The Fantasy Review’s list of 9 Space Opera Books That Will Make You Fall in Love with the Genre.
Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1) by Arthur C. Clarke
From the blurb:
An enormous cylindrical object has entered Earth’s solar system on a collision course with the sun. A team of astronauts are sent to explore the mysterious craft, which the denizens of the solar system name Rama. What they find is astonishing evidence of a civilization far more advanced than ours…
Primary Inversion (Saga of the Skolian Empire, #1) by Catherine Asaro
From the blurb:
Soz Valdoria, a bioengineered fighter pilot—and first in line for the military command of her people—has found refuge with her squad on the sanctuary planet of Delos. It offers a respite from the war that rages between her Skolian people and their enemies, the Traders. Looking for rest and relaxation, they must still be on their guard for the Trader soldiers who also visit the sanctuary…
Redshirts by John Scalzi
From the blurb:
Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on “Away Missions” alongside the starship’s famous senior officers.
Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to realize that (1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s senior officers always survive these confrontations, and (3) sadly, at least one low-ranking crew member is invariably killed…
Deathstalker (Deathstalker, #1) by Simon R. Green
From the blurb:
Owen Deathstalker, last of the infamous warrior Clan, always considered himself more of a writer than a fighter, preferring his history books to making any actual history with a sword. But books won’t protect him from Her Imperial Majesty Lionstone XIV, who just Outlawed and condemned Owen to death, without any explanation, reason, or warning. No wonder she’s called the Iron Bitch…
Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1) by Jack Campbell
From the blurb:
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century—and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who’s emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief….
A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1) by Arkady Martine
From the blurb:
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn’t an accident―or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court…
Fortune’s Pawn (Paradox, #1) by Rachel Bach
From the blurb:
Deviana Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. One of those is going to get her killed one day – but not just yet.
Not when she just got a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn’t misnamed: it likes to get into trouble. And with a reputation for bad luck that makes one year as security detail on this ship equal to five years everywhere else – Devi knows she’s found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan…
Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf
From the blurb:
The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back.
He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother―on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish…
Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, #1) by Ann Aguirre
From the blurb:
As the carrier of a rare gene, Sirantha Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace-a talent which makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. Then a crash landing kills everyone on board, leaving Jax in a jail cell with no memory of the crash. But her fun’s not over. A group of rogue fighters frees her…for a price: her help in overthrowing the established order.
