• Welcome to the new COTI server. We've moved the Citizens to a new server. Please let us know in the COTI Website issue forum if you find any problems.
  • We, the systems administration staff, apologize for this unexpected outage of the boards. We have resolved the root cause of the problem and there should be no further disruptions.

Need something to read over the Holidays

D

DonM

Moderator
Moderator
Marquis
Ok, I'm done with Honor Harrington for now... that series appears to have jumped the shark for me.

What I'm looking for are other Sci-Fi authors and series that fit in the Space Opera genre without getting into transhuman stuff or science fantasy.

A friend recommended Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Campbell, but I'm finding it slow going.

As a guide, my favorite fantasy authors are David and Leigh Eddings (Belgariad/Elenium/Tamuli series) and Katherine Kurtz (Culdi/Deryni series). My search for a sci-fi series to really enjoy continues.

I was a big Harrington fan... until after At All Costs... now, I'm looking for a new sci-fi space opera series... any suggestions?
 
Intervention and the Galactic Milieu trilogy by Julian May is good if you like psionics. Intervention is long enough that they cut it into 2 paperbacks but the hardcover is over 500 pages. Although some of it might break your 'no transhuman' rule. Mostly in the last book.
 
I assume you've read all the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold? And the various works of Larry Niven?

Then how about ...
  • The Warrior trilogy by Michael A. Stackpole. It's for Battletech but I enjoyed it. Not sure I'd say the same for some of the other Battletech books.

  • "Damned If We Do ..." by Peter L. Rice is another game tie-in. This time Renegade Legion. Though it's less Space Opera and more straight Mil-SF; tank warfare with grav tanks.

  • Then there's the Hulzein series (and others) by F.M. Busby. Don't let the title of the first one, "Star Rebel", put you off.
 
Bujold's Vorkosiverse.

Ok, so most of it happens planetside... the space tech is a vital part, and it's a wide ranging series. Two potential entry points: Warrior's Apprentice (in the omnibus Young Miles) and Cordelia's Honor (itself an omnibus, but doesn't really feel like one.)

Another, less groundside, if you haven't read it, is Doohan and Stirling's The Flight Engineer series.

Less realistic, but still fun, is the John Ringo "Bubble" series. Which, conveniently, is on the baen CD's... http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/18-EyeoftheStormCD/EyeoftheStormCD/
And yes, I found the link to that site in Jim Baen's blog originally. Sadly, the Bujold titles are no longer up, because Lois was unhappy about it.
 
DonM said:
Sci-Fi authors and series that fit in the Space Opera genre without getting into transhuman stuff or science fantasy.
Click to expand...

That is a trick.

I will add to the recommendations for Bujold.

Larry Segriff's Spacer Dreams and Alien Dreams.

Joe Clifford Faust's Traveller gam.. uh, Angel's Luck trilogy. Yes, the first one is a bit rough, but he improves rapidly.

Charles Sheffield's McAndrew Chronicles.

Alacrity FitzHugh and Hobart Floyt series (well, trilogy) by Brian Daley.
 
a surprise recommendation. Good author, not well known enough...
both these series are full of ideas quite compatible with Traveller too.
Warren C Norwood

Windhover Tapes
1. An Image of Voices (1982)
2. Flexing the Warp (1983)
3. Fize of the Gabriel Ratchets (1983)
4. Planet of Flowers (1984)




Double Spiral War
1. Midway Between (1984)
2. Polar Fleet (1985)
3. Final Command (1986)



and what did I just find? A (funded) kickstarter for...

This is a Traveller compatible science fiction campaign setting based on the trilogy by Warren C. Norwood.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1292093911/warren-c-norwoods-double-sprial-war-traveller-edit


c880905c7d60086716a7e358f185ca15_large.jpg

This book is a science fiction campaign guide for the Double Spiral War setting using the Traveller Role Playing Game published by Mongoose Publishing. The funds raised from this project will be used to pay authors, to purchase additional art, to cover layout and to cover the costs of printing.
This book is based on the Double Spiral War Trilogy by Warren C. Norwood (available on Amazon.com and RPGnow.com). The work will contain information about the aliens, starships, planets and backgrounds from the novels. While not necessary to play, you may get more out of the setting reading the novels prior to playing the setting.
Click to expand...
 
Spinward Scout said:
Intervention and the Galactic Milieu trilogy by Julian May is good if you like psionics. Intervention is long enough that they cut it into 2 paperbacks but the hardcover is over 500 pages. Although some of it might break your 'no transhuman' rule. Mostly in the last book.
Click to expand...

The Rampant Worlds series by the same author is SF in the same kind of universe, but minus the heavy Psionics focus, and may be more to your liking.
 
Doc Smith- Lensmen series.

Sure you've discussed it to death but how many have read it? :o Not me for one. I just picked up Triplanetary, for free I might add, off Amazon.

Space Viking- H. Beam Piper. Not a series but good stand alone.
 
Greg Bear's Forerunner Saga?

Set in the Halo universe (prequel). I've read the first two and enjoyed them. May be a little squishy on the science fact but not a fantasy novel for sure.

Not science fiction, but historical fiction: The Mongoliad. It has multiple authors notable in sci fi, plus a few others I don't recognize. Again I've read the first two of this series as well.
 
Elizabeth Moon.
The Vatta Trading In Danger series is awesome, and the previous series (in a different universe) that starts with Hunting Party is top-notch too.
(EDIT: The first series is referred to as the Serrano saga, after several important characters.)
The Vatta series, in particular, could BE a Traveller game, if you tweak FTL travel a bit.

I would rank her as one of the 3 or 4 best fantasy or SF authors writing today.
I loved her Paksenarrion books too, particularly the new series (but those are fantasy so don't fit your list).
 
Last edited:
Starfist

(Being a former Marine I recommend)

The Novels in the StarFist Series

1. First to Fight, (1997)
2. School of Fire, (1998)
3. Steel Gauntlet, (1999)
4. Blood Contact, (1999)
5. TechnoKill, (2000)
6. Hangfire, (2000)
7. Kingdom's Swords, (2002)
8. Kingdom's Fury, (2003)
9. Lazarus Rising, (2003)
10. A World of Hurt, (2004)
11. Flashfire, (2006)
12. Firestorm, (2007)
13. Wings of Hell, (2008)
14. Double Jeopardy, (2009)

Space Oprah with solid characters and story plots. (Danger! Aliens ahead)
 
The Destroyermen series

From Wikipedia:

The Destroyermen series is a series of alternate history books, written by American writer and historian Taylor Anderson. The eight books in the series so far are Into The Storm, Crusade, Maelstrom, Distant Thunders, Rising Tides, Firestorm, Iron Grey Sea, and Storm Surge.[1]

The books chronicle the adventures of the crews of the destroyer USS Walker (DD-163) and the Japanese battlecruiser Amagi, in the early stages of the War in the Pacific during World War II, being transported to an alternate Earth. This earth is the same geographically as the one they left, but evolution took a different turn eons ago.
 
It's the Honorverse, but take a look at House of Steel by David Weber. It includes a novella on the pre-history that's OK. The rest of the book is a compendium of interesting stuff on Manticore and Grayson including some great color plates of ships, uniforms, and decorations. Finally, there's a good long article on the design of navies.
 
DonM said:
Ok, I'm done with Honor Harrington for now... that series appears to have jumped the shark for me.
Click to expand...

That's bad news. I read the first two HH books and really liked them. I plan to read more.

What I'm looking for are other Sci-Fi authors and series that fit in the Space Opera genre without getting into transhuman stuff or science fantasy.
Click to expand...

I haven't read these yet...they're on my list to read at some point. I understand they're very good.

All of these are the first in a series.



In no particular order...

The Dark Wing - by Walter H. Hunt. I hear it's the epitome of Space Opera. I believe it's a 4-book series.



The Man-Kzin Wars - Created by Larry Niven. You've probably already read this. I read the first several and became addicted to them. Anthology collection with a few novels thrown in. Most are anthologies, but there are a couple of novels thrown in here and there.



Old Man's War - by John Scalzi. I understand it's fantastic. It has come highly recommended to me. He's written several more books in the same universe, but they're not necessarily considered a "series".



With The Lightnings - by David Drake. Drake's popular Honor Harrington-ish/Horatio Hornblower-in-space-ish series. Total space opera.



Leviathan Wakes - by James S.A. Corey. I've heard this is excellent. Not sure if it's a series, though.



The Myriad - by R.M. Meluch. Begins the tour of the USS Merrimack, the finest battleship class in Earth's fleet.



Midshipman's Hope - by David Feintuch. I understand this is another Horatio Hornblower-in-space type of series. Looks quite good.



Mutineer - by Mike Shepherd. It's the first of the Kris Longknife series.



Have you thought about John Ringo's work, or the other series by David Weber?
 
Moving on....

Flandry series by Poul Anderson - "James Bond in space" type stuff from late 50s thru 70s, but really is very good.

Palesotechnic League series by Poul Anderson - merchant prince adventures placed in the same "universe" as Flandry but a thousand years earlier.

Flinx series by Alan Dean Foster - mostly planet side adventures of a young man with psionic abilities.

Daniel Leary series by David Drake - one of them was previously mentioned - With the Lightnings - nice space opera about a young officer.

Helmsman series by Bill Baldwin - very definitely space opera, and a bit semi-⌧ographic but still decent adventures. One of those with destroyers, cruisers, and battleships zipping around at 20,000c firing disrupters at distant targets .
 
Last edited:
Forgot one interesting book - Edison's Conquest of Mars. Wiki article here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison's_Conquest_of_Mars

It's not really that good of a book, however, it is really the first space opera with spaceships fighting, asteroid mining, death ray guns, etc. Written in 1898 and is a sequel to the author's re-write of War of the Worlds.

its free at several places on the internet, including Amazon's Kindle store.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Hello there
Replies
14
Views
2K
JimMarn
J
N
Lifers against Newbies, wheres the Compromise?
Replies
19
Views
2K
Gallowglass
G
Back
Top