The Captive’s War TV show, by The Expanse’s creators, has a problem to overcome, and the solution would mean a controversial change to the books. The Captive’s War, based on the titular series by S.A. Corey (the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), is The Expanse creator’s next show on Prime, and they’ve brought back the same creative team. If done well, it could compete with The Expanse. However, adapting the book and garnering an audience could be a struggle.
The first book in The Captive’s War series is The Mercy of Gods, and one of the biggest complaints readers had was that it was difficult to get into because the story is painfully slow-burning. Many reviewers said they DNFed the book for this reason. This could be a major issue for the show.
Viewers have short attention spans, so they’ll need something to hook them. Plus, Prime and the creative team will likely count on The Expanse fans to come over to the new show. They might not stick with it, since The Mercy of Gods is drastically slower than the previous series. Luckily, there are ways to handle this.
The Captive’s War TV Show Should Start With Livesuit, Not The Mercy Of Gods
The TV version of The Captive’s War needs to fix the pacing issue, and there are two prime options. Firstly, they could start the story in the middle and then jump back in time to the beginning. Alternatively, they could make a controversial change by opening the TV show with Livesuit
I think the latter option makes sense not only because of Livesuit’s chronological placement but also because of the pacing and scope. It also feels like a fantastic prelude to The Mercy of Gods.
Livesuit Seems To Take Place Before The Mercy Of Gods
The novella Livesuit doesn’t directly confirm where it’s placed in the timeline, but it drops major hints that it is set centuries or thousands of years before The Mercy of Gods instead of after.
The way Livesuit describes the war and their enemies makes it feel very early on. They know almost nothing about the Carryx, which wouldn’t likely be the case after the war, since the Carryx have been colonizing for so long. Meanwhile, The Mercy of Gods describes the war as having been ongoing for so long and nearing its end.
In Livesuit, Kirin also says his dropship came from before the war, when humans were fighting humans, which would make more sense early in the timeline. The Carryx’s technology is significantly more advanced in The Mercy of Gods. If this understanding of the timeline is correct, it would make narrative sense to introduce Livesuit before The Mercy of Gods in the TV show.
Livesuit Would Give The Captive’s War A Much More Cinematic Feeling
The final reason that I think starting with Livesuit instead of The Mercy of Gods is a good idea is that the novella has a more cinematic feeling, while the novel feels more literary. If it started with the grander scope and captivating action, viewers might be more willing to wait it out through the slower, more contemplative starts of the story. It’s a balancing act.
Ultimately, this is just one possible way they can address the pacing problem when bringing The Captive’s War to the screen. While I think starting with Livesuit would be great, I trust the creative team to make a great TV show either way, since they did so well with The Expanse.
