Looking for suggestions for a space opera to read.

[Shanna_redwind]

I'm looking for some suggestions for sci-fi set in space. I'm not really into "hard" science fiction, but I've read and enjoyed some.

I do like a romance in my story, both the more subtle kind and the kind where the romance sort of overshadows the whole story.

Space exploration is great, or colonization. Really anything you've read and liked. I've got a hankering for space and I'm not sure what to try next.

Thanks.

[Michele]

Fortune's Pawn

Leviathan Wakes - 1st in a series, this one is kind of a noir mystery mixed with some almost horror/action. A bit of romance.

Old Man's War - also starts a series, fun and action, a bit of romance

Dune of course, but not much in space, also has a bit of romance

The Snow Queen - not much in space, like Dune, but a bit more romance

[Pamela]

The science fiction novels of Lois McMaster Bujold, starting with Falling Free: Falling Free

[Chocolatesoup]

Grimspace starts a series and stand alone Finders Keepers come to mind.

[Aerulan]

The Price of the Stars by Debra Doyle is the start to a great series.
Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff -it's military, basically marines in space- but good and the series just keeps getting better, the love interest shows up a few books in.

[Kimber]

Anything from Anne McCaffrey about Pern. The Dragonriders of Pern: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon....

[Ann aka Iftcan]

A caveat on Kimber's Pern series. Make sure that you get the books by ANNE McCaffrey and not Todd. Todd is her son, and I don't care if he did grow up at/on Pern (Anne's estate) he just doesn't have his mother's talent.

And, while we are talking Anne, check out here Crystaline series and Acorna series, as well as the Tower and the Hive series.
Crystal Singer for the first series
Acorna: The Unicorn Girl for the second
The Rowan for the third


Another author to check out is Andre Norton. She wrote sci-fi, historical romances, gothics, fantasy, non-fiction, YA, adult, and chapter books for middle schoolers.

Larry Niven does some interesting sci fi books

The Tar-Aiym Krang is the first book in an interesting series by Alan Dean Foster

[Sara ♥]

I feel like Marissa Meyer's press person today, but I'm going to recommend the Cinder series here, too. It's maybe a bit more Earth-based than you're thinking, but there's some close-range space travel in the series (to the moon and satellites), and it's just really fun. I mean, mind control and cyborgs are just cool.

[Michele]

The Pern books are great, although none of it actually takes place in space until really late in the series, I think. Also I second Andre Norton as a great rec :)

Try also these:

Sylvia Engdahl, Enchantress from the Stars, The Far Side of Evil, or This Star Shall Abide

Andre Norton, Breed to Come or Dread Companion

Sheri Tepper, Grass, Raising the Stones or The Family Tree

Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness or The Lathe of Heaven

Ted Chiang Stories of Your Life and Others (not all are space-related but they're all sci-fi)

Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow

Sharon Shinn's Samaria series starting with Archangel

Piers Anthony's Kirlian Quest series, starting with Cluster

Anything by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, The Caves of Steel, Nightfall and Other Stories), Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, The Nine Billion Names of God) or James Tiptree (Star Songs of an Old Primate, Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home).

[Shanna_redwind]

Thanks for all the suggestions. There's definitely a few here I'm going to try.

[Tytti]

Not quite what you asked and it probably is "hard scifi" but The Quantum Thief and its sequals seemed to have been popular.

[Peter]

When I hear space and romance I think of Lois McMaster Bujold, who's already been mentioned, and Catherine Asaro, who I believe hasn't yet been mentioned. I haven't read any of Asaro's books, but she's quite popular.

Bujold has a whole lot of books, but for romance purposes you might start with Cordelia's Honor, which is a collection of Shards of Honor and Barrayar and tells the story of Cordelia Naismith, a soldier and scientist from an advanced world who becomes involved with Aral Vorkosigan, a soldier from a world that is just this side of barbaric from Cordelia's point of view. They have a son, Miles, who goes on to star in the majority of Bujold's books. His own real romance starts in Komarr, which can be read with no knowledge of the earlier books in the series. There's another more recent mostly-standalone novel, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, that stars one of my favorite minor characters from the series as he finds some romance of his own.

A good mostly-hard SF book that contains but doesn't dwell on romance isBoundary by Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor. A paleontologist finds an anomalous fossil from the time the dinosaurs were killed, and the mystery ends up being solved on Mars and further out in the solar system. There are two sequels and a spin-offish adventure book, all worth reading.

Ryk Spoor also wrote Grand Central Arena, which is one of my favorite space opera books of all time. It takes place in a scale model of the entire universe that serves as a central meeting hub for all races that achieve faster than light travel. It's got adventure, intrigue, all sorts of fun stuff.

[[deleted user]]

I liked Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. His Void trilogy looks interesting too, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

I also liked Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space series.

[Shanna_redwind]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Lsophia]

I second the recommendations for both the Bujold and Asaro books.

I would also like to recommend the Liaden Series, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. They follow a complicated family and clan on a world that has Regency-ish echoes, high technology and dangerous underpinnings. Also, in some of the books, there are sentient turtles who are about eight feet tall.

A lot of people started with Agent of Change. I started with Conflict of Honors and was none the worse for it. Their most recent book is about six inches away from me as I type this. Great stuff.

[Scott]

I second Alastair Reynolds.

Not sure if it's space opera per se (and it's on the hard sf side), but I really enjoyed Gregory Benford's Galatic Center saga (https://www.goodreads.com/series/4986...).

I feel like I'm always recommending The Wreck of The River of Stars, and I'll happily do it here too.

Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap series qualifies, but it's darker than dark (that said, I loved it).
https://www.goodreads.com/series/4056...

And one of the classics - E. E. "Doc" Smith and his Chronicles of the Lensmen - https://www.goodreads.com/series/4922...

[D.M.]

Gordon Dickson's Childe Cycle Series: Dorsai!
Margaret Weis's The Lost King
Alan Dean Foster's A Call to Arms
Frederik Pohl'sGateway
Gregory Benford's Great Sky River

[BookWoman]

Elizabeth Moon's Trading in Danger or Remnant Population.

[Marcel]

The Culture series by Iain M Banks is usually a good read, but romance is usually a bit on the side of his books.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons features a massively steaming sub-plot.

If you are more after pop-corn entertainment, try Rachel Bach's Paradox series. Nothing too deep but a very good mix of action and romance.

Neal Asher writer great space opera but his focus is on action and world building, not really on romance. Though there is romance in it.

If you don't mind 70s/80s liberated female views along the lines of 'if women run the world and there were no jealousy everything would be be better' than you should check out Marian Zimmer Bradley's darkover series (SciFi / FF) or maybe Anne McCaffrey.

If you like a bit of a reading challenge (from a literary perspective certainly better than the average SciFi but the way of non linear storytelling requires a bit more involved reading) then try
- Hannu Rajanieme's Quantum Thief
- John M Harrison's Light

Oh, and I totally forgot:
Gary Gibson's Stealing Light is amazing space opera with an interesting heroine