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Advise me a good space opera with aliens

Ivar

Ivar

Dark Reaper
Location
Russia Moscow
After reading David Weber, Asimov and several other books, I wanted to read the book with alien races. It is desirable that the aliens have been somewhere as part of the main characters.

I've read most of the books of Robert A. Heinlein ,Philip José Farmer, Clifford D. Simak and some other classics of science fiction. As well as books on Star Wars.
 
Well, there's James White's Sector General stories, which have plenty of aliens.

There's Lensman, by E.E. "Doc" Smith, though that can get a bit strange.

The Liaden Universe books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller work, I'd reccomend starting with Fledgeling or Agent of Change.
 
The Culture series by Iain M. Banks?
If you haven't heard of it before it is about a far future near utopian society that is so rich than anyone can have (almost) anything they want. Stories set in that society would probably be rather boring, so it's mostly about how the Culture interacts with other societies in the known universe.

Don't start with the first book Consider Phlebas, i'd suggest beginning with The Player of Games or Look to Windward.
The Player of Games has some aliens that are genuinely different, not just physically, but also in how they organise their society.
Look to Windward is where I started to 'read' the series, the audiobook version is really good.
 
The Sten series by Allan Cole & Chris Bunch is good. Lots of action, lots of intrigue, lots of aliens.

If a lack of aliens isn't a dealbreaker, the Vorkosigan series is excellent.
 
Ivar said:
After reading David Weber, Asimov and several other books, I wanted to read the book with alien races. It is desirable that the aliens have been somewhere as part of the main characters.

I've read most of the books of Robert A. Heinlein ,Philip José Farmer, Clifford D. Simak and some other classics of science fiction. As well as books on Star Wars.
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The Grand Central Arena series by Ryk E. Spoor has the human FTL ship end up at a place where it turns out everyone's FTL ships go, so there's aliens aplenty.


The Chanur books by CJ Cherryh stars aliens- A human's arrival inside a compact of several alien races (who loosely trade together but don't always understand each other) kicks off events... and it's not from the lone human character's POV, it is completely from Hani perspective, and some of the other aliens are quite unusual. CJ Cherryh in general is great with aliens, but this one is most along your lines.

samdamandias said:
The Liaden Universe books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller work, I'd reccomend starting with Fledgeling or Agent of Change.
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That has aliens? I read Fledgeling and the book after and they didn't even mention any ^^
 
E. E. Smith's Skylark arguably invented the Space Opera genre, meaning that there are aliens aplenty. Sure, most of them are humans with a coat of paint and the non-human aliens are mostly there to provide opposition for the heroes, but it still manages to be a fun ride - as long as you remember that it was written in the thirties and thus reflects the values of that time.
 
Q99 said:
That has aliens? I read Fledgeling and the book after and they didn't even mention any ^^
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Fledgling and Saltation? I'm pretty sure some Norbears showed up in Saltation as does the Tree. Uncle doesn't show up until Ghost Ship, right?

Of course, I got into the series by reading Agent of Change, and the sequence that runs from Agent of Change through Plan B involves the Clutch, the Yxtrang,

Crystal Soldier and Crystal Dragon go more in depth about the Tree, the dragons, Cantra* and M Jeela**, why the Dramliza are technically aliens, and the race that made a lot of the Timonium-powered old tech that's floating around in Balance of Trade and all those Scout storage sites.

*Yes, that Cantra. The money is named after her.
**Who probably doesn't count as human...
 
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I just realised, I don't think I actually have any space opera books. They're all mil-sci-fi.

No, wait! Fred Saberhagen's Berserker series counts. There are aliens in the series' background, though they're not really focused on. The Berserkers themselves were built by aliens. Some of it is about war, but there are lots of parts where it's not.

The time a Berserker that had gone into its version of Safe Mode getting persuaded to destroy all unhappiness by doing pranks, culminating in someone's spaceship getting hit by a pie at high velocity, for instance.
 
I really liked the aliens in the Beyond the Frontier series that was the sequel to his lost fleet series (although they are more cultural mysteries to be solved then individual characters) which all felt pretty properly alien.
 
Jackmojo said:
I really liked the aliens in the Beyond the Frontier series that was the sequel to his lost fleet series (although they are more cultural mysteries to be solved then individual characters) which all felt pretty properly alien.
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Even the original Lost Fleet series had aliens in it. Okay, they don't appear as much, but the tension building behind the Enigmas is kind of important.
 
You could try the Damned Trilogy by Alan Dean Foster. Plenty of aliens there.

If you want something lighter try the Troy Rising series by John Ringo. Lots of Murica Stronk but a fun read all the same.
 
Grey Rook said:
E. E. Smith's Skylark arguably invented the Space Opera genre, meaning that there are aliens aplenty. Sure, most of them are humans with a coat of paint and the non-human aliens are mostly there to provide opposition for the heroes, but it still manages to be a fun ride - as long as you remember that it was written in the thirties and thus reflects the values of that time.
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Grand Central Arena I mentioned up a bit was written by a huge EE Smith fan. To the point one of the main characters is DuQuesne.

Only with a more modern and much more varied take on aliens. One of the main ones is a bug-humanoid, and another somewhat resembles a plant in a skirt. One group has a constant short-range low level mindlink.

RedDwarfIV said:
I just realised, I don't think I actually have any space opera books. They're all mil-sci-fi.
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Mil SF and Space Opera aren't mutually exclusive in my eyes. Like, Honorverse is both (though without aliens). Heck, Star Wars gets pretty mil SF at times.
 
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Grey Rook said:
Yes, I've read it. I'd still like to recommend Skylark, if only for the pleasure of seeing where it all started.
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It's a good two-way rec- "Like Skylark? Try GCA for a modern story inspired by it. Like GCA? See where it came from!" :D

Oh, sidenote, the writer says the third Arenaverse book has been submitted to the publisher ^^
 
RedDwarfIV said:
Do you know when it's likely to be published? I just finished the second book.
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I do not, and I gather these things can vary a bit based on editing, various other matters, and just when the publisher has slots in the cycle they want to view.

So, Challengers of the Deep, I *hope* it'll be this year but can't say.
 
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