,

This list features the best space opera books out there.
1

by
4.27 avg rating — 302,203 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,641,052 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,479,314 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.17 avg rating — 600,059 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.31 avg rating — 322,597 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.23 avg rating — 226,335 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.24 avg rating — 149,692 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.01 avg rating — 247,497 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.71 avg rating — 437 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.23 avg rating — 54,098 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.30 avg rating — 32,469 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.99 avg rating — 62,125 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.13 avg rating — 67,029 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.16 avg rating — 37,516 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.10 avg rating — 240 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.77 avg rating — 107,644 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.14 avg rating — 181,336 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.18 avg rating — 1,002 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.31 avg rating — 18,900 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.28 avg rating — 17,604 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.85 avg rating — 101,311 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.15 avg rating — 1,711 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.33 avg rating — 137,145 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.28 avg rating — 81,283 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.38 avg rating — 339,169 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.88 avg rating — 30,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.07 avg rating — 73,221 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.14 avg rating — 49,026 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.26 avg rating — 18,723 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.21 avg rating — 189,939 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.13 avg rating — 38,213 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.94 avg rating — 129,343 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.04 avg rating — 20,402 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.19 avg rating — 71,263 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.22 avg rating — 227,901 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.12 avg rating — 185,367 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.99 avg rating — 119,735 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.35 avg rating — 6,022 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.05 avg rating — 19,813 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.57 avg rating — 82,700 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.30 avg rating — 178,206 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.13 avg rating — 156,467 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.28 avg rating — 204,056 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.30 avg rating — 40,642 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.17 avg rating — 2,838 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.98 avg rating — 15,561 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.98 avg rating — 19,462 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.17 avg rating — 187,268 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
3.60 avg rating — 2,244 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.15 avg rating — 52,803 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.27 avg rating — 30,487 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.57 avg rating — 11,703 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.05 avg rating — 63,202 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.78 avg rating — 49,366 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.08 avg rating — 501,804 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.56 avg rating — 6,956 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.22 avg rating — 2,027,303 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.26 avg rating — 127,432 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.35 avg rating — 86,404 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.77 avg rating — 13,837 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.03 avg rating — 19,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.07 avg rating — 12,377 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.96 avg rating — 8,787 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.53 avg rating — 3,187 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.18 avg rating — 337,660 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.83 avg rating — 20,897 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.11 avg rating — 72,993 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.24 avg rating — 32,936 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.23 avg rating — 3,645 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.14 avg rating — 33,254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.18 avg rating — 103,659 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.10 avg rating — 223,789 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.32 avg rating — 16,751 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.16 avg rating — 52,976 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.23 avg rating — 3,092 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.17 avg rating — 65,547 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.31 avg rating — 3,662 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.15 avg rating — 139,453 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.04 avg rating — 3,453 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.09 avg rating — 9,175 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.31 avg rating — 10,474 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.11 avg rating — 98,000 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.12 avg rating — 196,855 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.34 avg rating — 109,441 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.97 avg rating — 33,987 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.38 avg rating — 88,024 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 900 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.62 avg rating — 206,426 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.05 avg rating — 47,701 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.08 avg rating — 17,897 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.84 avg rating — 11,546 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.99 avg rating — 6,125 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.25 avg rating — 33,848 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,239 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.46 avg rating — 35,619 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.05 avg rating — 325,931 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.90 avg rating — 125,589 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.04 avg rating — 25,587 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.16 avg rating — 495,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.73 avg rating — 4,485 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
1,122 books · 1,879 voters · list created July 24th, 2009 by Kevis Hendrickson (votes) .
234 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Kevis 1711 books
799 friends
Anna 6357 books
47 friends
DC 1742 books
17 friends
ReoDon 293 books
2 friends
Y.S. 12 books
11 friends
Jarka 321 books
10 friends
useFOSS 1663 books
7 friends
Arnie 603 books
0 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-14 of 14 (14 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Melanie (new)

Melanie Great list of wonderful books.

Melanie


message 2: by Andre (new)

Andre Added Io Deceneus Journal of a time traveller. A brand new author but quite good in creating new worlds and conflicts between civilizations.


message 3: by David (new)

David I was surprised The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester was not included in the list. If you've never read it, I highly recommend it, it's probably the best singular Science Fiction novel I've read thusly


message 4: by [deleted user] (new)

Saga does not forget to be awesome!


message 5: by Jamie (new)

Jamie Could someone define the difference between "space opera" and "sci-fi that happens to take place in space"?


message 6: by Kevis (last edited Dec 06, 2013 11:00AM) (new)

Kevis Hendrickson Jamie wrote: "Could someone define the difference between "space opera" and "sci-fi that happens to take place in space"?"

Space opera is a branch of science fiction where the story generally takes place in outer space. Its focus is usually on interplanetary adventure on a grand, epic scale, rather than the technical aspects of space exploration which you might associate with Hard Science Fiction which places the focus on the science, rather than the humanistic elements found in space opera.

When you say Space Opera, think Star Wars or Dune. Science Fiction in space is more akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey.


message 7: by Thomas (new)

Thomas Kevis wrote: "Space opera is a branch of science fiction where the story generally takes place in outer space. Its focus is usually on adventure on a grand, epic scale, rather than the technical aspects of space exploration which you might associate with Hard Science Fiction which places the focus on the science, rather than the humanistic elements found in space opera.."

Kevis.

I like your descripion of space opera vs science fiction. It's clear and concise.


message 8: by Kevis (last edited Dec 06, 2013 10:59AM) (new)

Kevis Hendrickson Thomas wrote: "Kevis wrote: "Space opera is a branch of science fiction where the story generally takes place in outer space. Its focus is usually on adventure on a grand, epic scale, rather than the technical as..."

Glad you like it, Thomas!


message 9: by Jamie (new)

Jamie Kevis wrote: "When you say Space Opera, think Star Wars or Dune. Science Fiction in space is more akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey. ..."

Thank you. I was confused because 2001 is on this list (so I must not be the only one...) :-)


message 10: by Kevis (new)

Kevis Hendrickson Jamie wrote: "Kevis wrote: "When you say Space Opera, think Star Wars or Dune. Science Fiction in space is more akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey. ..."

Thank you. I was confused because 2001 is on this list (so I ..."


No problem, Jamie. There's a lot of confusion about what's space opera and what isn't and it leads to some interesting book choices for this list.


message 11: by Jon (new)

Jon Graci How is the saga of seven suns not on here


message 12: by Dan (new)

Dan I've read quite a few on this list but I think I will go through and read or re-read as many as possible, looks like a great list!


message 13: by Jamie (new)

Jamie Xantha wrote: "Awful lot of hard science fiction here."

See my question (above) about space opera vs. sci-fi.


message 14: by Marcus (new)

Marcus Steffanci dystopia does not equal space opera


back to top



Related News

Here at Goodreads, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly that—selections...

Anyone can add books to this list.