Recommendations wanted - space opera/ big idea sci-fi

[emptyman]

Hi all. I'm new here, but a long time sci-fi fan. One thing though - I am pretty picky. I am looking for some recommendations because on Amazon and Goodreads there is just far too much info and I don't know where to start.
So - what am I looking for? I want and tend to like fiction where there are big, new ideas that inspire my imagination in a creative way. I prefer optimistic approaches, and huge expanses of time and perspective. I like 'big picture' motifs. I'm not into fantasy or plot-driven novels - I read sci-fi to feed that part of me that needs creativity and newness.
Ok - some favourites to give you a sense:
-John c. Wright and his "Golden Age' books (tremendously packed with great, stimulating ideas. my favourite sci-fi in years).
- Douglas Adams HGTTG
- Kurt Vonnegut (yes, he IS sci-fi, sometimes)
- Philip K Dick (short stories are so awesome, super-cool)
- Hyperion books by Simmons (didn't love them, but liked them enough to finish.)

I didn't like Asimov's foundation series that much (sorry).
So, given this, does anyone have any good ideas for me?
The next book I'm going to try is "The Quantum Thief". Thanks so much!

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Well you might like:

Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan.
On Basilisk Station, by David Weber.
Ringworld, Larry Niven.
Expanded Universe, Heinlein short stories.
Rendezvous with Rama, Clarke.
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson.
Quarantine, Greg Egan.
Hominids, Sawyer.
And there was a recent old-school space opera trade paperback that came out recently, that I can't seem to remember the title or author at the moment... dammit.

[iansales]

Iain M Banks' Culture novels, Ken MacLeod's Fall of the Republic quartet, Gary Gibson's Dakota Merrick trilogy, Michael Cobley's Humanity's Fire trilogy... all good British new space opera (which is the best kind of new space opera).

[Perpetual Man]

Someone else who fits your requirements, huge books, big ideas is Peter F Hamilton. Both his Night's Dawn Trilogy and the Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained are epic on the grandest scale.

But it has to be said that although I love his books, there are a sizeable amount of readers who don't. (Doesn't stop him being Britain's bestselling SF author )according to the front of his latest novel)

[iansales]

Yup, he's certainly popular. And yup, some of us don't like his books :-)

[Vertigo]

Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space books. Order of reading can be a little debatable but if you search on here it has been discussed on threads around about.

Poul Anderson's Tau Zero and The Boat of a Million Years. They are not related but both cover huge timespans and present interesting ideas. Tau Zero could loosely be described as space opera in that the action pretty much all takes place on a single (very long) space journey. The second is not really space opera until possibly the tail end of the book.

Neal Asher's Polity books - again take a look in his sub forum for help on the reading order.

Brian Aldiss' Helliconia - though that has some pretty strong Fantasy elements rather than space Opera.

If you like military space opera then consider David Weber's Honor Harrington books (On Basilisk Station mentioned above is the first). Also Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series (ignore the terrible book covers and titles - they really are quite good!).

Other than that I would second some of the other recommendations, such as Hamilton, Banks and Larry Niven (you might also consider his collaboration with Jerry Pournelle; the Moties books beginning with the Mote in God's Eye).

[emptyman]

Thanks, mates. All great suggestions. I am aware of most of those authors/ series, but not all. I'll do a bit more homework on them. It is so hard to know who and what you are going to like! I keep having 'altered carbon' recommended to me so maybe i'll give it a try next.
Have any of you read John C. Wright's series that I mentioned? I would love to find something comparable. (I secretly want some kind of official rating system called 'IPP' which stands for Ideas Per Page - and you can say something like, "Well Hamilton rates at about 4.2 new IPP, but the third in the trilogy is only a 2.3...")
cheers

[iansales]

John C Wright's books should be avoided. He makes Orson Scott Card's homophobia and sexism look amateur. He's like the Mel Gibson of the sf world...

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Originally Posted by iansales

John C Wright's books should be avoided. He makes Orson Scott Card's homophobia and sexism look amateur. He's like the Mel Gibson of the sf world...

Oh, snap.

[emptyman]

Wow. Snap! Indeed.
Now, is that a criticism of his character or of his books? Because, being ignorant of him as a person, I found his books incredible.
Iansales - did you happen to read 'The Golden Age'? Maybe I am alone in loving them... but that wouldn't be a first.

[Triceratops]

I'll second Poul Anderson's Tau Zero and The Boat of a Million Years.

chris

[emptyman]

After studying reviews and synopses, I have decided to try 'Altered Carbon' and Peter Hamilton's 'The Dreaming Void' (because that's what my library had, plus it looks kinda neat).
You have given me a good list of space opera to think about. But I wonder - what responses would I get if I omitted the notion of the space opera and simply requested recommendations for books that are crammed with creative and amazing ideas? Because in the end, this is really what it is about for me. It is simply that space opera tends to be the niche that those books fit into.
Ideas?

[Vertigo]

A word of warning Hamilton's Void trilogy (Dreaming, Temporal and Evolutionary) follow on from his two book Commonwealth series. It is set some time later and although it is a totally separate story it does have some of the same characters in it. I suspect you would be better off reading the two Commonwealth books first: Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained.

As far as the second question goes. It would be hard to know where to begin there are so many. My earlier post (#6) had a couple of suggestions that weren't quite space opera and then there's PKD; his books tend to be quite small but his ideas certainly aren't!

[iansales]

Originally Posted by emptyman

Iansales - did you happen to read 'The Golden Age'? Maybe I am alone in loving them... but that wouldn't be a first.

Yes, I read that, and the sequel, Phoenix Exultant... before I discovered how odious his personal views were. I didn't think they were very good. David Herter's Ceres Storm covers similar ground and does it a thousand times better.

[emptyman]

@Iansales: Really? Fair enough - I will certainly check out 'Ceres Storm' then, because I was damn impressed with John C Wright's trilogy - I enjoyed them all quite a bit. They were slow, idea driven, and creative.
Also, I appreciate Vertigo's caveat about the Dreaming trilogy. I'm still going to give it a whirl. I'm reading 'The Quantum Thief' right now.
I'll let you know if I ever figure out what the heck is going on...