Space Opera Fans discussion

Many SF authors have produced hefty novels - would anyone like to share what is the longest single-volume space opera novel you've read, and what is the longest space opera series you have read?

(I could imagine that fantasy novels might be even heftier - does anyone want to claim a record read there?)

I tried to google the longest space opera book ever - but there seem to be various contenders based on different measurements, different editions and formats, etc

Longest series I have read entirely: Bob and Nikki, by a landslide, with over 50 books.

Longest single book: I have no idea. I read ebooks.

Time Enough for Love is the longest single book I've read, though I hesitate to call it true Space Opera since that doesn't seem to be the author's focus here.

As far as series go, I think I read 3 books in the Dune series before deciding that was 2 books too many. The sequels just seemed like an afterthought to me, so I wasn't convinced they were part of the original vision, which made them less interesting to me.

I think the longest single volume SF book I've read is The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton, and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is probably the longest single volume fantasy novel I've read.

If you count all of Asimov's Foundation universe books as a series (which might be stretching it a bit) then that would almost definitely be the longest series. The Discworld books are the longest fantasy series I've read. But neither of these series match the "Bob and Nikki" series - which I assume is still being added to?

The author of Bob and Nikki series died late last year. It’s highly unlikely there will be more, although some fans have been asking for at least the partially written next book to be released.

A Fire Upon the Deep is the longest standalone sci-fi novel I've read (technically, it is part of Zones of Thought, but my recollection is that it does not need any other books to support its story).

The longest series I've read is Dune. That is currently 23 novels and a bunch of short stories. I've found all of them to be entertaining and rewarding reads. That said, I have special fondness for the original, The Battle of Corrin, Sisterhood of Dune, and Sandworms of Dune.

John wrote: "I think the longest single volume SF book I've read is The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton, and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is probably the longest single volum..."

I should probably revise the figures for the Discworld series - I've read all 41 books in the core series but there are also 26 "companion" books by Terry Pratchett which I've not read, so my target total should be 67.

Teresa wrote: "Longest series I have read entirely: Bob and Nikki, by a landslide, with over 50 books.

Longest single book: I have no idea. I read ebooks."

Teresa's last point is a very pertitent one - it used to be relatively easy to roughly judge the size of a book just by its physical appearance, but many of us now read most of our fiction on ebooks, where you often don't even get a page count.

When I'm buying a new ebook I normally look at how many pages are in the print version, but there are frequently books now that are not published in physical format (like Livesuit).

On Goodreads, ebooks will still generally have a page count (90 in the Livesuit example above). Audiobooks do not play as well with the current software setup, and they usually put the number of chapters/files as the page count.

Brandon wrote: "On Goodreads, ebooks will still generally have a page count (90 in the Livesuit example above). Audiobooks do not play as well with the current software setup, and they usually put the number of ch..."

Thats a good tip Brandon - I never think of looking at Goodreads for information like that.

For books purchased on Amazon and read on a Kindle, tapping “about this book” includes number of pages. Books loaded on my Kobo show number of pages when I tap the center of the page, as something like “page 729 of 2080”, but I have no clue how that relates to the number of pages in a physical book - I use a large font size and it’s counting the number of page turns needed in the ebook. That is, when paged back twice, it said 727.

I have read most (40) of the Honorverse series. There are a few of the short story collections and ancillary works that I haven't read.

Of the primary works in the series, there are three that are more than 900 pages and there are three more that are exactly 880 pages (according to GR info).

There's also a mystery series that I read that is up to 61 books. It's not sci fi, but it is near future, with some orbital locations.

I have read a lot of Peter F Hamilton and he is known for his VERY long space opera novels. The Reality Dysfunction is just the first 1000+ page entry in a trilogy followed by The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God.

On my Goodreads shelf the two longest Space Opera books I’ve read are To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (880) and Seveneves (872).

The longest Fantasy novel is The Way of Kings at 1,283 pages, which is longer than the entirety of The Lord of the Rings at 1,216.

Longest series is the Vorkosigan saga by Bujold at 18 books. That’s probably the longest series of anything I’ve read. The Destroyermen series (not Space Opera) is 15 books as is the Deryni series (Fantasy), and I’ve probably read 9 or 10 Pern books.

I wonder if any German readers have made a dent in the Perry Rhodan series. Depending on how the books are counted, there are somewhere between 400 and 500 books in that series, with 850 novels in the sister series. The only rival is the Star Trek franchise with an equal number of novels. Star Wars has a paltry 400 or so novels. Warhammer 40k has somewhere between 400 and 500 books.

Trike wrote: "On my Goodreads shelf the two longest Space Opera books I’ve read are To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (880) and Seveneves (872).

The longest Fantasy novel is [book:The W..."

That is an excellent summary, Trike - thanks for that. I would never have thought of the Warhammer series. That series, and the likes of Star Wars and Perry Rhodan, raise an interesting point about franchises - can we really regard these as a series? Perhaps unfairly, I probably wouldn't be interested in any of those franchises.

I've read some of the "Dune" add-ons by others and some of the "Foundation" and "Robot" books by other authors and while some are well-written the best of them are a pale shadow of the work of the original author. Its always felt as if I'm just refusing to accept that an author I love is dead and will be creating no new books.

Similarly, I wouldn't touch any of the books claiming to be modern takes on Dickens, Austen, etc.

What do others feel?

Betsy wrote: "I have read most (40) of the Honorverse series. There are a few of the short story collections and ancillary works that I haven't read.

Of the primary works in the series, there are three that ar..."

What is the mystery series, Betsy? (I used to enjoy Asimov's "Black Widows" mysteries almost as much as his SF, and a near-future mystery series sounds intriguing.)

Teresa wrote: "For books purchased on Amazon and read on a Kindle, tapping “about this book” includes number of pages. Books loaded on my Kobo show number of pages when I tap the center of the page, as something ..."

Thanks Teresa - I'd never noticed that!

John wrote: "What is the mystery series, Betsy? "

It's the In Death series, by J.D. Robb, which is a pseudonym of Nora Roberts, who is a very popular writer of romantic suspense and some fantasy. The series takes place primarily in New York City around 2060, where the lead character is a homicide detective. There are some elements of romance, but that's not preeminent. As I said, it's not sci fi, but there are a number of satellite installations, including a prison for the worst of the worst, a luxury resort which is owned by the detective's trillionaire husband, and at least one gaming casino. The satellites are only occasionally featured in the series, but it's an interesting take on the near future. One of the main themes of the series is family. The heroine, Eve Dallas, had a really abusive childhood and mostly grew up in the system. But she has gradually created a family for herself from coworkers, her husband, and even perps she has dealt with. So it's a character driven series. The mysteries themselves are hit and miss. Sometimes really good, sometimes mere rehashes of previous plots. But I'm hooked by the people.

Betsy wrote: "John wrote: "What is the mystery series, Betsy? "

It's the In Death series, by J.D. Robb, which is a pseudonym of Nora Roberts, who is a very popular writer of romantic suspense and some fantasy. ..."

I've read all of that series, too. My library always manages to get the books when they come out.

John wrote: "Trike wrote: "On my Goodreads shelf the two longest Space Opera books I’ve read are To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (880) and Seveneves (872).

The longest Fantasy novel ..."

I have occasionally tried reading books from series' that were continued after the original author died, but am always disappointed.

Audrey wrote: "I have occasionally tried reading books from series' that were continued after the original author died, but am always disappointed"

What about series where the authors are just for-hire and use a house name, like The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift and so on? (Showing my age there… Sweet Valley High, The Babysitter’s Club? Is that slightly younger?)

As opposed to Shared World books like the Wild Cards series or Thieves’ World, where multiple authors contribute stories or novels and we know their names, instead of them all pretending to be the same person.

Side note: one of my favorite sci-fi bits of trivia is that the taser was invented by a guy who was a Tom Swift fan and that “taser” is an acronym for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”. Tom Swift And His Electric Rifle, or, Daring Adventures in Elephant Land, 1911.

Betsy wrote: "John wrote: "What is the mystery series, Betsy? "

It's the In Death series, by J.D. Robb, which is a pseudonym of Nora Roberts, who is a very popular writer of romantic suspense and some fantasy. ..."

Thanks Betsy, I'll give it a try - I've just ordered the first in the series from my library. She seems to be popular here - the library has lots of her books.

Audrey wrote: "I have occasionally tried reading books from series' that were continued after the original author died, but am always disappointed."

In a recent Q and A session, Brandon Sanderson revealed that when he took over the Wheel of Time series, he suddenly had to write a character he'd long hated. While I can imagine that might affect a writer's enthusiasm, at least we know he was familiar with the material, and didn't go into that project blind.

John wrote: "Thanks Betsy, I'll give it a try - I've just ordered the first in the series from my library. She seems to be popular here - the library has lots of her books."

Hope you enjoy them. Keep in mind she started writing these in the 80s. Before we even had cell phones. So the tech is not always up to date. One of the things I have enjoyed is watching how that has changed over the years.

Another thing, she regularly published two new books in this series every year, and at least one other book under the Roberts name. Because she's so prolific, and dependable, I tend to cut her a break when she occasionally misfires.