NEW YORK COMIC CON—When The Expanse was announced by Syfy as a television program adapted from the book series (there were five in the series at the time), the news was met with some excitement, along with a dose of skepticism.

The Expanse has taken on humanity’s route to space in a gritty, dirty, primal story with nuanced, no-frills characters. The production uses massive practical sets and freshly invented languages. Show creator Mark Fergus and his crew knew the program was going to be something special when it hit Syfy in 2015. Indeed, Season one emerged as a phenomenon for Syfy, and season two is now one of the most highly anticipated program returns in 2017.

We sat down with Fergus, the core actors, and Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (who jointly penned the Hugo award winning book series under the name James S.A. Corey) at New York Comic Con to talk about the next season and how the series will follow and diverge from the books. Abraham said The Expanse was born from an RPG designed by Franck—Abraham was the only one in the group who thought they should write a book about the subject (another member of the group happened to be George R.R. Martin). They agreed that if Martin had decided to write the story, it would have become something entirely different.

The duo described the daunting task of adapting a book series into a TV show but also revealed that it’s a liberating experience to be able to play with time and other aspects of the story, such as when characters and relationships are introduced, and not strictly stick to the timeline of the books.

The group dropped some hints for season two, which will introduce one of the prominent characters in the book, Bobbie Draper (a Martian), who we wasn't developed until the end of the second book. She will be with the show from the start of season two. Steven Strait (who plays the ship’s reluctant leader Jim Holden) said that his character will continue his obsession with what the crew discovered. That crew will still be haunted by the events they witnessed on Eros. He used the analogy of Moby Dick’s “Ahab chasing the white whale,” an obsession that could lead to his doom.

Dominique Tipper, who plays engineer Naomi Nagata, said that her character will depart from the crew at some point and head off on her own, culminating in a “shocking ending” (and an improvised scene involving lasagna?). Wes Chatham, who plays her tough-and-distant companion Amos, will have to wrestle with his time without her. Alex, the pilot played by Cas Anvar, has the vital role of keeping this little rag-tag group together and growing beyond his initial isolation as a mere “ice trucker” when he was introduced. The character of Miller, played by Thomas Jane, has also become a member of the crew as its fifth, bringing all his flawed, noir baggage.

The sixth entry in The Expanse book series, Babylon’s Ashes, will be released on December 6, and the authors began working on book seven even as they worked on season two of the show. Trying to keep the storylines separate is a task best left up to the experts. The Expanse season two premieres on Syfy channel in January 2017.

Listing image by Jennifer Hahn