Space Opera Fans discussion
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Book and Author of the Month
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June 2020 READER Nominations
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Finder by Suzanne Palmer is very good so far, so I’m recommending it. It’s about a repo man tasked with retrieving a stolen spaceship that’s stashed on a space station in the galactic hinterlands.I’m about 1/3 of the way in and so far there has been lots of action and cool space stuff, and there seems to be alien enemies circling the joint.
How about the Caves of Steel -Isaac Asimov, although is it really Space Opera, hmm
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Caves of Steel is set under metal domes and inside the Earth — a colossal enclosed city. Basically the US east coast. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is where they got the idea for Mega City One in the Judge Dredd comics.Naked Sun is set on another planet where everyone practices extreme social distancing, essentially living alone on their own ranches with robots as servants. And someone’s been murdered! Dun dun dun! It’s Asimov basically doing the opposite of the locked-room mystery.
Neither are Space Opera but the latter speaks directly to our current situation.
I vaguely recall that later in life Asimov tied his robot novels into his other fictional universes, such as Foundation, and the co-star of the Caves of Steel/Naked Sun/Robots of Dawn books, R. Daneel Olivaw, shows up millennia later in something approaching a Space Opera book. (The “R.” stands for “robot.”) I don’t remember the plot details, aside from the notion that the spaceship crew is trying to find long-lost Earth.
Mod
Finder by Suzanne Palmer. Nominated by Trike. Seconded by Ryan and Eva.Disqualified:
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. SF but not Space Opera.
FYI, The Caves of Steel is on sale for $1.99 for the ebook currently. Even though it does not qualify for book of the month here, it is still worth checking out.
I'd like to nominate Edges by Linda Nagata.The blurb says:
Deception Well is a world on the edge, home to an isolated remnant surviving at the farthest reach of human expansion. All across the frontier, other worlds have succumbed to the relentless attacks of robotic alien warships, while hundreds of light years away, the core of human civilization—those star systems closest to Earth, known as the Hallowed Vasties—have all fallen to ruins. Powerful telescopes can see only dust and debris where once there were orbital mega-structures so huge they eclipsed the light of their parent stars.
No one knows for sure what caused the Hallowed Vasties to fail, but a hardened adventurer named Urban intends to find out. He has the resources to do it. He commands a captive alien starship fully capable of facing the dangers that lie beyond Deception Well.
With a ship’s company of explorers and scientists, Urban is embarking on a voyage of re-discovery. They will be the first in centuries to confront the hazards of an inverted frontier as they venture back along the path of human migration. Their goal: to unravel the mystery of the Hallowed Vasties and to discover what monstrous life might have grown up among the ruins.
Edges is a new entry point into the classic story world of Linda Nagata’s The Nanotech Succession.
From Karl Schroeder, New York Times Notable author of Ventus, and of Stealing Worlds:
"In the Nanotech Succession, Linda Nagata crafted one of the great sagas of galactic-scale science fiction. Yet for every revelation and discovery we found another mystery—none so great as what destroyed the supposedly omnipotent, star-spanning civilization of the Hallowed Vasties. At last, in Edges, Nagata teases at an answer, while simultaneously upping the stakes. Edges is a taut story that asks how far you might push yourself, and how much of your own humanity you might have to sacrifice to save those you love. Edges bursts with ideas and proves once again that Nagata is one of SF's great worldbuilders."
"Edges runs on a lot of brain power, and it's an intellectually stimulating read that posits some truly intriguing questions and ethical dilemmas [...] While the bulk of Edges is interested in more heady affairs and the nature of mankind's place in the cosmos, Nagata's proficiency in writing action beats is certainly on strong and regular display [...] as this book ramps up to its dizzying, frenetic climax...."
—High Fever Books
Mod
Finder by Suzanne Palmer. Nominated by Trike. Seconded by Ryan and Eva.
Edges by Linda Nagata. Nominated by Eva. Awaiting seconds.Disqualified:
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. SF but not Space Opera.
I don't know if you will accept New Moon by Ian McDonald as space opera. It takes place on the moon and in the next books, also on earth and a space station.
Mod
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Finder by Suzanne Palmer. Nominated by Trike. Seconded by Ryan and Eva.
Edges by Linda Nagata. Nominated by Eva. Seconded by Michael.
Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald. Nominated by Ally. Awaiting seconds.Nominations/seconds will close tomorrow.
I'd like to change my second from Finder to Luna: New Moon so that all three options make it to the polls and people have more choice.
Mod
I also own Luna and I really want to read Edges. So I know what I’m doing soon. :)
Mod
Is that just a comment or is it intended to be seconding both those books?
Just a comment. I’ll second Finder! (I can second my own nomination, right? I’m of two minds about it. Get it? Two... minds? Quality dad joke!)
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Space Opera Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
The Caves of Steel (other topics)New Moon (other topics)
Finder (other topics)
Edges (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Isaac Asimov (other topics)Ian McDonald (other topics)
Linda Nagata (other topics)
Suzanne Palmer (other topics)
READER books need to be
* currently in print in either hardback or paperback (or both). Requiring a special order from a store or website counts, but not if the book is only available used.
* currently available in multiple ebook formats, from multiple vendors
* Space Opera, which means a spaceship has to be involved in the story somewhere.
* If it is part of a series, it needs to be suitable to being read without having read other books in the series.
* Please no blatantly erotic books, as some of our members are not full adults yet.
RULES:
* you may nominate one book on this thread.
* you may second as many nominations as you like on this thread.
* it is okay to nominate the same book on more than one nomination thread, as long as it meets the criteria
* books we already have on our bookshelf will be disqualified
* If a book you nominate or second is selected, you are expected to post at least one comment about it on the thread about the book.
* In about two weeks I will draw a book randomly, with each second being one raffle ticket for the book. That is, a book with three seconds (so four of us want it) will get three chances in the pool.
It is likely helpful if you know something about a book that has been nominated if you mention it in this thread, whether it is for or against the book.