# Space Opera **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165 "2014-07-15T15:43:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/21 "2014-07-16T21:35:51Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Chris Nuttall’s [Ark Royal](http://www.amazon.com/Ark-Royal-Christopher-Nuttall-ebook/dp/B00HVKCMQC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405545234&sr=8-2&keywords=Ark+Royal)series are right on the money for what the OP is asking for, and very reasonably priced, too. All of Nuttall’s stuff is great, and most of it fits the bill quite admirably. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/22 "2014-07-16T23:07:12Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I’ve just started reading (after years of meaning to) Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan stories, and it’s been great so far. I didn’t expect it to be quite as funny as it is either, which is a nice bonus, but there’s darkness and heft in there too. There seems to be some debate about the preferred reading order, I started with the Young Miles stuff. > > Dunno if it qualifies as hard SF or not mind you, and it’s not really mil-porn, but worth your time I reckon. I was just going to recommend the Vorkosigan books. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/23 "2014-07-16T23:15:27Z")
Glen Cook’s Starfishers Trilogy ([Shadowline](http://www.amazon.com/Shadowline-Starfishers-Trilogy-Glen-Cook/dp/1597801674#), [Starfishers](http://www.amazon.com/Starfishers-The-Trilogy-Glen-Cook/dp/1597801682/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y), and [Star’s End](http://www.amazon.com/Stars-End-The-Starfishers-Trilogy/dp/1597801690/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y)) plus (in the same universe but earlier) [Passage at Arms](http://www.amazon.com/Passage-at-Arms-Glen-Cook/dp/1597801194/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_z). There’s also [The Dragon Never Sleeps](http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Never-Sleeps-Glen-Cook/dp/1597801488/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y). ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/24 "2014-07-16T23:17:13Z")
I enjoyed the [Into the Black](https://www.goodreads.com/series/79684-odyssey-one) series (so far…it’s up to book 4). There is also the [Lost Fleet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet) series, which is pretty classic scifi space opera. I haven’t enjoyed the second series so much, but the first one was pretty good. Classic space opera you might try the [RCN/Daniel Leary](http://david-drake.com/topic/03-rcn-series/) series (the later books weren’t as good though not terrible…If Honor Harrington is H. Hornblower, then Daniel Leary is probably Jack Aubrey). There is a relatively new series out (only 2 books so far) that I think is really good by H. Paul Honsinger [To Honor You Call Us](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18318651-to-honor-you-call-us) that I think is worth looking into. Also the [Star Force](https://www.goodreads.com/series/69279-star-force) series is not terrible…some of the books were actually enjoyable, though it’s kind of an odd series. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/25 "2014-07-17T15:59:58Z")
I liked the cheesy _The Helmsman Saga_ by Bill Baldwin. [link to title list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Baldwin#The_Helmsman_Saga) I also liked the _John Grimes Saga_ by Bertram Chandler. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/26 "2014-07-17T17:22:05Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Alastair Reynold’s stuff; in particular, the _Revelation Space_ series. Definitely hits the right notes for of both hard SF and space opera (grand space battles, ancient alien races, but also sublight speeds and tech that mostly doesn’t feel supernatural). -1 vote on that. All of the nano stuff is basically magic, not to mention the cryo engines, etc. It’s also a hopeless losing battle. I found “Pushing Ice” to be flawed but much less flawed than the Revelation Space books. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/27 "2014-07-17T18:33:21Z")
For big battles between fleets of starships, check out the [Honor Harrington series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorverse) books, created by David Weber. As the series goes on, the battles get bigger and bigger, and there is a fair amount of ‘plausible’ science thrown in with the fighting. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/28 "2014-07-17T19:44:55Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Very fond of Poul Anderson’s “Dominic Flandry” series. Try “Ensign Flandry” and, if you like it, you’ll probably like everything Anderson wrote. I was going to suggest him, including his David Falklyn stories. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/29 "2014-07-17T20:00:06Z")
Granted, the [Bolo books](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_(tank)#Books) are mostly about large land machines but several of the stories deal with bolos mounted to ships and involved in epic space battles. Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/30 "2014-07-17T20:03:30Z")
[In Conquest Born](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36158.In_Conquest_Born) And you’d probably like the [Culture](http://www.goodreads.com/series/49118-culture) books. Not really Space Opera but a lot of the elements are there. Use of Weapons in particular has some battles. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/31 "2014-07-17T21:46:12Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I was going to suggest him, including his David Falklyn stories. Those are fun! Nicholas Van Rijn is a wonderfully Falstaffian character. Bigger than life (physically as well as dramatically,) deucedly clever, and with an “accent” of sorts that puts Hercule Poirot right to shame. A great combination of hard science fiction, economic theory, rollicking adventure, and blunt comedy. In the books with Van Rijn, Falkayn is the “straight man.” In his own books and stories, he is a more conventional protagonist. Both are good! Anderson was a genius. (I got to meet him once at a convention. Charming man! Best manners of any pro sf writer ever!) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/32 "2014-07-17T22:00:51Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (I got to meet him once at a convention. Charming man! Best manners of any pro sf writer ever!) Cool! Che using a blast cannon strapped to Adzel’s back in a rescue of Falklyn is one of my favorite scenes. 🙂 And yes, there is an Imperial Navy as well as the League’s private navy, rather like the Honorable East India Company’s Bombay Marine, and space battles. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/33 "2014-07-18T09:56:51Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > -1 vote on that. All of the nano stuff is basically magic, not to mention the cryo engines, etc. It’s also a hopeless losing battle. I found “Pushing Ice” to be flawed but much less flawed than the Revelation Space books. To each their own–I liked them all. I agree that you are only going to get so far on the Mohs scale with space opera, but at least Reynolds mostly avoids things that outright contradict known physics. When the characters _do_ try to break physical law… bad things happen to them (FTL experiments, cryoarithmetic engines, etc.). Even the nanotech is in a pretty degraded state. I’d say the sublight, relativistic travel alone is enough to put the Reynolds books pretty far along the hard SF axis. Warp drives are “easy mode” for SF. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/34 "2014-07-18T14:59:32Z")
Yes, the sublight engines do make it potentially in the “hard SF” category. Except for the power source (in fact, all of the power sources are a bit mysterious). Oh and the messages from the future. But it’s true that most of my dislike for the books is based on the characters. It’s pretty rare that I flat out drop a book before finishing it, but I couldn’t even skim Absolution Gap. I’d say Revelation Space is mostly worth reading, except that it gets you invested in a bleak and nasty universe in which I was actually rooting for the “bad” guys to wipe out humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/35 "2014-07-18T19:37:58Z")
For space opera, try the Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/36 "2014-07-18T20:29:52Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > For space opera, try the Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison. IIRC the Stainless Steel Rat didn’t trade heavily in war and deep space battles. But for a hilarious parody of the early space operas featuring war and deep space battles, you can’t beat Harrison’s[Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Smashers_of_the_Galaxy_Rangers) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/37 "2014-07-18T21:32:32Z")
Fairly hard, but not rigid per most SF purist’s preferences. Some space opera elements (like the various Man-Kzin wars). I dunno. I just like Niven. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/38 "2014-07-18T23:45:10Z")
I just saw a new Joe Abercrombie in the book store today: **Half a King**. It’s the first of a new trilogy, “The Shattered Sea”. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/39 "2014-07-19T03:31:44Z")
Hmmm. Maybe James Schmitz’s [Agent of Vega and Other Stories](http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Other-Stories-James-Schmitz-ebook/dp/B00AP91QYK/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405740679&sr=1-15)? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165/40 "2014-07-19T07:52:17Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I’ve just started reading (after years of meaning to) Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan stories, and it’s been great so far. I didn’t expect it to be quite as funny as it is either, which is a nice bonus, but there’s darkness and heft in there too. There seems to be some debate about the preferred reading order, I started with the Young Miles stuff. > > Dunno if it qualifies as hard SF or not mind you, and it’s not really mil-porn, but worth your time I reckon. And the rest of the suggestions by everybody else in the thread =) However I popped in to mention that Baen Books has a [free library](https://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx) and any of their ebooks can be sampled for at least a couple chapters online [and as I recall, everything they publish in solid form they also put out in ebook form.] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-opera/693165.md?page=1)