SyFy has ordered a 10-episode adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s space opera novel Leviathan Wakes, which will be titled The Expanse. The novel, which was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award Best SF Novel in 2012, has been praised by both Annalee Newitz and Jo Walton, and described by George R.R. Martin as a “really kick-ass space opera.” Appropriately, The Expanse is being billed as “Game of Thrones in space.”

According to the network, the series will follow “the case of a missing young woman who brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain together in a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.” The series will be written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, whose previous credits include the first Iron Man and Children of Men, for which they received an Academy Award nomination.

Syfy’s president Dave Howe, said: “The Expanse is epic in scale and scope and promises to be Syfy’s most ambitious series to date… [it] joins a killer line-up of high-concept, high quality series, along with recently announced original projects Ascension, 12 Monkeys, the renewal of Helix, and the soon to premiere Dominion.”

So, what do we all think? Will SyFy do the series justice? Who’s your dream casting for Jim Holden and Det. Miller?

Leviathan Wakes art by Daniel Dociu. Larger versions and wallpaper for your device are available at Orbit Books.