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Published: 2013-06-20 18:01:51 +0000 UTC; Views: 5160; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 9
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Fanart for Book 2 of James S. A. Corey's Expanse series, my new favorite series. These books are so well done and so much fun.Captain James Holden, XO Naomi Nagata, mechanic Amos Burton, Martian marine Bobbie Draper, pilot Alex Kamal, UN secretary Chrisjen Avasarala, botanist Praxidike Meng, Outer Planets Alliance leader Fred Johnson, and MALEVOLENT SENTIENT VENUS.
One of my favorite things about these books is that the characters are very diverse in ethnicity, class background, and age, and the female characters are treated like actual humans. They're also pretty kickass, whether they're engineers, soldiers, leaders, or priests. As I'm sure my fellow spec fic fans are well aware, sci fi and fantasy can be a minefield of terrible female tropes written by neckbeards, so it's nice to see someone do it right.
I want to play in microgravity now.
CS5
[The Expanse series and all characters belong to James S. A. Corey, aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck]
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Comments: 26
"sci fi and fantasy can be a minefield of terrible female tropes" YUP. NO LIES
Btw I have only seen the TV series but, partially due to your praise of it, I am considering starting the book series before the 3rd season airs next year. Now to get the 3 or 4 other sci fi books which I bought but haven't finished reading out of the way
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This is AMAZING! We really need more Expanse fan art. You should tweet this to the actors. Cas Anvar is especially active on twitter.
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It's nice how the series represents people. I love Avasarala's no nonsense personality and, the way the men on the ship respect Naomi, and the sheer badassness of Bobbie Draper on the show and hope we see more female characters done right for a change.Β
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I love this so muuuuch. I started the series fairly recently, and I'm absolutely hooked. (Have seen 20 minutes of the show, but then I stopped - not watching the rest until I've finished at least book 5.)
But yeah, these are so spot on. As others have mentioned, Amos would probably be a little heavier (I always imagined someone likeΒ Guillermo DΓaz), but everyone else is brilliant.
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The books are really good so far, nice work on this. I hope the series is good.
*crosses fingers*
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So whadday think of SyFy's casting? I wonder if your image played any role for them in evaluating actors? You're one of the few try and picture them, and clearly the S.A.Corey twins approved of the work.
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I'm flattered that you think they were influenced by my scribblings 
Pretty much none of the characters look the way I pictured them--Holden and Avasarala look too young to me--but that's okay! I'm hoping I'll love them just like I love the on-screen Game of Thrones characters, even when they don't match my book vision.
Here's something odd I just noticed, though--per imdb, the actress they chose for Ade Tukunbo, Holden's short-lived Nigerian girlfriend, is played by.... this lady: www.imdb.com/name/nm1982266/?r⦠Well then.
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Yeah, I pictured Holden as looking about 10 years older than the actor that they case.... and Avasarala at least 20 years older. But... it is age-obsessed Hollywood, I suppose.
Yeah, it's a pity when authors go out of their way to create realistic racial diversity and its gets (literally) whitewashed in going to visual media. It looks like they haven't cast Fred yet? They better get that right!
I wonder if they'll have any presentations on the series at Boskone, this weekend?
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Didn't they cast Cutty from the Wire as Fred Johnson? I could have sworn I saw Franck tweeting about that. He was excited because he's a big fan of the Wire (as am I!) I always pictured Shepherd Book from Firefly as Fred, personally
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They may have made that announcement and I just forgot. Book wouldn't make a bad Fred... though he's maybe lighter in stature than I pictured for him.
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Great to see some Expanse art on here. 
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Hahaha cool man- Alex, Meng and Avasarala are spot on for me. Did you read Abaddon's Gate? Loving this series. chitobein.deviantart.com/art/Sβ¦
My only gripe (and its small) is the writers' inclination to use trendy Facebook phrases like "I know, right?" Sort of pulls me out the universe.
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I'm currently on Abaddon's Gate, and I don't think I've ever had issues with the dialogue. It feels real to me, and it goes hand in hand with some of the humour (esp. with Amos and Alex and the crew). But then again, I'd actually use colloquialisms like that - so if you don't, I suppose it's going to sound weird.Β It's funny how that works.
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OMG this is so neat! I love this <333 been looking for a good scifi to read, and especially love those that include so much diversity! Great job <3
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Thanks! I definitely recommend the series
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Congratulations on being featured on Abraham's and Franck's site! Wow, must be a great feeling!
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"terrible female tropes written by neckbeards" 
You got me real curious about these books now... I never read sci fi (for no particular reason), but I may have to give these a go.
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You liked ASoIaF, right? It may interest you to know that the writers of this series work with George R. R. Martin. Ty Franck is/was his assistant, and Daniel Abraham wrote the script for the ASoIaF graphic novels. They also work in the same writing groups in New Mexico (and apparently know terrible secrets about upcoming books but are under pain of death not to share!) They've definitely gleaned some of GRRM's skill with pacing, balancing a big cast and multiple POV, and suspense, but I honestly think that for pure literary skill, they're superior writers.
I've also now had the opportunity to chat a little with the writers (I sent this drawing to them *glee*) and they're super nice guys.
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Oh, indeed? That sounds really good.
Haha, "*glee*"
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Wow, this is SOOOOO cool. I can't say that each character meet my mental image 100%, but that goes with the territory of literary fiction. We all build images in our heads based on a) the facts on the page, and b) associations we make from real life. I think I was picturing Alex, Amos, and Avasarala all with a bit more "bulk" to them. Amos is a real "bear". I kept picturing him as Jack Black. Alex just has a bit more... "middle age padding". And Avasarala... well, most of the Indian women I've met of her age have been more "matronly" in stature.
But details aside, each of you drawings REALLY exude the character. You can feel their personalities, trickling through. Of the bunch I'd say that Fred, Holden, and Naomi came real close to what I saw in my head.
Heeeeeyyyy.... isn't Holden supposed to brown eyes??
So what's next? Have you read the third book yet? Love to see you do a similar treatment for that
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I like Burton. Maybe thats because he looks a bit like me. Each one looks great and has unique expression and personality.
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Oh I meant to ask, did you use models for these or are they completely from your mind's eye?
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Well, they're from a book series, so I had some text descriptions, and I did a little googling to ensure I portrayed the characters' ethnicities correctly, but I didn't use any photo references or 3D models if that's what you meant
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Love all the personality you've put in each one.
Thanks for introducing me to the word "neckbeard."
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Ahahaha, it's a colorful term for a certain type of nerdy, misogynistic dude on the internet, stemming from their inability to maintain their facial hair (can't hold a razor and an Xbox controller at the same time?). Combine it with a fedora and a Reddit account, and you've got the equivalent of an anti-woman forcefield.
Alternately, a really questionable Amish and/or Taliban fashion statement.
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