Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hello, everyone.

As an author, I write mostly near future, soft sci fi. But as a reader I've found myself drifting the last couple of years more and more toward far future space opera. But I've found that the books are a little hit or miss for me. I either find stories that focus heavily on character or they focus on the tech/military action. I tend to like the former more than the latter. But was I curious about what others thought.

What draws you to the space opera/military sci fi genre? Is it the political intrigue/characters or is it the battles/action?

Oh, and any recommendations of what I should add to my TBR pile would be great. I like to support other indies, but am not against a trad pubbed book either.

What are indie books?

Independently published books. Book published by the authors. Or self published.

I try to toe the line between plot and character, myself. I feel like the events lose their punch if you don't care about the people living through them. Of course, the reverse seems true also. A pair of really, really interesting people playing bridge on a space station isn't that compelling, either.

I'm a bit of a newcomer to the genre myself and can't make a groundbreaking recommendation, but hopefully someone else will take up the challenge.

Agree that you definitely need both. Even the best characters are boring if they aren't challenged by something.

Well, the thing that draws me most to characters is interesting moral dilemmas, people striving for acceptance or friendship or redemption against a background of political intrigue and mortal danger. And the thing I like most about sci-fi and fantasy is that the settings tend to foster that.
But as far space operas in particular, I like the odd cultures, the cool planets, the aliens and the spaceships. It's just such a fun genre :)

I like the political intrigue, the interaction between characters, the big storylines, planet-hopping quests and everything else typical of space opera. I'm an indie space-opera author myself - some other indies I've come across that I liked are - Shining Star (bit like Star Wars), There Goes the Galaxy (funny space opera), Spectras Arise Trilogy: Omnibus Edition (well-written battles etc.) and more recently The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (character-driven but not much plot).

Otherwise, I've really liked what I've read by Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton and (for a funny take on the genre) Toby Frost.

I forgot to mention - there's a really good Goodreads group for Space Opera Fans.

Steph wrote: "I like the political intrigue, the interaction between characters, the big storylines, planet-hopping quests and everything else typical of space opera. I'm an indie space-opera author myself - som..."

Thanks for the recommendations. These are super helpful. And also for the recommendation of the Goodreads group. I am a horrible Goodreader. I really need to explore the site more.

I definitely agree that it should be both the characters and the world building that works in a space opera. I did this thing in one of my books where the other eight planets in OUR solar system have aliens and civilizations. But because they think humans are primitive, they've tampered with our satellites to keep us on our own planet. So, everything we think we know about our solar system is wrong, which allowed me to make this Star Wars style galaxy where the human characters can be more relatable to the reader because they are from modern day Earth (not Tattooine or Alderaan). But, yeah, that was my attempt to mix relatable characters and space stuff.

The Inter-Terrestrial