I feel like I wrote this post from time to time on Reddit and I think I’ll start this tradition here. I’m. a Honor Harrington fan. I’ve read several other space operas and they always fall short. The three that came close were Lt. Leary, Kris Longknife and Vorkosigan saga. Lt. Leary was nice, but it failed on World building. Kris Longknife also failed on world building and had astronomical levels of cringe with aliens and plot, but I enjoyed it. Vorkosigan saga had better world building and it was nice overall, but the books without Miles Vorkosigan weren’t enjoyable. There were other series that I enjoyed: Serrano Legacy, Vatta’s War (those are some of my favorites but they were too short), Starship’s mage (it declines with every new book), The Lost Fleet (it has a serious plot problem, the plot doesn’t move forward), Old Man’s War (it was really nice), Dread Empire Fall (also awesome), Teixcalaan (good, but short), Alarm of War (good, but short and pretty generic), Bobbiverse (I read until book 3, it isn’t for me), Red Rising 1st trilogy (really nice, but too Hunger Gamish, this whole dividing society into a cast system is getting old), Ark Royal. The Three Body Problem was awesome and, contrary to most series, didn’t leave me craving more after it was over. Edit: forgot to mention The Expanse, it was OK.
I think that what won me over on HH was the fact that she is a complete Mary Sue and other character don’t fall far from the tree, there is a nice world building, characters die, and there is a ton of action.
On the other hand, there are some long books that I enjoy that aren’t space operas. I really enjoy the Dresden Files (because he is cool and it is a long series), I absolutely love Jack Reacher (it is just a nice fun read, it’s like a nice Big Mac), I also enjoy The Spellmonger series, and I enjoyed the Riyria. I disliked Takeshi Kovacs (lack of sequence and plot) and I absolutely hate Southern Reach (VanderMeer), and there is another popular sci-fi book that is written as a report, which I also hated. I don’t like those very innovative mystery stories where you are trying to figure out wtf is going on or waiting for a plot to start until the middle of the book.
Got any suggestions? =)
(OMG, after writing this post, I see myself as an incredible hard reader to please)
Two obvious suggestions are Frank Herbert’s “Dune” series, and Issac Asimov’s “Foundation” series.
Both are sci-fi classics (Dune is still the best selling sci-fi book of all time I believe) and are space operas of a massive scope.
They are also some of my personal favorites.
I also immensely enjoyed Asimov’s “Robot” books. Three fun little whodunnit’s set in an interesting universe.
About four years ago, on a whim I decided to buy the entire Asimov scifi collection (inc short stories which I’m usually not keen on). Really surprised me how prescient and creative he was, considering how long ago it was written.
He has a really ‘comfy’ writing style, only way I can explain it… trying to read some hard scifi afterwards was a bit of a slog. Like a reading version of wading through treacle.
And he’s funny, too!
You always hear about how forward thinking and philosophical his stories were, never how human and alive his characters are, or how he regularly gets a smile out of the reader.
Those are also some of my favorites, the only reason I didn’t recommend is because I didn’t consider it to be quite the same genre, but agree they are excellent!
They are also in the same universe, as foundation makes a few references to that series, which are also fun to catch.
Dan Simmons - Hyperian
KCantos. Four books in the series, well worth a read imo… I loved itAdrian Tchaikovsky - Children of Time / Children of Ruin / Children of Memory (not read the third but am sure it’ll be as good as the first two)
100% Hyperion Cantos
I want to know if OP has read AT and what they think. I love all his books (just finishing Lords of Uncreation) and so could use OP’s list for things to go to next :)
No idea why my brain had me put a K instead of a C. I haven’t played Mortal Kombat in a while so can’t even blame it on that
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge. I liked the prequel, A Deepness in the Sky even more.
I loved anything Vinge put out. Always good reading.
Vinge is probably my favourite SiFi author. Incredibly well paced and populated stories
Fantastic book, I had no clue there was a prequel. I must acquire this.
Reality Dysfunction, Hyperion, Red Rising, Dune, The Expanse, Foundation, The Mote in God’s Eye
The Expanse and Red Rising series is exactly what he’s looking for! Also the Bobbiverse is a decent addition!
++ Hyperion by Dan Simmons. One of my favorites
Second Red Rising! Ender’s Game combined with Hunger Games. Then the next books kick off with space combat, mech suits, & political intrigue
Pandora’s Star and the sequel Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton
Excellent storyline
I really loved how many different storylines it weaves together.
Really, all of the Commonwealth Saga are good reads
It’s not one of the Culture novels, but The Algebraist by Iain Banks is one of my favorite one book cover to cover operas.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 🌌 . Probably not what you’re looking for.
I’ve read it and it is awesome. Worth mentioning whenever someone wants a light read.
Light? It has the meaning of life, the universe and everything. /s
John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series was a long and pretty interesting read.
Premise starts out as a “humanity vs the stars” kind of story, but instead of sending young people to their deaths, the futuristic human society instead recruits old people who have already lived full lives. You can enlist towards the end of your natural life to transfer your mind to a (photo)synthetic purpose-built humanoid super soldier body. If you survive a period of time (5 years?), you earn another shot at life and can elect to become a colonist for far away worlds. Most don’t get that far.
Your usual “long-term relationship tensions,” “humans are always bad guys,” “what will technology think of next?” tropes apply.
Revelation Space.
Niven’s Ringworld series
Foundation?
Revelation Space! Yes, yes, yes! Pick them up and don’t look back.
Also, if you’re into pulpy sci-fi, the Avery Cates books are fun reads. Start with Electric Church.
Ringworld (3) series plus the Fleet of Worlds (5) series.
Children Of Time Trilogy.
Amazing books that explore topics like Consciousness and Intelligence from angles you wouldn’t expect
I just finished the second book. We’re going on an adventure…
Also Adrian Tchaikovsky’s new series, the Final Architecture. Two books in, so far so very good.
I really like Neal Asher’s books. Sprawling long series (what is the plural of series?) and so good.
Was recommended the Children of Time books, am halfway through the first and WOW. I love it.
Plural of series is series, if that helps.
Children of time was amazing. What a unique, interesting concept. The following books were good too but for me didn’t live up to the first one. Which is okay, i still liked all of them.
If you like Star Wars (original trilogy, that is), I’d recommend Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. I can also recommend his Conquerer’s trilogy and Cobra series.
I liked The Lost Fleet, personally. The space battles are excellent, and they’re quick reads. Agreed about the plot, though, it takes a while. Worth it overall IMO.
You might consider the Iron Druid series, too. It’s written in a lighter tone than the Dresden Files, but it’s got a similar vibe.
You might check out Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison, too. It’s another urban fantasy with an interesting world premise. I struggle a little to recommend it – I lost interest fairly quickly, but if you don’t mind some romance in your urban fantasy, you might like it more than I did. And if you do like it, it’s a long series, over a dozen books!
Have you read any of Alastair Reynolds’s books?
House of Suns, while just a single book, felt like it had one of the biggest universes I’d ever read a story set in, and is my favorite sci-fi book, ever.
For something bigger, look into his Revelation Space series. It’s a bunch of books, some connected, some not, all set in the same universe.
Seconding Revelation Space series. His books are great about being epic and mildly disconcerting at the same time.
Loved House of Suns
A fellow fan! Ima gush a bit.
It seems we might get more books set in the universe, at some point. I really want to know what happened to the first machine race. If it was indeed birthed by the boy Abigail played with as a child, as is implied. His family specialized in robotics, and he got stuck in palacial, which later became the brain scanning tech to create the lines using Gentians cloning tech, as opposed to digitizing, like the machine cloud Campion and Purslaine meet, which was originally human.
And I also want to know if Purslane is indeed Abigail, as her having palacial aboard her ship implies.
Man. I’ve never read a book with so many dots to connect, as House of Suns. And two main characters who are already a couple, and that’s just how they are for the whole story? How unusual is that!?
The Damned trilogy by Alan Dean Foster Hyperion by Dan Simmons The Culture series by Iain M Banks
Even if you don’t think you’re into Warhammer 40k you should check out the books. There’s 100’s of them and are actually very good. I put them off for a long time because i thought they’d just be battle porn. They are well written with compelling narratives, great characters, a sprawling galaxy full of different aliens and factions, and of course the aforementioned war porn.
If you are hesitant like i was, i recommend starting with the first three books in the Horrus Heresy. There’s like 40 something of them but the first three you could read and put down satisfied without continuing if you wanted.
I always list the three books out for people because there’s so many it’s easy to get lost looking for them.
Horrus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames
As for a non-opera book, I highly recommend Seven Eves. I don’t think i saw it in your post. But you had a long list so forgive me if i missed it. It’s one book, pretty long though and one of my GOATS.
I second this. I’ve never played or painted, but I’m fascinated by the universe, and it is LONG. I’m just now finishing the prequel series (the Horus Heresy) which is over 50 books long (and some extra short stories). The main universe has 500 or something books.
I listen to audiobooks on the way to work, and used to do the same on the way to school, so I go through books very quickly.
