What are you reading right now? Part 3

[C. John]

Not sure if this is space opera or not but it does involve a spaceship, or as it was called back then a rocket ship, specifically the Fireball XL5 (if anyone else is old enough to recall the show). I just finished reading, digitally, the Little Golden Book put out in 1964. Here is my review.

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

[Suman]

I just finished the first book of a new series The Alpha Protocol by Duncan M. Hamilton. It was so good! Now I'm just feeling anxious, because I want to know what happens next, and the next book is yet to come...

[Melvin]

C. John wrote: "Not sure if this is space opera or not but it does involve a spaceship, or as it was called back then a rocket ship, specifically the Fireball XL5 (if anyone else is old enough to recall the show)...."

I remember Fireball XL5. Loved it as a kid! Series is available on DVD:
https://smile.amazon.com/Fireball-XL5...

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I’m currently reading The Alpha Protocol by Duncan M. Hamilton but not sure I’ll finish it. It’s feeling like a 3 star book for me, and if I can find something else interesting I’m highly likely to switch.

[Sverre]

Reading "A Memory Called Empire" by Arkady Martine. Diving into it, I definitely get Star Wars Prequel vibes in the beginning. Excited to read on and share my thoughts once I'm through!

[Audrey]

I just finished Exit Strategy by Martha Wells.

[Stephanie]

Gareth Powell and Peter f Hamilton’s light chaser today and end of the week Alastair Reynolds Inhibitor Phase excited by both.

[M.]

I found a book called Embustero that has been in my 'to read list' for a while. Well so far it's been great. I will admit I was confused by all the characters, but the action and plot is going together with a lot of excitement! I am into this one.

[Rock]

"The German Aces Speak II"

Consider it research: you never know what tidbit you might find to twist/exaggerate into a plot point somewhere.

Caveat: It's basically transcripts of long rambling interviews. But, I'm committed so I am by God gonna finish it.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I gave up on The Alpha Protocol. Read one great new fantasy, reread six fantasy novels. Now I’m reading The Peacemaker's Code by Deepak Malhotra, which seems to be SF/thriller but unlikely to fit in our loose definition of space opera. That is, so far all the scenes are set on Earth, although there are aliens approaching.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

The Peacemaker's Code was a real page turner. I stayed up until 3am to finish it, less than 12 hours from when I started it. It doesn’t fit our definition of space opera, and doesn’t quite fit any other genre either, but I bet some of you will enjoy it. I doubt I’ll reread it regularly simply because the details of the spoilers are likely to stick in my head for years.

So now I’m back to reading fantasy until I spot an interesting SF book.

[Craig]

Quick summaries here:

1. Kings of Paradise (Ash and Sand Book 1) Kindle Edition
by Richard Nell (Author)

I made it maybe 3 pages. "nuf said. Avoid this one

2. Ghosts of Tomorrow Kindle Edition
by Michael R. Fletcher

I made it 2 more pages than the book above. Really bad.

3. Déjà Vu (First Contact) Kindle Edition
by Peter Cawdron

Made it all the way through, but no book 2 for me. The plot just got less credible, more WTF.

4. The Terran Menace (Terran Menace Book 1) Kindle Edition
by J.R. Robertson

Very nice, and worth reading. Book 2 is on my TRL.

5. Foresight (Forgotten Space Book 1) Kindle Edition
by M.R. Forbes

Made it a few chapters. No prospect of being a quality product. Teen scifi drivel.

[M.]

I have been busy going through by back list to read some of the ones I had saved 'to be read'. I had a couple of books of Dave Lemel's Star Marshals. Let me put it this way, if I don't have anything good to say I don't want to say bad things so enough on that series. I feel the same about the large Ghost Galaxy Omibus. Lots of pages but not much to keep me interested.
But at last in my library I found a little gem. The Girl from the Stars Book 1 - Daybreak by Cheree Alsop. Hooray a real Space Opera with a female heroine that has a lot of faults that make me love her. She is also surrounded by spacers on a ship that are all human even if they are not. What I mean is that the author has allowed them to have faults, make mistakes but still survive the fights and problems they face. I'm only part way through but love itl

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Daybreak by Cheree Alsop is a real page turner. It’s the first book of The Girl from the Stars series, and the ebook is free. Space opera, female main character.

Thanks for mentioning it, M. Garnet!

[Ralph]

re reading the Lyssa's books. M.D.Cooper. Its pretty decent, and theyre all v cheap on Kindle now...

[Lizzie]

I read the first 3 books of Stories of the Orphan Corps. The premise that orphans can be wanted, loved, cared for, trained and have a career and family and are the heroes, which is unlike a lot of stories with orphans. I think it would be a good series for teenagers, especially boys. The Orphan Corps - Aid, Comfort, Defend. Military but not so heavy on that front that the story gets lost in a battle.

[Rosenblue(promoting non-biased,honest reviews & a dislike button on GR)]

One Piece volume 2-The East Blue: Buggy the clown by Eiichiro Oda.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I got about 90% through Daybreak then seemed to lose interest. I haven’t given up on it yet but I put it aside and I’m rereading April by Mackey Chandler.

[[deleted user]]

Hey, all.

I'm currently reading The Reality Dysfunction and Revelation Space.

[Trike]

I just finished the novella A Psalm for the Wild-Built which isn’t space opera, but it is cozy science fiction about an itinerant monk who encounters a wild robot on his journeys and they have a conversation.

So if you’re looking for a little positivity, this is for you.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I finished rereading April by Mackey Chandler, and the second in the series Down to Earth. Starting the third book The Middle of Nowhere next and will likely binge most of the series unless I get sidetracked by an interesting new book.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I’m continuing my binge reread of the April series by Mackey Chandler. Currently halfway through #4 which is A Different Perspective. I doubt I’ll reread all twelve before getting distracted.

[[deleted user]]

Never heard of that series, but I'll bookmark it. I finished Revelation Space and was pretty disappointed. I hope I like Reynolds' other books more. Reality Dysfunction, on the other hand, is awesome so far.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Jared, we discussed April back in 2016. Here’s the thread if you are interested.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I finished the 4th book, then read the brand new Home Again by Jerry Boyd which is #20 in his series that starts with Bob's Saucer Repair.

Now I’m back in the April series with #5 A Depth of Understanding.

[Rosenblue(promoting non-biased,honest reviews & a dislike button on GR)]

I just finished One Piece volume 1 and now I'm planning on reading the Japanese novel Only Human by Osamu Danzai and Sunao Yoshida's Trinity Blood.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

In my reread of the April series by Mackey Chandler I just finished #8 It's Always Something.

Next up is a new book by the same author but not in any series: Fair Trade: An Alien Invasion Story. I read some excepts of it while the author was writing it and this should be a lot of fun. I’ll let you know after I finish it.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Fair Trade was a lot of fun. I plan to nominate it for November Limited Pick. Don’t expect a typical invasion story. There’s a lot of culture clash, confusion, and trying to deal with multiple governments and multiple government agencies even within the same country. A generous part of the story is from the point of view of the aliens.

A lot of humor too. I particularly like the scene where the aliens call a law firm trying to find legal representation and the law partner assumes it’s a prank call.

This is the first of a new series that is definitely not associated with the April series.

So now I’m back to rereading the April series.

[Betsy]

I'm currently reading Heart of the Talisaar, which was offered as a Read-to-Review in this group a couple months ago. I'm only about 14% into and am having trouble getting invested. So far it seems like fairly standard military-political space opera. The bad guys (or what appear to be the bad guys at this point) are the old standard humanoid lizard aliens, but the politics is still not totally clear to me. I'll keep at it, but I might take a break to read something more fun and easy to follow, like The Wizard's Butler.

[Trike]

The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes is right up your Space Opera alley. A bunch of misfits at the edge of the abyss are all that stands between civilization and annihilation.

It has a Star Trek-meets-Tour of the Merrimack vibe (Wolf Star), with a truly epic problem they need to solve with wits and guts.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I finished rereading the entire April series. Well, until the next book is out. That’s likely to take several months if not a year since the author just published a book. He has promised April #13 would be next.

Next I read Rescue on Gimhae: Stories of the Orphan Corps 1 by Earl T. Roske. Readable but not something I’m likely to reread regularly. I’ll try the second in the series.

[Andrea]

I’m finally reading Dune. It’s been on my TBR forever. But I just started today.

[Audrey]

Andrea wrote: "I’m finally reading Dune. It’s been on my TBR forever. But I just started today."

I re-read Dune every so often. I wasn't very fond of most of the sequels, but I loved Dune.

[Audrey]

I just started Infinite Stars. My library had it, and I figured anything billing itself as "the definitive anthology of space opera and military SF" was worth a look.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I managed to finish the second Orphan Corps book but I’m giving up on that series. The second book had a completely different set of characters than the first one, and what hooks me into a series is usually following a limited number of characters.

I tried a bunch of free previews and rereads of other books and finally settled on rereading a fantasy series. This should hold me for about a week since there are six books in the main series plus about as many spin off books.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Currently reading a new book just out today: Encounter at Vilahana by Blaze Ward. This is the first of a new series however there are characters from the series that starts with Auberon and the main character is from the story arc starting with Queen Anne's Revenge.

[Ally]

Hello,
So I read :
Armada by Ernest Cline not great, still a story about a teenager.
Void Star by Zachary Mason . Not space opera. Interesting
The Peacekeepers of Sol series by Glynn Stewart It was kind of boring after the 3rd one.
The Peacemaker's Code . Interesting but not space opera.
And I read a bunch of Urban fantasy and Fantasy.
I discovered Lit RPG ! And I'm a fan of He who Fight with Monsters now !
And I like Defiance of the Fall too. which involved aliens.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I agree that Peacemaker’s Code was interesting but not space opera. SF yes, with aliens, but almost all the action was on Earth.

I finished Encounter at Vilahana by Blaze Ward. It was worth reading and I’ve already preordered the second which comes out mid November. I wouldn’t consider it an entry point to the universe though - far too many passing references to events in the other books which would be spoilers or at least just confusing. Odds are very good I’ll reread this series the next time I reread the story arc starting with Queen Anne's Revenge which I loved.

[C. John]

Teresa wrote: "I agree that Peacemaker’s Code was interesting but not space opera. SF yes, with aliens, but almost all the action was on Earth.

I finished Encounter at Vilahana by [author:Blaze W..."

Any reference in the book that the name Queen Anne's Revenge was the name of Blackbeard's flagship at one time.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

In Queen Anne's Revenge by Blaze Ward they purposely renamed the ship Queen Anne’s Revenge as a reference to Blackbeard. At least internally. They used other names when pulling up to an enemy station in order to raid it or the planet below. Blackbeard was not mentioned in Encounter at Vilahana.

Edit: we have discussed Queen Anne’s Revenge before:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Suman]

Recently finished Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. It is not strictly space opera, but there are elements of it. However, this book is so beautiful! One of the best sff I read this year.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Currently rereading Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon. I’ve reread this series several times so I know I’ll be easily distracted from it if I spot an interesting new book. Judging by how often new books appear in the series that starts with Bob's Saucer Repair, the next one of those will likely drop before November.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Making good progress rereading the series that starts with Trading in Danger. I did not expect #3 to keep me up until 3am (which left me short on sleep today) given how many times I’ve reread the series. Currently on #4 Command Decision. There’s a fifth book too.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Finished rereading the series. Not sure what I’ll be reading next.

I would like to mention noticing a throwaway character named Bobbie Anson. I assume this is a Heinlein reference.

[C. John]

Well Anson was the last name of one of Heinlein’s aliases when writing, back in the Golden Age.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

It’s also his middle name. Robert Anson Heinlein.

[C. John]

Forgotten that. I cannot recall either the first name that went with Anson or what the other name he used was.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I don’t recall any Heinlein pen name with Anson as the last name, but there’s Anson MacDonald.

[C. John]

That is probably the one that I was thinking of. I would have checked before I posted anything but I was using my iPhone at the time.

[C. John]

According to Wikipedia Heinlein also had material published under the names Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders and John Riverside. Caleb Saunders is the name I was trying to recall.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I’ve been (re)reading fantasy. More than half done with the final book of a trilogy so I’ll finish it but next up is the new book Baycation by Jerry Boyd, #21 of the series that starts with Bob's Saucer Repair.