Yesterday evening, like literary manna, Vernor Vinge’s The Children of the Sky fell into my lap. Got about halfway through it last night. So obviously there won’t be much blogging this evening, either.
It’s very good, but I knew going in it wouldn’t have the cosmic sweep and scope of A Fire Upon the Deep. Alas. Great space operas are few and far between. If you happen to love them also, I can recommend Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels.
Of course, E.E. “Doc” Smith is the forever master of this sub-genre. I was hitting Skylark and Lensmen books way before hitting puberty.
Which may explain a lot, come to think of it…
World's Only Rational Man 
In the space opera category, I once borrowed the books in these series (from the massive library of a science fiction freak) and enjoyed them. Not super fantastic but very good space operas:
The Reality Dysfunction series by Peter Hamilton
The Hyperion Campos by Dan Simmons
They weren’t Ian Banks level, but they were up there.
I got tired of Hamilton’s series and dropped it. Hyperion I’d actually rate up there, at least the first “Canterbury Tales” book. But Simmons can be wildly uneven in quality. Too bad, becaue he’s so versatile in genres.
You were right to bail on TRD. The last novel had a literal deus et machina appear out of nowhere to resolve everything. I thought Hamilton could only have been fracking with us readers to do that. But the series had its moments.
Yeah, he’s very talented, but his Quality Assurance department takes too many days off.
I liked that the huge Habitats were sentient/intelligent, and that they could also go insane!
Space operas? Abnett and Mitchell. Gaunt’s Ghosts, Eisenhorn and Ciaphas Cain. Hell yes!
I’m almost through the Eisenhorn omnibus. Then I have to read the Ravenor omnibus.
If you want some non-fiction, you might try
The Big Short
and
Reckless Endangerment
Thank you, I should read a few more books like that. Since the news stopped being non-fiction years and years ago.