Science Fiction

Having read all of them, I think of these books as three different sets:

• Books 1-6 of the main series basically cover the same time period as the TV show. If you enjoyed the first two books, it's extremely likely that you will enjoy books 3-6. The primary story arc started in book 1 comes to a very satisfying conclusion in book 6, broadly the same as it did in the show.
• Books 7-9 are more like a sequel series than a direct continuation of book 1-6. The primary characters return but it's really a new story arc. Personally I read book 7 at release, then later bounced off book 8 when it came out however many months later. It was only when I came back to reread the entire series that books 7-9 clicked for me. For my money everything came to a satisfying conclusion in book 9, with answers to most of the bigger mysteries behind the entire series (i.e. who built the rings, how did they build them, who killed the ring builders, etc.).
• The novellas and short stories focus on backstories and side characters. I particularly liked that they reveal where certain side characters eventually ended up; not naming any names for spoiler reasons. Memory's Legion collects all of these into a single book-length collection, which is probably the best way to get them.

TL;DR book 1-6 for sure for sure, books 7-9 probably, novellas if you go through books 1-9 and still want more.

Read them all, with the novellas where the tin says they belong. It’s just unrelentingly good.

Yes, and I loved the end of the series.

Yes, absolutely.

@AFKBRBChocolate Yes.

Just finished last month and it's one of the best series I've ever read. I haven't read the novellas so after some time I will reread the series with them included.

Could not set them down... except the last one. Jumping 25 years into the future was a strange choice and, for me, less entertaining.

oh heck yes it is a great series.

Reading book 8 right now. They're very, very good.

I think the first half of book 4 dipped a bit in quality due to some weaker characters, but the bonkers second half more than made up for it (and the TV version improved on that particular book, IMO).

The show ends on book 6, which means you miss out on pretty much the entire third act of the series. I'd say it's worth finishing just to get some closure on some of the unresolved loose ends.

it's a very interesting Sci-fi series. It's different to other more mainstream sci-fi shows. It has great Physics and gives a glimpse of what the future could be. There are some fictional developments as well , per all the sci-fi shows. Recommended

Yes, it's all very good.

As others have said, yes. Oh I'm so jealous of you right now!

The only regret about any of that is the show didn't do the last 3 books any justice. Otherwise, you are in for a treat.

After you enjoy the experience, try Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series. If you liked Amos and Bobbie, you'll be rooting and cheering for Scorpio and Nevile Clavain in no time.

The Expanse if the best books series I have read in years and might be the best science fiction series I've ever read. The quality does not diminish (in my opinion), and I am glad I didn't watch the show beyond the first season before reading the books. But there is a lot more than the show covers. I think you can come back to the Novellas later if you like. They are great but you don't need to read them alongside the main novels unless you are so inclined.

I loved the series

Some of the short stories are hit or miss but they are short and worth reading either way and only short

I didn't even know there were books! Holy crap my world just improved!

Yes. Very good. You can skip the novellas but they have some great stories in them. The quality is consistent throughout.

Yes! It's good all the way thru. They know what they're doing with these books.

I also really liked them, novellas included, except book 6. That one just didn't work for me (and apparently for quite a few people), and I ended up reading a summary.

Since books 7 to 9 aren't included in the show, they're worth reading just for the continuation and conclusion of the series.

With most series of this length, towards the end I've tended to wish that the author would just wrap things up already so I could find out the ending and move on with my life.

With this series I actually got sad as I made my way through the last book because it meant that the story was going to end soon and I had been enjoying it so much that I didn't want it to end. (Having said that, I also absolutely loved the ending, which is also unusual for me for a series that is this long!)

I mostly liked the series. There were a couple of books which I might not have liked as much as the others (it's been a while so don't remember which ones). However, personally I found the ending of the series a little unsatisfying.

I agree with the person who said there was a lot of personal drama as filler that didn't add to the story and dragged the pace of the books down.

I thought the books are mostly OK but I kind of lost interest after book 6 and it'll probably be quite a while before I go back to finish the last few books if I ever do.

Some are better than others, but they’re all fairly high quality? I’ve definitely read worse than even the ones I’m not super thrilled about, so I’d say it’s worth reading them all if you have the time.

I think they were consistent, yes.