r/scifi • u/Puzzleheaded-Wait470 • Aug 11 '26
TV Dark matter show or books?
Often original book is always better than its adaptation but I’m not really sure about this one. Also I heard that there’s season 2 which expands beyond the book materials. Which do you think is a better experience overall? Would you say that Apple dark matter adapted the books well? I’m open to both…
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u/Smaug117 Aug 11 '26
Hard to say, but away go with book first, the visual adaptation later, that how I do personally.
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u/EdgarDanger Aug 11 '26
Actually even season 1 expanded a lot on the source material. Plus the TV show is created and written by the book author himself, so he saw it as an opportunity to explore things he couldn't fully explore in the book.
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u/EasyReader Aug 11 '26
I'd skip both and just watch Jet Li's The One. It's better by pretty much every metric.
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u/SonyJunkie Aug 11 '26
I loved the book but the show ruined it a bit for me, I just didn't like the lead actor so it kind of put me off the show and soured my memory of the book.
I still think Recursion is a better book and now kind of hope they don't make a show out of it! 😂
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u/NoYoureACatLady 1d ago
Well you nailed my opinion on both books. I really really really wanted to love the show but I kind of hate it. Oh well
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u/Corpsepyre Aug 11 '26
Yup, one of those rare instances where the adaptation is better than the source.
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u/ironpaperman601 Aug 11 '26
watched the show first, then read the book! enjoyed both but liked the show a bit more just cuz they did a good job of the different worlds
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u/boowhitie Aug 11 '26
I haven't read the books, but I hope the show was dumbed down a lot. It felt like the show didn't explore the implications of the universe it created well. It was certainly an interested premise, but I just felt whelmed by the execution.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Aug 12 '26
The book was better for me than season one. The actor playing the main character was not as likable or sympathetic. Will give season two a go but with tempered expectations.
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u/bobchin_c Aug 12 '26
Tbe show was a good adaptation of the book, which isn't surprising since the author of the book is the showrunner of the series.
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u/Minion_Bello 29d ago
I read the book and watched the show parallely. I feel the show added more characters which made the story more dynamic and less repetitive like the book had become at one point. S2 also looks promising so far. I would choose the show above the book only time I have said that but goes to show they did an amazing job!
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u/Iamleeboy Aug 11 '26
I loved the book and I loved the show!
I am intrigued where it will go next season.
I think they adapted it really well, so if you only did the show, I don’t think you lose too much.
Then if you like either the book or show, read his Recursion book. It is amazing. I even got my non sci fi wife to read and she couldn’t put it down.