Genre: Space Opera

Risen Empire (Succession)

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The Risen Empire
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Published: 2003-03
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From the acclaimed author of Fine Prey, Polymorph, and Evolution’s Darling (Philip K. Dick Award special citation and a New York Times Notable Book) comes a sweeping epic, The Risen Empire, Scott Westerfeld’s dazzling hardcover debut. The undead Emperor has ruled his mighty interstellar empire of eighty human worlds for sixteen hundred years. Because he can grant a form of eternal life, creating an elite known as the Risen, his power has been absolute. He and his sister, the Child Empress, who is eternally a little girl, are worshiped as living gods. No one can touch them.

Not until the Rix, machine-augmented humans who worship very different gods: AI compound minds of planetary extent. The Rix are cool, relentless fanatics, and their only goal is to propagate such AIs throughout the galaxy.

They seek to end, by any means necessary, the Emperor’s prolonged tyranny of one and supplant it with an eternal cybernetic dynasty of their own. They begin by taking the Child Empress hostage. Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial Frigate Lynx is tasked with her rescue. Separated by light-years, bound by an unlikely love, Zai and pacifist senator Nara Oxham must each in their own way, face the challenge of the Rix, and they each will hold the fate of the empire in their hands. The Risen Empire is the first great space opera of the twenty-first century.

Salvation: A Novel (The Salvation Sequence)

Salvation
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Published: 2019-06-25
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Humanity’s complex relationship with technology spirals out of control in this first book of an all-new series from “the owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction” (Ken Follett). “How far ‘space opera’ has come! The Old Masters of sci-fi would admire the scope and sweep of Salvation.”—The Wall Street Journal In the year 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. Cutting-edge technology of linked jump gates has rendered…

The Abyss Beyond Dreams: Chronicle of the Fallers, Book 1

The Abyss Beyond Dreams
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Published: 2021-06-24
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Bestselling science fiction master Peter F. Hamilton delivers the first of a two-book saga set in his popular Commonwealth universe. Distinguished by deft plotting, a teeming cast of characters, dazzling scientific speculation, and imagination that brings the truly alien to life, The Abyss Beyond Dreams reveals Hamilton as a storyteller of astonishing ingenuity and power.

The year is 3326. Nigel Sheldon, one of the founders of the Commonwealth, receives a visit from the Raiel—self-appointed guardians of the Void, the enigmatic construct at the core of the galaxy that threatens the existence of all that lives. The Raiel convince Nigel to participate in a desperate scheme to infiltrate the Void.

Once inside, Nigel discovers that humans are not the only life-forms to have been sucked into the Void, where the laws of physics are subtly different and mental powers indistinguishable from magic are commonplace. The humans trapped there are afflicted by an alien species of biological mimics—the Fallers—that are intelligent but merciless killers.

Yet these same aliens may hold the key to destroying the threat of the Void forever—if Nigel can uncover their secrets. As the Fallers’ relentless attacks continue, and the fragile human society splinters into civil war, Nigel must uncover the secrets of the Fallers—before he is killed by the very people he has come to save.

The Dreaming Void (void trilogy)

The Dreaming Void
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Published: 2009-02-24
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The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself. At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations.

The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose. But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo’s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise.

Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions–and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes. Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds. And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress–while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . .

Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years–and light-years–are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the first volume in a trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created another ambitious and gripping space epic.

Set in the same universe as the Commonwealth Saga, the Void Trilogy is set 1200 years after

Pandora’s Star (Commonwealth Saga)

Pandora's Star
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Published: 2020-08-20
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Pandora’s Star is the first part of Hamilton’s epic Commonwealth Saga duology – a fantastic galaxy-spanning novel from the master of space opera. At the edge of the galaxy something awakens – and it’s coming for us Earth AD 2329: Humanity has colonized over four hundred planets, all interlinked by wormholes. For the first time in mankind’s history there is peace. Then a star over a thousand light years away suddenly vanishes, imprisoned inside a force field of immense size. Yet who – or what – has that sort of technology?

And what could this mean for us? Only a faster-than-light starship, captained by ex-NASA astronaut Wilson Kime, can reach that distance to investigate. However, what if there was a very good reason to seal off an entire star system? Also, getting in could prove easier than the worst possible outcome – stopping something else from getting out

. The Commonwealth Saga duology concludes with Judas Unchained. ‘The best book Hamilton has written in years’ – Guardian ‘Anyone who begins this won’t be able to put it down’ – Publishers Weekly

there is a follow up trilogy set 1200 years after available here

Hidden Empire: The Saga Of Seven Suns

Hidden Empire: The Saga of Seven Suns
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Humans may be used to ruling their world, but in Nebula Award winning author, Kevin Anderson's galaxy, they find themselves at the bottom of the food chain. In our galaxy's distant future, humans are one of three known intelligent races. Having had the ability to navigate star travel for only a few centuries, we are considered "the new kids on the block" in a long-established universe. The second intelligent race is the Ildirans, who are…

Deathstalker by Simon R Green

Deathstalker by Simon R Green
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Published: 2016-06-14
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Owen Deathstalker, last of the infamous warrior Clan, always considered himself more of a writer than a fighter, preferring his history books to making any actual history with a sword. But books won’t protect him from Her Imperial Majesty Lionstone XIV, who just Outlawed and condemned Owen to death, without any explanation, reason, or warning. No wonder she’s called the Iron Bitch. Now, on the run from Imperial starcruisers, shady mercenaries, and just about everyone else in the Empire, Owen’s options are limited.

Though the name Deathstalker still commands respect in certain quarters, out on the Rim, Owen is lucky he can cobble together a makeshift team of castoffs, including an ex-pirate, a cyborg, and a bounty hunter. But allies won’t be enough to save him. If he’s to live, Owen can either run forever…or take down the corrupt Empire.

To do that, he’ll need the fabled Darkvoid Device-an artifact dating back to the first Deathstalker and perhaps the only weapon powerful enough to help this ragtag rebellion win. The time has come for Owen to finally embrace his Deathstalker heritage…and all the blood and death that go along with it. Deathstalker is the first book in New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green’s beloved space opera series.

Consider Phlebas (Culture serie)

Consider Phlebas
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Published: 2008-03-26
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"Dazzlingly original." -- Daily Mail "Gripping, touching and funny." -- TLS The 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…

The Reality Dysfunction (The Night’s Dawn trilogy) Confederation universe

The Reality Dysfunction
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Published: 2018-08-23
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The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton is the first in a sweeping galactic trilogy from the master of space opera, The Night’s Dawn trilogy.In AD 2600, the human race is finally realizing its potential. The galaxy’s colonized planets host a multitude of diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has defeated disease and produced extraordinary space-born creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive, living on the wealth created by industrializing entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space, the Confederation Navy keeps the peace.Then something goes catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet, a renegade criminal encounters an utterly alien entity. And this unintended meeting triggers the release of those that should never see the light, threatening everything we’ve become. An extinct race named this phenomenon ‘the Reality Dysfunction’. It is a nightmare that has haunted us since the dawn of time.The Reality Dysfunction is followed by The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God.