The Best Space Operas Ever Written - the biggest stories and the best characters!
We've read through the entire library to bring you the best space operas ever written!
Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time · Brent Gaisford, Cody Troyer
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Show Notes
We've got 18 books and series we highly recommend, so there's something here for all kinds of readers - and at the end of the episode we rank our top 3 to bring you the best of the best.
What is space opera? Books with big characters and a bigger world - they usually even come with big 'ol wordcounts. Space opera is often multi-pov, with interstellar travel and the fate of the galaxy at stake.
No spoilers anywhere in this episode.
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This episode is sponsored by indie sci-fi publisher Lil' Factory
All the books we recommend, plus timestamps:
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:36 Sponsor - Lil' Factory
- 1:24 What is a space opera?
- 2:58 The Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
- 4:45 The Expanse - James S.A. Corey
- 6:38 Hyperion - Dan Simmons
- 9:51 House of Suns - Alistair Reynolds
- 11:32 Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
- 13:11 Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
- 15:04 The Culture - Iain M. Banks
- 17:17 Peter F. Hamilton's whole discography
- 20:19 Embassytown - China Mieville
- 21:45 A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine
- 23:34 Dune - Are you happy now?
- 24:47 Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie
- 26:34 Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
- 26:05 The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- 29:24 Startide Rising - David Brin
- 31:16 The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
- 33:01 Foundation - Isaac Asimov
- 35:22 Rankings: 3rd best Space Opera
- 37:27 Rankings: 2nd best Space Opera
- 38:50 Rankings: 1st best Space Opera