April 2016 -Space opera

[Mary]

Nominate one (1) space opera for our April read. In print is considered a nice touch.

[Mary]

Dauntless by Jack Campbell

[Jerry]

The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt

[Mary]

Err -- we read Mote in February. You can continue on the existing discussion threads

[Ian Miller]

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire :)

Also, I know he's really obnoxious, but I really like the first several books of Old Man's War.

Or possibly The Forever War?

[Paul]

I'll delete it.

Mary wrote: "Err -- we read Mote in February. You can continue on the existing discussion threads"

[Clyde]

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton

[[deleted user]]

To Honor You Call Us by H. Paul Honsinger

[Mary]

Ian wrote: "Star Wars: Heir to the Empire :)

Also, I know he's really obnoxious, but I really like the first several books of Old Man's War.

Or possibly The Forever War?"
Err -- I'll take Star Wars as your nomination, unless you wish to clarify.

[Ian Miller]

Sorry. Is the Star Wars eligible? I wasn't sure.

[Mary]

Oh, yes. Star Wars is a classic type of space opera.

[Jeff]

I have read all of the following and I really really hope to find a NEW series that I haven't read yet. However, these are all good and if others haven't read them yet, absolutely worth reading if others would like them to be the selection this month. I also thought that by listing them, it might spark someone's recollection of "Oh, XYZ is kind of like that, but more recent".

Part of what I realized putting this list together is that part of what makes something "space opera" is that it is extensible -- that one can put many different stories together in the same framework. So many of these are series of books that illustrate that.

* Lensman series (esp. Galactic Patrol)
* Honor Harrington series (so far only read "On Basilisk Station" which is excellent
* Torchship (this is my current book, i'm about halfway through, but so far, so good, and definitely space operatic as it is written as an interconnected series of short episodes in one book)
* Darkship Thieves and sequels
* The Technic Civilization Saga (I actually nominate this, because it's been collected in one book which I haven't read yet as "Sir Dominic Flandry, The Last Knight of Terra)
* The High Crusade ((only one story, but one begging for sequels))
* Janissaries, by Pournelle (read the first one, not yet the second)
* The Stainless Steel Rat series (if Scaramouche can be an opera, the SSR can be Space Opera)
* The Known Space series by Niven -- best introduction probably "Tales of Known Space"




Some I haven't read yet (or not in a long time) and hereby nominate
* Sir Dominic Flandy, The Last Knight of Terra -- Poul Anderson
* The Mercenary (Falkenberg's Legion) -- Jerry Pournelle
* The "Near Space" series beginning with Orbital Decay -- Allen Steele
* The "Mesklin" series -- while I've read Mission of Gravity more times than I can count, I'm not as familiar with "Close to Critical" and "Star Light" which fit in the same series.

[Mary]

Which one of those books do you want to nominate?

(Anyone who wants more examples:
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/spac...
It even links to the lists.)

[Jerry]

Jeff, please nominate High Crusade! I almost nominated that instead of Space Beagle.

[Jeff]

Jerry wrote: "Jeff, please nominate High Crusade! I almost nominated that instead of Space Beagle."

Can't argue with that. I'll nominate "The High Crusade" and I'll hope that someone who has read one of my "I'd like to nominate" ones and likes them, or someone who has a suggestion that is kind of like these that I've never heard of, will nominate that!

[Mary]

nominations closed. Voting open:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...