Sci-fi recommendations

Hello, I am new to this group and this site, and was hoping I could find some like minded people to recommend novel series from my criteria. I have been hankering for a military space opera with a hint of romance, though not as a focus. If anyone can recommend a series to read, I would appreciate it.

Hello and welcome to the site!

I enjoyed the Manticore Ascendant series by David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope. I just found out today that there is a fourth book in this series. I also enjoyed Jack Campbell's The Genesis Fleet series. Good military SciFi. There is a little bit of romance but not enough to be annoying.

Although they're not quite traditional military SF, a couple of series by Elizabeth Moon have the same action & feeling. You could try the Vatta's War series, starting with Trading in Danger. She's also done a multi-part series, the Familias Regnant books, but I think Vatta would be better to try her out. Lots of action, but also characters who come alive.

Tanya Huff does great military scifi with multi-alien species alliances, try the Confederation series, Valor's Choice is the first book, and the battle in it is based on the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift in the Anglo-Zulu War, only with more sentient crocodiles.

And while military scifi is only one aspect of the Vorkosigan books I'd very much recommend Shards of Honor or The Warrior's Apprentice.

Another David Weber series to consider is Honor Harrington which starts with On Basalisk Station. Manticore Ascendant is actually a prequel series to it.

Two authors to look out for - K B Wagers and RM Meluch one's recent the other less so. Wagers is closer to space opera, but with plenty of action. Meluch has little romance but some great Mil_SF

>1 Delran: Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series fits that description, as does John Scalzi's Old Man's War.

What about Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos or his Ilium/Olympos duet? Would those be considered space opera? They are certainly two series that I have read more than once and will read again.

>8 Neil_Luvs_Books: Hmm, I'd say definitely not Ilium/Olympos, wasn't that mostly confined to Earth's orbit? Hyperion maybe, but again, wasn't that mostly human vs. human? The definition of space opera is always fuzzy to me, but for me it requires fleets, aliens and epic space battles.

>9 Karlstar: "...for me it requires fleets, aliens and epic space battles."

Two out of three ain't bad.

The Frontlines series by Marko Kloos should tick all the boxes.

Michael Mammay (Planetside, Spaceside, Colonyside), J.S. Dewes (The Last Watch, The Exiled Fleet), K.B. Wagers, Ann Lenckie, John Birminghan, Iain M Banks, Arkady Martine.
These are books and authors I've read in the last couple of years. There are many more.

>9 Karlstar: I wasn’t sure what the definition of a space opera is. In Ilium/Olympos there are humans, post-humans, sentient robots, chlorophyll infused martians, and some sort of ravenous species intent on destroying humans that we are never clear on whether they were made by humans or came to earth from another … dimension? The narrative takes place on two different planets plus the asteroid belt, and there is a significant section that involves space travel within our solar system. So a little like The Expanse series but the time in space is definitely much diminished in comparison in Ilium/Olympos relative to The Expanse.

So I am curious what might satisfy the conditions for a space opera? No judgement here. I really am curious.

'the appropriate term for the "hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn". It soon came to be applied instead to colourful action-adventure stories of interplanetary or interstellar conflict. Although the term still retains a faint pejorative implication, it is frequently used with nostalgic affection, applying to space-adventure stories which have a calculatedly romantic element.'

There's a lot more in the encyclopedia article:

https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/space_opera

>13 Neil_Luvs_Books: Sweeping settings & action, lots of drama, romantic tales (in the old "romance" meaning -- not just relationships). Sort of the same feelings as major symphonies & operas. Hence the name. Aliens often present but not necessarily.
(second-thoughts edit) Star Wars is quintessential space opera. E.T. is not. Martian survival tales, or cyberpunk dystopias, are SF but not space opera.

This is interesting, this discussion of what constitutes a space opera. I think I am beginning to understand. The SciFi encyclopedia helped. I am still ruminating… 🤔

I was surprised to see how many books are titled Space Opera. Can't vouch for any of them.

>13 Neil_Luvs_Books: I always got the impression in Ilium/Olympos that everything was either human or created by humans. I might be wrong, it is a while since I read those two.

I guess a space opera could all happen within the Solar system, but I'd say one of the requirements is interstellar travel.

>10 RobertDay: Too soon for Meatloaf references! :(

A paragon of pulp space opera was Nictzin Dyalhis' "When the Green Star Waned," which is all within the Solar System.

I thought of one. The Red Rising saga.

schismatrix by Bruce Sterling and The Helix and the Sword by John C. McLoughlin are both in the solar system -- admittedly many civilizations throughout the system -- which have most of the characteristics of space opera. They're both really good books too: recommended!

>18 Karlstar: Yup, i think I now understand what constitutes space opera. So would the the Imperial Radch series by Anne Leckie count as space opera?

I love the way the OP's fairly simple question sparked such interesting discussion & so many good recommendations. Thank you, Deiran!

>23 rshart3: That's a maybe for me on that series being space opera. No aliens, no giant space battles, it does the galaxy-wide scope though. However, I've only read the first book so far.

I might have missed it in a previous post, but Asimov's Foundation series is actually pretty good. It has aged well and I read it late in life, really. I would recommend it.

>25 Genxer: Genxer I have read the foundation trilogy a number of times and really enjoyed it. I have heard others complain that there is a bit too much "ghost in the machine" going on, and maybe that's true. But I like it anyway. I haven't read too much beyond the original trilogy.

>25 Genxer: I agree. I have read the entire story arc of Asimov’s Robots, Empire, and Foundation series and really enjoyed them. The last couple of novels he wrote before he died were not as good as the previous, but still enjoyable. It has been over a decade since I read them. It’s time to go back and revisit them starting with I, Robot. I never read the follow ups, The Second Foundation Trilogy, by the three Bs (Brin, Benford, and Bear) but from the few reviews I read the reviewers did not think they were on par with Asimov’s books.

>1 Delran: The Orion Series by Ben Bova Orion Among the Stars is exceptional. Brian Lumley has really good Sci Fi works as well if you like some Dr. Who'ish, HP Lovecraft elements thrown in. His Titus Crow Series is great.Titus Crow, Volume 1: The Burrowers Beneath; The Transition of Titus Crow For older material Andre Norton's Star Guard series is really cool.

>27 Neil_Luvs_Books:, good recommendation. I've read the Foundation stuff at the end, the Robot stuff at the beginning, but I've never filled in the Empire stuff in the middle. You've reminded me I need to get around to that. Still remember how confusing I found it that Second Foundation was actually the third book of the trilogy. I must have double-checked that half a dozen times at least.

>29 Cecrow: filling in the middle Galactic Empire stuff is not necessary to connect the Robots arc with the Foundation story arc. But it is fun and satisfying to get the entire arc of Asimov’s thinking.

>1 Delran: A fantastic author of space opera is Lois McMaster Bujold. If you enjoy classic SF, I highly recommend her Miles Vorkosigan (and beyond) series.

Publication Order of Vorkosigan Saga Books:

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/lois-mcmaster-bujold/

>32 anglemark: I had no idea that Falling Free was part of a much larger series! Thanks for the info.

Re-reading the thread due to recent entries, I thought of another series you might try -- though like my first recommendation, not strictly "military" in the sense of military personnel & structures. But certainly space opera, with sweep and with some romance. That would be the Liaden books by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. By now it includes dozens of books and covers a huge area & timespan (and for those who think it's necessary for space opera, various alien species). There's a Wikipedia entry under "Liaden Universe".

If you try one in publication order, the first was Agent of Change -- if in internal chronological order, I forget, but the Wikipedia article includes a timeline.

>34 rshart3: Liaden Universe Publication Order ; Liaden Universe Chronological Order

>25 Genxer: Just don’t try reading it as a teenager when you found it the most engrossing and fantastic thing you ever read, and then rereading it decades later. There is nothing after like the experience of reading a book that sucks you into its world when you are 12 or 13

When we're young, there are all these things we never thought of. When we're old, there are all these things we realize the author never thought of.

>36 stellarexplorer:, feels great when you look back later and remember that it was Dune. Not so great when it was The Sword of Shannara. Read them both and rated them equally highly at that age, so I guess I break even.

>37 ChrisRiesbeck:, pretty smart. I want a shirt that says that.

>38 Cecrow: that’s a really good comparison. I recently read Sword of Shannara and was somewhat disappointed. The first Dune on the other hand is still very intriguing.

>38 Cecrow: Applies especially to Foundation for me, even as it remains influential in my memory. If I hadn’t loved it so much, it wouldn’t have such power to disappoint. The Sword of Shannara point taken. Dune I’ll have to risk rereading; it’s been a while!

For me, The Book of the New Sun has more than stood the test of time. I found more depth and nuance on a recent re-read than when I first encountered The Shadow of the Torturer and its sequels back in the 1980s.

>41 ScoLgo:, I've a feeling it would be the same for me, even though I only read it 15 years ago. Boggled my mind then, but I've read quite a bit about it since.

I read the original four books in the 1980s and liked them ok. I found them amazing in a re-read last year, and went on to read the other eight volumes of the Solar Cycle.

>41 ScoLgo: I read Book of the New Sun for the first time last year and loved it. So clearly for me it is still relevant. This year I read Urth of the New Sun and although worth reading, not nearly as amazing as it’s precursor. I already have Book of the Long Sun on my bookshelf and earmarked for when I have a long stretch available for reading next summer. 😀

>1 Delran: Jessie Mihalik and K.B. Wagers seem to be building careers based on writing space opera with varying degrees of romance.

Not Sci-Fi, but I loved Excalibur by John Jakes as a kid. Lots of sex and adventure. I re-read it a few years ago. Actually, tried to re-read it. It was so bad I had to stop. Broke my heart. John Jakes should have been a red flag.