Still Looking for a Good Space Opera Series

[C.T. Phipps]

17 hours ago, Zorral said:

That's funny -- in library and information sciences there is no shelving category for 'space opera.'  None of the libraries in our system have special shelving for space opera either. The designation is marketing, not library science, though the metadata tags might include 'space opera.' 

A great deal of The Expanse is situated on space ships in space as well as colony stations in space, yet it isn't operatic, i.e. not a space opera, evidently.  

My GAWD if Dune isn't a space opera there is no such thing!      

Yes, really, Space Opera just means, "Science Fiction and Fantasy both."

The Expanse is kind of a subversion because it starts with a hard science(ish) setting that is basically invaded the same way the Mass Effect universe is by Reapers/Space Cthulhu and gradually becomes not too dissimilar to Warhammer 40K. Maybe Warhammer 3000 with people trying to be god emperors.

[Garlan the Gallant]

To me, the best space opera is the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Not a book, but excellent.

[Darth Richard II]

5 hours ago, Garlan the Gallant said:

To me, the best space opera is the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Not a book, but excellent.

I think that is based on a series of light novels, don’t know if they were ever translated though.

[Werthead]

Dune isn't a space opera because it doesn't take place in space. It takes place on a planet. Called Dune.

Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune are the first books in the series to have a lot of interplanetary flight and even some space battles, so certainly they would qualify as space operas.

The setting is a space opera (ish) setting, sure, but the individual book has to engage with the underlying principles of space opera, of which the #1 element is actually being set in space.

[Zorral]

So very, very wet.  Dune takes place on other planets too, and to get to them they go in space transports of various kinds.  

[Werthead]

4 hours ago, Zorral said:

So very, very wet.  Dune takes place on other planets too, and to get to them they go in space transports of various kinds.  

They never go above low orbit, and there's then no actual space travel. The whole "travelling without moving" thing? They basically teleport from one planet to the other. It's not until the Guild collapses and they revert back to a more primitive form of FTL (in Book 5 out of 6, no less) that we actually start getting some of the more standard space opera tropes in the series.

[C.T. Phipps]

While it's cheating, I do recommend two space opera series from the Star Trek: Novelverse.

STAR TREK: NEW FRONTIER by Peter David which is a series about a new crew investigating the collapse of a former dictatorship on Federation space. It's none of the "known species" that allows our writer to be able to do whatever he wants. I always felt this was a great series that mixed comedy and action with drama liberally. I read something like 20 books of it. https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-star-trek-new-frontier-series-proves-how-great-tie-1774592145

STAR TREK: VANGUARD by David Mack (and a few others) is a another "original" series that is about a space station that is being used by Starfleet to cover up their investigation of a Precursor species in a disputed region of space. It's some of the darkest Trek there is but also some of the most well-written and I think its well worth reading the entirety of the series. I also feel it benefits, again, from an entirely "new" cast and self-contained stories.

Book Reviews:

New Frontier Omnibus 1#

Star Trek Vanguard 1#

Star Trek Vanguard 3#

 

[Garlan the Gallant]

On 9/25/2019 at 1:42 PM, Darth Richard II said:

I think that is based on a series of light novels, don’t know if they were ever translated though.

I know they are being translated now. I wasn’t aware that the light novels came out prior to the original series.

[Ghjhero]

So as this year as gone on I have read much less sci-fi than I first intended to. Really only have read two books that qualify as sci-fi. The first was Children of Ruin, the sequel to Children of Time. Ruin was not a bad book by any means, but it was mostly a retelling of Time with a different cast of characters and not as good as Time overall either. Solid 4/5 stars.

The second sci-fi book I read this year was Revelation Space. It had a good premise and I had been looking forward to Reynolds series for some time, but I was quite disappointed. The man desperately needed an editor, the book could've easily been a hundred or so pages less. Many words were read that dragged the plot down and did little to advance it. His prose overall did not live up to his ideas and I sadly have no desire to continue reading his other books.

Not a sci-fi book, but I also read The Blade Itself. Good enough I suppose, but I found it to be simplistic and boring. Overall this was not a great year for sci-fi/fantasy for me. I'm a bit discouraged at the seeming lack of palatable options out there. I know not everything can be ASOIAF, Bakker or Tolkien, but it feels like the bottom drop after them is substantial. Planning to read Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy and Morgan's Altered Carbon series at some point, so we will see if they are better at all. Wouldn't mind reading Banks again, probably Use of Weapons, but I wasn't blown away by Player of Games either. Perhaps I'll read Asimov? Not sure just yet. Other than Children of Time, the last sci-fi book I really liked was Rendezvous with Rama and then KSR's Aurora before that.

End Rant/

[Werthead]

53 minutes ago, Ghjhero said:

The second sci-fi book I read this year was Revelation Space. It had a good premise and I had been looking forward to Reynolds series for some time, but I was quite disappointed. The man desperately needed an editor, the book could've easily been a hundred or so pages less. Many words were read that dragged the plot down and did little to advance it. His prose overall did not live up to his ideas and I sadly have no desire to continue reading his other books.

Revelation Space is a pretty weak book, and may be Reynolds' weakest published work. The second-published book in the series, Chasm City, is an immense improvement and is a stand-alone.

[unJon]

3 hours ago, Ghjhero said:

So as this year as gone on I have read much less sci-fi than I first intended to. Really only have read two books that qualify as sci-fi. The first was Children of Ruin, the sequel to Children of Time. Ruin was not a bad book by any means, but it was mostly a retelling of Time with a different cast of characters and not as good as Time overall either. Solid 4/5 stars.

The second sci-fi book I read this year was Revelation Space. It had a good premise and I had been looking forward to Reynolds series for some time, but I was quite disappointed. The man desperately needed an editor, the book could've easily been a hundred or so pages less. Many words were read that dragged the plot down and did little to advance it. His prose overall did not live up to his ideas and I sadly have no desire to continue reading his other books.

Not a sci-fi book, but I also read The Blade Itself. Good enough I suppose, but I found it to be simplistic and boring. Overall this was not a great year for sci-fi/fantasy for me. I'm a bit discouraged at the seeming lack of palatable options out there. I know not everything can be ASOIAF, Bakker or Tolkien, but it feels like the bottom drop after them is substantial. Planning to read Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy and Morgan's Altered Carbon series at some point, so we will see if they are better at all. Wouldn't mind reading Banks again, probably Use of Weapons, but I wasn't blown away by Player of Games either. Perhaps I'll read Asimov? Not sure just yet. Other than Children of Time, the last sci-fi book I really liked was Rendezvous with Rama and then KSR's Aurora before that.

End Rant/

Use of Weapons >> Player of Games

Before They Are Hanged >> The Blade Itself

Reynolds Series gets much better. And then it gets worse. YMMV. 

Altered Carbon the best book of Morgan’s SF. Haven’t read his fantasy. 

Try Ian MacDonald’s Luna series if the concept of The Godfather on the moon appeals to you. 

[Ghjhero]

19 hours ago, Werthead said:

Revelation Space is a pretty weak book, and may be Reynolds' weakest published work. The second-published book in the series, Chasm City, is an immense improvement and is a stand-alone.

Hmm that is interesting. My library does not have it, but maybe i'll read a few pages next time im at the bookstore if they have it and see if it catches my attention.

16 hours ago, unJon said:

Use of Weapons >> Player of Games

Before They Are Hanged >> The Blade Itself

Reynolds Series gets much better. And then it gets worse. YMMV. 

Altered Carbon the best book of Morgan’s SF. Haven’t read his fantasy. 

Try Ian MacDonald’s Luna series if the concept of The Godfather on the moon appeals to you. 

I think UoW will be on my list in short order, perhaps after Christmas. I'm ambivalent of The First Law right now, might return in a while not sure. Ok a second for Reynolds, i'll have to consider him again. I'll take a look at the Luna series for sure!

[Rhom]

On 12/15/2019 at 4:07 PM, Ghjhero said:

Hmm that is interesting. My library does not have it, but maybe i'll read a few pages next time im at the bookstore if they have it and see if it catches my attention.

I think UoW will be on my list in short order, perhaps after Christmas. I'm ambivalent of The First Law right now, might return in a while not sure. Ok a second for Reynolds, i'll have to consider him again. I'll take a look at the Luna series for sure!

FWIW The Blade Itself is by far the weakest of Abercrombie’s work.  The series really gets turned on it’s head during the second book and sticks the landing with the third.

[RedEyedGhost]

On 12/18/2019 at 5:31 PM, Rhom said:

FWIW The Blade Itself is by far the weakest of Abercrombie’s work.  The series really gets turned on it’s head during the second book and sticks the landing with the third.

Like The Lord of the Rings, The First Law feels like one book split up into three (very long) "books."  

[Wilbur]

Walter Jon Williams' Dread Empire's Fall series is pretty good.

• The Praxis (2002)
• The Sundering (2003)
• Conventions of War (2005)
• Investments (2008), novella
• Impersonations (2016)
• The Accidental War (2018)

I just started on The Accidental War, and it has some pretty funny commentary on the most recent banking crisis wrapped up in a galaxy-spanning war, with added space exploration and yacht racing.