Space Opera Fans discussion

30% of the way through Some Desperate Glory, and its developing nicely. I'm even beginning to warm to Kyr.

Wow - half-way through Some Desperate Glory, and the story has just been stood on its head. It will be interesting to see where the book goes now...

Has nobody else in the group read this?

Finished Temporary Duty by Ric Locke. Well worth rereading, but need 2-3 years between reads or I remember too many spoilers.

I have a preordered fantasy dropping on Monday, and the next Bob and Nikki book should drop on Wednesday. Not sure what I’ll read in the meantime.

No luck with free previews. Decided to reread The Riss Gamble by C.R. Daems and will likely reread the sequel. Not sure about binging the entire series, because I’m easily distracted lately.

Berserk by Kentaro Muira.

Finished The Riss Gamble and The Riss Proposal. Currently rereading The Riss Survival. There are six books in this series.

Read first two books in Out of the Dark series again before reading newest book To Challenge Heaven

Out of the Dark (Out of the Dark #1)
enjoyed reading again
Into the Light (Out of the Dark #2)
Liked it better this time but still feels like last third of book doesn't belong with rest of book. Feels like separate book. Published together saved having to buy two books with one being relatively short so thanks for that.
To Challenge Heaven (Out of the Dark #3)
More like the length of the first book but longer would be better if it meant getting more of (view spoiler)[the vampires, especially Vlad (hide spoiler)].

I've just finished reading Some Desperate Glory, and thoroughly enjoyed it; I can understand it's nomination for a number of awards.

What the author does (view spoiler)[ with time travel (hide spoiler)] is novel and original, and its refreshing to read an intelligent anti-war space opera, considering the amount of drivel that is churned out and published as military sci-fi.

Although many of the characters are young adults, this is grown-up and nuanced sci-fi, and I'd highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, I believe this is the author's only sci-fi book so far - but I will definitely be checking out some of her previous books, and watching out for her in the future.

I've just realised that Glasgow is hosting Worldcon 2024 this August, and that Emily Tesh will be attending - the venue is only a mile or two from where I live, so I must try to get to some of it.

Currently rereading 4 of the Riss series. That fantasy I had preordered isn’t dropping today. The correct date is June 24, 2025. This is the first time I’ve seen a preorder available including the cover more than a full year ahead. I preordered it months ago! And reread the first book of the series too. This will be book 2.

Oh well, new Bob and Nikki book due out later this week. Possibly Friday instead of Wednesday.

My next read, which I hope to start tomorrow, will be The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton.

Finished rereading all six of the Riss series books. Noticed that there is another book in the same universe so I bought it and will read that next. Desperate Measures: A Novel in the Riss Series by C.R. Daems. The Riss series is space opera, sort of military SF, with aliens, governments that don’t abide by their own agreements but are furious if you don’t hold up your part of it anyway. Definitely not hard SF - don’t try to make sense out of the way they give distances. At one point the author mentions an empire that spans multiple star systems as being one light year across. I enjoyed rereading it.

New Bob and Nikki book out: Steamed Punks. I’m about 33% into Desperate Measures and enjoying it so I’ll try to finish it before diving into Steamed Punks.

Finished both Desperate Measures: A Novel in the Riss Series by C.R. Daems and Steamed Punks by Jerry Boyd. Both very good, definitely space opera. Now to tackle my accumulated free previews to see if anything grabs my attention.

I’ve been reading all the books in T. Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel series one after the other: it starts with Paladin’s Grace, Paladin’s Strength, Paladin’s Hope and now I’m about to start the last one (for now), Paladin’s Faith. They’re romantic fantasy with a wonderful sense of humor and well-drawn characters.

I’ve been reading fantasy lately but am now in the mood for some space opera. Mackey Chandler has finished a new book but needs a cover for it before he uploads it to Amazon. I reread the two most recent books in that series less than a year ago, so no point in rereading them now. Finally found a book I haven’t reread in a long time and I’m rereading that one: A Galaxy Unknown by Thomas DePrima. It’s a Mary Sue but definitely space opera, with battles, space pirates, etc.

I'm still working through The Last Murder at the End of the World; at the moment its much more of a murder mystery rather than sci-fi - but an interesting enough read so far.

Mackey Chandler’s new book dropped about an hour ago. Title is A Reluctant Sovereign. It’s the next book in the Family Law series.

Finished A Reluctant Sovereign. There’s a lot more of Tish in this book than previous ones, and it’s nice seeing Clare blossom too.

Guess I’m back to rereading Galaxy Unknown unless something else catches my attention.

Finished rereading A Galaxy Unknown by Thomas DePrima. Now rereading Valor at Vauzlee which is #2 of the series. Space opera, mil SF, cheesy. Space pirates, female protagonist.

Deathstalker by Simon R. Green. Library book sale - they had the entire series, so I bought them all at $1 each.

Finished rereading Valor at Vauzlee and now rereading The Clones of Mawcett which is third in the series. From vague memory the fourth book wasn’t worth rereading so I’ll likely look for something else soon.

Finished rereading the first three books of Galaxy Unknown series.

Now rereading Bob's Saucer Repair by Jerry Boyd and will likely binge a fistful of that series, until I get distracted by something new.

I’m almost finished rereading the 4th Bob and Nikki book. Odds are good that I’ll be looking for something different when I’m done.

Teresa wrote: "I’m almost finished rereading the 4th Bob and Nikki book. Odds are good that I’ll be looking for something different when I’m done."

I recommend Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton. It’s by the same author who wrote the excellent Mickey 7, and this book has Murderbot vibes.

Recently finished reading, via the internet, the first issue of DC's sci-fi comic Strange Adventures. Here is my review, such as it is.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm reading Prisoner's Hope, which I grabbed a book store knowing nothing about it. I only today found out it's actually Book #3 in a series. Whoops.
I'm about a third through it so far, and am not sure what I think. It's very dialogue heavy, and it's first-person. But now that I know it's book 3, some of my confusion about all the names and places is understandable.

By David Feintuch? I read most if not all of that series decades ago, then reread the first several books of it again in 2013. It’s far too dystopian for my current tastes, but I must have really liked it the first time I read them or I wouldn’t have bought all those paperbacks.

While I'm waiting for a winner to emerge from either of the two August nomination threads, I've almost finished reading a horror/fantasy - My Work Is Not Yet Done by Thomas Ligotti.

And I'm just about to start another fantasy - Song of the Stag - a debut novel from R.M. Brown. I was unable to resist the description of "A tale of the struggle for freedom that uses the fantasy genre to contribute to the political debate about Scottish independence".

I am afraid my most recent book read was a police procedural . Read the rest a while back but they were all paperback so were here while this one was in storage until recently. Back to Poul Anderson next, I think.

I discovered a new to me fantasy author and have been blowing my budget on a large backlist. But the new Bob and Nikki book just dropped. Nikki's Day Out by Jerry Boyd, so I’m taking a break from the werewolf series.

Well I recently finished In Our Stars, which was very good. The premise is superficially similar to The Apocalypse Troll, woman from the future with alien DNA thrown back in time and aided in her quest by male character with military background, but the different styles and attitudes of the author show through. Campbell's humans are more believable and it's human paranoia and xenophobia that dooms the Earth, not the rather cliched alien menace of the The Apocalypse Troll.

I recently read issue #42 of DC's Showcase comic. This issue featured Tommy Tomorrow of the Planeteers. Below is a link to my review, such as it is.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Definitely recommend The Never Wars by David Pedreira, a MilSF/Space Opera story that starts off as a typical example of the genre but evolves to something deeper. 4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finished Nikki's Day Out by Jerry Boyd, which was fun.

Finished that werewolf series I had started. Wow what a page turner. It’s somewhere in between paranormal and science fiction, with the wolves not having a lot of the legendary features. First book is Unacceptable Risk includes Unsettled Interlude by Kaje Harper.

Now I’m back rereading the Bob and Nikki series to avoid straining my book budget even farther. Currently on #6, Lost in Transit by Jerry Boyd.

In case anyone is interested the site Comic Books Plus has a huge amount of old pulps one can either read or download. Stuff is in the public domain. Lots of sci-fi but other genres as well. Of course, given their name there are tons of comics, not all of them American. Might want to check out Captain Comet which takes up the front and back cover of the British comic Lion.

I'm currently reading Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge - very enjoyable so far but I'm not at all sure where this one is going. Sci-fi, but not space opera.

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I am only about 100 pages into this very long book, but enjoying it so far. Great and very imaginative writer!

I’m reading Lost in Translation, by Edward Willett. I picked this up on a whim at my local bookstore, having never heard of the author but intrigued by the premise: a human and alien main character have to translate peace negotiations between their species to prevent a war. Each of them suffered terrible losses in the last one and have reason to hate each other, but must find common ground. This kind of “Enemy Mine” theme is one of my favorites and I’m enjoying the book a lot.

Currently rereading Auberon by Blaze Ward. This is a fun mil SF/space opera.

I finished Auberon several days ago, decided not to reread the sequel and switched to fantasy for a while. Now I’m back rereading SF again, specifically the series that starts with Luna of Earth by Laura Jo Phillips.

Bob and Nikki book #50 just dropped: Chicken Train by Jerry Boyd.

I picked up Transgalactic, the second book in James Gunn’s Transcendental Trilogy that we read for the March 2024 Book of the Month.

Finished Chicken Train. That was a really strange kind of alien. I was curious and found the song on YouTube - really, bluegrass that mentions lasers?? #51 is likely going to be on Earth for a while, unless Bob comes across something strange on the way back.

Teresa wrote: "Finished Chicken Train. That was a really strange kind of alien. I was curious and found the song on YouTube - really, bluegrass that mentions lasers?? #51 is likely going to be on Earth for a whil..."

Is the title of the song "Chicken Train" or something else?

“Chicken Train”, Ozark Mountain Daredevils

Thanks. Should be able to find it on Spotify. Stick it between a couple of songs by Kensington Market.

Caitlin wrote: "I picked up Transgalactic, the second book in James Gunn’s Transcendental Trilogy that we read for the March 2024 Book of the Month."

It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts on that one, Caitlin. I really enjoyed the first book, and went on to read the other two.

C. John wrote: "Thanks. Should be able to find it on Spotify. Stick it between a couple of songs by Kensington Market."

I'd never heard of them. After listening to Chicken Train I can understand why.

John wrote: I'd never heard of them. After listening to Chicken Train I can understand why."

Ditto. I didn’t say I enjoyed that song, just that it was weird.