The Fantasy Review’s list of 6 Space Opera Books with Strong World-Building.
Binti (Binti, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor
From the blurb:
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs…
Embers of War (Embers of War, #1) by Gareth L. Powell
From the blurb:
The sentient warship Trouble Dog was built for violence, yet following a brutal war, she is disgusted by her role in a genocide. Stripped of her weaponry and seeking to atone, she joins the House of Reclamation, an organisation dedicated to rescuing ships in distress. When a civilian ship goes missing in a disputed system, Trouble Dog and her new crew of loners, captained by Sal Konstanz, are sent on a rescue mission…
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
From the blurb:
Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has been largely ignored by the United Republic of Worlds, becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.
Rosie—owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner, caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them…
The Wrong Stars (Axiom, #1) by Tim Pratt
From the blurb:
The shady crew of the White Raven run freight and salvage at the fringes of our solar system. They discover the wreck of a centuries-old exploration vessel floating light years away from its intended destination and revive its sole occupant, who wakes with news of First Alien Contact…
Salvation (Salvation Sequence, #1) by Peter F. Hamilton
From the blurb:
In the year 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. Cutting-edge technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transportation—including starships—virtually obsolete. Every place on Earth, every distant planet humankind has settled, is now merely a step away from any other. All seems wonderful—until a crashed alien spaceship of unknown origin is found on a newly located world eighty-nine light-years from Earth, carrying a cargo as strange as it is horrifying. To assess the potential of the threat, a high-powered team is dispatched to investigate. But one of them may not be all they seem. . . .
Hunting Party (The Serrano Legacy, #1) by Elizabeth Moon
From the blurb:
Grand space adventure by the coauthor of Sassinak and Generation Warriors. Heris, a female officer forced to resign her commission, winds up as captain of an interstellar luxury yacht. Being a rich old lady’s hyperlight chauffer seems boring, until Heris finds herself fighting for her life against smugglers.
