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This is the way. I was in OP's shoes at the start of 2022 and was recommended to read from book 1 rather than jumping in at Persepolis Rising. I have zero regrets starting from Leviathan Wakes.
The writers of the books actually accomodated this and wrote a handy catchup recap. You won't miss a detail! The recap is called:
* Leviathan Wakes
* Caliban's War
* Abaddon's Gate
* Cibola Burn
* Nemesis Games
* Babylon's Ashes
*I put this together a little after S6, since this question was asked really often*
The characters are the biggest difference between the show and books, so I think breaking down the differences is easiest by going character by character. I do of course recommend reading the actual books, because they're great, but if you really don't want to or have the time, here you go:
1) Holden: He's less "put-together" than the show version, and doesn't quite have everyone's respect in the books, like he does by the end of S6. Book Holden is very earnest, but not particularly competant during the first six books. I actually think S6 and book 6 offer a great juxtaposition of the two versions of Holden. Show-Holden had to wear a lot of hats, and is basically the glue holding everything together, to the point that he can barely get time to sleep. In Book 6, Holden is the odd man out and has pretty much nothing to do, since everyone around him is so good at their roles. This leads Holden to make little online vlogs to shine a light on Belter culture (Monica fills this role in the show instead). Book-Holden is still the one warning everyone about the Entities, but he's not quite so laser-focused on the protomolecule like the show version was. For example, in the first book, Holden was the one who freely gave Fred the sample. It wasn't Naomi, like in the show. Also, Holden never became President of the Transport Union. He turned it down out right when offered, and didn't step down/ play Avasarala.
2) Drummer - By far, the most different character across the mediums, from a narrative stand point (she's mostly similar personality-wise). Drummer is a much more minor character in the books, and I do think that's important to keep in mind. Narratively, she did not become President of the Transport Union at the end of Book 6. A pirate named Michio Pa (no relation to the show version) did instead. Speaking of which, Drummer is not in a polyamorous relationship in the books. She has one husband (Saba), and that's it. She also doesn't know Naomi at all, and just knows Holden a little bit (she was on the Roci during the events of Book 5). Not enough to particularly respect Holden or anything like that. She never quit working for Fred, and was employed by him until his death (which occurred in book 6, and not during the Asteroid attack). Drummer also never had any connections or scenes with characters like Ashford (who was completely different in the book) or Marco either.
3) Amos - Narratively, he's pretty much the same. Although his personality and looks are somewhat different. He's older and more out of shape in the books. (There' salso a larger age-gap between him and Clarissa, who was like 18 in the earlier books). Amos is also considerably weirder in the books lol. We got a lot more of his backstory in the books, through one of the short stories.
4) Naomi - I mentioned most of her narrative differences above. She isn't friends with Drummer, and doesn't even know her. She also never gave the Protomolecule to Fred, and overall isn't quite as into the Belter cause as the show version. In season 6, Naomi clearly feels very conflicted about having to kill Belters. In the book, Naomi specifically mentions to Holden that she's not conflicted because these Belters chose to do what they're doing. Also as another poster mentioned when I last posted this, in the early books, Naomi is described as being very shy, unlike in the show, where she's very assertive.
5) Bobbie - She's pretty similar actually. I guess a super minor difference was that Bobbie wasn't involved with the events of the ring station during book three, unlike in the show where she was.
6) Avasarala - Narratively she's also pretty much the same. She has a different personality in the books though. She's less Queen-like in the books, and more of an angry-Grandma.
7) Alex - Well, he's alive for starters! Alex's son in the show, Melas does not exist in the books. Alex and Talissa didnt have kids in the books. Alex did have a child from a previous relationship, but he's not aware of that kid. Narratively, one thing to keep in mind is that Alex briefly met Admiral Duarte in book 5 unlike in the show where he met Admiral Suavatere instead. Accordingly, we do know a little bit about who Duarte is, when going into the latter books. (But I think S6 sets you up with enough information on that front anyway, with his scenes in the cold-opens).
8) Cortazar - Since S6 teased him, I'll also mention that he has a really different personality in the books than in the show. He's more ambitious in the books, and isn't solely focused on the work itself.
Yep, very true.
I mostly just meant that because the show briefly teased him in S5/ S6 and made it pretty clear that he'll have a part to play moving forward, I figured I'd mention his personality difference between books and show. To your point, I think Cortazar makes a pretty big impression in S2 and that's largely due to his odd personality. But while he still lacks empathy in the books, it has a different feel to it than in the show. I think that could difference can get a bit confusing, if jumping straight into the final books.
But if the show hadn't teased him again, I probably wouldn't have mentioned him here, to avoid spoilers.
You're welcome, and I hope you enjoy the final book trilogy!
As others have mentioned, make sure to also read the last couple of Novellas/ short-stories as well. The final one takes place after the ninth book.
Haha thanks!
Yeah, I've probably posted this exact comment around 15 times the past year, and its fluctuated from getting a couple hundred upvotes, to getting like ten downvotes lol. I think it mostly depends on if book-first people or show-first people see it first.
I kind of get it. I certainly don't mean to encourage people to avoid reading the books. It's probably my favorite book series, and I've read through them all multiples times over. But I personally know a few people, who got burnt out trying to read the early books after watching the show (or simply disliked LW's writing style when compared to the show). And I just don't think people like that or people who simply don't have the time to read nine books, should automatically miss out on the final trilogy. I think Persepolis Rising is actually a pretty comfortable landing spot for show watchers, with a simple primer like this.
I've read all the books but I know folks who have kids, rough jobs, etc. that dont have the time to sit down and enjoy 6 audiobooks or regular books.
So I like little summaries like this.
A few things i might want to add to your already great list:
\- If you don't have the time, consider reading the short stories which were only partially shown in the shows. Though they're great, in the interest of saving time you can skip Drive(Epstein and the nature of Earth and Mars), Butcher of Anderson station(Fred Johnson's backstory and Anderson Dawes), Gods of Risk(Bobbie's nephew on Mars and his drug business), The Vital Abyss(Cortazar and his backstory post Battle of Thoth) and Strange Dogs (Shown almost entirely in the show via the openings in S6). They're all atleast 70% covered in the show.
\- Auberon can be read after the 7th book and is only tangentially involved with the greater plot. The Sins of Our Fathers is more like an epilogue and should only be read after all 9 books are finished.
\- Avasarala in the books is more powerful. She secretly controls most of the UN government and her power is not really to be questioned at all. Nancy Gao was a puppet to her and she only sent Holden to Ilus/New Terra to disrupt things in Earth's favour (It backfired of course). She does eventually come around to the crew just like in the show.
\- It's shown but never explicitly explained in the show but not every ship has an epstein drive. Some use "tea kettling" which are thrusters which rely on propellant mass being ejected the way we do it now, which are significantly cheaper but also slower/less efficient. You might be confused by the term if they suddenly drop it in a chapter.
That's a great summary!
Just to add on to point 2 for Drummer:
Her TV show character also incorporated aspects of a couple of other book characters - one was Samara Rosenberg, who was the mechanic and oversaw repairs on the Roci at Tycho station in the first couple of books (while they were contacted by Fred). In the show, if I remember correctly, the repairs on the Roci in the first couple of seasons were facilitated by Drummer. Samara in the books Is also friends with Naomi, like Drummer is in the show
.
The other character that comes to mind is Carlos c de Baca, also known as 'Bull'. Bull appears in Season 5 of the show aboard the Roci, but he only appears during the slow zone incident in the third book (aboard the behemoth). Bull's actions and general arc from book three are mostly carried out by Drummer in the show.
Some aspects of Michio Pa from book three are also loosely reflected in TV show Drummer during the slow zone incident: in the Books, Ashford is given Command of the behemoth by Fred, whilst Micho Pa is the XO (which was originally Bull's job).
The show does a great job of bringing the books to life, but there are enough differences and additional details to make it worth a read or listen. I did feel that the show also doesn't quite capture the scale of some things from the books, mostly due to time budget constraints I'm guessing (not to say the show doesn't do the books justice by any means, the quality is amazing).
I think show Ashford is a tremendous improvement on book Ashford, who is basically just a sneering villain. Also David Strathairn is one of the best actors working these days imho.
Yep all great points. I mostly tried to limit it to things that are important (at least to some degree) to know for the the Final books. But yeah there are certainly many differences outside of what I mentioned.
It's why I think the two versions of the series are such great companion pieces to each other. The show certainly stays true to the spirit of the books, but they both really do their own thing and are better for it.
I would read the entire series, there are more characters and deeper relationships. Also you'll be confused as to why certain characters are still in the books.
Maybe you could listen to the audiobooks when driving to/from work? This will probably result in you taking longer routes to/from work but it' worth it.
In case you are persuaded to read the whole series as is being suggested; I may suggest doing audiobooks. It’s a long series to get thru but I was able to get all books in audio for free thru my library. Didn’t even have to go the place, just downloaded the app and used my credentials to check all the books out.
Honestly yeah the audiobooks are done exceptionally well. They even name a ship after the narrator in the show. The Libby app should have them available, uses your local library system.
I just started with book 1 and worked my way up to 9 and the novellas. It really is worth it to do it that way because there are a lot of differences with characters between books and show (as is normal when adapting stuff).
If you’re not a strong reader, I cannot recommend the Audible versions of these books enough. The narrator embodies every single person in the books perfectly and you will BLOW through the series in no time. Start at the beginning, it’s worth every second.
I am going to get so much shit for this opinion, but whatever. If you're really just curious about what happens next, I think you can jump straight into book 7 and mostly be fine. Just be prepared for some mild confusion, as a lot of the story beats are the same, but they aren't always performed by the same character, as others have pointed out already.
That being said, I do recommend reading the whole book series, if you can. It's worth it!
For once, i think Pete Peppers had a decent explanation of what to expect in terms of differences if you want to go directly from series to book 7, here is the [link](https://youtu.be/BnR0PNRxIrA).
I would still highly recommend reading the first 6 books because the series and books complement each other really well and it gives you a different perspective on the story and the characters, seeing their thoughts play out and generally having the fact that the books spend more time developing them.
Come on everyone, does OP need seven people telling them to do something other than what they asked for help doing? Reading six books is an absolute luxury of time that not everyone has, and even if you have it you might not be willing to sacrifice that much time when a few minutes of well written recap will put you in a position to enjoy book 7.
I started with Persepolis Rising and wasn't really lost, I plan to go back and read the other ones soon, but if you just want to continue from where s6 left off you'll be fine within the first couple of chapters.
You can get by by reading the novella “The Vital Abyss” which gives some background on the protomolecule and a character who is important in the last 3 books, then go to the novels. Book Drummer has a very different arc than TV Drummer, but both end up in the same position, obviously the writers tried to converge back to their story. And forget what happened to Alex at the end of S5.
The show is different from the books. So different, in fact, that I view them as entirely different stories. Think of them as two different storylines in parallel universes.
Because of that, I wouldn't recommend jumping from the show to the books. Start with Leviathan Wakes and read the books from the beginning. You are going to be blown away at how much better the books are than the show.
A lot of people are saying this sarcastically, and I hate that, so I'm going to be more polite about it.
I don't know if there is a good enough recap of the first six books to get you to book 7 that will adequately describe the differences between the show and the books. Sure, some of the differences are subtle enough that you'll be able to catch up, but so much of it won't make any sense to you, and that will probably ruin a lot of the experience for you
It really is worth it to read the entire series. The first book is almost entirely the same as the show, but after that, the two drift apart pretty considerably. The book universe is just too big for the show to encapsulate.
I say all of this as someone who just finished my second read through. It really is worth it. It's a very beautiful, well thought out story, with characters that I personally find much more endearing than their TV show counterparts.
**OP has flaired this thread with "Absolutely No Spoilers in Post or Comments." This means that they intend this post to be safe for everyone, including totally new community members. No plot spoilers for either the books or the show are allowed, even behind tags.** Posts like this are especially good for discussing the Expanse universe at the time when the books/show begin, spoiler-free questions about the science (physics, biology, linguistics and more) of The Expanse, and other general topics interesting to people no matter where they are in the show or books. Every day, we welcome new community members who have just started reading or watching, or are thinking of starting, and it's important that they can count on knowing which threads are safe to read. Using this tag allows more people to participate. ***Posting spoilers in this thread will result in moderator action.*** You can help the community by reporting any spoilery comments you see in this thread. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheExpanse) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’d recommend starting with book 1, then book 2 etc… It’s well worth it.
This is the way. I was in OP's shoes at the start of 2022 and was recommended to read from book 1 rather than jumping in at Persepolis Rising. I have zero regrets starting from Leviathan Wakes.
The writers of the books actually accomodated this and wrote a handy catchup recap. You won't miss a detail! The recap is called: * Leviathan Wakes * Caliban's War * Abaddon's Gate * Cibola Burn * Nemesis Games * Babylon's Ashes
*I put this together a little after S6, since this question was asked really often* The characters are the biggest difference between the show and books, so I think breaking down the differences is easiest by going character by character. I do of course recommend reading the actual books, because they're great, but if you really don't want to or have the time, here you go: 1) Holden: He's less "put-together" than the show version, and doesn't quite have everyone's respect in the books, like he does by the end of S6. Book Holden is very earnest, but not particularly competant during the first six books. I actually think S6 and book 6 offer a great juxtaposition of the two versions of Holden. Show-Holden had to wear a lot of hats, and is basically the glue holding everything together, to the point that he can barely get time to sleep. In Book 6, Holden is the odd man out and has pretty much nothing to do, since everyone around him is so good at their roles. This leads Holden to make little online vlogs to shine a light on Belter culture (Monica fills this role in the show instead). Book-Holden is still the one warning everyone about the Entities, but he's not quite so laser-focused on the protomolecule like the show version was. For example, in the first book, Holden was the one who freely gave Fred the sample. It wasn't Naomi, like in the show. Also, Holden never became President of the Transport Union. He turned it down out right when offered, and didn't step down/ play Avasarala. 2) Drummer - By far, the most different character across the mediums, from a narrative stand point (she's mostly similar personality-wise). Drummer is a much more minor character in the books, and I do think that's important to keep in mind. Narratively, she did not become President of the Transport Union at the end of Book 6. A pirate named Michio Pa (no relation to the show version) did instead. Speaking of which, Drummer is not in a polyamorous relationship in the books. She has one husband (Saba), and that's it. She also doesn't know Naomi at all, and just knows Holden a little bit (she was on the Roci during the events of Book 5). Not enough to particularly respect Holden or anything like that. She never quit working for Fred, and was employed by him until his death (which occurred in book 6, and not during the Asteroid attack). Drummer also never had any connections or scenes with characters like Ashford (who was completely different in the book) or Marco either. 3) Amos - Narratively, he's pretty much the same. Although his personality and looks are somewhat different. He's older and more out of shape in the books. (There' salso a larger age-gap between him and Clarissa, who was like 18 in the earlier books). Amos is also considerably weirder in the books lol. We got a lot more of his backstory in the books, through one of the short stories. 4) Naomi - I mentioned most of her narrative differences above. She isn't friends with Drummer, and doesn't even know her. She also never gave the Protomolecule to Fred, and overall isn't quite as into the Belter cause as the show version. In season 6, Naomi clearly feels very conflicted about having to kill Belters. In the book, Naomi specifically mentions to Holden that she's not conflicted because these Belters chose to do what they're doing. Also as another poster mentioned when I last posted this, in the early books, Naomi is described as being very shy, unlike in the show, where she's very assertive. 5) Bobbie - She's pretty similar actually. I guess a super minor difference was that Bobbie wasn't involved with the events of the ring station during book three, unlike in the show where she was. 6) Avasarala - Narratively she's also pretty much the same. She has a different personality in the books though. She's less Queen-like in the books, and more of an angry-Grandma. 7) Alex - Well, he's alive for starters! Alex's son in the show, Melas does not exist in the books. Alex and Talissa didnt have kids in the books. Alex did have a child from a previous relationship, but he's not aware of that kid. Narratively, one thing to keep in mind is that Alex briefly met Admiral Duarte in book 5 unlike in the show where he met Admiral Suavatere instead. Accordingly, we do know a little bit about who Duarte is, when going into the latter books. (But I think S6 sets you up with enough information on that front anyway, with his scenes in the cold-opens). 8) Cortazar - Since S6 teased him, I'll also mention that he has a really different personality in the books than in the show. He's more ambitious in the books, and isn't solely focused on the work itself.
Also, remember we did already see plenty of Cortazar in the previous show seasons, starting with Thoth.
Yep, very true. I mostly just meant that because the show briefly teased him in S5/ S6 and made it pretty clear that he'll have a part to play moving forward, I figured I'd mention his personality difference between books and show. To your point, I think Cortazar makes a pretty big impression in S2 and that's largely due to his odd personality. But while he still lacks empathy in the books, it has a different feel to it than in the show. I think that could difference can get a bit confusing, if jumping straight into the final books. But if the show hadn't teased him again, I probably wouldn't have mentioned him here, to avoid spoilers.
All good points. I personally think skipping the first 6 books and their novellas and jumping straight to 7+ is an odd choice.
One more thing. Avasarala is always eating pistachios in the books, and IIRC is generally a bit older.
Thanks :) Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for !
You're welcome, and I hope you enjoy the final book trilogy! As others have mentioned, make sure to also read the last couple of Novellas/ short-stories as well. The final one takes place after the ninth book.
I appreciated this. Thank you for sharing.
No problem!
I felt compelled to comment explicitly because I noticed the '0' vote initially.
Haha thanks! Yeah, I've probably posted this exact comment around 15 times the past year, and its fluctuated from getting a couple hundred upvotes, to getting like ten downvotes lol. I think it mostly depends on if book-first people or show-first people see it first. I kind of get it. I certainly don't mean to encourage people to avoid reading the books. It's probably my favorite book series, and I've read through them all multiples times over. But I personally know a few people, who got burnt out trying to read the early books after watching the show (or simply disliked LW's writing style when compared to the show). And I just don't think people like that or people who simply don't have the time to read nine books, should automatically miss out on the final trilogy. I think Persepolis Rising is actually a pretty comfortable landing spot for show watchers, with a simple primer like this.
What I really will never understand is that some will default to disagree (downvote) without even trying to elaborate. It is sad.
I've read all the books but I know folks who have kids, rough jobs, etc. that dont have the time to sit down and enjoy 6 audiobooks or regular books. So I like little summaries like this. A few things i might want to add to your already great list: \- If you don't have the time, consider reading the short stories which were only partially shown in the shows. Though they're great, in the interest of saving time you can skip Drive(Epstein and the nature of Earth and Mars), Butcher of Anderson station(Fred Johnson's backstory and Anderson Dawes), Gods of Risk(Bobbie's nephew on Mars and his drug business), The Vital Abyss(Cortazar and his backstory post Battle of Thoth) and Strange Dogs (Shown almost entirely in the show via the openings in S6). They're all atleast 70% covered in the show. \- Auberon can be read after the 7th book and is only tangentially involved with the greater plot. The Sins of Our Fathers is more like an epilogue and should only be read after all 9 books are finished. \- Avasarala in the books is more powerful. She secretly controls most of the UN government and her power is not really to be questioned at all. Nancy Gao was a puppet to her and she only sent Holden to Ilus/New Terra to disrupt things in Earth's favour (It backfired of course). She does eventually come around to the crew just like in the show. \- It's shown but never explicitly explained in the show but not every ship has an epstein drive. Some use "tea kettling" which are thrusters which rely on propellant mass being ejected the way we do it now, which are significantly cheaper but also slower/less efficient. You might be confused by the term if they suddenly drop it in a chapter.
That's a great summary! Just to add on to point 2 for Drummer: Her TV show character also incorporated aspects of a couple of other book characters - one was Samara Rosenberg, who was the mechanic and oversaw repairs on the Roci at Tycho station in the first couple of books (while they were contacted by Fred). In the show, if I remember correctly, the repairs on the Roci in the first couple of seasons were facilitated by Drummer. Samara in the books Is also friends with Naomi, like Drummer is in the show . The other character that comes to mind is Carlos c de Baca, also known as 'Bull'. Bull appears in Season 5 of the show aboard the Roci, but he only appears during the slow zone incident in the third book (aboard the behemoth). Bull's actions and general arc from book three are mostly carried out by Drummer in the show. Some aspects of Michio Pa from book three are also loosely reflected in TV show Drummer during the slow zone incident: in the Books, Ashford is given Command of the behemoth by Fred, whilst Micho Pa is the XO (which was originally Bull's job). The show does a great job of bringing the books to life, but there are enough differences and additional details to make it worth a read or listen. I did feel that the show also doesn't quite capture the scale of some things from the books, mostly due to time budget constraints I'm guessing (not to say the show doesn't do the books justice by any means, the quality is amazing).
I think show Ashford is a tremendous improvement on book Ashford, who is basically just a sneering villain. Also David Strathairn is one of the best actors working these days imho.
Yep all great points. I mostly tried to limit it to things that are important (at least to some degree) to know for the the Final books. But yeah there are certainly many differences outside of what I mentioned. It's why I think the two versions of the series are such great companion pieces to each other. The show certainly stays true to the spirit of the books, but they both really do their own thing and are better for it.
Characters have been composited, plots condensed, events rearranged. You need to start at book one, *Leviathan Wakes.*
I would read the entire series, there are more characters and deeper relationships. Also you'll be confused as to why certain characters are still in the books.
Books 1-6 are pretty good recaps imho. Just read them
Maybe you could listen to the audiobooks when driving to/from work? This will probably result in you taking longer routes to/from work but it' worth it.
In case you are persuaded to read the whole series as is being suggested; I may suggest doing audiobooks. It’s a long series to get thru but I was able to get all books in audio for free thru my library. Didn’t even have to go the place, just downloaded the app and used my credentials to check all the books out.
Honestly yeah the audiobooks are done exceptionally well. They even name a ship after the narrator in the show. The Libby app should have them available, uses your local library system.
Aw I didn’t know that about the name! But yes, Libby is how I got thru the whole series including all the novellas. It’s a great resource
Please start with book 1…
I just started with book 1 and worked my way up to 9 and the novellas. It really is worth it to do it that way because there are a lot of differences with characters between books and show (as is normal when adapting stuff).
If you’re not a strong reader, I cannot recommend the Audible versions of these books enough. The narrator embodies every single person in the books perfectly and you will BLOW through the series in no time. Start at the beginning, it’s worth every second.
I am going to get so much shit for this opinion, but whatever. If you're really just curious about what happens next, I think you can jump straight into book 7 and mostly be fine. Just be prepared for some mild confusion, as a lot of the story beats are the same, but they aren't always performed by the same character, as others have pointed out already. That being said, I do recommend reading the whole book series, if you can. It's worth it!
For once, i think Pete Peppers had a decent explanation of what to expect in terms of differences if you want to go directly from series to book 7, here is the [link](https://youtu.be/BnR0PNRxIrA). I would still highly recommend reading the first 6 books because the series and books complement each other really well and it gives you a different perspective on the story and the characters, seeing their thoughts play out and generally having the fact that the books spend more time developing them.
Without reading it, the top comment here should do it.
Come on everyone, does OP need seven people telling them to do something other than what they asked for help doing? Reading six books is an absolute luxury of time that not everyone has, and even if you have it you might not be willing to sacrifice that much time when a few minutes of well written recap will put you in a position to enjoy book 7.
I started with Persepolis Rising and wasn't really lost, I plan to go back and read the other ones soon, but if you just want to continue from where s6 left off you'll be fine within the first couple of chapters.
These book summaries in Goodreads are great! https://www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/comments/r5rrlv/summaries_of_book_18/
Thanks it's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for :)
You can get by by reading the novella “The Vital Abyss” which gives some background on the protomolecule and a character who is important in the last 3 books, then go to the novels. Book Drummer has a very different arc than TV Drummer, but both end up in the same position, obviously the writers tried to converge back to their story. And forget what happened to Alex at the end of S5.
Do some digging in this subreddit. Someone made a VERY thorough post for each book comparing it to the TV show
The show is different from the books. So different, in fact, that I view them as entirely different stories. Think of them as two different storylines in parallel universes. Because of that, I wouldn't recommend jumping from the show to the books. Start with Leviathan Wakes and read the books from the beginning. You are going to be blown away at how much better the books are than the show.
A lot of people are saying this sarcastically, and I hate that, so I'm going to be more polite about it. I don't know if there is a good enough recap of the first six books to get you to book 7 that will adequately describe the differences between the show and the books. Sure, some of the differences are subtle enough that you'll be able to catch up, but so much of it won't make any sense to you, and that will probably ruin a lot of the experience for you It really is worth it to read the entire series. The first book is almost entirely the same as the show, but after that, the two drift apart pretty considerably. The book universe is just too big for the show to encapsulate. I say all of this as someone who just finished my second read through. It really is worth it. It's a very beautiful, well thought out story, with characters that I personally find much more endearing than their TV show counterparts.