Comments on: The Expanse: Mormons in Space

By: Nathaniel Givens

Nathaniel Givens — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:51:43 +0000

Yes! I was shocked to see a huge, golden Angel Moroni statue in space. Probably my favorite fictional Mormon-related image of all time. It was great. And I was also really impressed with the conversation between Jim and Miller on the flight. I'm always kind of leery of potrarying Mormons just as missionaries (we have other aspects), but I can hardly argue it's not realistic and, as you said, the conversation was actually refreshing in that Jim was shown as devout without being either incredibly obnoxious or obtuse. I also really do hope that the show is kinder to Mormons than then book was, but if it sticks straight to the text that won't be too bad. But I'm still hoping for better.

By: Brother Young

Brother Young — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:47:41 +0000

Watched the show that panned over a HUGE statue of Moroni attached? to the LDSS Nauvoo…very prominent and very striking…especially on my 55 inch HDTV. I thought the scene with Jim on the transport to Ceres talking with an older missionary? to be quite refreshing. No real put-downs on LDS members or the church in general, and an almost friendly testimony reception by Jim, who doesn’t exactly strike me as a receptive audience to a missionary message. The books don’t lend us any hope of continued church exposure, but it seems that the show may include more than the written media has, as the production quality is quite high regarding truthful depictions of the church and positive visual cues. One strange thing that bothers me is ‘what does this LDS inclusion in sci/fi futuristic storytelling say about the “Latter-days” and prophesy regarding Christ’s return?’ This has always been a head scratcher for me…sort of a back-handed compliment of sorts regarding enduring to the end and “just where is the end?” On a space station? Ceres? OPA/LDS connections? Perhaps I’m just a bit wary about being set up to take a nasty plot twist of negative church exposure, after being lulled into thinking they actually like us.

By: Wm

Wm — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 19:59:48 +0000

The authors do have some Mormon friends that they run their work by. Although I don’t know if that extends to the television series. I was disappointed with the Fred Johnson conversation. I think that could have accomplished the same thing while making the Mormon Elder come across as more politically savvy and capable.

And I do believe that the Mormons (or at least their ship–but I think both) will be making a re-appearance in the later books.

By: Norm

Norm — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 14:44:32 +0000

This article seems to endorse the book and the TV series (which I’ve never seen). I only got as far as the first chapter of Leviathan Awakes and was put off by the crude language. Otherwise it looked like it could have been a good read.

By: Eric James Stone

Eric James Stone — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 20:32:35 +0000

Arthur C. Clarke had a few LDS references in his work:
http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_lds.html#Clarke

By: Clark Goble

Clark Goble — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 18:53:30 +0000

Cameron, I honestly don’t recall Clarke mentioning us. Although I’ve never really been a fan of his writing. I knew Heinlein mentioned Mormons a lot in his earlier works (prior to 70’s and 80’s). But again I’ve never really enjoyed Heinlein. (I know – heresy)

Ivan I’ll check those out.

By: Nathaniel Givens

Nathaniel Givens — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 16:33:42 +0000

Watched episode 5 last night.

No Mormon sightings.

The episode was pretty good, btw, but kind of slow. This is the kind of show that I would gobble up if it was on Netflix, but I’m not sure if I’ll really make time out of my day to watch it once a week when the plot is developing at such a slow pace.

By: Ivan Wolfe

Ivan Wolfe — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 02:02:33 +0000

And Marny Parkins excellent bibliography is here:

“Bibliography of Mormon Speculative Fiction”

http://www.mormonsf.org/

By: Ivan Wolfe

Ivan Wolfe — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 02:00:06 +0000

“The history of Mormons in sci-fi is quite long and quite varied”

For anyone interested, a comprehensive, but not complete (and not updated very often) list resides here:

“Mainstream Science Fiction and Fantasy with Latter-day Saint (Mormon) Characters and References”

http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_lds.html

By: Tim Jones

Tim Jones — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 21:37:08 +0000

Heinlein mentioned Mormons quite a bit in his books in the 1950’s.

By: Clark Goble

Clark Goble — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 21:04:12 +0000

I’ve read of lots of Mormons in books, but I didn’t know there were other movies beyond that atrocious Starship Troopers. (I know a lot of people like it as satirical camp but I couldn’t stand it) Hopefully you do an other post on it.

By: Cameron N.

Cameron N. — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 20:56:39 +0000

@Nathaniel, was Arthur C. Clarke the first to take an interest in them? I remember it being weird when I read that in one of his books.

By: Eric James Stone

Eric James Stone — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 17:52:14 +0000

Thanks for sharing this. I haven’t gotten around to watching the series yet and I was wondering if and how they were handling the Mormon elements from the books.

By: Nathaniel Givens

Nathaniel Givens — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 17:25:24 +0000

Of course it’s not the first time Mormons were in space.

Not by a longshot! The history of Mormons in sci-fi is quite long and quite varied. :-)

By: Clark Goble

Clark Goble — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 17:23:47 +0000

Suspect the art director and maybe the producers got their ideas about Mormons from the musical and not by investigating terribly closely.

Of course it’s not the first time Mormons were in space. Remember the film version of Starship Troopers has a Mormon colony as one of the first planets destroyed in the war.