New Space Opera authors

May 12th 2008 at 10:38 am

Jason Mayo asked:

Focusing on the genre of “new” space opera that guys like you and John Scalzi (hmmm, must be an Ohio thing. I’m tempted to call it a conspiracy even, but conspiracies usually involve cover ups and “Ohio is coming to kick your ass with scifi day” is pretty much the anti of covering up something) are writing right now, who are some other authors you’d recommend reading? Any of their specific works you’d consider fine examples of essential/important/”just damn good” reading for this particular genre?

I’m quite flattered to be included in the ‘new space opera’ category, as I do love works that are tagged space opera.

Of the writers out there right now producing work, my favorites are:

-Alastair Reynolds (anything, but I found Chasm City a good entrypoint)
-Iain M. Banks (Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Matter, Player of Games)
-Neal Asher (The Skinner is a good entry point)
-Walter Jon Williams (Dread Empire’s Fall, Voice of the Whirlwind, Implied Spaces)
-Ken MacLeod (Engines of Light trilogy, which I read because of comparisons of my work to his and found out that, wow, yeah, I dig his stuff)
-Karl Schroeder (anything, my starting point was Ventus)
-Scott Westerfeld (The Risen Empire)
-Sean Williams (Saturn Returns, Geodesica)
-Charles Stross (Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise)

There are other great writers doing work here, these are just the names and titles that come right off the top of my memory who’re doing stuff in the last couple years.

Just for fun, if you could be one, Batman or Superman?

Batman. He’s a self-made man, putting him into into a class of superheroes who didn’t get magic powers. I love that class of superhero. Batman, Iron Man, yes, they’re both incredibly rich, which is how they fund making their gadgets, but they’re starting off at an incredible disadvantage compared to other superheroes, and they make it up by working really hard. They’re like little superhero Horatio Algers. The only other superhero I really like a lot for a similar reason is Wolverine, because he is really the blue collar superhero: here’s your power, son, no matter how hard you get the ^&*$ kicked out of you you’ll always heal and recover.

Wolverine is like that muscled plumber, a townie hanging out at the bar, who’s ready to kick the teeth in of any one of those stuck up suit-wearing colleagues he thinks is laughing at him behind his back.

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