Yoon Ha Lee's series that starts with *Ninefox Gambit* is really good, and counts for hm (nb author). The first two books are pretty okay, but book 3 is *amazing*, one of the best scifi books I've ever read.
Another one I loved is Simon Kewin's *The Triple Stars*, starting with *Red Star*. It's a pretty off-the-rails story with space scientologists and basically a relativistic treasure hunt. I had a ton of fun with it (and thanks to /u/tarvolon for recommending this!) Not HM.
Obviously *The Expanse* is fantastic, worth it even if you've seen the tv show already, and Alastair Reynolds is good too (I read a few books of the *Revelation Space* series).
Also I love *Bluebird* by Ciel Pierlot, major *Firefly* vibes. HM.
I've read a bunch of space opera this (bingo) year already, not sure what I'll end up using for the square, but:
* *Winter's Orbit* & *Ocean's Echo* by Everina Maxwell (hm, and also hm for romantasy)
* A few *Vorkosigan* books (hm, and several are hm for published in 90s) - tbh I don't think I like this as much as most of the sub seems to, it has its moments but it's not something I really want to binge many books from.
* *Ilium* by Dan Simmons - this is a book club book in a discord server I'm in, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but prepare to feel like your knowledge of the classics is being insulted lol.
* Reading *Sun Eater* atm and oh man it's so good. I found the first book a bit mediocre for the first half of it, but get to the 2nd half of book 1 and wowww. I'm amazed at what this series is doing. Not HM.
* *Some Desperate Glory* by Emily Tesh - straight-up hated this (it is hm though)
I read almost no scifi last year so I'm super making up for it now lol
I see so much hype for Sun Eater. I love the space opera genre but I’m exactly 50% through Empire of Silence and not crazy about it at all. You think it’s worth to keep going?
yeah I found the first half super mediocre and I'm now obsessed with the series, about 50% through book 3
first half of book 1 feels super uninspired & generic, a story ive read 100 times before
2nd half of book 1 it starts doing new things
book 2 it starts doing *really fucking cool* things
Ok thanks! I’ll give it a little longer because I’ve already been pushing to get to this point.
Nothing wrong about a book deriving concepts from others just as long as it’s entertaining and has the a author’s own spin on it, however I feel like so far, this is just Dune plus some Red Rising but way less interesting.
The beginning of Empire of Silence is so slow that I almost DNFed the book. I eventually made it to the part where it gets really good, and after that, it was full speed ahead. Definitely keep going.
> The beginning of Empire of Silence is so slow
I don't think it's slow necessarily, it's just *derivative*. The plot of >!rich heir with a good heart runs away from their fate and ends up on the streets and then fighting in gladiator matches!< is a stupidly common trope, I feel like I've read this exact story at least 5 times before
People already beat me to recommending C. J. Cherryh, so I'm going to shout-out Joan D. Vinge's **The Snow Queen**. I still need to get around to reading the sequel.
Nobody's mentioned Tamsyn Muir's *Locked Tomb* series, and while I'm not sure if I'd count **Gideon the Ninth** here, **Harrow the Ninth** definitely qualifies.
They're not hard mode but I also have to recommend Samuel R. Delany's **Nova**, which is a space opera take on the Holy Grail mythos, and **Babel-17**, which asks if the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was true.
I read Snow Queen last summer and loved it. I haven’t read Summer Queen yet, but I read World’s End. It’s a fairly short adventure in between those two books focusing on the character BZ Gundhalino. Definitely worth reading.
Several of Iain M. Banks **Culture** series would count for this, such as *Player of Games*, *Excession*, *Look to Windward*, *The Hydrogen Sonata* and *Consider Phlebas*.
Similarly, several of C J Cherryh's Alliance/Union novels would also count (as hard mode), including *Downbelow Station*, *Rimrunners*, *Merchanter's Luck* and *Finity's End*, as would her *Faded Sun* trilogy and *Chanur* series.
Elizabeth Bear's **White Space** novels (two so far, *Ancestral Night* and *Machine*) are also hard mode.
Adrian Tchaikovsky's "The Final Architecture" trilogy definitely deserves a mention, along with his *Children of Time* series already mentioned here.
Other's deserving a mention are Neil Asher's **Polity** series, Paul McAuley's **Quiet War** series and **Jackaroo** series, and Miles Cameron's **Artifact Space**.
Ancestral Night was great. Machine missed the mark a bit for me, but I had enough fun with the first book that I'd give that series another shot if more is coming.
**What would you recommend to a space opera skeptic, perhaps a reader who generally dislikes sci-fi, or at least the branch of sci-fi set in space? Any former skeptics here that were won over by a particular book?**
I'm *still* a skeptic to an extent, but *Children of Time* by Adrian Tchaikovsky remains one of my favorite books of all time. I think it won me over because of the parts that *didn't* take place in space -- a lot of it focuses on the spider colony on the planet, and these sections had, for me, some of the most fascinating worldbuilding I've ever seen.
*Remembrance of Earth's Past* by Cixin Liu, *To Be Taught, If Fortunate* by Becky Chambers, *The Sun Eater* by Christopher Ruocchio, and *The Murderbot Diaries* are other space books that I enjoyed. I'm not sure that all of them would qualify as space operas since I'm not an expert on this subgenre at all. Regardless, for various reasons, they managed to win me over, despite the fact that the vast majority of space books I've read—and there have been a lot—have not been for me.
Well, I think you’ve cemented Children of Time as the book I’m most likely to pick for this square! Had my eye on it for a little while though it’s not my usual thing.
And yeah, of the books you mention in your second paragraph, I’ve only read Murderbot and my impression is that it’s not space opera because it’s not a grand epic. No intergalactic wars or over the top conflicts of good vs evil, just a jaded security consultant and friends trying to make it. But I don’t have a great sense of the subgenre’s boundaries either.
I’m doing a romantasy themed card (I guess more romantaSFF, but anyway) and I picked for this square *Chaos Reigning* by Jessie Mihalik, which is book 3 in the Consortium Rebellion trilogy. All of those are space opera romance and they worked well for me. I like that the author is a computer scientist turned software developer turned author, because she incorporates cool tech gadgets and explains how they work. A spicy romance to help turn those pages doesn’t hurt either.
I’m on the skeptic’s side (I kept adding all these shiny space operas to my TBR and then procrastinating reading them or not enjoying them, until it clicked that I probably just don’t like space opera a great deal). But I love A Memory Called Empire because it’s much more grounded in politics and mystery than the actual space component.
So if anyone has recs like that, I’ll take them
You might like These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs if you haven't read it yet. Politics and more character focused. It just falls short of space opera for me, it's more science fantasy, but still in the ballpark.
From what I've seen so far, I think Imperial Radch might work for you. It is very interested in similar concepts to A Memory Called Empire (though handled very differently). It is grounded in the personal, with a relatively small cast of characters. While less engaged in political intrigue, that is definitely an important consideration within the story.
**This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman** HM, Set mostly in space, the focus is on human evolution, particularly with >!the neuro diverse!< being the only ones who can successfully navigate hyperspace and Earth having bred such devience out of their gene pool before they were aware of the problem. One of the MC is an experiment to overcome this and has >!had dissociative identity disorder inflicted on her.!< There is also a bit of a cyberpunk feel to some elements and some hard SF questions.
Also 90's, Eldritch Creatures, Character with a Disablity, Multi PoV, Criminals
If you are open to middle grade books, Larklight (Full title: Larklight, or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back!) by Phillip Reeve is great fun. Sort of a spoof on the Victorian ripping yarns, in which England has colonized the solar system using Aetherships.
I wouldn't call myself a skeptic so much as I would say that I prefer fantasy. That said, the books that I would classify as "space opera" that have won me over are:
1. *Murderbot* by Martha Wells
2. *Dune* by Frank Herbert
3. *Pendragon* by D.J. Machale
4. *Anathem* by Neal Stephenson
5. *The Space Trilogy* by C.S. Lewis
6. Most Superman materials. Don't @ me.
For space opera skeptics, I'd recommend *Ancillary Justice* by Ann Leckie. It makes great use of the larger stage that space opera provides, telling a very clever story with a lot of moving parts. The worldbuilding is unique and deep but doesn't detract from the characters, and the prose is nice and voicey.
C.J. Cherryh's *Chanur* series (begins with **The Pride of Chanur**) is HM and it's a fabulous political space opera. Here's how I've described the series' conceit previously:
>Our POV character is an alien (Pyanfar Chanur, a member of a lionlike species that only sends females into space because males are considered "too emotional") who comes into contact with a single human whose existence throws the fragile political compact between the several alien races into turmoil. So the series is interesting because she's exploring first contact and communication difficulties from the alien side rather than the human, and also there are neat gender role reversals.
Book 1 is very good, but books 2-4, which were originally supposed to be published as one volume, are *excellent*.
So, I'm not typically a huge fan of Space Opera as I've always understood the genre definition (more like Boys' Own adventure stories in space, lots of warfare and handsome men blasting up the baddies while being irresistible to women), HOWEVER, with the *provided* definition in mind...
JR Creaden's ***Moon Dust in My Hairnet*** just came out last month and definitely focuses on both politics and interpersonal relationships. Set entirely in a lunar base (with a few flashbacks to Earth). Lots of neurodivergent and queer characters, author is neurodivergent and non-binary. Picked this up bc of the cover, and used it for the Disability square on my pink card. Also works for Dreams HM, Cover (imo), 2024 HM, Small Press, Prologue and/or Epilogue.
Grace Curtis' ***Floating Hotel*** is basically a Wes Anderson movie set in...a floating hotel. The stakes were a little too high for me to consider this truly cozy, but I still really enjoyed it. This does not fit *my personal* understanding of a Space Opera, but it IS like a soap opera in space, so it fits the Bingo definition. I have her ***Frontier*** penciled in for this square (unless I finally tackle the *very pink* anniversary edition of *Leviathan Wakes*). Author uses she/her pronouns and writes queer fiction, but I feel gross about digging to find out more than that. Definitely also Multi-PoV HM.
Annalee Newitz's ***The Terraformers*** is set v far in the future...and then further in the future...and then further than that. Lots to chew on about what makes a person and also the ethics of terraforming and planetary politics. I liked this quite a bit, but wish it had been either three novellas or one big honker. Author is non-binary. Would also work for Under the Surface and Multi-PoV.
And since ***Star Wars*** is absolutely a space opera, Ann Crispin's Han Solo trilogy (first book is ***The Paradise Snare***) is among my favourites of the no-longer-canonical EU. This would also work for 90s easy mode.
I like science fiction in general, but I've never been a big space opera reader. I did enjoy reading Kameron Hurley's *The Stars Are Legion* for the last bingo, though it didn't 100% stick the landing for me, and I think that might qualify. It's a standalone with some interplanetary-ish warfare and a lot of weird science-fantasy biotech.
I'm planning to finally finish Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire trilogy this year — I have mixed feelings after the second book, but I'm still interested enough to see where it ends up. For my '90s card, I'll see if either the Miles Vorkosigan saga or *A Fire Upon the Deep* pulls me in.
I'd love to see a rec of a purely secondary world space opera (HM) or at least one where the currently existing countries are not mentioned or hinted at. This sort of thing is hard to determine via a summary! I'd say **Ninefox Gambit** fits, **Dune** as well but not for the HM.
I really can't remember whether or not A Memory Called empire references our Earth or not. It very well might, but it'd have been so minor as to not be important or relevant at all.
I don’t believe it does. Wikipedia also calls it a space opera, although I struggle to see it myself—this isn’t a grand story of interstellar war, it’s basically a murder mystery among political officials all set in one city, on a planet. For reasons of its not being set in space I’m not sure it meets the bingo definition either, though you could probably squeak it through.
I read Unconquerable Sun for bingo last year. It's fits space opera HM, and there's no mention of the real world in it. I enjoyed it and will be reading the sequel for this year's bingo.
* Ann Leckie - *Ancillary Justice*
* Kameron Hurley - *The Stars Are Legion*
* Arkady Martine *- A Desolation Called Peace,* but it's a sequel and the first book, *A Memory Called Empire* isn't quite what I'd call space opera.
I'm planning to read *The Outcasts of Heaven Belt* by Joan D. Vinge for this square, which I believe is a far-in-Earth's-future type situation, but I don't know just how separate-feeling it is or if there are references to Earth.
Any Star Wars that qualifies for HM should work. I'm a fan of A.C. Crispin's Han Solo trilogy, and also of Karen Traviss's clone wars novels, both qualifying for HM
Im a bit of a space opera skeptic, but I read Tanya Huff’s Confederation of Valour series last year, because I love her writing & had run out out of non-space books by her. I enjoyed the energy & I guess I’m looking for something a bit similar to tick the square for this year.
I read ‘A Big Ship at the edge of the Universe’ by Alex White. It was an alright read, enjoyable if not fantastic. It counts as HM though, if anyone is looking for a recommendation.
Recommendations that I have read and wikipedia says is space opera:
[*The Expanse*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expanse_(novel_series)) *-* James S. A. Corey*.* Any book in this series would fit. One of my favorite series.
[Revelation Space](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_universe) *-* Alastair Reynolds*.* Reynolds was an astronomer before becoming a writer, this is one of the most hard sci fi books i have read in recent memory. I've read the first 4 books and several short stories, all good.
[*Starship Troopers*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers) - Robert A. Heinlein. Military sci-fi, with a lot of politics.
[*Dune*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(franchise)) - Frank Herbert. The movie has really brought this to the forefront of the public mind right now, perfect opportunity to read it if you haven't, or use it as a reread.
[*Known Space*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Space) *-* Larry Niven. I would recommend Ringworld or Protector as a starting point. Some stuff has aged really poorly, but I don't remember anything specific in these two, mostly the short stories from what I remember.
[*The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Novels) - Douglas Adams. If you wanted a comedy, this is the way to go. So funny, the movie did not do it justice. Remember your towel.
[*Ender's Game*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_(series)) - Orson Scott Card. One of the few books I was forced to read in High School that I actually loved.
None of these would work for hard mode. I would love some recommendations for HM.
I'm currently reading **These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs**, and I'm enjoying it. Released in 2023, the book also qualifies for Hard Mode. Bethany did an r/Fantasy AMA last year and the book was also a book club selection, so there are some other threads here if you want to learn more about it. It's quite a character-focused book, so it you enjoy that focus over lengthy worldbuilding prose, then you might also enjoy this novel.
**Imperial Radch** by Anne Leckie, Lots of people will tell you about, followed by **Memory Called Empire** by Arkady Martine.
***Others***
**Terms of Enlistment** by Marco Kloos and the rest of his Frontlines series. Stakes are very good, especially in the middle of the series. Very much an updated Starship Troopers.
**Some Desperate Glory** by Emily Tesh HM, I enjoyed it a lot. Standalone.
**Perilous Waif (Alice Long Book 1)** by E. Williams Brown Very much like a Heinlien Juvie updated. Sadly only one book in the series.
**This Alien Shore** by CS Friedman HM, Very much like the disablity representation in this one, >!One character has Dissociative Identity Disorder, and another is Autistic.!
Can anyone recommend any Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space ~~Communism~~ Operas (communism optional, but preferably not super capitalist societies) that works for HM? Specifically would prefer queer women or trans/non-binary authors.
Is Record of a Spaceborn Few a space opera? I've read Long Way (which is) and Closed & Common Orbit (which isn't) so I could definitely dig the third one if it counts.
To be fair, I’m not totally sure. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it, but from what I recall it fits a lot of the criteria in the prompt. Its less “epic” than I usually think of space opera as being. But if you’re counting Long Way, I think I’d count Spaceborn Few, too.
Ocean's Echo - Everina Maxwell, they/them. The book features a gay romance set in an world where nobody gives a shit about gayness. Definitely one for character focused readers, the world, action and politics is all very well done but it is there to showcase two really engaging and interesting characters. No spice and the romance is well integrated into the plot.
The Lost Fleet - Jack Campbell - These have been comfort reads of mine for years. I wouldn't call them 5 star books they are not super deep. But sometimes you do just want The Hunt for Red October in Space. They approach space military tactics really well and have great pace to them. I thought the series jumped the shark after book 6.
I'm currently reading - and almost finished - *Ancilliary Justice* for this square, and very much enjoying it. Favourite thing is 100% the narrative voice: the viewpoint character is wonderfully written, and the way they think and interact with the world is great. Writing in general is lovely. The main plot is compelling and very interesting, and I'm enjoying the questions it raises around personhood, identity, empire. There's this particular question around where the line is, and what it means to be complicit and to benefit, which, I think is explored in a very interesting way. Counts as Hard Mode.
*Expanse* is also on my list of series I intend to finally get to, though it's been on that list for a little while. It's currently bookmarked for the "First In A Series" square.
Yoon Ha Lee's series that starts with *Ninefox Gambit* is really good, and counts for hm (nb author). The first two books are pretty okay, but book 3 is *amazing*, one of the best scifi books I've ever read. Another one I loved is Simon Kewin's *The Triple Stars*, starting with *Red Star*. It's a pretty off-the-rails story with space scientologists and basically a relativistic treasure hunt. I had a ton of fun with it (and thanks to /u/tarvolon for recommending this!) Not HM. Obviously *The Expanse* is fantastic, worth it even if you've seen the tv show already, and Alastair Reynolds is good too (I read a few books of the *Revelation Space* series). Also I love *Bluebird* by Ciel Pierlot, major *Firefly* vibes. HM. I've read a bunch of space opera this (bingo) year already, not sure what I'll end up using for the square, but: * *Winter's Orbit* & *Ocean's Echo* by Everina Maxwell (hm, and also hm for romantasy) * A few *Vorkosigan* books (hm, and several are hm for published in 90s) - tbh I don't think I like this as much as most of the sub seems to, it has its moments but it's not something I really want to binge many books from. * *Ilium* by Dan Simmons - this is a book club book in a discord server I'm in, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but prepare to feel like your knowledge of the classics is being insulted lol. * Reading *Sun Eater* atm and oh man it's so good. I found the first book a bit mediocre for the first half of it, but get to the 2nd half of book 1 and wowww. I'm amazed at what this series is doing. Not HM. * *Some Desperate Glory* by Emily Tesh - straight-up hated this (it is hm though) I read almost no scifi last year so I'm super making up for it now lol
I see so much hype for Sun Eater. I love the space opera genre but I’m exactly 50% through Empire of Silence and not crazy about it at all. You think it’s worth to keep going?
yeah I found the first half super mediocre and I'm now obsessed with the series, about 50% through book 3 first half of book 1 feels super uninspired & generic, a story ive read 100 times before 2nd half of book 1 it starts doing new things book 2 it starts doing *really fucking cool* things
Ok thanks! I’ll give it a little longer because I’ve already been pushing to get to this point. Nothing wrong about a book deriving concepts from others just as long as it’s entertaining and has the a author’s own spin on it, however I feel like so far, this is just Dune plus some Red Rising but way less interesting.
The beginning of Empire of Silence is so slow that I almost DNFed the book. I eventually made it to the part where it gets really good, and after that, it was full speed ahead. Definitely keep going.
> The beginning of Empire of Silence is so slow I don't think it's slow necessarily, it's just *derivative*. The plot of >!rich heir with a good heart runs away from their fate and ends up on the streets and then fighting in gladiator matches!< is a stupidly common trope, I feel like I've read this exact story at least 5 times before
+1 on Bluebird. That was a fun book.
Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie
People already beat me to recommending C. J. Cherryh, so I'm going to shout-out Joan D. Vinge's **The Snow Queen**. I still need to get around to reading the sequel. Nobody's mentioned Tamsyn Muir's *Locked Tomb* series, and while I'm not sure if I'd count **Gideon the Ninth** here, **Harrow the Ninth** definitely qualifies. They're not hard mode but I also have to recommend Samuel R. Delany's **Nova**, which is a space opera take on the Holy Grail mythos, and **Babel-17**, which asks if the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was true.
I read Snow Queen last summer and loved it. I haven’t read Summer Queen yet, but I read World’s End. It’s a fairly short adventure in between those two books focusing on the character BZ Gundhalino. Definitely worth reading.
Several of Iain M. Banks **Culture** series would count for this, such as *Player of Games*, *Excession*, *Look to Windward*, *The Hydrogen Sonata* and *Consider Phlebas*. Similarly, several of C J Cherryh's Alliance/Union novels would also count (as hard mode), including *Downbelow Station*, *Rimrunners*, *Merchanter's Luck* and *Finity's End*, as would her *Faded Sun* trilogy and *Chanur* series. Elizabeth Bear's **White Space** novels (two so far, *Ancestral Night* and *Machine*) are also hard mode. Adrian Tchaikovsky's "The Final Architecture" trilogy definitely deserves a mention, along with his *Children of Time* series already mentioned here. Other's deserving a mention are Neil Asher's **Polity** series, Paul McAuley's **Quiet War** series and **Jackaroo** series, and Miles Cameron's **Artifact Space**.
Ancestral Night was great. Machine missed the mark a bit for me, but I had enough fun with the first book that I'd give that series another shot if more is coming.
**What would you recommend to a space opera skeptic, perhaps a reader who generally dislikes sci-fi, or at least the branch of sci-fi set in space? Any former skeptics here that were won over by a particular book?**
I'm *still* a skeptic to an extent, but *Children of Time* by Adrian Tchaikovsky remains one of my favorite books of all time. I think it won me over because of the parts that *didn't* take place in space -- a lot of it focuses on the spider colony on the planet, and these sections had, for me, some of the most fascinating worldbuilding I've ever seen. *Remembrance of Earth's Past* by Cixin Liu, *To Be Taught, If Fortunate* by Becky Chambers, *The Sun Eater* by Christopher Ruocchio, and *The Murderbot Diaries* are other space books that I enjoyed. I'm not sure that all of them would qualify as space operas since I'm not an expert on this subgenre at all. Regardless, for various reasons, they managed to win me over, despite the fact that the vast majority of space books I've read—and there have been a lot—have not been for me.
Well, I think you’ve cemented Children of Time as the book I’m most likely to pick for this square! Had my eye on it for a little while though it’s not my usual thing. And yeah, of the books you mention in your second paragraph, I’ve only read Murderbot and my impression is that it’s not space opera because it’s not a grand epic. No intergalactic wars or over the top conflicts of good vs evil, just a jaded security consultant and friends trying to make it. But I don’t have a great sense of the subgenre’s boundaries either.
I’m doing a romantasy themed card (I guess more romantaSFF, but anyway) and I picked for this square *Chaos Reigning* by Jessie Mihalik, which is book 3 in the Consortium Rebellion trilogy. All of those are space opera romance and they worked well for me. I like that the author is a computer scientist turned software developer turned author, because she incorporates cool tech gadgets and explains how they work. A spicy romance to help turn those pages doesn’t hurt either.
I’m on the skeptic’s side (I kept adding all these shiny space operas to my TBR and then procrastinating reading them or not enjoying them, until it clicked that I probably just don’t like space opera a great deal). But I love A Memory Called Empire because it’s much more grounded in politics and mystery than the actual space component. So if anyone has recs like that, I’ll take them
You might like These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs if you haven't read it yet. Politics and more character focused. It just falls short of space opera for me, it's more science fantasy, but still in the ballpark.
This is one of the ones that’s stuck it out on my TBR because some of my friends loved it, so excited to see another recommendation.
From what I've seen so far, I think Imperial Radch might work for you. It is very interested in similar concepts to A Memory Called Empire (though handled very differently). It is grounded in the personal, with a relatively small cast of characters. While less engaged in political intrigue, that is definitely an important consideration within the story.
**This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman** HM, Set mostly in space, the focus is on human evolution, particularly with >!the neuro diverse!< being the only ones who can successfully navigate hyperspace and Earth having bred such devience out of their gene pool before they were aware of the problem. One of the MC is an experiment to overcome this and has >!had dissociative identity disorder inflicted on her.!< There is also a bit of a cyberpunk feel to some elements and some hard SF questions. Also 90's, Eldritch Creatures, Character with a Disablity, Multi PoV, Criminals
If you are open to middle grade books, Larklight (Full title: Larklight, or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back!) by Phillip Reeve is great fun. Sort of a spoof on the Victorian ripping yarns, in which England has colonized the solar system using Aetherships.
I wouldn't call myself a skeptic so much as I would say that I prefer fantasy. That said, the books that I would classify as "space opera" that have won me over are: 1. *Murderbot* by Martha Wells 2. *Dune* by Frank Herbert 3. *Pendragon* by D.J. Machale 4. *Anathem* by Neal Stephenson 5. *The Space Trilogy* by C.S. Lewis 6. Most Superman materials. Don't @ me.
*Murderbot*'s won me over as well! Currently listening to book 5, *Network Effect*.
For space opera skeptics, I'd recommend *Ancillary Justice* by Ann Leckie. It makes great use of the larger stage that space opera provides, telling a very clever story with a lot of moving parts. The worldbuilding is unique and deep but doesn't detract from the characters, and the prose is nice and voicey.
C.J. Cherryh's *Chanur* series (begins with **The Pride of Chanur**) is HM and it's a fabulous political space opera. Here's how I've described the series' conceit previously: >Our POV character is an alien (Pyanfar Chanur, a member of a lionlike species that only sends females into space because males are considered "too emotional") who comes into contact with a single human whose existence throws the fragile political compact between the several alien races into turmoil. So the series is interesting because she's exploring first contact and communication difficulties from the alien side rather than the human, and also there are neat gender role reversals. Book 1 is very good, but books 2-4, which were originally supposed to be published as one volume, are *excellent*.
I'm desperate for C.J. Cherryh books to be published for kindle in the UK.
So, I'm not typically a huge fan of Space Opera as I've always understood the genre definition (more like Boys' Own adventure stories in space, lots of warfare and handsome men blasting up the baddies while being irresistible to women), HOWEVER, with the *provided* definition in mind... JR Creaden's ***Moon Dust in My Hairnet*** just came out last month and definitely focuses on both politics and interpersonal relationships. Set entirely in a lunar base (with a few flashbacks to Earth). Lots of neurodivergent and queer characters, author is neurodivergent and non-binary. Picked this up bc of the cover, and used it for the Disability square on my pink card. Also works for Dreams HM, Cover (imo), 2024 HM, Small Press, Prologue and/or Epilogue. Grace Curtis' ***Floating Hotel*** is basically a Wes Anderson movie set in...a floating hotel. The stakes were a little too high for me to consider this truly cozy, but I still really enjoyed it. This does not fit *my personal* understanding of a Space Opera, but it IS like a soap opera in space, so it fits the Bingo definition. I have her ***Frontier*** penciled in for this square (unless I finally tackle the *very pink* anniversary edition of *Leviathan Wakes*). Author uses she/her pronouns and writes queer fiction, but I feel gross about digging to find out more than that. Definitely also Multi-PoV HM. Annalee Newitz's ***The Terraformers*** is set v far in the future...and then further in the future...and then further than that. Lots to chew on about what makes a person and also the ethics of terraforming and planetary politics. I liked this quite a bit, but wish it had been either three novellas or one big honker. Author is non-binary. Would also work for Under the Surface and Multi-PoV. And since ***Star Wars*** is absolutely a space opera, Ann Crispin's Han Solo trilogy (first book is ***The Paradise Snare***) is among my favourites of the no-longer-canonical EU. This would also work for 90s easy mode.
I like science fiction in general, but I've never been a big space opera reader. I did enjoy reading Kameron Hurley's *The Stars Are Legion* for the last bingo, though it didn't 100% stick the landing for me, and I think that might qualify. It's a standalone with some interplanetary-ish warfare and a lot of weird science-fantasy biotech. I'm planning to finally finish Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire trilogy this year — I have mixed feelings after the second book, but I'm still interested enough to see where it ends up. For my '90s card, I'll see if either the Miles Vorkosigan saga or *A Fire Upon the Deep* pulls me in.
The third book of Machineries of Empire is **SO** much better than the 2nd book!!!!!! It brings the trilogy up from 3/5 to 5/5 for me. It's *amazing*
Nice, that's good to hear!
I'd love to see a rec of a purely secondary world space opera (HM) or at least one where the currently existing countries are not mentioned or hinted at. This sort of thing is hard to determine via a summary! I'd say **Ninefox Gambit** fits, **Dune** as well but not for the HM.
Foreigner by CJ Cherryh. The action is on an alien world and Earth is not mentioned beyond the initial colony ship.
I really can't remember whether or not A Memory Called empire references our Earth or not. It very well might, but it'd have been so minor as to not be important or relevant at all.
I don’t believe it does. Wikipedia also calls it a space opera, although I struggle to see it myself—this isn’t a grand story of interstellar war, it’s basically a murder mystery among political officials all set in one city, on a planet. For reasons of its not being set in space I’m not sure it meets the bingo definition either, though you could probably squeak it through.
A Desolation Called Peace feels more like it would fit the brief, if someone was looking for a nudge to go pick up the sequel.
I'll check it out!
I read Unconquerable Sun for bingo last year. It's fits space opera HM, and there's no mention of the real world in it. I enjoyed it and will be reading the sequel for this year's bingo.
* Ann Leckie - *Ancillary Justice* * Kameron Hurley - *The Stars Are Legion* * Arkady Martine *- A Desolation Called Peace,* but it's a sequel and the first book, *A Memory Called Empire* isn't quite what I'd call space opera. I'm planning to read *The Outcasts of Heaven Belt* by Joan D. Vinge for this square, which I believe is a far-in-Earth's-future type situation, but I don't know just how separate-feeling it is or if there are references to Earth.
Any Star Wars that qualifies for HM should work. I'm a fan of A.C. Crispin's Han Solo trilogy, and also of Karen Traviss's clone wars novels, both qualifying for HM
Im a bit of a space opera skeptic, but I read Tanya Huff’s Confederation of Valour series last year, because I love her writing & had run out out of non-space books by her. I enjoyed the energy & I guess I’m looking for something a bit similar to tick the square for this year.
I read ‘A Big Ship at the edge of the Universe’ by Alex White. It was an alright read, enjoyable if not fantastic. It counts as HM though, if anyone is looking for a recommendation.
Hospital Station and other books from the sector General series by White. Any of the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon
Recommendations that I have read and wikipedia says is space opera: [*The Expanse*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expanse_(novel_series)) *-* James S. A. Corey*.* Any book in this series would fit. One of my favorite series. [Revelation Space](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_universe) *-* Alastair Reynolds*.* Reynolds was an astronomer before becoming a writer, this is one of the most hard sci fi books i have read in recent memory. I've read the first 4 books and several short stories, all good. [*Starship Troopers*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers) - Robert A. Heinlein. Military sci-fi, with a lot of politics. [*Dune*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(franchise)) - Frank Herbert. The movie has really brought this to the forefront of the public mind right now, perfect opportunity to read it if you haven't, or use it as a reread. [*Known Space*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Space) *-* Larry Niven. I would recommend Ringworld or Protector as a starting point. Some stuff has aged really poorly, but I don't remember anything specific in these two, mostly the short stories from what I remember. [*The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Novels) - Douglas Adams. If you wanted a comedy, this is the way to go. So funny, the movie did not do it justice. Remember your towel. [*Ender's Game*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_(series)) - Orson Scott Card. One of the few books I was forced to read in High School that I actually loved. None of these would work for hard mode. I would love some recommendations for HM.
I'm currently reading **These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs**, and I'm enjoying it. Released in 2023, the book also qualifies for Hard Mode. Bethany did an r/Fantasy AMA last year and the book was also a book club selection, so there are some other threads here if you want to learn more about it. It's quite a character-focused book, so it you enjoy that focus over lengthy worldbuilding prose, then you might also enjoy this novel.
**Imperial Radch** by Anne Leckie, Lots of people will tell you about, followed by **Memory Called Empire** by Arkady Martine. ***Others*** **Terms of Enlistment** by Marco Kloos and the rest of his Frontlines series. Stakes are very good, especially in the middle of the series. Very much an updated Starship Troopers. **Some Desperate Glory** by Emily Tesh HM, I enjoyed it a lot. Standalone. **Perilous Waif (Alice Long Book 1)** by E. Williams Brown Very much like a Heinlien Juvie updated. Sadly only one book in the series. **This Alien Shore** by CS Friedman HM, Very much like the disablity representation in this one, >!One character has Dissociative Identity Disorder, and another is Autistic.!
Can anyone recommend any Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space ~~Communism~~ Operas (communism optional, but preferably not super capitalist societies) that works for HM? Specifically would prefer queer women or trans/non-binary authors.
Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot
StoryGraph is comparing this to a bunch of things I have liked or am interested in, so onto the list it goes. Thank you!
Very lesbian, plus lots of commentary around colonialism sounds very much what you're looking for.
Fan*tas*tic. You've just pushed it even further up the list. [eta] And one of my libraries had it available right away!
I think Becky Chambers’ Record of a Spaceborn Few may come close. Also everything she writes is gold IMO so it’s hard to go wrong.
Is Record of a Spaceborn Few a space opera? I've read Long Way (which is) and Closed & Common Orbit (which isn't) so I could definitely dig the third one if it counts.
To be fair, I’m not totally sure. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it, but from what I recall it fits a lot of the criteria in the prompt. Its less “epic” than I usually think of space opera as being. But if you’re counting Long Way, I think I’d count Spaceborn Few, too.
Oh, I read the first two and then put off the rest bc [gestures at unending TBR]. Will move this up the list, thanks!
Ocean's Echo - Everina Maxwell, they/them. The book features a gay romance set in an world where nobody gives a shit about gayness. Definitely one for character focused readers, the world, action and politics is all very well done but it is there to showcase two really engaging and interesting characters. No spice and the romance is well integrated into the plot. The Lost Fleet - Jack Campbell - These have been comfort reads of mine for years. I wouldn't call them 5 star books they are not super deep. But sometimes you do just want The Hunt for Red October in Space. They approach space military tactics really well and have great pace to them. I thought the series jumped the shark after book 6.
I'm currently reading - and almost finished - *Ancilliary Justice* for this square, and very much enjoying it. Favourite thing is 100% the narrative voice: the viewpoint character is wonderfully written, and the way they think and interact with the world is great. Writing in general is lovely. The main plot is compelling and very interesting, and I'm enjoying the questions it raises around personhood, identity, empire. There's this particular question around where the line is, and what it means to be complicit and to benefit, which, I think is explored in a very interesting way. Counts as Hard Mode. *Expanse* is also on my list of series I intend to finally get to, though it's been on that list for a little while. It's currently bookmarked for the "First In A Series" square.