Grrl Power #866 – Rooftop rally
This is one of those transitional pages that doesn’t by itself contribute a lot. It doesn’t really land any big jokes or develop any characters (we already know Cora is a bit cavalier when it comes to distribution of ordnance, for example) but is useful for general continuity.
I really wanted to include the first panel from the next page at the end of this one as an answer to Sydney’s question, but it just wouldn’t fit. At least not unless I made the panels tiny. I maybe could have put panels 4 and 5 on the same line, then scooted panel 6 over, but the panel 1 from 867 is visually a little complex, and would have been diminished by trying to cram it all in.
So, instead, let’s talk Space Opera. If you happen to have a series you adore, share it. I’ve been hankering for a new book to read lately, and there’s so many damned novels with space ships on the cover, there’s just no way to make an informed guess about what might be good or not. You guys know that I like Star Justice and Three Square Meals as I’ve recommended them quite a few times. I think the thing I like about them… well, they’re solid male power fantasy pulp. I don’t necessarily need a harem, but a decent romance subplot definitely doesn’t hurt a book. Really the thing I like is a main character that is mildly to wildly OP who goes around kicking a lot of ass for good reasons.
Wildly OP is really tough to get right though. TSM does it right IMO. I mean, without spoiling the MC’s origin story… he gets pretty fucking powerful – but there are always appropriate challenges waiting for him and his crew. Like fighting a literal dragon with a battleship level shield generator and plasma weapons strapped to its back. Yeah. TSM has dragons.
Honestly, a smaller cast helps too. I like a “cozy” book in that regard. I generally get lost when I’m reading about how the MC’s contact talked to the Subchancellor of Mission Comptrollers and there’s a 45 page chapter about the 90 people that work for that dude. A little politics is fine, but I want a book about a dude or chick righting wrongs with railguns and a spaceship that has a sexy AI that no one else knew about, because there’s always a sexy AI on the spaceship.
Allow me to recommend a book that is… well, not a space opera, but has some space stuff at the beginning. It’s called “Upon a Savage Shore” and it’s basically “Enemy Mine” but replace Louis Gosset Jr. with three alien catgirls. The author for some reason never collected it into a book and put it up at Amazon or elsewhere, so you can only find it at Literotica. It does have some sex in it, but the vast majority of the story is shipwreck survivors making it on an alien planet while the one human guy tries to navigate all the cultural pitfalls of his co-castaway’s society.
That’s another thing I like. Some good, hard xenoanthropology. I don’t know why, but it pushes all the right glands in my brain that squirt out the happy juice.
Oh, here’s a tip for you guys that do a lot of reading online. Get Calibre, then get a plugin called FanFicFare. It lets you paste in the first chapter of a story from a variety of sites, then the plugin rips all the chapters into an e-book. It does an excellent job 99% of the time. Then you can set up Calibre with your kindle’s email address and have it send those books to you without fiddling with USB cables. One warning though, since I’ve discovered this combo (along with another one creatively called “Generate Cover” my kindle has become littered with tons of “books” with shitty covers that came from various websites.
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You might like “Perilous Waif” it is a space opera-ish world with a girl as the main character which explores issues in a world where the line between AI and human turns out to be somewhat blurry.
Perilous Waif is pretty good sci-fi; the societal aspects of the setting’s near-human AI servants are interesting and a bit frightening – a useful perspective on a possible future. The hyperspace/subspace FTL technology is well thought-through, the protagonist is relatable – with very cool sci-fi powers – and the plot is fun.
Main con: There’s only one book in the series, so far. There’s supposed to be a book 2 in the works, but only paying subscribers get previews or even status updates.
A series I often recomend for both its good story and humor is “Sten” by Brunch and Cole. This is the team that wrote “Willow” THe series is 8 books with lots of memorable characters both good and bad, an engaging central character, and an amazing supporting cast.
Space opera: For something light hearted and fun on Kindle I’d say Jerry Boyd’s Bob & Nikki series.
A guy from Missouri comes home one day and finds an alien woman trying to fix her spaceship in his garage. He repairs her ship, they become friends, and he decided to open Bob’s Saucer Repair. He meets a lot more aliens, repairs a lot of ships, and has adventures that take him further out in space. Several books so far and it’s still going.
Sounds cute.
I’ll second that recommendation – the series is a blast to read.
My description of the Bob and Nikki series: Star Trek meets the Dukes of Hazzard.
OK, off-topic :P
“… really wanted to include the first panel from the next page at the end of this one as an answer …”
Cliff-hangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUMMMMMM!!!!
Sounds kind of like “Prostho Plus” by Piers Anthony. (Blessedly free of puns, btw.) Aliens make an emergency stop at an Earth dentist office, then kidnap the dentist to take with them.
I remember that! But lost the title :( Piers Anthony is a bit neglected IM(NS)HO.
Yeah, he has spent the last few decades writing pun fantasy but he wrote some top notch sci fi.
…I’m sorry, but that dress bugs the Hell out me. My OCD Demands She Pull Up The Side That Isn’t There!
Smoutwortel, you might want to repost your post from the last comic here. It was an engaging topic (or at least I found it so), you spent a good bit of time on it, but it will be lost to most because you made it so shortly before the new comic appeared.
This thread?
Yes.
Ok.
Lets add together what we know about psychics, magicans and other mental attackers in the grrlpower-universe.
Cora claims Fel ships leak *psychic* radiation and that this radiation can transform people into monsters.
Some supers like Jabberwocky and Vehemence have magic rooted powers.
High tech post-ftl civilisations sacrifice psychs to make Aethrial causeways.
Sydney’s bubble helped against Vehemences violence aura.
Sconia’s robot hypnotised Maxima and the author strongly implies that is, because it contains vampire blood.
Dabbler claims psychic illusionairy light can be only detectable by organic systems if she asked about why her mechanical eye doesn’t detect Sydney’s balls and she states that there is apparently a third way to detect it, because “she isn’t detecting that either.”
Dabbler establishes the 7 schools of magic as ways to use the same concept.
It’s possible to absorb magic and cancel it out, because Sconia’s kill puppets do it all the time.
Magic powers can interfere with other magic tricks(Dabbler’s kiss).
Magic can resemble physical objects(the defense of the small demon).
Magic can be locked into objects and shaped for specific purposes(the vault)
Advanced enough magic users can use it for interstellar travel(Sconia’s wormhole)
Aetheral causeways don’t leave for Cora detectable traces(Sydney’s arrival)
Illusionist are rare on earth(Deus after hearing about the truesight orb)
Magic can be kept functional without human power sources(the Veil)
Magic can be channeled(soulbreaker sword against heavenly sword)
Magic isn’t reality bending(Krona bends reality, but still can’t get teachers).
All times Aether is involved there is magic or psychic involved.
Sydney’s orbs are undetectable for magic users(Archon’s introduction)
Feel free to add
Later I found a little more:
Sconia posses a mind altering super once.
Maybe this helps finding such statements:
The’re many points in the comic where some super-genius/alien/mage makes a statement about this.
After Dabblers kiss appears to be longer in effect than intended Dabbler mentioned Jabberwocky’s powers were somewhat magical.
Sometimes she calls something a spell than I rule it as magic.
If she calls what she uses a …ter it’s probably technology, just as a device.
Of Vehemence I assumed it, because his power varied widely, worked comparable to Dabler’s(often magical) way of power collection, could surpres sleep spells, and had filled circles.
As of where the author seems to draw the line.
Archon doesn’t care as long you can keep up(explicitly said about Math and implied about Dabbler)
It’s still an officially unanswered question whether super powers are alien magitech. Sydney once hears about the option, but the aliens she speaks are just as surprised about supers. There’s mentioned that there seem to be higher levels of tech than she encounters, so it’s still a viable option.
Magic has seven schools can be used by different individuals, can produce a wide variety of effects(Dabbler), individuals of comparable level can analise each other’s tricks(the first encounters with Sconia’s henchmen), can be made mechanical(the Veil), but can also be done with only verbal and mental components(the defense of the small demon), can be learned to others(Sydney’s passenger test), produces circles filled with other shapes in the air(all confirmed cases of magic), can be drained out of someone(Sconia’s kill puppets), can be canceled out(Sconia’s kill puppets) and is barely used by post-ftl civilisations(The infiltration Sconia).
Psionics are a lot more appearant in post-ftl civilisations.
Dabbler can detect psionic light with a third trick that doesn’t involve her mechanical eye(Dabbler’s analyses of the orbs). Psionic radiation cannot be detected with method’s currently known to humanity(The aftermath of the Fel). Fel ships radiate psionic radiation(The aftermath of the Fel). Is practiced by more than one person(Cora meets Sydney)
Super powers: Bound to a person, wide variety(Talk about the Veil and the first press conference), can overlap(Vehemence’s army), can’t be learned to others, can’t be given to others with current human or 1st level post-ftl technology and ignores biological limits(aftermath of the Fel),
Reality bending: probably super power(Sconia’s first face reveal), currently limited by Krona’s ability to understand it(Sconia’s first face reveal), can be shielded from with magic(Sconia’s final robot), Recquires energy output for bigger feats(the end of the time loop problem), can do powerfull things(Krona begging Sydney for update screen) and done with code(the timeloop shock).
Military SF rather than Space Opera, but the RCN series by David Drake is old-school space adventures. Intrigue! Romance! Climactic space battles!
I don’t know if it is exactly space opera, but the first contact series on r/hfy is very good.
I think a lot of r/hfy would qualify, except that the format is awkward to read, and quality…varies.
I think they also have the Deathworlders series there, too, don’t they? That’s the “main” story line, and I highly recommend it.
If we start with DaveB’s home location as his base for Archon, it is about 1500 miles to NYC. Sydney at her current top speed of Mach 16 can be there in literally 8 minutes. Admittedly, taking the atmospheric route would break every window along her path and the ballistic route would probably set NORAD at DEFCON 2.
I assume someone has thought about that and they have a way to make it work.
If not then they probably won’t use the bubble bus.
Depends on the shape and height of the object moving through the atmosphere. Plus, really fast hypersonics may produce sonics that are refracted back up through the atmosphere and don’t reach the ground.
Ummm, no. IF Syddles can get enough height, MAYBE there will be a thermocline which should reflect the sonic boom upwards. Otherwise, pray that 18,000++ feet is enough to mute it.
BUT, there will be a busload of permissions needed from ATC to get through the traffic on the way up. The last thing ArcSWAT needs is to clean up/T-bone/rear-end an Airbus or Boeing… Who’s navigating? (Yeah, yeah, I know, Rule of COmic-Plot. But even in Syddles’ universe, there’s a crap-load of air traffic over the USA that makes whatever-that-street-in-NY is look positively deserted.)
I’m no expert on the effects of high mack travel on windows, etc. but that just seems wrong to me. A quick Google search revealed that the 2013 meteor which struck Russia was going ~60,000 km/hr or ~mach freaking 50.
Check out this video* of a wall of cheap ass windows, and note that only about 7 panes were broken. At ~4:25 we see another wall of windows, with only 3 or 4 panes broken. Also note that none of the windshields of the many motor vehicles whose occupants recorded the event were broken. Of course I have no way of knowing how high the meteor was at the time it passed over these buildings or those vehicles, but maybe a lot of leeway on the height can be given due to the fact that we’re talking about mach 50 instead of mach 16.
.
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* Watch the whole video, it’s fascinating! Also read about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor
The above should have been more properly a response to O.B. Juan who said:
The meteor caused a lot of damage, but we can see from the video that “break every window” is highly exaggerated.
He also said:
And that may be true. From memory, the Russians didn’t know for a while if this was a meteor or possibly a nuclear missile attack.
You’re not far from the truth. The major effect of the sonic boom is the sound/noise. And worse, the volume isn’t entirely predictable :( My mention of a thermocline was deliberate, I’m sure you’ve seen lightning and waited in vain for the rumble — it deeply puzzled me for decades, until I learnt about submariners’ sonar/ASDIC problems and it all fell into place. And, FWIW, it also neatly explains the mechanics of mirages.
OTH, Syddles does NOT need any velocity above 200Km/H on take-off or climbing for altitude. Any trans-sonic speed will cause major trauma in a surprisingly large area, Mach 3++ is likely to put many living organisms in ICU for some time. Most of the injuries will be caused by the displaced air pressure gradient, not the boom itself.
It’s worth considering that the same pressure gradient can knock a 380 or 777 out of the sky in a permanent manner. ATC permissions are mandatory, however I have seen a post in this commentary that ARCHON should obtain an air-transport exclusion zoning up to 20,000 feet from ATC, thus allowing a safe ballistic take-off and landing.
Actually, Mythbusters did that one… Didn’t work. Even the fragile crystal…and that was at 100′ off the deck, and if I recall, the jet transitioned more or less above the shack they’d set up.
I’m not say’in that the widows didn’t rattle! They didn’t break though.
I would hate to rattle some widows. They have suffered so much already.
Mach 16 is so far beyond our practical experience as to be silly. Depending on how “hard” the shield is, the plasma (yes, that WILL happen) at the “front” of the shield will be deflected away at speeds exceeding Mach 400. That’s not “breaking windows”, that’s “leveling towns”.
As for the ballistic route, there are actually multiple reasons to put an exclusion zone around Arccon HQ. Your really only have to worry about satellites. Yes, you need to file a flight plan with NORAD. The only difficulty in doing that would be in exposing an appropriate API on the Internet. Leon probably fixed them right up.
The last problem for the ballistic route is reentry. The most simple solution is to put up small exclusion zones over metropolitan areas.
I believe that the video of the Chelyabinsk meteor I posted above shows your estimation of the damage to be highly over-exaggerated. The meteor which weighed in at ~13,000 tons and had a greater size than Sydney’s shield. Sydney’s shield has also been seen to become a more streamlined shape at high speeds, while the meteor was in the process of breaking up and was a highly irregular shape due to that.
Sydney’s flight orb also appears to have no inertia. As in she can go from mach 16 to a subsonic speed in no time. Making her quickest approach one of “come in fast at high altitude, then drop to subsonic and drop straight down to land.”
Again, I’m with you on this. The safe zone around Syddles’ bubble will probably be somewhere just outside 500 meters for most purposes.
Wikipedia has reasonably good outlines on Supersonic speeds and Hypersonic speeds.
Yes there will be plasma. I’m fairly sure that will not be a problem for the bubble. Or the passengers.
Steel world by bv Larson is more military sf than space op, but it fits your other criteria.
I have a ‘ahem’ a few books collected between 1958 to 1984 about uh. 40 thousand science fiction, fantasy, etc books. My wife said not to collect anymore and had to rely on the public library for a book until I started the electronic storage. Now that I am getting a bit old was thinking of having a book sale in my area to help with my expenses.
Yeah, as someone who has been reading sci-fi since they could read, (nigh on to 50 years now) I can say that you are more likely to run into choice paralysis than any thing else. I like to mix old with the new. An Ace double can be like treasure. I re-read “War of the Worlds” every decade or so. I often find there are things that I missed in my younger years. Of authors currently publishing I find that i enjoy Charles Stross.
Oh deities, where do I begin? Aldiss, his Helliconia trilogy; Stapledon, “Star Maker”, perhaps “Sirius”; Nagata, “The Nanotech Succession” and “Limit of Vision”; Haldemann of course; Bester, “Fondly Fahrenheit”; Simak, “Night of the Puudly” aka “The Duplicate Man”… Where do I end?
Forgot/Need to add Huxley, “Brave New World”; and Miéville, “Railsea” and “The City and The City”.
Oh yes. Schlock Mercenary is available in print… But everyone knows that, don’t they???? And while we’re here, Girl Genius. In print.
I think Schlock Mercenary must have started with the premise of “space opera” and went from there. Although it isn’t space based I think that Girl Genius still fits the genre. For those who like their science fiction in a more traditional format I can highly recommend the prose version of the story. The prose version and the graphic versions compliment each other nicely.
Alfred Bester? The stars my destination?
That too, although I haven’t read it.
My wife also suggested that I use the library as opposed to collecting more books. She is now my ex-wife, and I still prefer to buy books rather than wait for the library to stock what I want.
Good lord, and I thought I had an unreasonably large scifi/fantasy collection, you are orders of magnitude ahead of me.
So two series spring to mind, I’ve been enjoying them both but the second one may end up with too big a cast for your tastes (even with the sizeable casualty rate once the shooting starts).
First is *Starship’s Mage* by Glynn Stewart. Very hard sci-fi for the most part (about on-par with the Expanse I feel) but where magic allows for things like artificial gravity, with its resulting impact on acceleration tolerances, transparent bulkheads (by transmuting the metal to be transparent) and faster than light travel in the form of a mage teleporting the ship a light-year at a time.
The first book starts with Damien Montgommery, a Jump Mage fresh out of training but unable to find a job on a ship. Circumstances lead to him being hired onto a freighter called the *Blue Jay* and, well, lets just say things kinda spiral from there and going into detail would be spoilers.
The second series (and one I only recently started on) is an old one that started back in the 90s – the Honor Harrington novels. Often compared to “Horatio Hornblower In Space” with a protagonist partly inspired by Horatio Nelson (the admiral from the Napoleonic Wars), its a full-blown space naval drama centred around the titular protagonist’s actions when a cold war between her home nation (the Star Kingdom of Manticore) and another nation (the People’s Republic of Haven) turns hot. Semi-hard sci-fi in that the author, David Weber, tried to follow actual physics where it made sense but also changed physics and introduced details that would result in naval engagements being not unlike the broadside battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Not exactly like them, mind, but enough for most weapons to be mounted on a ship’s broadsides and the ideal position to be firing directly into the target’s bow or stern.
I second the Honor Harrington series. In fact, just about anything from David Weber is a great read. If you don’t want to jump into a long series, check out his Empire of Man series. Starts with March Upcountry.
March Upcountry used to be free on Baen’s website, plus it was my first introduction to John Ringo. Very, very good series.
The Honor Harrington series doesn’t meet DaveB’s criteria in many respects. First and foremost, it isn’t ‘harem,’ not even slightly. There is very little romance. The main character is a workaholic virgin with zero interest or skill at dating for many novels.
There are two (2) sentient alien species mentioned in the entire series. One is at a pre-industrial stage, and is protected by what is basically a non-interference policy. It is also barely/never mentioned beyond the single novel in which Honor has a posting there. The other is a race of intelligent cats that no one knows (or if they know, they hide this knowledge) are intelligent. They are non-tool-using, but in very late novels can use tech manufactured for their physiology. i.e. guns scaled to their small size and built to be held by their paws.
This basically eliminates any Weber stories, not just the Honorverse novels. Expect to become intimately familiar with the main enemies, their henchmen, their motivations and infighting. Also you will be intimately familiar with the good guys, their political struggles, the housekeeper of their political opponents, the unfortunate debauchery of the step son of their trusted lieutenant, and the eating habits of the dog of the person who passed them over for promotion.
I read, or at least listened to the first 7 or 8 Honor books. I mostly enjoyed them, but I’m not sure I’d get a lot out of the next ten. Maybe I’ll pick them back up eventually though.
Yeah, I kinda fell out of the HH series once it started spinning off into a bunch of other characters and side series. The Vorkosigan saga is top tier space opera scifi. The main MC isn’t especially personally powerful, quite the opposite in fact, he’s more of a guile hero, but he pulls off some crazy stuff just by getting a chance to talk lol. The Ciaphas Cain wh40k books are spectacularly entertaining too. Michael Scott Earle has the Space Knight series, not especially space opera, more personal combat from what I remember, but the first couple books were really good. The first couple books of his star justice series were good too from what I remember, and that’s a bit more space operaish. Though you probably know both of those given your vocal praise for Tamer. Yeah… I’ve read a lot of bad space operas, makes me a bit leery of diving into any new ones and most of the scifi I read is a bit more grounded. I’m currently giving Rise of the Empire by Ivan Kal a shot, not super far into it yet, but I’ve read some of the other series in his shared multiverse and the idea of incredibly advanced scifi sharing a reality with (and warring with) gods and monsters and wizards is a fun idea.
Came to recommend Honor and Miles, glad someone beat me to them :)
I enjoyed the first 2 HH books but wasn’t engaged enough to keep going.
Definitely the main Honor Harrington series, which starts with On Basilisk Station. Very good. I never read Haratio Hornblower, but I from what I read about the series, I suspect any comparisom is superficial and mainly along the lines of naval officer who rises in the ranks. She is a real person, but doesn’t have the hang ups Hornblower does, that are tied in with English soecific social standings and pressures. And though she does serve in a monarchy, it’s not like England in the 18th-19th centuries.
Ooh, the Valor Confederation by Tanya Huff is good at least through the first half. This series follows Gunnery Sgt Valor Kerr of the Space Marines. Three main species, at least in the military,on the protag side. Overall pretty good.
No. This is just utterly and completely incorrect. Honor Harrington is a Mary Sue of epic proportions, and not at all a ‘real person.’ I say this with all honesty and candor as a person who has read every book in the very long series. I enjoyed the reading, but the characters are almost universally black and white. Weber goes to enormous lengths to try to make the opponents of the main characters
That does not make her a Mary Sue.
The trope is poorly defined at best, but the best definition I have read of is:
A Mary Sue is more than the central character of the story (every protagonist is, after all). It is an artifact of poor writing where the Mary Sue is not just the character the (story) universe strives to show off, it is the only real thing in the universe. Evrything is only ‘real’ for the purpose to show how great the Mary Sue is.
Honor Harrington is a bit on the black and white side of ‘the perfect navy officer’ sure, but she is part of the universe her stories are set in, that universe is not a reflection of her.
Due to the origin of the trope Mary Sue has become a ‘female character’ centric archetype even though what made it an example of bad (and boring!) writing is not gendered. And lately the label of Mary Sue has come to be slapped on any powerful female protagonist as a means to shame and dismiss stories with a female protagonist.
We are currently in a movement where cultural regression attempts by people who find the old (dude-centric) status quo comforting and therefor morally right, to roll back the (modest) improvements made in representation of women in the past couple of decades. Slapping the accusation of Mary Sue on a female protagonist is one of the reflexive techniques used by that regression.
I do not for a moment think that you even subconsciously subscribe to such notions, but because the stereotype of the Mary Sue is so ingrained and the status quo has been ‘the norm’ for so long, it is far too easy to let yourself to get tricked into repeating the narrative. I mean, I have to consciously think about these subjects too.
(see also the highly informative, and funny, video that discusses this subject by Overly Sarcastic Productions, Trope Talks: Mary Sue)
If they have to return to New York City,then maybe the Twilight Council would be involved!?
The mention of NYC may have been a ‘veiled’ reference to their destination.
Space Opera … Have you read ant of Glynn Stewart’s series? I quite enjoy them for a fast read, and they’re mostly available on Kindle Unlimited. There are also Nathan Lowell’s space trader novels, which cover the not much explored area of merchant shipping. Right on the crossover between MilSF and space opera are H. Paul Honsinger’s two trilogies. Jack Campbell has more books than I can remember right now in his Lost Fleet universe, but also did a set of books under the name John Hemry covering military justice/peacetime operations. Marko Kloos, S.K. Dunstall, Becky Chambers, and Peter Hamilton are all authors I can recommend unreservedly. Not quite as good as those four but still worth trying, Eric Thomson, Terry Nixon, S J MacDonald, Stephen Renneberg, Yoon Ha Lee.
Dang I *just* recommend the Lost fleet, but it took me so long to type it you got there first :D
I did bother to read the Lost Fleet series, but would not recommend it. From the start, the basis for the newly revived from stasis protag being a military genius is that he…looks to tactics as far as basic formations amd holding lines instead ofballowing individual captains to idioticallt pull out of the line out of a irrationally lauded sense of “fighting spirit”. There is an in universe explanation later, but it’s just not good enough.
Along with (At least 3 others) I would recommend the Honor Harrington Series, again the earlier ones are fantastic, The first two especially, “On Basilisk Station” and “The Honor of the Queen” are my personal Favourites.
My Second recommendation for good old Space Opera / Space Ship Combat would be The Lost Fleet Series (their are several other spin offs inside the universe but the first one starts with “Dauntless” then “Fearless” etc) by Jack Campbell.
The series revolves around John ‘Black Jack’ Geary who was frozen in suspended animation and awakes to discover that no-one knows how to fight “properly” besides head long charges into the enemy and also find himself in charge of the fleet stuck so far behind enemy lines that its up to him to get them back home. When I first found the book by chance I couldn’t put it down and quickly bought the remaining 5 as quickly as I could. It has some pretty good plot, combat sequences (Mostly done in split second skirmishes as it involves combatants to fight in light second intervals because everyone is going 20% the speed of light and range is limited) a decent romance subplot or two and some political style moments.
The second “Series” in this universe “Beyond the Frontier” is also pretty good, but I would read the first one to begin with to get a feel of the world.
Highly recommend deLancey’s Predator Space Chronicles, anything by Layla Nash (War Witch & City Shifter series) and Jodi Taylor (Chronicles of St Mary’s is an addictive and total hoot). And if you’ve had a deprived youth and missed the Honor Harrington series, that should keep you occupied for a year or more with some of the best space opera ever written.
I know you said you don’t like large casts, but MD Cooper’s Aeon14 universe is *really* good. The main characters tend to have better tech than the opposition (often why they’re being threatened by the opposition), so the OP is often there.
I started with the Intrepid Saga, (starts with Outsystem).
I’ll also second David Weber novels. Empire of Man series is all about a small band of incredible people overcoming long odds with lots of Blamm! Path of the Fury is an awesome power fantasy.
I really liked “galaxy express 999” but the main character isn’t OP in any way XD
I think my fathers series The Cassiopeia Adventures by S.F. and D.S. Swem is turning out pretty good, its on amazon.
One of my other fav books is ‘In Fury Born’ by David Weber.
The Brain Brawn series of books by Ann McCaffery is also good, Starting with The Ship Who Sang.
Also another one of my favs, Star of the Guardians trilogy by Margaret Weis
For space opera with a wildly OP (female) protagonist and xenoanthropology, I recommend the “Theirs not to reason why” series by Jean Johnson. (First book: A soldier’s duty).
The main character is an absurdly powerful precognitive – she can literally see anything that happens in the next thousand-plus years (and how likely it actually is). But just because she can foresee everything that *could* happen doesn’t mean it will, and the galaxy is going to be wiped out in three hundred if she doesn’t do the right things at the right times which means going into the military. Luckily, she’s also faster and stronger than anyone else. And then they put her in charge of a spaceship constructed around the most powerful laser ever built.
For xenoanthropology, there’s a (small) number of alien species in the galaxy, some of whom are very human-like, and some… aren’t. And of course the main character is an expert at dealing with them – even the ones who don’t think like humans.
The crook led of fid.
The chronicles of Fid
The Cronicles of Fid
The Duchy of Terra series by Glynn Stewart is also very good. Mankind is experimenting with its first hyperdrive and an alien fleet pops in and says “We’ve been trying to leave you alone, but now that you’re broadcasting your hyper-signature all over the galaxy, we have to take over to preserve you from the slavers next door.”
Genius hyper-industrialist keeps upping the technological ante, and humanity takes a larger and larger role in galactic politics.
I can second the “Empire of Man” series by Weber and Ring. I am re-reading it now and it is fun! Also, if you’re open to “space-opera” set firmly on Earth, than any of the Callahan books by Spider Robinson would fit the bill. Strong protagonists, conflict, sex, and a surfeit of puns and music. There are also secret A.I.’s and appearances by Tesla! I especially recommend the books set at Lady Sally’s joy house. They are sublime!
The Chronicles of Fid. Three books in the series.
I really enjoyed the Honor Harrington and Lost Fleet series.
Wait. Did we ever have the city they are located in established?
Archon is located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, presumably as being centrally located in U.S. would give a decent response time anywhere.
The Enders Game series is pretty good. Also, Larry Niven’s Ringworld novels. (If you want to do the Ringworld novels you may want to start with the “Man/Kzin Wars” books first, since those are mostly set before the main Ringworld books and will give you a lot more background on the universe as a whole.)
I also like the Shadow series, which parallels the first couple Ender books and follows the exploits of his team back on Earth.
Oh yes, I would definitely recommend reading “Ender’s Shadow” immediately after reading “Ender’s Game”, finish up the Shadow books, then proceed with the rest of the Ender books.
Also Protector, which introduces the Pak.
Space opera, hmm? One of my favorites.
I saw several people mention David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. Yes, definitely. His Safehold series starts out as space opera, but doesn’t stay there – still worth an honorable mention.
Frank Herbert’s Dune series is also excellent. His books may be a little hard to follow, but they’re worth reading. His son Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson, completed the original storyline several years ago – and the books those two write are far easier to comprehend. I highly recommend this series.
Speaking of Kevin J. Anderson, his Saga of Seven Suns series is also fantastic. The first book is titled “HIdden Empire”.
There’s another series, “The Praxis” by Walter Jon Williams. A civil war in space. Definitely fantastic – he’s recently started a sequel series, but the first three books tell a complete story. The first book is titled “Dread Empire’s Fall”.
John C. Wright’s Eschaton series concluded a couple years ago. The first book in the series is called “Count To A Trillion”.
The space (and the time) in this space opera gets bigger and bigger with each book… and so do the ideas.
Finally, a little-known author, more about a race to save a single planet by visiting many others. His name is Roger MacBride Allen, and his series is called “The Chronicles of Solace”. The first of three books is called “The Depths of Time”.
I saw someone mentioned the Troy Rising series. That’s a funny one.
Oh, anything by Peter F. Hamilton. He had a trilogy called Night’s Dawn. The first book is called “The Reality Dysfunction”. The second is “The Neutronium Alchemist”, and the third is “The Naked God”. Ambitious titles, but he lives up to the hype.
Agreed on this one. Very well written but I was not happy with the ending.
Good morning Dave!
I haven’t really found a way to really jump in on the comments section but, I had to make a comment on Dabbler. I see she is playing the role of Hudson for this mission. :)
As for novel recommendations?
I’m mostly partial to “Space Battleship Yamoto” (Either the Anime or the Novel Series), and I would highly suggest the “In the Balance” Series by Harry Turtledove as it was both Sci-Fi and Alt History (Takes place during WWII). For more explorer/discovery series? I would go with the Quintaglio Series by Robert J. Sawyer. (Far-Seer, Treasure Hunter, and Foreigner) these are taken from the perspective of the Alien Species (Effectively Heightened intelligent Raptors.) Discovering their version of “SDF-1” and discovering how it works. It’s a bit of a slow burn but still fun.
I hope these ideas at least tickle a bit of fancy. But, until another time. Thank you very much for making this comic, I wait for every Monday and Thursday just to see what might happen next. So I appreciate you poking at my curiosity.
Regards,
Rithnok
Not a series. Just a book & Videogame.
Douglas Adam’s Starship Titanic. By Terry Jones
The structure of the title is thus because publishers demanded that book and game “had” to release together and Douglas really wanted to be personally involved in the game so he asked Terry Jones to help him out, he agreed provided he was permitted to write th book in the nude. The game can be found on GOG for under $10. I highly recommend both.
I would recommend Alan Dean Foster’s “The Damned Trilogy” for an interesting twist on sci-fi and a good dose of Xenoanthropology. The neat thing about it is that in this universe, Humans are the tough, badass, powerful, and terrifying alien race. As though in the movie Alien, we are the horror element.
A huge interstellar war rages, but with both side abhorring taking the life of another, so it is about propaganda, and one side has powers of suggestion and is winning.
The other side happens upon our solar system and sees how humans have NO problems taking a life, and are happy to do it to something that is different than them. They decided to cross the Godzilla Threshold and bring humans into the war, which we excel in.
The first book is about dealing with us suddenly being on the interstellar stage and how we affect the current war.
The second book is after the war is over and dealing with the aftermath of what has happened to us.
The third book is hundreds of years in the future, dealing with our society and physiology after we have joined the galaxy.
I enjoyed the Princess Bride reference.
Oh! transgalactic insurance is a great scifi series. Features a mild, down to earth guy that enjoys math that gets drawn into an interplanetary spy adventure despite himself. It’s pretty hard scifi and just a great read. (Huh, that’s another guile hero too, I guess I have a type.)
Have you read the original Space Opera? E.E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman series? The language is a little dated, and you’re not going to see much sexy times, but you can not beat it for over-the-top space action. They once hit a planet with an equal mass of anti-matter in a counter orbit. They had to englobe the system with ships with specially tuned shields to keep the gamma radiation from killing the rest of the galaxy. That was not the hardest a planet was ever killed in the series.
Don’t forget his other series of the time period… “Skylark of Space” and the sequels (4 books, Lensman is 6 – but they’re all quite short by modern standards)
But yeah, as you might imagine from my name, I’m a big fan of Doc Smith.
“Lensman Arms Race” is a fun trope page lol. You know things are crazy when your series is the trope namer for hilariously over the top escalation.
Sci-Fi… check.
Xeno-anthro…check
OP…hmmm…maybe?
The World of Tiers series by Phillip Jose Farmer
The Space Cops trilogy by Diane Duane & Peter Morwood
The Adventures of Kylra Vatta by Elizabeth Moon (Starts with “Trading in Danger”)
“First Flight” and it’s two sequels from Chris Claremont
The Giant’s Trilogy by James P. Hogan (Starts with “Inherit the Stars”)
The entire Liaden Universe from Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
“Star Commandos” by PM Griffin and it’s sequels…
Without dipping into my e-library on my Kobos, those are the ones off the top of my head from my physical library… Well, other than the obvious of Dune…but do we really need to mention that one? ;)
Whoops… Space Cops missed the Xeno check…
Late to the party here, but adding another recommendation for the Liaden series. There was a quote I had wanted to include, but could not recall it correctly. Ended up re-reading several books, and like visiting old friends, one thing lead to the next and just kept on reading after I had found the quote.
”
In an ally, considerations of house, clan, planet, race are insignificant beside two prime questions, which are:
1. Can he shoot?
2. Will he aim at your enemy?
-From Cantra yos’Phelium’s Log Book
“
Remember…never tick-off a turtle!
Will definitely second the Liaden universe. Amazing storytelling, world building, and characters.
If you want to try something a little more ‘Steampunk/ Fantasy’ go for Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series.
The first three of course but more along the lines you are looking for would be the second Wax and Wayne trilogy starting with The Alloy of Law, then Shadows of Self and The Bands of Mourning.
Has all you want in Good guys vs Bad guys and a little romancing in there too along with a lot of dry humour and a few plot twists.
Anything by Sanderson is fantastic, although the majority of his stuff is magic-based rather than sci-fi. But all of it has great characters, plot, and world building with unique settings, which is everything I love about sci-fi.
I loved the original Mistborn series which is in a medieval age; the steampunk sequel trilogy didn’t interest me nearly as much, but I anxiously await the 3rd-era trilogy which will be space-age. He also has an anti-superhero series (The Reckoners) and of course the massive Stormlight Archive series. Really his only sci-fi series is Skyward and it’s sequels.
It’s not so much a space opera as it is about a military conflict, but I certainly would recommend the Damned trilogy. A Call To Arms, The False Mirror, and The Spoils Of War. It’s a story about an intergalactic war, and humanity, unfortunately, is now caught up in it.
Unfortunately for the enemy, because humans are space orks. We’re stronger, faster, more agile, and we can sometimes shrug off wounds that will eventually be fatal to continue fighting. We are a terrifying and abhorrently violent race of abominations, and in their desperation, the allies have turned us against their enemies.
I’ll have to check that out, HFY stories are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine lol.
I would recommend Dune, by Frank Herbert, except you said light on Politics. It is literally a (now 16 novel) series that covers 8000 years of politics as revolves around ‘The Spice Melange’.
The least political parts are the House Trilogy (House Harkonnen, House Atreides, House Corrino), though as the three main characters are Princes, politics does come up frequently.
The Butlerian Jihad trilogy is a bit more fast-paced, but it revolves around the political and social status of several full-body cyborgs and the humans who oppose them. It focuses more on familial relationships than politics though, and leads into the House Trilogy.
DO NOT, for all that is holy, try to read the Arrakis Trilogy (Dune, Children of Dune, Dune Messiah) if you want to avoid politics. That’s literally all those three are.
Agreed on Dune and also recommended reading before the actual movie comes out.
Politics yes. Must remember though that that Dune was written as a standalone and never originally had any sequels in mind. That said I found that after the first 3 it all gets a bit messy with each book introducing several new factions that never seem to go away.
As an actual movie… You mean Dune from 1984?
;)
Also, from what I can remember reading/hearing, based on 30 years of research, Mr. Herbert had planned more than just one book. Think about it…you going to spend 30 years researching to write *only* one book?
LT LEARY and the LIGHTNINGS The Lt Leary series by Drake is good.