If you seek science fiction on a truly grand scale, then put on your spacesuit and launch into “The Expanse.” Although this bold series has wowed audiences since 2015, it acquired new life in December 2019 when Amazon Prime began streaming it. This is an interplanetary adventure that is well worth the ride.

In a politically tense distant future, human colonies on Mars and a scattered group of settlements centered on the Asteroid Belt have become separate civilizations competing with the Earth. While the gruff policeman Joe Miller searches for a mysterious activist named Julie Mao, the ragtag crew of the ship Rocinante battle struggle to prevent a war between Earth and Mars.

“The Expanse” is an ambitious, thought-provoking series that tells a stirring story with sometimes stunning cinematography. While it takes some time to figure out all the players in this complex thriller, it is worth the effort: this narrative’s throbbing political and personal tensions make for excellent drama. The show is especially strong in presenting class conflict. The workers collectively known as Belters stand out from the well-fed Earthers and Martians by speaking in distinctive accents and by showing physiological defects produced by generations spent in low gravity.