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Any Job Will Do.
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I’ve always thought that the Venn diagram of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction should not be a circle. I thought there should be stories about people living in interstellar civilizations that didn’t involve massive wars across unimaginable distances, resulting in untold misery and suffering. So, I wrote some, starting with Quarter Share. Each of these books shows mostly normal people trying to get by in a galaxy far, far away.
I love a good space opera series, and Jenny Schwartz always delivers. I found her Adventures of a Xeno-Archaeologist series back in 2021.
Unlike many space operas, this series doesn’t depend on war and the military to drive its plot. While the military presence exists, the main thrust of the story involves Nora Devi, a solo exploration pilot searching deep space.
Nora Devi is a xeno-archaeologist with a complicated past. She has buried more secrets than she’s dug up. Widowed in the recently ended twelve year war between Capitoline and Palantine, she now makes a living as an independent tagger in border space.
Captain Liam Kimani could be credited with ending the latest royal war. Instead, he’s blamed for it. Dirty commoners aren’t meant to lay their hands on royalty.
He has no regrets.
When Liam and his crew of the battlecruiser RC Genghis Khan are exiled to Capitoline’s border they discover that life in unexplored space can be more dangerous…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I’ve always thought that the Venn diagram of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction should not be a circle. I thought there should be stories about people living in interstellar civilizations that didn’t involve massive wars across unimaginable distances, resulting in untold misery and suffering. So, I wrote some, starting with Quarter Share. Each of these books shows mostly normal people trying to get by in a galaxy far, far away.
Skylar Ramirez kicks off this twisty series by introducing the alcoholic Captain Brad Mendoza and his troubled executive officer. Along the way, a crooked path leads the reader deeper into a well-developed universe of money, politics, and betrayal.
Every character plays a role, but some play more than one. While these are technically military people, their mission isn’t supposed to involve flying missiles and drawn-out battles. Mostly, it’s about a bunch of troubled people finding their way back from the brink.
This one has more military than the first three, but it's still a great read.
Brad Mendoza is an idiot. He knows it, and so does everyone else in the star nation of Prometheus. A promising naval career down the drain just because he accidentally killed 504 civilians. So, it's time for him to give up and accept a dead-end command on Persephone, the worst starship in the fleet. Until he meets the beautiful and cunning Jessica Lin, his new executive officer, who harbors a terrible secret of her own. Now, with an enemy warship four times their size bearing down on them, Brad's in a race to save Jessica and his stupid ship.
I’ve always thought that the Venn diagram of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction should not be a circle. I thought there should be stories about people living in interstellar civilizations that didn’t involve massive wars across unimaginable distances, resulting in untold misery and suffering. So, I wrote some, starting with Quarter Share. Each of these books shows mostly normal people trying to get by in a galaxy far, far away.
Chandler’s sprawling April saga from 2012 picked up a branch in 2014 with Family Law, the story of an orphan, Lee Anderson, who is adopted by an alien and taken into his family when tragedy strikes her mother and father. The planet they discover becomes the source of Lee’s fortune and the key to her future.
This is another story driven by what I consider a key element of space opera: an individual’s journey into a wider, interstellar society.
People love easily. Look at most of your relatives or coworkers. How lovable are they? Really? Yet most have mates and children. The vast majority are still invited to family gatherings and their relatives will speak to them.
Many have pets to which they are devoted. Some even call them their fur-babies. Is your dog or cat or parakeet property or family? Not in law but in your heart? Can a pet really love you back? Or is it a different affection? Are you not kind to those who feed and shelter you? But what if your dog could talk…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
I’ve always thought that the Venn diagram of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction should not be a circle. I thought there should be stories about people living in interstellar civilizations that didn’t involve massive wars across unimaginable distances, resulting in untold misery and suffering. So, I wrote some, starting with Quarter Share. Each of these books shows mostly normal people trying to get by in a galaxy far, far away.
I loved the bumbling Jordan Booth. Awakened a year ahead of schedule and still in space, he’s given the task of teaching a group of teenagers who might be smarter than he is but who have never been outside the ship.
The rest of the crew, from Captain Juno to the ship’s AI, each have their various quirks and foibles. Part Douglas Adams. Part Terry Pratchett. All heart.
✶ Indie Ink Awards winner, 2023 ✶ ✶ A heart-warming space adventure – ‘Red Dwarf' meets ‘Lost in Space' ✶
With Earth in crisis, and his life on the rocks, Jordan Booth reckons a one-way sleeper ticket to the stars sounds like a good idea. But humanity's future is just about to take a wrong turn.
The Odyssey Earth colony ship is on a seventeen-year voyage – a straight shot to a new planet. On board, a handpicked, single-minded crew and a thousand settlers in hypersleep. No children, no families, no fuss.
I’ve held a burgeoning interest in the stars since I was a young girl. Daydreams of adventure and exploration guided me to the genre. Once I found it, I consumed everything I could find, both on-screen and in the pages of books. There’s something to be said about the vulnerability of being in the vastness of space, oftentimes with strangers who grow to be family. I guess, in a way, it reminds me of that moment when we set out into the world, away from our families, to learn and explore more about our surroundings and the characters we meet along the way (only on a much grander scale).
I don’t typically read military sci-fi or hard science fiction, but these two incredible authors have pulled me in. This series is part of a bigger universe called Aeon 14 and all of it is a joy to read. The authors work together to weave a story full of well-developed characters, flawless character interactions, along with conflict and resolution.
The Silstrand Alliance lies at the intersection of vast empires. And they're losing ground... Kylie Rhoads, one-time officer in the Silstrand Space Force, is now a junker. Captain of the Dauntless, she plies the black at the edge of the Gedri System, looking for derelict hulls to pull in and sell for salvage. So that she can bring Maverick his cut of the take...
But the Silstrand Alliance hasn't forgotten Kylie, and Maverick has something they desperately need.
Kylie finds herself caught up with old friends, enemies, and a rather terrifying new technology that will make or break whatever future…
I fell in love with opera history as an undergraduate exchange student in Vienna and went on to pursue my passion in graduate school. Rather than writing about opera composers and their music, I chose the unusual path of studying famous singers from the nineteenth century, especially the prima donnas who exerted extraordinary authority over composers, theater directors, and spectators. In my books and articles, I focus on the power of divas to thrill audiences and to shape the musical culture of which they are an integral part. The books I am recommending explore the lives and careers of some of the most fascinating prima donnas of the nineteenth century.
Through a dazzling collection of sources that include letters, contracts, memoirs, biographies, newspaper reviews, and fictional stories about the figure of the cantatrice, Kimberly White’s French Singers on the French Stage is a brilliant account of the various stages of singers’ lives in nineteenth-century France, beginning with their births and following them up to and past their retirements. In between, she describes their training at the Paris Conservatoire, debuts, marriages, benefits, and scores of other important issues that they grappled with throughout their careers. I do not know of any other work in the field of prima donna or opera studies that is at once as thorough and as lucidly written—it is a page-turner from beginning to end.
The study of singers' art has emerged as a prominent area of inquiry within musicology in recent years. Female Singers on the French Stage, 1830-1848 shifts the focus from the artwork onstage to the labour that went on behind the scenes. Through extensive analysis of primary source documents, Kimberly White explores the profession of singing, operatic culture, and the representation of female performers on the French stage between 1830 and 1848, and reveals new perspectives on the social, economic, and cultural status of these women. The book attempts to reconstruct and clarify contemporary practices of the singer at work, including…
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
As a longtime arts educator who has worked predominantly with kids ages 3 to 12, I initially set out to find books that could inspire them about theatre. For many years I have searched for the perfect books that achieve this and have used all of these books in my teaching.
There are many jobs in theatre, from the performers on stage, to all of the people like the writers, directors, and designers who make their magic behind the scenes. This book makes the excellent case that there is a place for anyone in the theatre, taking kids by the hand walking them through how it requires a team effort to make a production happen.
A delightful introduction to opera, Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera teaches elementary school children what opera is by showing how it is made. "Who writes the words?", "Who makes an opera happen? "Who is backstage?"--these questions and more are answered with easy-to-understand explanations and are illustrated with whimsical watercolors by the author. From composer, choreographer, and costume designers to the conductor, lighting and special effects crew, and, of course, the singers, the excitement builds as Anne Siberell explains each person's role in producing an opera. Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera reveals details of the most famous…
Having been a professional singer for about five decades and having grown up with, and studied the early recordings of operatic singers for just as long, I feel that I am in an unusual position when it comes to analyzing their art. The ability to describe a singer’s voice on paper is a unique challenge but one that I enjoy solving–especially since each voice is a law unto itself. When done correctly, analysis like this should make the reader want to go and find the recording so that they can listen for themselves. This is especially true for my expanded Kindle version of Early 20th Century Opera Singers.
One of the greatest series of books ever written about the early years of live broadcasting from the Metropolitan Opera. Jackson’s detailed analysis of the existing broadcasts is informative and fascinating. Even better they can be read by themselves, or even better, when listening to the actual broadcast. The amount of information in this series (3) is unbelievably vast and fascinating. All three are recommended.
(Amadeus). In this first of three volumes, Paul Jackson begins a rich and detailed history of the early years of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, bringing to life more than 200 recorded broadcasts.
Having been a professional singer for about five decades and having grown up with, and studied the early recordings of operatic singers for just as long, I feel that I am in an unusual position when it comes to analyzing their art. The ability to describe a singer’s voice on paper is a unique challenge but one that I enjoy solving–especially since each voice is a law unto itself. When done correctly, analysis like this should make the reader want to go and find the recording so that they can listen for themselves. This is especially true for my expanded Kindle version of Early 20th Century Opera Singers.
This series of 3 books traces the recordings of various operas from the infancy of recording through modern-day recording and is another fascinting read. Making this even more interesting is the fact that each opera is taken on by a different writer so you always get a fresh view on the works being discussed.
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
I love to read, and sometimes I want to be lost in a story or world for just an hour or two. Oh, I’m always sorry when a good story ends, no matter how long or short. But a good novella is like a slice of homemade chocolate cake. I might want to eat more, but if it’s perfectly done, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as that first, warm slice out of the oven.
Lindsay Buroker weaves great characters into her books and novellas. This is the best of space opera with an important “rescue” at the heart of the mystery. No worthy man, guard dog, or even android will be left behind.
The series develops into a romantic series set in outer space. This book stands on its own, with a lovely main character who has enough brains and talent to solve a mystery and enough heart to save those worth saving. It's a fun read and a great introduction to Buroker’s work.
McCall Richter works as a skip tracer, tracking down criminals, con men, and people who stop making payments on their fancy new spaceships.
Her job description says nothing about locating vast quantities of stolen maple syrup, but thanks to her helpful new android employee, she finds herself tramping through a “sugar house” on a frosty moon full of suspicious characters. The only witness to the crime? The junkyard dog next door.
Junkyard is a stand-alone novella set two years before Fractured Stars.
