A New Set of Military Space Operas to Read

Ok, so actually they were new to me because I recently discovered them. I read the first one and got hooked on the series in each case. So I am telling you about them. (Click on the books to go to Amazon for more info and to get your copy.) (Updated 2020)

My Favorites

You might remember from past posts that my favorite space opera authors are these, although not in this order:

1. David Weber
2. Elizabeth Moon
3. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

David Weber has a new series called Manticore Ascendant that introduces a new hero as a midshipman. Although in the Honorverse, there is little mention of Honor Harrington. Also, this book can be read by a young adult. It is a good coming of age novel.

For the YA Reader

Then there is the series for YA readers that features a teenage Honor Harrington. This series begins with the book A Beautiful Friendship. 

Trade Secret by Lee and Miller is another book for YA, but it has a higher reading level than some. At least the grades 7-9 kids I introduced to it thought it difficult to relate to. The story is rather complex, but I enjoyed it.

Elizabeth Moon long ago wrote Sheepfarmer's Daughter that is part of The Deed of Paksinarrion anthology. Paks is another warrior that the YA reader will enjoy knowing.

For You and Me, as Adult Readers:  Space Operas to Enjoy

But let's get back to the military space operas. Some have female heroes. Some are actually in the space service of the universe. Some have several trilogies in the series; some just a few. All have lots of challenges to be solved and plenty of interpersonal relationships with ongoing friendships, different crew members with which to deal, families and at times a love interest.

Then there are the different approaches to what a spaceship is like. And how it moves through space. Seldom is there an alien species, but what the hey. These were enjoyable and I even paid to read the next one when the first was from Kindle Unlimited, but not the next or 5th or whichever. There are hundreds more.

• Trading in Danger (Vatta's War Book 1) by Elizabeth Moon
• Space Viking by H. Beam Piper
• Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space (The Henry Gallant Saga Book 1) by H. Peter Alesso
• On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1) by David Weber
• Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker
• Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn

... ... ... ...... ... ...

More to come.

This picture and the spaceship above are from Fotolia, which is now part of Adobe Stock.

Book Review: Haze by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Haze by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

A Book Review by Valerie Cosrkey

A book suitable for a YA audience in content--easy-going, but interspersed with lively action; implicitly deeply philosophical; no obscenities, overt sex, or pathological-character action; and mild violence--Haze gently leads the reader to question the authority of a successful government's control over the lives of its citizens. It posits a near-Utopian society as the enemy of such a government. The main character is an enforcement agent with the rank of major who finds himself assigned to infiltrate and spy on the enemy culture.

The book reveals Agent Major Roget's character in a series of flashbacks to other missions he had accomplished on the home world of Earth. That is the bare bones of the story outline, but within this skeleton is fine storytelling that begins almost too gently to persuade one to finish the book until you realize that you really care about Roget and wonder what all the flashbacks are trying to tell you.

By the end of the book, and with no pedantic passages, you have had an education in democracy, political and governmental institutions, freedom vs. governance, and philosophy. However, the book is filled with wonderful 1-2 sentences of quotable remarks on these subjects, especially appreciated from a Humanist worldview. A discussion of this book in high school and college classes of history, government, and science would be enriching. There is much in the writing style, plot structure, themes and symbolism to make this book usefully instructive in a literature class. Yet the story itself is less than 200 pages long--just right for a mature YA audience. Like  Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, this book is easily read but deceptively deep.

A short quotation from the beginning of pages of the book expresses a secondary theme of the book. In the first chapter Kuang says, Full freedom is another word for chaos and mob rule.

(©2009; A Tor Book, Tom Doherty Associates, LLC; New York, N.Y.; p. 18.) 

Throughout the book, there is a tension between freedom and government, with examples of different levels of freedom and different governments maintaining control. This tension is a strong theme, probably the primary theme.

Book List for k-12 Designed to Motivate Reading using Science Fiction

 Last month I made a book list of award-winning authors and their science fiction or fantasy books written especially for youth. The list has books categorized by grade levels K-12.  I did this as a volunteer effort for Reading for the Future, which has since incorporated and is soon to be a non-profit organization. I used the Golden Duck Awards list, the Hal Clement Awards list and the Science Fiction Library as references for the book list.

Then I put the list on my other blog, Valerie's Memos. Do visit and download the list.  All are great reads. Teachers, you can safely use these books with children and young adult readers, even the ones not classified as YA when published.

Reference url: http://vmemos.blogspot.com/2010/10/suggested-readings-for-k-12-from-golden.html