11 space opera stories worth reading

Ascension: A Tangled Axon Novel by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Pub: 2013 
I will kick this list off with a book about a black spaceship mechanic who also happens to be female, gay and chronically ill. The book is fast paced, it got all the drama and action you can wish for. The crew of the ship is a diverse group of outcasts that cares deeply for each other and will do anything for each other – Firefly style.
Read my full review

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon

Pub: 2003
Series: Vatta’s War
Kylara Vatta was kicked out of the space navy of her planet. Her parents are COEs of a major space trading company so they send her with a ship to take the ship on a last run. Kylara got a competent crew to help her on this first trip as a space captain. The series is the story of her finding her feet in civilian life and her getting involved in some major action. I will not spoil it for you any more. The series is well worth reading. Moon is an officer her self so the military details feels very real and the same goes for the interactions between the civilian and the navy crew that comes into play.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Pub: 1979
Series: Hitchhiker’s Guide
I can’t do this list without one of my favourite books of all time. I read it at just the right age, so it holds a special place in my heart. If you have for some reason not read it yet, do yourself the favour of reading one of the funniest science fiction books written. It is very British and sometimes the humor is totally crazy Alice in Wonderland style while it at other times is underplayed and deadpanned.

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Pub: 2011
Series: Expanse
This is a solar system space opera – a new flavour of space opera with all the trappings of space opera but within our own solar system and without faster than light travel. The story is about colonisation and the rebellion of the outer planets to the inner planets tyranny.  That makes for some great action with two very different protagonists at the control. One deeply broken – noir style – and one so much an idealist that he gets himself into trouble. It is a page turner and it kept me up till late at night.

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi

Pub: 2012
Red Shirts is another really funny book. Scalzi is ripping on Star Trek and the narrative of space opera television. It is laugh out loud funny and it had me laughing like an idiot walking down the street listing to it. It gets quite metafictional at times but that never gets in the way of the drama, the action and the fun.
Read my full review

 Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Pub: 2013
Series: Imperial Radch
The book is about an A.I. hiding in a human body. She used to be a spaceship, but is no longer that. She tries to navigate a human world. It is an epic science fiction story of the same kind of cloth that Dune was cut from. The book has quite moments as well a chaters full of action and high paced plot. The book plays with gender a lot and has some awesome worldbuilding. It is going to win a tons of rewards this year.
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Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon

Pub: 1993
Series: The Serrano Legacy
Heris Serrano is x-space navy and gets hired on as a spaceship captain on an old lady’s yard. It turns out not to be so boring a job after all as they get involved in politics and battles. The series is great space opera with plot, action and personal dramas. It thinks about the implications of regeneration for the super rich so they can extend their lifetime infinitely. What sort of effects would that have on society? I have reread the whole series at least three times.

Ignore the horrible cover, the book is a lot better than that.