I wanted to use today’s post to share with you some of the most influential space opera novels and novel series on my work. For those unfamiliar with what space opera is, think Star Wars or Firefly. Over the years I’ve read countless works of science fiction and always found that space opera was the one sub-genre that I always enjoyed the most. As I began writing and toying around with what type of science fiction I enjoyed writing the most, it was only natural that these grand scale epics were also by far the most fun to write.
So, without further ado, here is my Top 10 Space Opera Novels or Novel Series, in nor particular order.
We’ll start with the best selling science fiction novel of all time, Frank Herbert’s Dune. Anyone who is a fan of science fiction is familiar with the tale of Paul ‘Muad’dib’ Attreides and the story of his family’s betrayal at the hand of a jealous Emperor and subsequent rebirth as a pseudo-religious figure leading a jihad across the known universe. If you haven’t read this yet, I would recommend doing so before Denis Villeneuve’s new film adaptation comes out next year.
Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy of novels is well paced, incredibly gratifying series of books. I picked up the series on a whim and quickly worked my way through the entire set. While it is a great story, the true strength in this series lies in how Leckie imagined the future society of the human race. Also, without spoiling anything, the endings to each novel are some of the most satisfying conclusions that I have ever read.
Isaac Asimov’s Lucky Starr series are the books that started my love for science fiction. As opposed to Asimov’s other series (which we will see later on this list), he played it loose with the science in favor of writing a series of fun adventure stories with one of the greatest protagonist and sidekick duos in all of fiction. David ‘Lucky’ Starr, or The Space Ranger as he is known when he dons a piece of ancient Martian technology, and his partner John ‘Bigman’ Jones, travel all around the solar system solving mysteries and saving the day. Great stories for young readers new to the genre.
It is impossible to discuss science fiction today without mentioning James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse series. My first exposure to this series was the excellent SyFy (now Amazon Prime) television show. I fell in love with the imagined near future and hyper-realism of the show and after the first season I picked up the entire series of novels. The writing is intense and enjoyable. Seeing the crew of the Rocinante go from a group of essentially strangers into an unbreakable family unit set against the chaos of the near future solar system has been nothing short of amazing. Whether enjoying the novels, the show, or both, I strongly recommend immersing yourself in the best of modern space opera.
Author Timothy Zahn is most famous for the work he has done in the Star Wars universe, including the incredibly popular books about Grand Admiral Thrawn. His Conqueror‘s trilogy tells that story of a disastrous contact with an alien race that leads to an all out war. Over the course of the novels we see the war unfold from both sides of the conflict as characters of both races work to end the conflict before it gets any worse. The series includes some of the best space battles that I have ever read, especially those scenes including the Copperhead pilots hardwired into their fighters.
After reading Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, which is not on this list as it falls more in the Military Sci-Fi category, Scott Westerfield’s Succession novels ended up as recommendations on my old Sony Reader. While I usually take storefront recommendations with a grain of salt, the premise of these books piqued my interest. To this day the series is near the top of my list of favorite works due to the incredible mix of political intrigue, romance, and unbelievable space action. The battle between the Lynx and the Nyx cruiser is about as good as it gets in science fiction as the two ships tear into each other at almost the speed of light. It is clear that Westerfield did a lot of research for these books and it paid off as they are without a doubt some of the best Space Opera out there.
First contact stories are very common in the science fiction world but never has one been handled with the such care and precision as with The Mote In God’s Eye. Written by the greatest writing duo in science fiction, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the tale of mankind’s first contact with the very alien Moties is impossible to put down. I could point out little details that I loved in this novel but instead I will just tell you to go pick up a copy and read it. This should be on every science fiction fans bookshelf.
The first time I read Startide Rising was in fifth or sixth grade. I didn’t understand a lot of it at the time; it is a very difficult read. Since then I’ve read it maybe a handful more times and each time it was as entralling and amazing as the first. This was the second book in David Brin’s Uplift series. While the whole series is a fantastic read with plenty of adventure and galaxy spanning politics, the story in Startide Rising about the neo-dolphin crew of the Terran starship Streaker and their desperate attempt to avoid being captured by a myriad of hostile alien races is about as good as it gets.
As mentioned before, Asimov is back on this list with the Foundation Trilogy. The Foundation books tell of the cyclical fall and rebirth of a galaxy spanning human civilization. The novel series gave us psychohistory, which is the fictional field of psychology and history that can accurately predict the future on a societal scale and one of the greatest villains in all of science fiction, The Mule. The way that Asimov crafted this universe and how expertly he handled the different stories for his characters is nothing short of brilliant. The episodic formula of the books also makes for a read that you can stretch out over the course of a few days/weeks.
And finally, no space opera list would be complete without the granddaddy of all space opera, The Chronicles of the Lensmen. Written by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith, the Lensmen books set the stage for generations of science fiction. Taking place over millenia, the titular Lensmen were basically psychic intergalactic superheroes responsible for keeping the peace throughout the universe. Many of the greatest sci-fi authors of all time count Doc Smith’s work as an influence on their own, including the great Robert Heinlein. The battles in these books were unfathomable in scale, in some cases using full planets as weapons. If you have the time and patience and want to see the modern origin of space opera, you owe it to yourself to read the Lensmen series.
HONORABLE MENTION
I haven’t read the Legend of the Galactic Heroes personally but I know that it is some of the most highly recommended space opera on the market. With the latest translation of the series now on Amazon I am hoping to dive into this series in the very near future!
What’d you think of my list? Any thing you agree with or disagree with? What books would you add to this list? Comment below with your thoughts!
Patrick D Quinn 
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