Space Opera

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—Wombat-socho

Last week we looked at classic military SF involving soldiers on the ground; this week, we’re going to do the same with space navies.
Any discussion of space opera HAS to start with E.E. “Doc” Smith, who single-handedly created the genre with two epic series. The Skylark of Space is the first of four novels in which Richard Seaton matches wits, engineering skill and diplomacy against his nemesis, “Blackie” DuQuesne, in an epic struggle prefiguring the battles between Reed Richards and Victor von Doom. To give you some idea of the scale Smith was operating on here, by the fourth novel Seaton and DuQuesne have been forced to join together in an epic intergalactic war against psionic chlorine-breathing aliens who seek to exterminate humanity and its allies, and the weapons are entire suns teleported from a third galaxy into the home systems of the chlorine-breathers so as to trigger novae. More familiar to most fans are the Lensman novels, which begin with Triplanetary and continue on for five more novels concluding with Children of the Lens. These chronicle the adventures of the Galactic Patrol, its leaders the incorruptible Lensmen, and especially Kimball Kinnison, the protagonist of most of the novels and the first Second Stage Lensman. Battles interplanetary, interstellar and finally intergalactic are found in plenty, with humanity and its allies not always having the technological edge. Pretty much everything that comes in later space operas is rooted in Doc Smith’s works, no matter how dated they seem now. Truly, he’s one of the giants on whose shoulders modern SF stands.

Space operas were very popular in the 1920s and 1930s, with John W. Campbell Jr., Jack Williamson (The Legion of Space), and Edmond Hamilton (Crashing Suns, Captain Future) all making their names in the subgenre; Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Foundation and Empire both have plenty of space opera content, especially in the second novel where the Foundation finds itself fighting first the dying remains of the Galactic Empire and then the implacable armadas of the Mule. Campbell’s early works can be found in the collection The Works of John W. Campbell .

After that, space opera died out for a few decades as larger-than-life supermen and wars on a galactic scale got shoved into the background in favor of things like character development, dystopias, and other topics not so reminiscent of SF’s pulp ancestry. However, the 1970s brought us (along with the accursed “New Wave”) two new takes on the old space opera theme. Larry Niven’s Protector brought large-scale warfare into Known Space for the first time (there would be more later, as Niven opened up the Man-Kzin Wars to other authors: The Best of All Possible Wars being a selection of the best of those) and C.J. Cherryh made a major splash in the field with the Hugo-winning Downbelow Station , which began the Alliance-Union series of novels. Orson Scott Card’s novelette that would later become a full novel, Ender’s Game , also came out in the 1970s; all brought a fresh approach to the genre.

The Mote in God’s Eye by Niven and Jerry Pournelle, not so much. While dealing with the classic themes of alien contact and having its share of flashy spaceship combat, The Mote in God’s Eye got criticized for all manner of things ranging from the form of humanity’s government (an empire? how archaic!) to perceived defects in the asymmetrical aliens and their society. Still, it’s a great book, a cracking good read, and a thumb in the eye for folks who thought traditional space opera was dead.

The 1980s brought Ian Banks’ Culture novels, which featured plenty of space warfare, often involving self-aware warships with names such as No More Mr. Nice Guy, So Much For Subtlety, I Thought He Was With You, Just Another Victim of The Ambient Morality, Shoot Them Later, and Now We’ll Try It My Way. Probably the best place to start is with Consider Phlebas . David Brin’s Startide Rising pits a single starship crewed by men and (mostly) dolphins against a smorgasbord of hostile aliens, and Dan Simmons’ Hyperion is also worth your time.

Probably the biggest/longest of all these space operas is the one written as a far future analog to C. S. Forester’s tales of Horatio Hornblower. I am of course referring to David Weber’s Honor Harrington novels, which begin with On Basilisk Station and now include thirteen novels in the main sequence, which does not include another nine novels in three spinoff series or the six “Worlds Of Honor” shared-universe anthologies; things have gotten complicated enough that there’s now an Honorverse companion, House of Steel, with enough technical detail to please the most obsessed of gearheads.

Also worth mentioning are the relatively recent Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell (beginning with Dauntless), and Charles Stross’ Singularity Sky, which provides an interesting counter-argument to Arthur C. Clarke’s classic cautionary tale “Superiority”.

Two series that don’t fall neatly into last week’s post or this one are Chris Bunch and Allan Cole’s Sten Adventures, which start logically enough with Sten. Sten’s adventures as grunt, spy, pilot and commander for the Eternal Emperor make the series very hard to categorize, but it has something for pretty much everyone. Also not neatly shoved into a particular box is Michael Flynn’s Spiral Arm series, which starts simply enough with The January Dancer, gets completely out of hand in the two subsequent novels, and ends in On the Razor’s Edge with a pilgrimage to Holy Terra of the Taj, The Wall, and the Mount of Many Faces; a civil war among the Shadows of the Central Confederal Worlds; and a family reunion. Tasty adventure simmered in a rich stew of Indian, Chinese, Russian, American and Gaelic cultures before being served up hot and bloody. I cannot recommend these – or the Sten novels – highly enough.

I’m sure I’ve missed somebody’s favorites. Post your recommendations and complaints in the comments.

165 comments

  1. I understand Weber originally wanted her to go out on a blaze of glory in the defense of the Manticore system against the Peeps and got talked out of it.

  2. Concur, except that Leary is a talented young fellow, and as likable as he is, you just can’t say that about Bertie.

  3. I tend to avoid novelizations and “extended universe” novels like the plague, with the exception of Eric Nylund’s HALO novels, which are damn good.

  5. Agree with both. I can’t imagine talking about modern space opera with mentioning Hamilton, who is the giant of the form. Reynolds is excellent, too, but not quite up to Hamilton, AFAIC.

  7. In fairness to Weber he intended to kill her off but the fanbase and probably editors pressured him and she is still around.

  11. Yeah, but the ST:TNG writers came up with the groundbreaking concept of the kid and the android doing all the breakthrough science.

    Well, there was also Geordi LaForge’s brilliant solution to everything – reverse the polarity. Maybe 24th century technology is more flexible, but back here in the early 21st, reversing the polarity is always a Bad Idea. It not only never fixes the problem, it makes it worse.

  12. Interesting, so Honor doesn’t fall over Reichenbach Falls? Weber killed off some pivotal characters in his Death Ground series. It’s actually a pity that he couldn’t bring himself to go the Lord Nelson route and finish the HH story arc. Now she’s gotten (in my mind) a little ridiculous.

  13. That’s why I suggested a composite with Jeeves. I’d happily have a few drinks with Leary (or with Bertie) but think Jeeves would be something of a wet blanket socially,

  14. The Stark’s War trilogy gives me the same feeling as Kent’s Clone Republic series. Good reading, but not happy fun stuff. You get the same sense of expendable warriors carelessly thrown away by the disconnected ruling class.

    Hemry also wrote the Paul Sinclair series (usually erroneously called “JAG in Space”) about a newly commissioned officer in the US Navy’s Space Forces on his first ship assignment. All solar system, no FTL drives, Earth politics and rivalries extending into space, that series could take place a hundred years from now. The claustrophobic conditions we’re likely to see in space vessels, plus the almost overbearing multitasking and the shipboard politics have the ring of truth. I expect that our early years in space will be much as he’s depicted it.

  15. There’s also Poul Anderson’s Technic Saga. Larger than life heroes, weird aliens, and the rise and fall of empires.

  16. If you’re looking for space combat, the Starfire series by David Weber and Steve White is just as good as W or better than Weber by himself. Written around the capabilities originally described in a space combat game (Starfire) which is, sadly, completely unplayable, its space battles are nevertheless extremely detailed, logically consistent and technologically plausible.

  19. I’m surprised that you didn’t mention John Ringo’s “Troy Rising” trilogy (Live Free or Die, Citadel, The Hot Gates). Granted, it’s a little short on the multi-galaxy warfare, but when you’re fighting several hostile alien species with your own home-(system)-built battle planetoids… The series has a kind-of Doc Smith “Can Do” attitude, where an out-of-work engineer-turned-web comic author ends up saving the galaxy. Good stuff!

  21. Oh yeah, I got the rules for Starfire and tried reading them. Never even attempted playing – they’re a gawdawful mess. I expected to see minor combat bonuses for Left Handed Engineers Aboard Ships Engaging From Counterclockwise Orbits.

    But the Starfire series (I call them the Death Ground series, from the first book I read) is good reading, with the same sort of careful attention to detail that make the strategy and tactics believable. I especially like that differences between species mean that not everyone can use the same weapons and platforms, so fleets end up with different capabilities that give advantages and penalties.

  22. I thought ST:TNG solved all the problems by rerouting the deflector dish through Geordi’s visor before they shot at/flew the Enterprise through whatever anomaly was screwing up their holodecks on that particular day.

  24. I was introduced to EE Doc Smith in 7th grade, by way of the Skylark of Space series. Read it, and the Lensman series countless times up through college. Stepped away for a couple of decades or three and tried reading them again. I couldn’t do it. The writing that had me mesmerized as a teen, as an adult left me cold. Its true…you can never go home again.

  25. Seems intriguing. I did get a little tired of Seafort’s constant knuckle-gnawing. At some point you have to accept your situation and get on with it.

    I hate to say it, but I was put off by the covers of the Drake books when I was out rambling the bookstores (remember bookstores?). I assumed they were probably more 2-dimensional than the stories I liked back then (big, complicated things, like the Dune series or odd stuff like Harlan Ellison wrote, plus “hard science” fiction). Without a decent review I would always assume things like Hammer’s Slammers was space opera. My loss. After all, I liked Sharpe’s Rifles a helluva lot.

    I hope to do some expanded reading someday soon. Then I can make up for my dismissal of many works in the genre.

  27. According to Weber’s booknotes, the change was made because of Flynt’s creation of Cachet. It forced him to change his timeline, and that forced him to keep Honor alive.

  28. This was actually his stated original intentions. But as I said above, Eric Flynt forced him to change his timeline, which forced him to keep Honor alive.

  29. Walter Jon Williams’ Dread Empire’s Fall trilogy is fantastic space opera! Tons of ship to ship combat and extremely enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

  30. It’s the prequel to Schlock Mercenary, which you should be reading. Good, but I don’t consider it a classic.

  31. Starship Troopers has zero combat between the TF Fleet and the aliens, and besides, I covered it last week. Larson and Douglas I haven’t read.

  33. John Ringo’s “Aldenata” series is worth a read. David Weber’s “Dahak” series is also worth the time.

  34. Hyperion for sure. I have read that set of books 5 times over. It never gets old. Whenever I hear “shrike” I still get the willies.

    The Human Chronicles by TR Harris is a fun read. http://thehumanchronicles.com/

    The Warrior’s Wings series by Evan Currie

    Star Crusade series by Michael G Thomas

    http://starcrusader.swordworks.co.uk/index.php/the-books/star-crusades-uprising

    I really had to start looking for small , independent writers since I am a voracious reader , I went through all the go-to big authors rather quickly and had to find other stuff to read. smashwords , baen, etc led me to these new writers that put out some really good stuff.

  35. Actually, the comparison is 100%:

    Arisians in Lensmen = Guardians of OA.

    Rings / Power Batteries that amplify mental force / will provided by Guardians = Lenses that amplify mental force / will provided by Arisians.

    Green Lantern Corps = Lensmen.

  36. Not to mention Ringo & Travis Taylor’s “Vorpal Blade” series. The “Claws That Catch” third volume has a specific dedication to Doc Smith.

    Travis Taylor is an actual “Rocket Scientist” / Hyperphysicist, BTW.

  38. Good Lord. I stumbled across Schlock Mercenary when I was still working stateside. Once I went overseas again I fell away from it – now I need to reconnect, and read the Troy Rising books.

  39. On the other hand, another of my favorites by RAH is Citizen of the Galaxy. There’s some space combat in it, but told from the perspective of a crewmember who isn’t privy to the tactical decision making. He is, however, a fire controlman but is so wrapped up in managing his targeting systems that he isn’t even aware he scored a kill until his shipmates are pounding on his back and cheering.

  40. By the same token there’s Harry Harrison’s Bill, the Galactic Hero which is in some ways a refutation of Starship Troopers. On the other hand, it’s a parody of nearly every SF cliche or axiom up to the late sixties (including a massive slam at Asimov’s Trantor – he’s probably the first SF writer to ask the question: in a planet covering city, what do you do with the garbage?).

    Most of our protagonist’s experiences are in dealing with the military bureaucracy, followed by ground combat. He is present aboard several space engagements but is so low ranking that he has no idea of what is going on, even when he inadvertently kills the enemy ship closing in to finish off his own crippled vessel.

    Any service member, of whatever service, will find much to resonate with in that book.

  42. Man, you gave me a start when I read your name – in another comment I mention Steven Kent’s Clone Republic series. His protagonist is a Marine named Wayson Harris.

    Incidentally his books feature both space and ground combat. But they are somewhat bleak, being written from the POV of a disposable enlisted man.

  43. Can’t find it, but….

    Humans were battling the Morethan which was short for More Than Human, cyborgs, IOWs. The cyborgs have moved far into space.

    The book gives its starships certain abilities, and then shows their tactics. It then shows that those tactics are wrong, and forces the captain to come up with a whole new set of tactics totally different, while fighting enemies who are literally smarter than human.

    I would reccomend it as a good book on the development of a military doctrine.

  44. The Dread Empire’s Fall by Walter Jon Williams is good, involving humans in a communist, multi-species empire after the ruling species dies off.

    The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson is true space opera as it’s loosely based on Wagner’s The Ring Cycle, but after a fantastic start it falters the last couple of books.

  46. Sheesh, you left out Sarah A. Hoyt’s Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades (Third book coming soon, tentatively Darkship Revenge) which is great fun in the classic Heinleinian vein.

  47. I can’t believe you left out Sarah A. Hoyt’s “Darkship” series! The first one won the Prometheus Award. Another is a finalist for this year’s Prometheus. And “A Few Good Men” (NOT to be confused with a movie by the same title) is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Of *any* genre!

  48. Uh-oh… looks like Wombat should be the one running.

    Sarah’s got powerful friends, including the Blogfather Himself.

  49. Puir Wombat, now he’s going to find out that the Portugese adore his kind…skinned and diced in soup.

    🙂

  50. Okay, I would never accuse Sarah Hoyt of employing sock puppets. However… you screwed up, Wombat.

    Only thing for you now is to grovel. Because if there’s such a thing as a reverse Instalanche, you’re about to have it called down upon RSM’s head. He’ll find his Gaelic curses to be of no avail.

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