Special Collections
Space Opera
Description: Action, adventure, intrigue, science (fiction), mystery stories that span generations, in the far future and in space. #adults
- Table View
- List View
Winter's Orbit
by Everina MaxwellA Sunday Times Bestseller! “Sparks fly” (NPR) in Everina Maxwell’s gut-wrenching and romantic space opera debut.
Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor's least favorite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He's commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire's newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect. Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the empire at stake they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the long shadows of Jainan's past, and they'll have to do it together. So begins a legendary love story amid the stars.
Triplanetary
by E. E. SmithThe first installment in the groundbreaking Lensman series, one of the greatest space opera sagas of all time Nevia, located many light years from the Earth&’s sun, is running out of iron, the primary source of energy for the planet&’s dominant amphibious race. Armed with technology that can extract iron atoms from anything it encounters—rock, machinery, man-made structures, even human blood—the Nevians set their sights on a rich lode of the precious element: the planet Earth. Descending on its unsuspecting target, the Nevian space-ship destroys the city of Pittsburgh and its defenseless inhabitants before heading home with three human specimens in its hold. Among them is Conway Costigan, an undercover intelligence operative for the Triplanetary Patrol. From deep within the bowels of the enemy ship, Costigan must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the Nevians before every man, woman, and child on Earth is annihilated. Known as the &“father of space opera,&” E. E. &“Doc&” Smith imagined remarkable future worlds and breathtaking intergalactic battles before the heyday of Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, and decades before Star Wars and Star Trek became part of the popular culture. His best-known work, the Lensman series, was one of five finalists for the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Sweep of Stars
by Maurice BroaddusMaurice Broaddus's Sweep of Stars is the first in a trilogy that explores the struggles of an empire. Epic in scope and intimate in voice, it follows members of the Muungano empire – a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretches from O.E. (original earth) to Titan – as it faces an escalating series of threats."The beauty in blackness is its ability to transform. Like energy we are neither created nor destroyed, though many try." - West African ProverbThe Muungano empire strived and struggled to form a utopia when they split away from old earth. Freeing themselves from the endless wars and oppression of their home planet in order to shape their own futures and create a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretched from Earth and Mars to Titan. With the wisdom of their ancestors, the leadership of their elders, the power and vision of their scientists and warriors they charted a course to a better future. But the old powers could not allow them to thrive and have now set in motion new plots to destroy all that they've built.In the fire to come they will face down their greatest struggle yet. Amachi Adisa and other young leaders will contend with each other for the power to galvanize their people and chart the next course for the empire. Fela Buhari and her elite unit will take the fight to regions not seen by human eyes, but no training will be enough to bring them all home.Stacia Chikeke, captain of the starship Cypher, will face down enemies across the stars, and within her own vessel, as she searches for the answers that could save them all. The only way is forward. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Sundiver
by David BrinCircling the Sun, under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage in our history. A journey into the boiling inferno of the sun, to seek our destiny in the cosmic order of life. For in a universe in which no species can reach sentience without being 'uplifted' by a patron race, it seems that only mankind has reached for the stars unaided. And now, the greatest mystery of all may be explained. . . Sundiver is the firs book in David Brin's magnificent Uplift series.
Shattermoon
by Dominic DulleyA shattered moon. A secret plan. Last girl standing. Orry and her family are the best conmen in the Quadrant, running elaborate heists to target the ruling families of the Ascendancy. This time should be no different . . . but then Orry goes off-script and everything falls apart. Less than an hour later her mark is dead and she's on the run, accused of a murder she didn't commit.
Turns out, the pendant Orry stole is more valuable than even she guessed - and a lot of powerful people want it. When she's unexpectedly rescued by loner spaceship captain Jurgen Mender, Orry knows there's only one thing to do. Even Orry can see the madness of pitting an inexperienced grifter, a space-dog well past his prime and an obsolete spaceship against the Imperial Fleet, the worst of the space pirates and the alien Kadiran, who are getting bored with their uneasy truce with humankind . . .But what other choice does she have?
Shards of Honor
by Lois Mcmaster BujoldWhen Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge. A science fiction romance by a Hugo and Nebula Award winning master. Bujold's SHARDS OF HONOR is the first book in her SF universe to feature the Vorkosigan clan, followed by the Hugo award-winning BARRAYAR. The Nebula award-winning FALLING FREE precedes it by internal chronology in the same future history.
Ringworld
by Larry NivenFOUR TRAVELERS COME TO THE RINGWORLD... Louis Wu — human and old; bored with having lived too fully for far too many years. Seeking a challenge, and all too capable of handling it. Nessus — a trembling coward, a puppeteer with a built-in survival pattern of nonviolence. Except that this particular puppeteer is insane. Teela Brown — human; a wide-eyed youngster with no allegiances, no experiences, no abilities. And all the luck in the world. Speaker-To-Animals — kzin; large, orange-furred, and carnivorous. And one of the most savage life-forms known in the galaxy.
Why did these disparate individuals come together? How could they possibly function together? And where, in the name of anything sane, were they headed?
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards.
The Reality Dysfunction
by Peter F. HamiltonSpace is not the only void... In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures.
Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp. But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet a renegade criminal's chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears. An extinct race which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it "The Reality Dysfunction." It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history. THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION is a modern classic of science fiction, an extraordinary feat of storytelling on a truly epic scale.
The Reality Dysfunction
by Peter HamiltonSpace is not the only void...In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp.But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet a renegade criminal's chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears. An extinct race which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it "The Reality Dysfunction." It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history.THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION is a modern classic of science fiction, an extraordinary feat of storytelling on a truly epic scale.
Nophek Gloss
by Essa HansenWhen a young man's planet is destroyed, he sets out on a single-minded quest for revenge across the galaxy in Nophek Gloss, the first book in this epic space opera trilogy debut -- perfect for fans of Revenger and Children of Time.
Caiden's planet is destroyed. His family gone. And, his only hope for survival is a crew of misfit aliens and a mysterious ship that seems to have a soul and a universe of its own. Together they will show him that the universe is much bigger, much more advanced, and much more mysterious than Caiden had ever imagined.
But the universe hides dangers as well, and soon Caiden has his own plans.He vows to do anything it takes to get revenge on the slavers who murdered his people and took away his home. To destroy their regime, he must infiltrate and dismantle them from the inside, or die trying.
Newton's Wake
by Ken MacleodIn the aftermath of the Hard Rapture--a cataclysmic war sparked by the explosive evolution of Earth's artificial intelligences into godlike beings--a few remnants of humanity managed to survive. Some even prospered.
Lucinda Carlyle, head of an ambitious clan of galactic entrepreneurs, had carved out a profitable niche for herself and her kin by taking control of the Skein, a chain of interplanetary star-gates left behind by the post-humans. But on a world called Eurydice, a remote planet at the farthest rim of the galaxy, Lucinda stumbled upon a forgotten relic of the past that could threaten her way of life.
Leviathan Wakes
by James S. CoreyFrom a New York Times bestselling and Hugo award-winning author comes a modern masterwork of science fiction, introducing a captain, his crew, and a detective as they unravel a horrifying solar system wide conspiracy that begins with a single missing girl. Now a Prime Original series. Humanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe."Interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written." —George R. R. MartinThe ExpanseLeviathan WakesCaliban's WarAbaddon's GateCibola BurnNemesis GamesBabylon's AshesPersepolis RisingTiamat's WrathLeviathan FallsMemory's LegionThe Expanse Short FictionDriveThe Butcher of Anderson StationGods of RiskThe ChurnThe Vital AbyssStrange DogsAuberonThe Sins of Our Fathers
Infinite Stars
by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and David Weber and Brian Herbert and Elizabeth Moon and Orson Scott CardThe seductive thrill of uncharted worlds, of distant galaxies… and the unknown threats that lurk in the vastness of the cosmos. From Foundation to Lensman, Star Wars to Guardians of the Galaxy, space opera continues to exert its magnetic pull on us all.INFINITE STARSThis is the definitive collection of original short stories by many of today’s finest authors, writing brand new adventures set in their most famous series. Herein lie canonical tales of the Honorverse, the Lost Fleet, Dune, Vatta’s War, Ender Wiggin, the Legion of the Damned, the Imperium, and more.Also included are past masterpieces by authors whose works defined the genre, including a Miles Vorkosigan adventure, a story from the author of the Dragonriders of Pern, and a rare tale co-authored by the screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back.Nebula and Hugo Award winners, New York Times bestsellers, and Science Fiction Grand Masters—these authors take us to the farthest regions of space.
Ilium
by Dan SimmonsThe Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympos Mons on Mars -- observed and influenced from on high by Zeus and his immortal family -- and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth -- as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet.
The Hyperion Cantos 4-Book Bundle
by Dan SimmonsHailed as “one of the finest achievements of modern science fiction” by The New York Times Book Review, The Hyperion Cantos is a triumphant odyssey into the heart of space and time. Through four riveting novels, Dan Simmons masterfully weaves such influences as classical mythology, romantic poetry, and far-future philosophy into an ambitiously conceived and unfailingly entertaining epic. Now, for the first time, this entire masterpiece of the imagination is available in one extraordinary eBook bundle: HYPERION THE FALL OF HYPERION ENDYMION THE RISE OF ENDYMION. On the planet Hyperion, beyond the reach of galactic law, waits a creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. On the eve of Armageddon, with the known universe at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of existence. As the Shrike anticipates their mission, each traveler nurtures a desperate hope—and harbors a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his or her hands.
House of Suns
by Alastair ReynoldsSix million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called shatterlings. But now, someone is eliminating the Gentian line. Campion and Purslane-two shatterlings who have fallen in love and shared forbidden experiences-must determine exactly who, or what, their enemy is, before they are wiped out of existence.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas AdamsSeconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.
Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!
Hidden Empire
by Kevin J. AndersonConverting a gas giant into a star in order to transform the former planet's moons into environments suitable for human colonies awakens a hidden civilization and plunges the galaxy into a war for the survival of humanity.
The First Sister
by Linden A. LewisCombining the social commentary of The Handmaid&’s Tale with the white-knuckled thrills of Red Rising, this epic space opera filled with &“lush prose&” (Publishers Weekly) follows a comfort woman as she claims her agency, a soldier questioning his allegiances, and a non-binary hero out to save the solar system.First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister&’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is much harder when you&’re falling in love. Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito&’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart. With &“a layered, action-filled plot and diverse characters&” (Library Journal), The First Sister explores the power of technology, colonization, race, and gender and is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Chuck Wendig, and Jay Posey.
Dust
by Elizabeth BearOn a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblewoman, the old order is about to change. . . .
Ariane, Princess of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold-blooded. But severing an angel's wings on the battlefield--even after she had surrendered--proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off--but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses--exactly as Ariane desires.
But Ariane's plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval at once recognizes the young servant charged with her care. Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses.
But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon. From the Paperback edition.
Dune
by Frank Herbert• DUNE: PART TWO • THE MAJOR MOTION PICTUREDirected by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert • Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Léa Seydoux, with Stellan Skarsgård, with Charlotte Rampling, and Javier BardemFrank Herbert&’s classic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time.Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad'Dib—and of a great family's ambition to bring to fruition mankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
The Dreaming Void
by Peter F. HamiltonAD 3580. The Intersolar Commonwealth has spread through the galaxy to over a thousand star systems. It is a culture of rich diversity with a place for everyone. A powerful navy protects it from any hostile species that may lurk among the stars. For Commonwealth citizens, even death has been overcome. At its centre is a massive black hole. This Void is not a natural artefact. Inside there is a strange universe where the laws of physics are very different to those we know. It is slowly consuming the other stars of the galactic core - one day it will have devoured the entire galaxy. Inigo, a human, has started to dream of a wonderful existence of the Void. He has a following of millions of believers. They now clamour to make a pilgrimage into the Void to live the life they have been shown. Other starfaring species fear their migration will cause the Void to expand again. They are prepared to stop them no matter what the cost. And so the pilgrimage begins . . .
The Dark Between the Stars
by Kevin J. AndersonThe Dark Between the Stars is space opera on a grand scale. Twenty years after the elemental conflict that nearly tore apart the cosmos in The Saga of Seven Suns, a new threat emerges from the darkness, and the human race must set aside its own inner conflicts to rebuild their alliance with the Ildiran Empire for the survival of the galaxy.
Consider Phlebas
by Iain M. BanksThe war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random.
The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind.
Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.
Children of Time
by Adrian TchaikovskyWinner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Series! Adrian Tchaikovsky's award-winning novel Children of Time, is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare. Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?