — with the series' first novel, Leviathan Wakes (2011), anchoring one of modern science fiction's defining space operas.

Overview

The Expanse is a space opera series by James S.A. Corey, the pen name of co-authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The first novel, Leviathan Wakes, came out in 2011 from Orbit, followed by nine main novels total (plus several novellas), later adapted into the TV series of the same name. It's set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system but not gone beyond it — Earth, Mars, and the asteroid-belt "Belters" locked in mutual suspicion — and the disappearance of an ice-hauling ship uncovers an alien-technology conspiracy that reshapes the balance of power across the system.

Why It's Recommended

This is a carve-out handed off mid-relay: David opens with "I'm going to do a mashup of one of your recent carve outs, which is The Expanse," referring to a book Ben had already recommended in an earlier episode. David was mid-series at the time: "I started reading the books of The Expanse series. They are so good. I finished the first one, I'm in the second one... really, really great stories." Ben adds that he watched the TV adaptation instead — "It's good" — and tells listeners to take their pick, books or show, both are "great sci-fi stories." What earns this a spot is the double endorsement across two hosts and the fact that it's a recommendation that survived and resurfaced across episodes — a sign of real enthusiasm rather than a carve-out picked to fill airtime.

Source

From David's carve-out in Google Maps: The Platform Built from Three Acquisitions. The series runs nine main novels; this page is anchored to the first, Leviathan Wakes (2011, Orbit), representing the series as a whole.