# Recommend me some space opera
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 28, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581 "2013-01-28T02:49:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/1 "2013-01-28T02:49:12Z")
Here’s what I’ve read:
Everything by Brin, Herbert, Simmons, PF Hamilton, Clarke, Asimov, Alastair Reynolds, SR Donaldson (Gap series – has he done any other science fiction?), James Hogan, Banks, Pohl, Niven, Niven-Pournelle (but not all of Pournelle)… uh, I’m sure there’s more.
Making my way through Stephen Baxter as we speak (just read Moonseed, now going to start Time Ships in the near future.) Greg Bear never did much for me, nor has Egan (though I’ll probably throw them in the stack in my next visit to Half-Priced Books.) I’ve also tackled Chalker’s _Well of Souls_ books, making it through 4-5 of them before boredom set in.
Doesn’t matter to me how “hard” the science is, or how recent. I prefer tales of interstellar civilizations - it’s the rare novel that’s set in a solar system that I like (the exceptions to this rule are Michael Flynn’s _Firestar_ series and Kim Stanley Robinson’s _Mars_ books.) But don’t let that deter you from making a suggestion if you think the book is worth a quick write-up/link.
Never cared for Bradbury, sorry. ☹
Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/2 "2013-01-28T02:59:24Z")
Have you tried David Weber’s Honor Harrison books?
---
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/3 "2013-01-28T03:00:57Z")
The one that leaps out as missing from your list is E.E. “Doc” Smith - the Lensman series.
---
### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/4 "2013-01-28T03:04:39Z")
Elizabeth Moon’s novels; primarily interstellar merchant and/or war novels. Also Anne McCaffrey’s Ship novels, but they probably take a while to ramp up to full space opera level stuff.
---
### Author:  [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/5 "2013-01-28T03:14:28Z")
I would recommend Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos. It’s made up of two pairs of books. _Hyperion_ and _The Fall of Hyperion_ tell one story. _Endymion_ and _The Rise of Endymion_ occur much later and tell a different, but closely related, story.
---
### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/6 "2013-01-28T03:18:20Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Have you tried David Weber’s Honor Harrison books?
Weber does a lot of military stuff, right? I’ve had the impression he’s a bit like Tom Clancy in space - a fair amount of words dedicated to weapons systems and military strategy.
Is this a fair assessment of the Harrington books?
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/7 "2013-01-28T03:51:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> The one that leaps out as missing from your list is E.E. “Doc” Smith - the Lensman series.
Practically invented the space-opera genre. (Which does not make the books worth reading – the style is excruciating.)
---
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/8 "2013-01-28T03:55:39Z")
I like Cherryh’s stuff. The _most_ consistently spacey and operatic of her space operas are likely [the Chanur novels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chanur_novels), probably followed by the “Company Wars” period of the [Alliance-Union](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh_bibliography#The_Alliance-Union_universe) universe.
The [Foreigner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreigner_universe) are mostly pretty good as well, but with a few exceptions more ground-bound and less spacey. Also a couple are pretty weak transition novels where much to everybody’s annoyance next to nothing happens. It’s pretty operatic though ;).
---
### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/9 "2013-01-28T03:56:02Z")
Michael Flynn’s Spiral Arm novels – the first two are _January Dancer_ and _Up Jim River_. There will be five when he’s finished.
Ditto the _Hyperion_ novels.
---
### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/10 "2013-01-28T04:10:56Z")
Do you have a Kindle or a Kindle app? There’s a lot of space opera science fiction available for download on Kindle for very low prices. A lot of it is horrible, but then so is a lot of everything and at least it’s cheap.
Here are a few from a writer you might like:
> **[Amazon.com: Birthright eBook : Partlow, Rick: Kindle Store](https://www.amazon.com/Birthright-Rick-Partlow-ebook/dp/B005FMBIKY)**
>
> Birthright - Kindle edition by Partlow, Rick. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Birthright.
> **[Amazon.com: Duty, Honor, Planet eBook : Partlow, Rick: Kindle Store](https://www.amazon.com/Duty-Honor-Planet-Rick-Partlow-ebook/dp/B005FD1YMU)**
>
> Duty, Honor, Planet - Kindle edition by Partlow, Rick. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Duty, Honor, Planet.
[http://www.amazon.com/Honor-Bound-Duty-Planet-ebook/dp/B00AUKUD16/ref=pd\_rhf\_gw\_p\_t\_3\_Z5AF](http://www.amazon.com/Honor-Bound-Duty-Planet-ebook/dp/B00AUKUD16/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_3_Z5AF)
---
### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/11 "2013-01-28T04:14:45Z")
I have a Nook color, no Kindle. Prefer paper, though, but all recommendations are welcome.
---
### Author:  [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/12 "2013-01-28T04:18:01Z")
If you can find them Edmund Hamilton’s _The Star Kings_ and its sequel _Return to the Stars_. Old school space opera, but fun.
---
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/13 "2013-01-28T04:55:01Z")
Or read Harry Harrison’s _Bill, the Galactic Hero_ for a good spoof of space opera and military sf.
---
### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/14 "2013-01-28T06:00:08Z")
[Lone Star Planet](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20121) by John Joseph McGuire and H. Beam Piper. It’s funny, too.
---
### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/15 "2013-01-28T09:17:42Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> I like Cherryh’s stuff. The _most_ consistently spacey and operatic of her space operas are likely [the Chanur novels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chanur_novels), probably followed by the “Company Wars” period of the [Alliance-Union](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh_bibliography#The_Alliance-Union_universe) universe.
>
> The [Foreigner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreigner_universe) are mostly pretty good as well, but with a few exceptions more ground-bound and less spacey. Also a couple are pretty weak transition novels where much to everybody’s annoyance next to nothing happens. It’s pretty operatic though ;).
An enthusiastic second. Her stuff is fantastic.
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Or read Harry Harrison’s _Bill, the Galactic Hero_ for a good spoof of space opera and military sf.
Another very funny parody of the genre is Harrison’s _Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers_. Suffice it to say they develop an interstellar drive by irradiating cheese.
Harrison is the king of sci-fi parody and comedy, IMO. Another of his series worth a read is _The Stainless Steel Rat_.
Keith Laumer’s _Retief_ series is another good choice. Retief is an intergalactic diplomat surrounded by a department of dunces.
Cordwainer Smith has wonderful stuff utterly like anybody else. His most approachable is probably _Norstrilia_.
How about Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, a reasonably quick read for a war that spans centuries?
Philip Jose Farmer penned a fantastic opening to a series on _River World_, called _To Your Scattered Bodies Go_. Be warned, however, that the series just gets worse and worse, to the point where I wondered Farmer was playing some kind of elaborate joke to jerk around his fans.
---
### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/16 "2013-01-28T09:22:20Z")
Ooh, I forgot the _Berserker_ universe by Fred Saberhagen. Composed of shorts stories and novels, it’s about an extended man vs machine war.
---
### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/17 "2013-01-28T09:29:50Z")
[The Sten Chronicles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sten_Chronicles) by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch. It has everything from sci-fi special forces stuff to battles between fleets of starships.
---
### Author:  [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/18 "2013-01-28T11:25:42Z")
Julian May’s [Saga of the Pliocene Exiles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga_of_Pliocene_Exile). Great character-driven sci-fi-on-the-edge-of-fantasy about an alien race and a bunch of human time travellers wrestling for control of Earth six million years in the past.
(there are also some prequel books concerning modern day Earth rebellion against a Galactic civilisation - they’re even more space-opera, but sadly occupy a similar position in her fiction to the Star Wars prequels in Lucas’s)
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/19 "2013-01-28T12:47:59Z")
Only one mention of Edward Elmer “Doc” Smith? He’s arguably THE author of Space Opera, with his Lensmen series and the Skylark series. A lot of people used to trace their love of SF and its “Sense of Wonder” to Smuith’s books. If you read them though, don’t read _Triplanetary_ first – it gives away the game.
**detop** ’s mention of Edmond Hamilton is spot-on, as he created many of the conventions of Space Opera, but it goes far beyond the works listed there. Read his Interstellar Patrol novels (_Crashing Suns, The Star Stealers, the Comet DRivers_, etc.) his Star Wolf series (made into an anime series), his Captain Future series (recently republished in hardcover. That’s the cover of Captain Future #1 you see on Leonard and Sheldon’s wall in _Big Bang Theory_). Hamilton went on to write for DC comics, and recycled siome of his plots for Superman and other books.
Jack Williamson’s _Legion of Space_ series is definitely Space Opera (and probably inspired the comic book Green Lantern Corps) – _The Legion of Space, The Cometeers, One Against the Legion_.
---
### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581/20 "2013-01-28T12:58:20Z")
Honor Harrington is Horatio Hornblower in space, if that helps give you an idea of what it’s like.
And I’ll enthusiastically join in the EE “Doc” Smith love. True, his stuff hasn’t aged well - it REALLY hasn’t aged well - but that’s half the fun. I mean, come on, who can’t love a book where the spaceship navigator whips out his slide rule? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-space-opera/648581.md?page=2)