Space Opera Book reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 264 Reddit reviews across 12 subreddits and 27 posts to rank the best Space Opera Book brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/printSF, r/scifi, r/twilightimperium, r/Fantasy, r/sciencefiction. Top-rated brands include Peter F. Hamilton (4.8/5), Alastair Reynolds (4.7/5), Lois McMaster Bujold (4.8/5).
Stats
Reviews264
Subreddits12
Posts27
Brands68
Products98
264 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Peter F. Hamilton
4.8
(26)
"If you want grandiose space opera then consider Peter F Hamilton."
"Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton."
"Nights dawn trilogy by peter f Hamilton."
"L'Étoile de Pandore (Pandora's Star) by Peter F. Hamilton (translated by Nenac Savic)"
"Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton"
"Peter Hamilton anything!"
"You will enjoy Hamilton’s Commonwealth books, starting with Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained."
"The Reality Dysfunction (1996) by Peter F. Hamilton"
"I second the Commonwealth series! Also its follow-up, The Void Trilogy"
"Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth series is near-perfect space opera for me."
#2
Alastair Reynolds
4.7
(19)
"Dnt forget Chasm City. Standalone but awesome in the same universe."
"Just finished Chasm City! Love Reynolds"
"Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds"
"Surprised House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds isn't mentioned here. It's epic and a surprising murder mystery."
"I'm a huge fan of the author Alistair Reynolds. Give it a try, his opening trilogy is excellent and if you like it you can branch out to his other works. Search "Revelation Space"."
"The Culture, Revelation Space, the Bobiverse are all great."
"Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds really scratched the same itch that The Expanse did for me. I would highly recommend it."
"Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space series. Yes, it's STL but it's still damn good stuff."
"Definitely Alastair Reynolds' "Revelation Space" cycle. High and modern niveau of writing, interesting and believable worldbuilding (hard sci-fi), dark and intricate storylines."
"I just finished Alastair Reynolds House of Suns and it's an excellent space opera, I highly recommend it."
#3
Lois McMaster Bujold
4.8
(11)
"Lois McMaster Bujold And, yes, fun ride. Her fantasy is pretty amazing, too."
"Lois mcmaster and her incredibly entertaining Vorkosigan Saga."
"Any of Elizabeth Moon, CJ Cherryh or Lois McMaster Bujold’s books as mentioned by others above."
"Also, anything/everything by Lois McMaster Bujold."
"You should definitely try Lois McMaster Bujold. Read the Vorkosigan Saga in chronological order, starting with Shards of Honor and Barrayar."
"I’m re-listening to all the Vorkosigan audiobooks and they’re just so freaking entertaining"
"The Vorkosigan Saga. If you’re someone who likes a male viewpoint, a young persons enthusiasm for outrageous adventure, start with young Miles Vorkosigan on The Warriors Apprentice."
"A lot of relativistic space battles."
"The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold."
"I started with Shards of Honor."
#4
Iain M. Banks
4.7
(11)
"Check out Iain Banks. He has a bunch of novels set in the Culture universe. Some are smaller stories in the universe but many are set against the background of a larger war. Highly recommend."
"Check out Iain Banks. He has a bunch of novels set in the Culture universe. Some are smaller stories in the universe but many are set against the background of a larger war. Highly recommend."
"The Culture series."
"The apotheosis, in my view, of the sub-genre, is Iain M. Banks, and in particular, his Culture series."
"IMO Iain M Banks' Culture series is the apex of space opera."
"Ian M. Banks’ Culture series is good stuff."
"Iain Banks' Culture series is fantastic."
"I think the Culture series by Iain M. Banks matches your description."
"It's amazing. It's quite different from Bank's Culture novels. It's a bit more pulpy, i.e. easier to read and features a few more familiar tropes and less plot 'tightness'. Quite sexy, too :) Great for holiday reading or when you feel like something lighter."
"Culture novels are all standalone, and varying levels of space opera."
#5
David Weber
4.7
(11)
"The saga Honor Harrington, by David Weber."
"Weber's Honor Harrington series (skim the iconically long descriptions of missile tech). Ann Leckie's Imperial Justice etc. Bill Baldwin's Helmsman series"
"David Weber's Honor Harrington books, Mutineer's Moon,"
"Honorverse and Lost Fleet are my favorite military scifi. But more human focused."
"After you read Weber's Honor series, you should try Elizabeth Moon (just in general)."
"Thirding the Honor Harrington series! There is so much character progression on all sides from the MC, to allies, and enemies too."
"I am once again popping in to recommend the Honor Harrington series. It’s now 14 books in the main series with 3 spin-offs of 4 books each."
"The Honor Harrington series by David Weber. The first book is “On Basilisk Station.” Great series!"
"Honor Harrington series by David Weber."
"The Honorverse by David Weber (and others). I will say that after about book 12 in the main story arc it gets much more politically oriented without as many space battles."
#6
Dan Simmons
4.9
(8)
"Hyperion Cantos Dan Simmons"
"Also, Hyperion"
"Dan Simmons Hyperion series."
"Hyperion Cantos. All 4 books including the Endymions"
"Hyperion"
"Hyperion, Forever War, and Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series is well written."
"The Hyperion (Dan Simmons) quadr is a good contender."
"4 books, and you can skip the last one."
#7
Arkady Martine
4.8
(8)
"A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine"
"Un souvenir nommé empire (A Memory Called Empire) by Arkady Martine (translated by Gilles Goullet)"
"A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine"
"I am about half way through memory called empire and i’m loving it. definitely scratches an itch i needed scratched."
"I really enjoyed A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine."
"If you're looking for something light, with great characters and relationships."
"A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine"
"Slow build diplomatic intrigue."
#8
David Brin
4.6
(8)
"What a great novel. The Uplift War (it's sequel) is fantastic too, if you find you enjoyed Startide Rising."
"David Brin, Uplift series"
"Startide Rising, by David Brin"
"David Brin's Uplift books have this. Start with "Startide Rising.""
"Startide Rising is an absolute classic and if nothing else you should read this."
"David Brin’s world building is amazing. But his writing can sometimes be problematic. That said, I’ve read all his books."
"Second on the Brin."
"David Brin's EARTHCLAN saga"
#9
James S. A. Corey
5.0
(7)
"The Expanse by James S.A. Corey"
"The expanse for sure. nine book epic"
"The Expanse is a wonderful, modern, epic space opera with some really cool hard science fiction ideas."
"The Expanse is an epic space opera in its own right and should be the top comment here lol, it’s ten 500+ page books of content."
"The Expanse"
"The Expanse might be my favorite sci-fi series ever."
"Have you heard of our lord and savior *The Expanse*?"
#10
Ann Leckie
4.9
(7)
"Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series is solid too."
"Ann Leckie Ancillary Justice. The first of an amazing trilogy."
"Came to recommend this very book!"
"For truly brilliant, harder scifi, Ancillary Justice is just breathtaking."
"A memory called empire by Arkady Martine."
"Ancillary Justice (Ann Lecke iirc) is a good contender."
"Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie — the MC is a spaceship AI."
#11
James S.A. Corey
4.6
(7)
"Its The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey."
"I think it ticks all your boxes."
"The Expanse series (first book is Leviathan Wakes) is popular right now."
"The new Expanse series (James S A Corey) is fantastic."
"It's fairly well written and engaging."
"It seems to hit all your requirements and also has a great narrator."
"It is pretty much a space opera."
#12
Pierce Brown
4.4
(7)
"Hands down the best match in my opinion is red rising. Be warned though it is pretty graphic."
"Red Rising series is dope as fuck. Everything you said you like is there. And more."
"Books 2&3 for the win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Red rising by Pierce Brown!!"
"Red Rising. It’s great."
"You might enjoy the Red Rising books by Pierce Brown, which are sort of space fantasy."
"The later series is more space operas than the first one, but still really good."
#13
Frank Herbert
5.0
(6)
"Dune. The very OG of space opera."
"Still the greatest space opera ever written."
"Dune saga"
"Don't want to state the obvious - but yeah, Dune is the obvious pick."
"Dune. It's the perfect entry to Sci-fi for a Fantasy fan."
"Dune. All space operas with mystery and high stakes and without too much hard science."
#14
Jack Campbell
4.3
(6)
"The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell. Really strategic, with some political drama here and there and really interesting thought-provoking ideas regarding other races."
"The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell"
"If you're all right with the characters being a bit flat and the plot being in service of those fleet actions, The Lost Fleet and its many, many sequel series will keep you busy for some time."
"The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell"
"The Jack Campbell Lost Fleet series."
"Is also fun."
#15
Isaac Asimov
4.8
(5)
"Foundation by Isaac Asimov."
"I recommend going to some old school source materials - Foundation. It is a clear inspiration for Twilight, and the books are much better than the show."
"The foundation by Isaac Asimov"
"Or anything he wrote"
"The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. But stick to the original trilogy."
#16
E. E. "Doc" Smith
4.2
(5)
"The Lensman series by E. E. "Doc" Smith."
"The lensman series by EE Doc smith is still, to me, the ultimate galactic saga of good and evil, and heroes."
"They’re tons of fun and have exactly the things you asked for: epic battles, huge conflicts"
"EE Smith, the Lensman series. Old, perhaps an original space opera."
"The Lensman series by E. E. "Doc" Smith. 6 books and one of the grand daddy's of sifi."
#17
C. J. Cherryh
5.0
(4)
"Foreigner by CJ Cherryh is also excellent...no space battles but superb interspecies political intrigue!! It's one of my favorite series."
"Rimrunners, Hellburner and TripPoint. Then move on to the Faded Sun trilogy and then to the Chanur series. All are great space opera."
"The Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh."
"The *Foreigner* series by C. J. Cherryh might fit the bill."
#18
John W. Campbell, Jr.
4.0
(5)
"John W. Campell, Jr. wrote a series of stories called Arrcot, Wade And Morey which were collected in three volumes: The Black Star Passes, Islands of Space and invaders from the Infinite. Their spaceship battles cannot be topped."
"Invaders from the Infinite by John W. Campbell, Jr."
"The Mightiest Machine series by John W. Campbell, Jr."
"The Space Beyond by John W. Campbell, Jr."
"The Ultimate Weapon by John W. Campbell, Jr."
#19
Adrian Tchaikovsky
4.8
(4)
"Dans la toile du temps (Children of Time) by Adrian Tchaikovsky (translated by Henry-Luc Planchat)"
"Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky"
"Children of time - Adrian Tchaikovsky Like 20-30x better than Final Architecture"
"If you want dynamics between human and other, read Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky"
#20
Walter Jon Williams
4.8
(4)
"I thought Walter Jon William’s Dread Empire’s Fall series was very good."
"Upvote for the Dread Empire's Fall series. Interesting characters, lots of space battles, fun aliens."
"I highly recommend you check out the Praxis 6 novel set by Walter Jon Williams. It's high space opera with fantastic prose, great ship to ship and armada to armada combat."
"Walter Jon Williams' Praxis series. Two trilogies, some short stories and a novella."
#21
Vernor Vinge
4.8
(4)
"*A Fire Upon the Deep* and *A Deepness in the Sky* by Vernor Vinge."
"A Fire Upon the Deep is a great rec because A Deepness in the Sky might even be better."
"I always recommend Vinge's *A Fire Upon the Deep* to fantasy readers, because one of the major plot threads takes place on a medieval technology level planet."
"Other suggestions I'll +1 from this thread are Iain M Banks' Culture novels."
#22
Evan Currie
4.5
(4)
"Odyssey One/Evan Currie and Expeditionary Force/Craig Alanson."
"One of my personal favorites."
"I'd highly recommend Evan Currie’s “Odyssey One” series."
"On Silver Wings, 9 books by Evan Currie"
#23
Christopher Ruocchio
4.3
(4)
"The Sun Eater series (starts with Empire of Silence) by Christopher Ruocchio."
"Christopher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater series might fit the bill. The first one is called Empire of Silence"
"Christopher Ruocchio The Sun Eater series"
"I'm reading the Sun-Eater books. Very melodramatic, honestly maybe a bit too much for me, but it does give me TI vibes a bit."
#24
Simon R. Green
4.0
(4)
"If you want great “B movie” style over the top space opera, Deathstalker series by Simon R Green"
"I'll throw in a recommendation for Simon R Green's Deathstalker series. Pretty pulpy space Opera but it feels more like a love letter to the genre."
"Simon Green's Deathstalker series. It goes 99 mph in a school zone and I love it. More Space Opera than Epic."
"Look for Deathstalker by Simon R. Green"
#25
Elizabeth Moon
5.0
(3)
"Any of Elizabeth Moon, CJ Cherryh or Lois McMaster Bujold’s books as mentioned by others above."
"After you read Weber's Honor series, you should try Elizabeth Moon (just in general)."
"Vatta's war by Elizabeth Moon is your best bet I think, she also writes epic fantasy."
#26
Joel Shepherd
5.0
(3)
"Check out Joel Shepherd, Spiral Wars series. I couldn't stop reading until I finished all the published books."
"You should try Spiral Wars no idea why it is not more popular, the series is great."
"The Spiral Wars by Joel Shepherd. It's an ongoing epic military space opera that has everything you could want in an epic."
#27
Craig Alanson
4.7
(3)
"Odyssey One/Evan Currie and Expeditionary Force/Craig Alanson."
"About halfway through the first book and great to hear RC Bray again."
"Thank you for the recommendation I’ll be sure to check it out I love some good space battle scenes."
#28
Orson Scott Card
4.7
(3)
"A lot of strategy."
"Those books are awesome."
"Enders game is pretty highly regarded."
#29
Iain Banks
4.7
(3)
"The Culture, Revelation Space, the Bobiverse are all great."
"Then any of the Culture books by Banks. These are standalone but take place in same galaxy at different times."
"Consider Phlebas, and The Player of Games are the first two."
#30
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
4.3
(3)
"Liaden Universe books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I started with the first ones published, Conflict of Honors and then Agent of Change and Carpe Diem."
"The Liaden series by someone else in the thread. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. My introduction to them was Agent of Change."
"The Liaden series is quite good and a favorite of mine recently has been the Vorkosigan Saga."
#31
Poul Anderson
4.3
(3)
"Go dig up Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade" from the distant past."
"This is not quite what you're looking for, but Poul Anderson's *Tau Zero* is set on an interstellar spaceship which travels near lightspeed."
"Try Tau Zero by Poul Anderson."
#32
Joe Haldeman
5.0
(2)
"Hyperion, Forever War, and Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series is well written."
"The Forever War (Joe Haldeman) is a good contender."
#33
Bill Baldwin
5.0
(2)
"Love the Helmsman series! +1"
"Someone else read this! Awesome! Love this series!!! +1"
#34
Robbie MacNiven
5.0
(2)
"Empire Falling (Robbie MacNiven) is a TI Novel (easily the best of the novels so far), and is definitely recommended."
"The Twilight Wars Novel: Empire Falling by Robbie MacNiven is pretty good for this and it’s in universe!"
#35
David Drake
5.0
(2)
"First volume of RCN is called "With the Lightnings". Sorry, I have them all and reread (and recommend) regularly. They are fantastic"
"David Drake's "RCN" books are basically "Master and Commander" in space. First volume is "The Way to Glory" iirc."
#36
Stephen Baxter
5.0
(2)
"Timelike Infinity and Ring by Stephen Baxter are my favorites of his and they take place in the same vague multiverse as Raft but follow a long future history that basically encompasses the beginning of time to the end of time"
"“Timelike Infinity” by Stephen Baxter is as heady as it gets and has all the things you mentioned. If you like that, go onto its sequel “Ring”."
#37
Kevin J. Anderson
5.0
(2)
"Saga of The Seven Sunds by Kevin J. Anderson is fantastic."
"The Saga of Seven Suns series by Kevin J Anderson."
#38
The Expanse
5.0
(2)
"Many, many hours to spend on those!"
"It’s fun, not too dense and the story and action always progresses."
#39
Neal Asher
5.0
(2)
"First book of the Polity series."
"I think if you like Richard Morgan, you might like anything by Neal Asher, and it is best to start with his 'Gridlinked'."
#40
Yoshiki Tanaka
5.0
(2)
"Legend of the galactic heroes by yoshiki Tanaka is very very good. I preferred the anime adaptation, but in my opinion it is the prototypical space opera."
"Legend of Galactic Heroes by Yoshika Tanaka - politics mixed with military strategy all down as a time & galaxy spanning space opera operating on many levels."
#41
Dennis Taylor
4.5
(2)
"Try the Bobiverse series by Dennis Taylor, too."
"I love me some Bobiverse, but it may be too light hearted to fall under “space opera”. Would still recommend it though."
#42
Dennis E. Taylor
4.5
(2)
"The Culture, Revelation Space, the Bobiverse are all great."
"It's large scale, with high stakes, likeable characters, well-written humor and a great narrator."
#43
E. E. Doc Smith
4.5
(2)
"They were the books originally described as “space opera”. Very, very old but classic."
"Pure space opera (with all the existential threat, grand pseudo-superscience, universe-changing warfare, good-Vs-evil on a galactic scale)."
#44
Randolph Lalonde
4.5
(2)
"Its not as acclaimed as Peter F. Hamilton."
"Is less light, but fun."
#45
Catherine Asaro
4.5
(2)
"The Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro. My favorite space opera series. Start with book one, Primary Inversion."
"An outstanding space opera series"
#46
Becky Chambers
4.5
(2)
"The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers."
"Hear."
#47
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
4.5
(2)
"A Mote in God’s Eye by Niven & Pournelle"
"The Mote In God's Eye, The Gripping Hand, WarWorld series, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle"
#48
John Scalzi
4.5
(2)
"Lockstep is a truly unique idea! Loved it. “Permanence” was another great novel of his without FTL."
"I've only read the first couple books but the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi is a good fit."
#49
Charles Stross
4.5
(2)
"I thought _Saturn's Children_ was kind of just OK, but _Neptune's Brood_ was brilliant."
"There's a same-universe short story called *Bit Rot* which takes place between the novels and is set aboard one of the interstellar slowships."
#50
Debra Doyle and James Macdonald
4.0
(2)
"Check out the Mageworlds series by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald."
"Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald's Mageworlds series. It reminds me strongly of the original Star Wars trilogy in tone without being overly derivative, and with good characters and an entertaining plot."
#51
Julian May
4.0
(2)
"You may like The Saga of the Exiles, starting with the "Many Colored Land" by Julian May."
"Series by Julian May. Epic fantasy, development of psi gifts, time travel on earth back six million years."
#52
Jessie Mihalik
3.5
(2)
"Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik Rating: 4.02 out of 5"
"If you can forgive quick attraction Polaris rising by Jessie Mihalik might be for you."
#53
Paul McAuley
5.0
(1)
"Paul McAuley's Quiet War series, four novels and several short stories. Starts with a war between post-climate collapse Imperial Brazil and the human colonies in the outer solar system."
#54
Richard Russo
5.0
(1)
""Ship of Fools" Richard Russo
Fucking magnificent,deranged,probably the most likely scenario seed ship novel Ive ever read"
#55
Gary Gibson
5.0
(1)
"Gary Gibson' *Shoal Sequence* with its first book *Stealing Light* is definitly what you are looking for!"
#56
Frederik Pohl
5.0
(1)
"Starburst by Fredrick Pohl , picked up the book and couldn't put it down"
#57
Gardner Dozois
5.0
(1)
"Right on the label, Gardner Dozois, *The New Space Opera* and *The New Space Opera 2.*"
#58
Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald
5.0
(1)
"Debra Doyle and James Macdonald- The price of the stars trilogy. An amazing space opera from a dew years ago."
#59
Liu Cixin
5.0
(1)
"There’s a French version of Three Body Problem and that checks all those boxes"
#60
Jim Starlin
4.0
(1)
"Jim Starlin’s Adam Warlock is considered a high point for Marvel’s cosmic stuff."
#61
Charles Sheffield
4.0
(1)
"Bio of a Space Tyrant series"
#62
John M. Faucette
4.0
(1)
"Crown of Infinity by John M. Faucette"
#63
Rich Larson
4.0
(1)
"Consider Deathworlders: mystery, epic battles, huge conflicts, character progression, high stakes, all that great stuff."
#64
D. Rus
4.0
(1)
"For scifi, I recommend the Dungeon Crawler Carl series."
#65
J. Michael Straczynski
4.0
(1)
"Babylon 5. Story arc for all five seasons."
#66
Richard K. Morgan
4.0
(1)
"I think the Altered Carbon book series involves no FTL ( hence (minor spoiler) d.h.f.). But don't watch the tv show"
#67
William Gibson
4.0
(1)
"It's an unused William Gibson script for Alien 3 which would have been a more direct sequel to Aliens."
#68
James Follett
4.0
(1)
"Earthsearch - James Follett (also a cracking radio drama!)"
Discover your audience
GummySearch is an audience research toolkit for 130,000 unique communities on Reddit.
If you are looking for startup problems to solve, want to validate your idea or find your customers online, GummySearch is for you.
Sign up for free, get community insights in minutes.
Tell me more
Get started
