SF adventure (non fantasy??)

telford · May 5, 2011

Howdy AW's.

Been here for a while and I haven't found too many of my people. Plenty of YA stories about boy wizards, moody vampire heros and Viking style heroines but what about good old fashioned space opera.

So, is anyone into this type of fun, adventure space opera?
Footnote: Must be serious, adult drama.

Sorry guys, no flash Star Trek rip offs or YA.

Come out of the darkness. Speak to me my people.

knight_tour · May 5, 2011

I'm writing a sci-fi thriller right now, to be followed at some point by a space opera. I posted the first few chapters of it this week on Authonomy, but no one has noticed it yet.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/33347/the-immortality-game/

sunandshadow · May 5, 2011

telford said:
Howdy AW's.

Been here for a while and I haven't found too many of my people. Plenty of YA stories about boy wizards, moody vampire heros and Viking style heroines but what about good old fashioned space opera.

So, is anyone into this type of fun, adventure space opera?
Footnote: Must be serious, adult drama.

Sorry guys, no flash Star Trek rip offs or YA.

I'm confused. You specifically list examples of YA fantasy, then imply you are looking for the same thing (fun adventure) but with a space setting. But then you say it has to be non-YA serious adult drama. :Huh:

I've seen fun adventure and serious drama in the same book, but the two are like oil and water, they aren't naturally compatible and if they mix at all the results are usually uneven and messy.

knight_tour · May 6, 2011

I thought the Risen Empire books by Westerfeld were pretty serious drama while also being adventure. I can't figure out why those books fell through the cracks for most people, since they are as fabulous as Ender's Game of Old Man's War in my opinion. Perhaps some are turned off by the hard sci-fi elements in them.

STKlingaman · May 6, 2011

Space opera?
I have a story outlined that's SF
with several lengthy singing scenes.

Does that count?

PyroJones · May 6, 2011

I do space opera. Epic, serious, fun, dramatic, adventurey, adult, all that. It's what I love.

AceTachyon · May 6, 2011

The Miles Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Herris Serrano and Vatta's War novels by Elizabeth Moon

Try those for a start. Good, rousing space adventure.

cameron_chapman · May 6, 2011

I want to do space opera, but haven't gotten to it yet. (Seriously, one of these days I'm going to decide on single a genre, and stick to it. Maybe. Probably not.)

I did just read a great space opera, though: The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy by Greta van der Rol. Great book, can't wait for the sequel to come out.

Liosse de Velishaf · May 6, 2011

I love space opera. We've actually had a ton of threads about it, if you want to dig through the archives.

But, are we talking Buck Rodgers style, or more like Vernor Vinge?

LBlankenship · May 6, 2011

Hard SF for grown-ups. Space opera? It's okay.

Astronomer · May 6, 2011

telford said:
So, is anyone into this type of fun, adventure space opera?
Footnote: Must be serious, adult drama.

Oh, yes, count me in. I grew up devouring literary science fiction back when all (and I do mean ALL) SF books still had pictures of rocket ships on the covers instead of pictures of cave-dwelling cat-people, dragons, or swords and treasure chests. (That was a LONG time ago.) And for me, the harder the science, the better.

I must confess, though, that although the SF I write is hard, it's not very space-opera-y. I'm good with the science, but not so good with the political and military stuff. (A Colonel outranks a Major, right?)

The novel I've just completed is more down-to-Earth (heh!). Though the characters never leave Earth, events across the galaxy in the distant past and the distant future affect them in very profound ways.

My next novel is about humanity's first attempt to cross interstellar distances. (Don't tell anyone, but things don't work out quite like they planned.)

So even though I haven't worked my way up to the space opera yet, I'm keeping an even keel with regard to the science and plausible technology so that when I get there, I'll get there in pulp-classic style.

Astronomer · May 6, 2011

carlaviii said:
Hard SF for grown-ups. Space opera? It's okay.

Hehe.

Jess Haines · May 6, 2011

Eh. I read it, but not as much as that sparkly wizards and emo vampire shiz.

*g*

lbender · May 6, 2011

AceTachyon said:
The Miles Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Herris Serrano and Vatta's War novels by Elizabeth Moon

Try those for a start. Good, rousing space adventure.

These are great, but don't forget about David Weber's Honor Harrington series.

Polenth · May 6, 2011

I write hard science fiction adventure stories. But no one's ever brought one, so I wouldn't say it's my strongest sub-genre in terms of writing ability.

defcon6000 · May 6, 2011

knight_tour said:
I thought the Risen Empire books by Westerfeld were pretty serious drama while also being adventure. I can't figure out why those books fell through the cracks for most people, since they are as fabulous as Ender's Game of Old Man's War in my opinion. Perhaps some are turned off by the hard sci-fi elements in them.

Evolution's Darling (also by Westerfeld) is also a bit of a space opera. Pretty fun book. Sadly, it fell so far though the cracks that it's out of print.

And hard SF only turns people off when the characters are about as interesting as a cardboard box. Unfortunately, a lot of hard SF has poor character development.

To OP:
Here's something newish that's a space opera: Song of Scarabaeus. It's a touch of romance, but overall it's pretty good and has some real science to it. Can check out my review of it too.

I'm more of soft SF person, you know, handwavium. :tongue

serabeara · May 6, 2011

I'm a big fan of space opera. Love Bujold, her sci-fi and her fantasy books. Also have been enjoying the Stardoc books by S.L. Viehl, and I loved the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon. I thought the Confederation books by Tanya Huff were also great.

I have Mike Shepherd's books sitting on my shelf, haven't opened them yet but I hope i like them since I glommed nearly the entire series. Also have a few of Jack Campbell's books too, but haven't started those yet either.

Guess I should mention Orson Scott Card here too, read all those books set in Ender's Universe years ago, one right after the other.

Not sure I could write sci-fi or space opera though, maybe I'll give it a try one day.

froley · May 6, 2011

Neato--I'm just about to jump into writing a big ol' space opera myself. I was frustrated reading Iain M Banks' 'Consider Phlebas,' because about half of it was the best space opera I'd ever read (and the other half was just junk). So I'm writing something in that vein--dark, human space opera (best described as 'Star Wars directed by David Lynch'), where the characters constantly go from bad to worse to even worse. Oh, and it's a bit like Hyperion as well, which knocked my socks of when I read it last year. And Anvil of Stars, though that's probably a bit navel-gazey for 'space opera.'

So, yeah, I guess I'm one of 'your people.'

Telford, don't we live in the same city? I remember your thread suggesting a writing group here--maybe we should make that happen after all

AceTachyon · May 6, 2011

lbender said:
These are great, but don't forget about David Weber's Honor Harrington series.

Ack! Yes. Also the Honor Harrington series.

Can't believe I forgot those.

Although I will say that the first five books were my favorite. After that, Weber seems to lose himself in info-dumps that detracted from the story and kept getting longer and longer.

Sad to say I stopped reading Honor after Echoes of Honor.

telford · May 6, 2011

Ahhhh. Telford breathes a sigh of relief. I am not alone in the universe.

Not as many of my people here as I hoped but I appreciate everyone jumping in. Yes I have read the books mentioned and like Ace I stopped reading Webber when he turned into a self indulgent twat.

I've noticed a number of people mentioning that they will get around to it one day. I can fully understand that. It's not as easy to write as people think.

My SF is more rock and roll than opera but still suitable for adults.

Come on now, surely there are more of us out there. Let your voice be heard. T.

AceTachyon · May 6, 2011

Wrote a space opera short back in the day so I have tried my hand at it.

Currently, though, I write SF/F pulp adventure. At the moment, cyberpunk pulp adventure. Soon, a foray into fantasy pulp adventure.

defcon6000 · May 6, 2011

telford said:
Come on now, surely there are more of us out there. Let your voice be heard. T.

Not sure why you want to make the distinction. Isn't it all science fiction? I think you're letting the popular trends right now get you down. Yeah, fantasy is the big thing right now due in part to the popularity of UF, but that doesn't mean SF has fallen off the map. I've noticed lately that music videos are leaning towards SF elements, which may evolve into renewed interest in SF amongst the younger crowd.

AdamR85 · May 6, 2011

I've always been a space opera fan, though I have no current plans to write a story in the genre. One of my favorite shows growing up was Babylon 5, which I think counts if anything does.

The only sci-fi I've got in the hopper is a novella idea for a dystopian SF in the vein of 1984ish stuff. I haven't struck the central narrative core of the story yet, so it sits gathering dust on my computer until something gives it that spark that will compel me to write it.

Astronomer · May 7, 2011

AdamR85 said:
One of my favorite shows growing up was Babylon 5, which I think counts if anything does.

That absolutely counts as televised space opera -- possibly the best. And consider yourself lucky. When I was growing up, I had to watch Lost in Space. (Ugh.)

jaksen · May 7, 2011

Astronomer said:
That absolutely counts as televised space opera -- possibly the best. And consider yourself lucky. When I was growing up, I had to watch Lost in Space. (Ugh.)

If you had Lost in Space, you also had Star Trek (original series). Some wonderfully clever and well-written stories in that series. (You just had to ignore Wm. Shatner agonizing and over-acting in most episodes.)

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