Space Opera

[Andy]

Hey there, Anomaliens,

Looking to delve deeper into classic space opera, and I'm wondering if you guys have read some good titles. I'm operating under the definition of space opera as an epic scope, usually a military theme, big things happening in the plot. Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" comes to mind, and of course Herbert's "Dune" series. You guys have any favorites?

[metalikhan]

Anne McCaffrey's Crystalsinger trilogy and The Ship that Sang comes to mind. The Light on the Sound by Somtow Sucharitcul (I think I mangled the spelling). I liked Babel 17 at the time I read it a few decades ago -- don't know if that would still be the case.

I'm probably odd but I didn't much care for Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles when I read it; but I liked his short story The Lost City of Mars.

Of Frank Herbert's writing, I also liked The Godmakers and The Dosadi Experiment.

Probably a few more, but I'm struggling with a brain deficit and a splinted finger at the moment.

[metalikhan]

Almost as soon as I logged off, more old favorites came to mind.

Gordon Dickson's Soldier, Ask Not
Brian Stableford's Days of Glory
Keith Laumer's Bolo stories -- loved those Bolos!

[birdnerd]

Add the whole Childe Cycle to the list of Gordon Dickson's work. It's one big series that includes Soldier, Ask Not.

You'll have to hit a reseller to find most or all of them. Some are really tough to find. And don't worry if you get them out of sequence. With a few exceptions, each one stands alone and it's only when you read the last in the series does he tie them all together.

[Andy]

Hey thanks, I'll check out Gordon Dickson. He's got quite a few titles, and the reviews on him were pretty impressive.

Metalikhan- I've found Bradbury has a more literary writing style than say, Arthur C Clarke or Asimov. I liked Fahrenheit 451, and was on the fence about taking up the Martian Chronicles. Was there something you didn't like about them?

[metalikhan]

Aug 1, 2010 16:53:43 GMT -5 Andy said:

Metalikhan- I've found Bradbury has a more literary writing style than say, Arthur C Clarke or Asimov. I liked Fahrenheit 451, and was on the fence about taking up the Martian Chronicles. Was there something you didn't like about them?

I like Bradbury's literary writing style. My dislike of The Martian Chronicles has more to to with the timing of when I read it -- hard on the heels of Something Wicked This Way Comes. Lovely, eerie, intensely atmospheric, SWTWC appealed to me in the same way much of Charles Grant's works appeals to me.

Maybe not fair, but I had expectations that The Martian Chronicles would keep me in the same reader's trance that SWTWC induced -- turning pages, holding my breath, oblivious of the clock. It didn't. I was disappointed enough that I had a hard time finishing it at all. But this was a personal reaction over unfulfilled expectations, however unreasonable they were. Please don't take it as a criticism of Bradbury's excellent writing or of one of the great classics of science fiction.

[newburydave]

Anything from David Webber's Honorverse series. I think the first novel in that series is "On Basilisk Station".

The series follows the career of a female Horatio Hornblower out in the fringe of the galaxy fighting for the Star Kingdom of Manticore. It's a really good read, and Webber is sort of a Christian. . . sort of.

There are a lot of these novels up on Baen.com in thier free library for download. They put their older published novels up for e-download to get you hooked on their series. It works.

Actually Webber has several other Space Opera series which are also up in the free library.

SGD

dave

[Andy]

Free? I like the sound of that! Actually, I've been thinking of checking out the Honor Harrington series (there's quite a few of them, I think?).

Also, has anyone read any of Lois McMaster Bujold's stuff?

[jkmiles]

Walter Jon Williams does a great military/space opera series called "Dread Empires Fall" The first book is called Praxis. Basically humans have been slaves of a race called the Shaa. The Shaa set up a caste system much like Victorian england. The Shaa decide to commit suicide. Chaos insues as a result of the power struggle. Great system of space flight and combat. www.amazon.com/Dread-Empires-Fall-Walter-Williams/dp/038082020X/ref=sr_1_41?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303245683&sr=1-41

Also Poul Anderson's "Orion Shall Rise"

[waldenwriter]

It may not be the best example, but "Star Wars" is considered space opera. They're movies, I know, but there are many "Star Wars" novels as well. If anything, you can check out the guides they have, both in book form and on starwars.com, to the various planets, peoples, spaceships, and the like.

There are some good space opera anime series too, like "Outlaw Star," "Lost Universe" (I think), and "Tenchi Muyo! GXP." I think "Cowboy Bebop" fits in there too, and maybe space-set mecha series like "Gundam Wing" (and its various related series) and "Macross."

I know these aren't book examples, but I thought I'd suggest them anyway.

[Heather Titus]

Could the Firebird Trilogy be considered space opera? It's personally one of my favorite sci-fi books.

Metalikhan: I didn't like the Martian Chronicles either. Can't remember why...been several years since I tried it. But Fahrenheit 451 was really good!

[cdeb]

Hi Andy

There is the so called "New Space Opera" which is seen as largely British movement, though the authors are not all from the UK by any means

Authors commonly grouped here who I have read would be

Peter F Hamilton, Stephen Baxter, Iain M Banks and Alistair Reynolds.

As a Christian you will have issues with aspects of all these books as they are certainly not written from a Christian World view

Hamiltons Commonwealth books which include a 2 book series Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained and the follow up Void trilogy, are probably the most accessible and closest to classic space opera and the last in the Void series managed to (fleetingly) hit the NY Times best seller list.

Contact me if you want more detailed info re. aspects of these books, but the Wikipedia entries for these authors would give you a good idea what to expect.

I have recently enjoyed the Revelation Space trilogy by Alistair Reynolds who in pace and mood I would put somewhere between Baxter and Hamilton. Hamilton is more upbeat and probably the best story teller...Baxter can be more downbeat but his series with Arthur C Clarke is pretty good (not really classic space opera though)

Banks can be very good as a writer but can be sometimes quite brutal...THe use of Weapons being a good example...His debut novel was the shocker "The Wasp Factory"- and sometimes this surfaces in his SF-his most common future history is based on the humanistic utopian Culture

Hope this helps

[Andy]

jkmiles- sounds like an interesting premise, I'll check out Walter Jon Williams. Poul Anderson of course is a master.

waldenwriter- I've been thinking of checking out Cowboy Bebop for a while. Someone said it has a similar feel to the movie Serenity, which I really liked.

@heather- Fahrenheit 451 was most excellent. Beware of future firemen.

cdeb- those are all British writers? Sounds like good reading!

[waldenwriter]

May 8, 2011 20:14:23 GMT -5 Andy said:

waldenwriter- I've been thinking of checking out Cowboy Bebop for a while. Someone said it has a similar feel to the movie Serenity, which I really liked.

I've never seen Cowboy Bebop and I've only seen a little of Serenity (I think I rented it off of iTunes and just never finished watching it) but from what I know about them I guess they are kind of similar. They both have that sort of "swashbuckling"/sort-of steampunk style to them.

The only space opera animes I've actually seen are 6 episodes of Outlaw Star and an episode of Lost Universe. Outlaw Star is kinda like Serenity in that in both the crew ends up with this girl on board who has some unique ability the bad guys want, and thus they get chased by the bad guys. In Outlaw Star the girl in question is an android named Melfina who is the key to the Galactic Leyline, a place where there is a ton of treasure. She was stolen from the bad guys by this outlaw named "Hot Ice" Hilda, who also stole this spaceship that can only be navigated by Melfina. The series' protagonists, Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking, run a business where they take on random jobs (usually bodyguard-type jobs) for money and get pulled into all this when they are hired by a lady named Rachel Sweet, who is really Hilda in disguise. As a result, they get pursued by space pirates (the bad guys). When Hilda is killed by the pirates, Gene & co take control of the ship, which Gene names the Outlaw Star, and they head for the Leyline. They stop along the way to make money for fuel and repairs. They also pick up a catgirl and an infamous assassin as crew members along the way. It's pretty cool.

The anime movie They Were 11 is also good. It's about these people training for positions as space pilots (or something like that) whose final exam is to go in groups of 10 and survive for an extended period of time (around 50 days, I think) on a derelict spaceship with no connection to the outside world. But when they get to the ship, the group learns there are 11 of them, not 10, and they all try to figure out who the intruder is. Not to mention they find a potentially lethal plant growing on board, meaning their lives are now at risk. It's worth watching.

[susanne]

The best Space Opera I can think of has been written by the late David Feintuch. I absolutely love the 'Hope' books, ie 'Midshipman's Hope','Challenger's Hope', ' Voices of Hope',etc. It's been described as a Hornblower series set in space. But he also tackles the subject of religion throughout these books. Ironically, although the main character thinks he has violated the rules of the church and is lost forever, he is actually the most moral, kind and forgiving man there.