Space Opera Fans discussion

This is a continuation of a previous thread
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Please post below just as you would in that other thread to let us know what space opera book(s) you are currently reading, or just finished. And what did you think of it.

A Cantible for Leibowitz by Walter Miller. It's been on my "to read" list for a very long time - finally rose to the top of my list.

I have strong memories of Canticle for L from back in the 1970s. I read it in high school and enjoyed it. Then in college it was one of the books dissected in my freshman Literature course. That prof completely killed all the pleasure out of the book so badly that I still can’t reread it.

As long as you don’t have a Literature prof insisting on symbolism all over the place, it’s a good yarn.

Teresa wrote: "I have strong memories of Canticle for L from back in the 1970s. I read it in high school and enjoyed it. Then in college it was one of the books dissected in my freshman Literature course. That pr..."

I read it in my mid teens. When I was in college it was one of the books for the apocalyptic lit class. You just made me glad I never got to take the class which for years I regretted missing.

I’ve been reading fantasy books for several weeks. I still can’t find anything new in SF that holds my attention but I’m ready for aliens, so I’m now rereading Fair Trade: An Alien Invasion Story by Mackey Chandler. This isn’t a huge invasion, it’s a single disabled ship. It’s always humorous IMO when aliens are confused by humans and vice versa.

Reading Astray by Jenny Schwartz and really enjoying it. Far future space opera. Complex world building. Some fascinating and creative problems. And so far (about 75%) some interesting characters. I will definitely be reading subsequent installments of this series.

If you think it sounds interesting, how about giving it a second for our January Limited Selection.

Fair Trade was a fun read. Now I’m rereading Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen by H. Beam Piper, which is one of those “someone from our culture gets dumped in an alternate timeline” stories.

Tomorrow there’s a new space opera book coming out that I’ll at least read the free preview: Trial by Leviathan by Blaze Ward. Some of his books are very good, others I can’t get into. This is first of a new series.

In another week or two we should see the next Bob and Nikki book too. Those are almost always fun. I have a fantasy book preordered that’s coming out near the end of the month.

Finished Lord Kalvan. Mostly finished with the free preview of Trial by Leviathan by Blaze Ward. It’s military SF. Might be readable but the characters haven’t grabbed me yet,

Newest Bob and Nikki book just dropped, so I’ll be reading that one of course. Title is A Reptile Dysfunction by Jerry Boyd.

Rereading the Embers of war trilogy by Gareth L Powell

Reading Hard to Be A God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Their most famous book is Roadside Picnic, which was adapted into the Stalker film and video game. The premise of this one, though, is similar to Star Trek with its Prime Directive, about a an agent of Earth sworn to observe but not interfere with the society of a medieval planet.

Just started reading "Chapterhouse: Dune," the last of the Frank Herbert written Dune books. It's amazing that the 6th book in the series is so far removed from the first 3 books that all the events that occurred in them are practically myth, since they happened thousands and thousands of years ago. It's an amazing story, since so often the story ends once the "good guys" win. Dune just keeps going for 10000 + more years.

3/4 through Morning Star, this re-read is really helping me appreciate how Brown laid the groundwork for Iron Gold and beyond here. Magisterial.

I just finished IMPERIAL HIJACKER, Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire Book 4 by Andrew Moriarty, I don't usually like to read a story out of sequence and I had not read the first three in this series, but I want to recommend this one. Humor, constant action and great characters make up a good Space Opera to relax and enjoy.Imperial Hijacker

about to finish Demon in White

I've been catching up on Star Wars canon books, currently reading Rebel Rising by Beth Revis and Padme's trilogy starting at book one, Queen's Shadow by E.K. Johnston.

Currently reading a collection of mysteries with a Christmas/Winter theme. Only problem is I am only reading at night before bed and can't seem to read more than one story (if that) before getting too tired to read. Once that is finished it shall be back to Poul Anderson.

A Reptile Dysfunction by Jerry Boyd was good. If you aren’t familiar with the Bob and Nikki series, try Bob's Saucer Repair. Most of the books take place on spaceships or planets outside our solar system, but some are set almost entirely on Earth. This newest one features an alien species that is reptilian.

After that I reread a couple of fantasy books, tried a bunch of free previews that didn’t grab me, and finally remembered that I had been distracted from my reread of the Vatta’s War series, so now I’m back on that with Engaging the Enemy by Elizabeth Moon, which is #3 in the series.

Nick wrote: "I've been catching up on Star Wars canon books, currently reading Rebel Rising by Beth Revis and Padme's trilogy starting at book one, [book:Queen's Shadow|40886114..."

I feel Rebel Rising is possibly the most overlooked gem of all canon books, enjoy!

Finished Vatta’s War #3, reread #4, and now I’m about 37% in on my reread of #5 Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon. Bobby Anson is mentioned at this point. Minor offstage character but clearly paying homage to Robert Anson Heinlein.

I had to look it up but the name Heinlein used for some of his fiction was Anson MacDonald, with Anson being the first name not the second,

I finished rereading the Vatta’s War series a while back. I reread Astray by Jenny Schwartz for the Feb Limited Pick. I gave up on the free preview of Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey - I don’t enjoy horror.

Next I’m going to reread Rembrandt's Station by Christie Meierz because there’s a new book in that series coming out (but I don’t recall when or what the title is).

Edit: new book title is Outcaste. Author sent it to publisher but there’s no release date set for it yet.

I am readingThe Not-World by Thomas Burnett Swann.

I am reading Displaced by Stephen Drake

Finished Rembrandt’s Station. Definitely worth rereading.

Now I’m rereading Empaths by S.H. Jucha and will likely binge that series.

Rounding into the final 15% or so of Iron Gold.

Hail Reaper!

Just started Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey.

I finished rereading Empaths by S.H. Jucha and next I’ll reread the next book in the series: Messinants, which should satisfy my itch for aliens. Toward the end of this series it merges with the author’s The Silver Ships series. I’m not sure how far I’ll go in rereading this series. I have two preordered fantasy books that are due out later this month, and expect another Bob and Nikki book too since Jerry Boyd publishes one every 4-6 weeks.

I fimished reading Displaced by Stephen Drake and have started reading Hunt for the Lifespark by Bradford Bates/Michael Anderle. Both are the start of series and SciFi/Soap Operas.

I finished Messinants by S.H. Jucha and I’m currently about halfway through the next book in the series, which is Jatouche. Odds are good I’ll get distracted because Jerry Boyd has the next Bob and Nikki book submitted to Amazon. Title is Baby Ruth.

I’ve been reading The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. Near-future SF that imagines a society of octopuses that have developed language and culture, and the multinational corporation studying them for its own potential profit. It has a lot of things to say about communication, consciousness and human conflicts with the nonhuman world.

Caitlin wrote: "I’ve been reading The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. Near-future SF that imagines a society of octopuses that have developed language and culture, and the multinational corporation studying the..."

I have that on order from the library at the moment, Caitlin - I'm looking forward to it.

@John, It’s very good! I hope you enjoy it. :)

Finished Baby Ruth by Jerry Boyd. It’s one of slower, more relaxed books, but the ending promises the next one will have more excitement.

Finished rereading the Pyreans series (four books starting with Empaths) by S.H. Jucha. Debating whether to reread Alliance which involves descendants of the characters in Pyreans and also some of the characters from the The Silver Ships series, or just go through my accumulated pile of free previews to see if I find something interesting.

When I hear the name Baby Ruth I can't help but think of the candy bar. Not even sure if that one is made anymore.

I’m positive that Baby Ruth is an intentional pun, and foreshadowing future jokes about the candy. Bob’s first grandchild is born in this book and named Ruth.

There was a story that circulated at one time that the candy bar was named for baseball player Babe Ruth. However it was in fact named for the president of the company's daughter.

Finished the Space Opera book The Fractured Void, which was a blast and gets a solid 5 stars from me. It’s based on a board game I’ve never heard of, but as a result it has a massive turn-key universe, so Pratt could focus on telling a hoot of a tale, which he does.

I’ve been rereading the Silver Ships series starting from where it merged with the Pyreans series. Finished Alliance and SADEs, next up is Earthers

I've just started The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick. I read Ubik by the same author a few weeks ago, and I can see the similarities. But it's still an enjoyable read so far.

Caitlin wrote: "Reading Hard to Be A God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Their most famous book is Roadside Picnic, which was adapted into the Stalker film and video game. The premise of this one, though, is simil..."

Absolutely fantastic book. The new translation (which, I presume, you are reading) is far better than the first one from the 1970s (which itself came from a German translation of the original Russian text). Other Strugacki books set in the same universe of Noon are quite recommended as well. If you can find it, dig up Space Mowgli and the central book in the series, Noon XXIInd Century.

A newer book with a very similar concept is Inversions by Iain Banks--one of the Culture books, but very surreptitiously so. Recommend.

I’m almost finished rereading the Pyrean adjacent books of The Silver Ships series. Half through the last book: Conclave by S.H. Jucha.

After that I’ll dig through my pile of free previews or read the preordered fantasy book that dropped yesterday.

I've started reading the March "Readers" selection - Transcendental by James E. Gunn, and thoroughly enjoying it so far.

@Jorgo: Yeah, I read Inversions by Banks probably almost ten years ago now and liked it a lot! Strong parallels to Hard to be A God. I did read the newer translation by Olena Bormashenko (think I got that right). One of the other interesting things about this book is it establishes the idea of a Prime Directive before Star Trek got ahold of the concept…and shows how difficult following such a directive would be.

John wrote: "I've just started The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick. I read Ubik by the same author a few weeks ago, and I can see the similarities. Bu..."

PKD is an absolute trip. One of my favorite authors, definitely.

Started and thoroughly enjoying The Dark Beyond The Stars by Frank M. Robinson!

I’ve been reading fantasy but starting to want space opera again. I want to reread Alliance of Equals before Ribbon Dance (26) comes out but I’m trying to be patient in case it gets chosen as the April Reader Pick.

In a weird mood I started rereading the series that starts with Metal Boxes by Alan Black. A lot of adolescent wish fulfillment but the main character isn’t a complete Larry Stu, just most of one. The main Navy ship involved in the story is named the Periodonitis, with nickname of Old Toothless. Amusing but I don’t reread it very often.

I've been reading short SF, short stories to short novels. Most are space opera though some are planetary. Some are old, 1950's and early 60's, some are new, published on various websites. Audio versions on YouTube started me on this trip back to what started me reading SF decades ago.

I’m about halfway through Transcendental by James Gunn, the Reader pick for March. Enjoying it a lot. It has an interesting structure with different chapters devoted to the pilgrims telling their stories interspersed with the present timeline.

I finished The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - a weird but compelling read. Not quite as good as Ubik though.