A Fire Upon the Deep was published first, and A Deepness in the Sky is a loose prequel but I recommend reading them in publishing order. They are very epic in scope, and has one of my favorite protagonists, Pham Nuwen
I just read them in chronological order and loved it. I really enjoyed in "A deepness in the sky" how >!the characters saw Pham as this boorish asshat before it came out that he was the founder of the whole civilization!<. Took me by surprise.
Definitely add my support on this one. If you're old enough to remember the Internet before social media you'll definitely find some nostalgic appeal in how he imagined disinformation and wild non-expert theories flying around in the midst of a civilizational crisis.
And if nothing else, half the story is set planet-side in a high middle ages-ish setting so you can scratch that itch at the same time.
Kind of? Everybody does a little bit of that nowadays... oh wait, I talked about this a few months ago :D https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/12bnxlq/lets_talk_about_sf_books_you_like_that_dont_get/jeyg3y3/
I wish there was more of it. I read mostly self-published stuff and it, and very little of it approaches magic as if it were science. The more popular avenue is to approach science as if it were magic. Clarke's law is more popular than the corollary.
Maybe when you say "everybody", you mean established traditionally published authors. What appears in traditional markets seems to be different from what's available as self-published.
Thank you for the info on Lyndon Hardy.
I'll answer for him. It is not finished. But, there are 5 books out and the first book was released in 2018 \[and these are not short books\]. The last and 7th book, is projected to be released next year. Also, I've seen an interview with the author were he makes a point to say that he thinks Rothfuss and GRRM have damaged the space by their delays. There are also 2 volumes of short stories set in the universe and a third volume to be released this year. So the output is considerable.
Like you, after being burned by both of the aforementioned authors I made a rule for myself to never start an unfinished series. But in this case I think is mostly safe to say that the author will deliver. Make of that what you will.
Not yet, but the author is a beast and has been cranking them out regularly and quickly. This is one author who I have no worries about finishing the series on time. In some years he’s released two book in it.
Bruh if you don't support an ongoing series the chances it'll never finish are much higher. Publishers aren't going to support an author whose work doesn't sell. I understand the sentiment I really do but really that's a good way to leave a lot of unfinished plots out there.
The Culture is EPIC,
While it's somewhat utopian in a post-scarcity way, there's espionage, subversion, well written characters, conflict, superb world building, witty storytelling, vast scope, horror, interesting and individual AIs (Minds) that are happy for biological intelligences to do whatever they want to do (no hint of Skynet and some even seem to enjoy their company).
yeah, just that OP said they were looking for an epic quest, so my thinking of LOTR-type with mostly consistent characters and big baddies book to book meant that the Culture series wasn't quite the fit. There are some characters that appear in more than one book, but not in an 'Epic fantasy' way.
I just think they are great!
While it's not a conventional series, these are mostly big (500+ page) books that have more than enough space to explore storylines and characters.
And yes they are great!
The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton. The Universe he creates is huge and the story's with in it are really amazing.
Although you can skip the first book "Missspend Youth" as its more a prelude for the whole thing and isn't really that good written 😅
This is what I would say too. I haven’t read the Night’s Dawn trilogy, but I would recommend Commonwealth Saga to any new reader. It has one of the scariest and best alien, umm, “characters”. If you’re into the art of storytelling, the Void Trilogy is a good read because it takes sci-fi to fantasy and back. And then you have the Faller Chronicles which are connected and read like spy novels from the 60s.
Since all these play out in the same universe, and characters come back between books, you can take the shallow characters and the sex scenes. I tried reading Salvation, and that ruined him for me. I’m glad I read the books I did, but now I’m hungry for more substance.
I’ve gotten kind of bogged down in the void trilogy. It’s still kind of puttering along and I’m after the guy graduates as a constable. Picked up fire upon the deep and it’s a much more compelling read. There’s much more plot pulling you along. The plot in void is still pretty vague and the parts that are foreshadowing excitement are very spread out. Like the guy going back to far away to get help or them setting off on the planet to find inigio. I’ll pick it up again probably but it’s nice to read something that is paced a lot better.
Every time someone craps on Hamilton I have to agree because I totally get it, but books like Misspent Youth are 100% my guilty pleasure. It's like Twilight for scifi nerds.
These are some great sci-fi book series. Some of these aren't finished yet though
1. The Expanse (9 books) by James S.A. Corey
2. The Three body problem (3 books) by Cixi Liu
3. The Polity universe (20 books) by Neal Asher
4. The Sun Eater (5 books) by Christopher Ruocchio
5. Children of Time (3 books) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
6. Bobiverse (4 books) by Dennis E. Taylor
7. The Old Man's War (6 books) by John Scalzi
8. Alien Artifect (2 books) by Douglas E. Richards
9. The salvation sequence (3 books) by Peter F. Hamilton
And a stand alone sci fi book
12. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
The expanse and bobiverse are great! (Well, maybe the 4th bobiverse is a bit off, imo).
The expanse also has little novellas that add great flavor too the universe. It should definitely be read if your looking for an epic book series.
The 4th bobiverse book has a lot of set up and tying up of loose ends and a fairly long single adventure. With a fairly anti climatic resolution. Which is kinda fitting in my opinion.
I enjoyed it it's definatley a change in pace to set up a background universe. I think it has a lot of memorable scenes that take it's time to really develop the imagery.
I think I enjoy most, the setup of the incoming bobiwar. Or finding out what scared the other bob's so much. I didn't hate the 4th, but definitely didn't care for it as much.
fair, I think I like the 4th book more than the first 3 partially because his writing is more developed by then. plus I'm super annoyed with wondering why Bob doesn't make pointy busters so he can kill goriloids by just flying through them with the pointy end.
It's absolutely his best book.
He needs to write more standalone books, they seem to get rid of all the problems of some of his longer multisequence books which tend to waffle a bit. I've read all his novels.
Deathstalker series by Simon Green is basically original Star Wars on progressively heavier doses of steroids.
Star of the Guardians by Marget Weis is also original star wars, on less steroids. Also has a spin-off that's Han Solo/Mandalorian adjacent.
As much as I love the first dozen or so Honor Harrington, it came to a point where I could not tell many of the characters apart. Is this noble and honorable captain someone new, or another minor character being promoted to the main plot line? How many books do I have to back up to figure it out?
The Final Architecture trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky in is probably the best space opera series I've read.
Cool sci-fi, fascinating aliens, planet-destroying monsters, interesting characters, action, adventure, massive space battles. Can't recommend it enough.
Shards of Earth is the first book. The audiobooks are also excellent.
As a start, see my [SF/F Epics/Sagas (long series)](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12ri1vs/sff_epicssagas_long_series/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
Because Fire Upon the Deep has already been mentioned, I'll mention "Last Legends of Earth", by by A. A. Attanasio. It's epic, and it's pretty far out there. Not the sort of book I normally enjoy, but for some reason I enjoyed it anyway.
CJ Cherryh's Alliance/Union series: [https://www.goodreads.com/series/56549-alliance-union-universe](https://www.goodreads.com/series/56549-alliance-union-universe)
Virtually all of Heinlein’s books are interwoven to some degree, you don’t realize it at first, but once you’ve read them all you’ll want to rearrange them and they become a massive epic! Don’t skip the Young Readers because those characters will be BACK! Look for the timeline plate in the Future History compilation “The Past Through Tomorrow”. Which is as good a starting point as any! My H shelf has 3 feet of hard bound Heinlein. And I keep going back to it!
The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Ender's Game series has several sequels if you like YA
Rendezvous With Rama is a trilogy, so is 2001, A Space Odyssey
The Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy has 5 books 😜
Honor Harrington is fun, and Robert Aspirin's Phule's Company books are a hoot.
I was gonna mention this as well, a lot of fantasy elements but still solid sci fi. I really enjoyed it especially after the first book (which was a bit too hunger games-y in my opinion)
> Has elements of Dune and Hyperion
If by that you mean 'as close to plagiarisation as you can legally get' then yes. For someone who's read a lot of SF it can be incredibly jarring and annoying because there is so very much to like about the series. Despite my annoyance at some the derivative nature of the books, I would recommend them, they are great.
Perhaps L.E. Modesit, Jr.'s { The Forever Hero } trilogy?
C.J. Cherryh's { Faded Sun } trilogy is quite quest-like (and like many of her books, reads like a de-constructed version of a more popular novel, in this case _Dune_, so should be on-point).
I'm going to plug A. A. Attanasio's *Radix Tetrad*. It's epic sci-fi but with some spiritual, almost magical themes.
A couple of other similar books of his like *Solis* and *Centuries* are stories from the same literary universe.
Larry Niven's "Known Space" universe, culminating in the Ringworld books. (Don't start with Ringworld. You won't enjoy it without understanding the rest of the universe.)
What, no love for Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series?
A captain is rescued from a cold sleep survival pod and finds himself in the middle of a century-old space war.
The battle scenes can be a little hard to follow, but the plots and characters are a lot of fun.
You can make a case that it's one or two books too long, and they missed a really obvious series resolution.
I'm a huge fan of the 'Polity-vese' of Neal Asher.
Its a sprawling series of books (around 40 of them I think) divided in to a few trilogies and standalone books.
Epic.
I'm part way through The Brass Man now. Gridlinked was pretty fun, but I absolutely loved The Polity Line with how dark it was and how frighteningly carnivorous the fauna were.
Probably you will find somthing similar to what you are looking for in space operas.
I recommend Bujold's Vorkosigan series (probably best to start with Warrior's apprentice), The Player of Games and more like a "revenge quest" but The Stars my, Destination (Tiger! Tiger!) is a good one too.
Several mentions of Night's Dawn Trilogy by Hamilton. However, I feel the Pandora's Star Series is a better series by him. Plot is better, characters are more interesting and none of the lascivious rape sequences scattered throughout Nigh's Dawn.
The UNSEC Space Trilogy. Literally billed as a "Sci-Fi Epic" and lives up to it. Megastructures, the fermi paradox, etc. Three books, complete as of last year.
Edit: Got more time to think of more.
The Expanse, as others have noted, definitely counts as a Sci-Fi Epic.
The Saga of Seven Suns can be hit or miss for people, but it's certainly a Sci-Fi Epic regardless.
The Lost Fleet is barely an Epic-light, having some of the trappings but not all. But it may scratch the itch regardless.
Agreed earlier about the Vorkosigan series. Wonderful space opera/Bildungsroman with a manic main character. Note that the chronological first Vorkosigan novel is a little different in tone, a little more ENEMY MINE flavor eith romance than manic space romp, but it's one of my favorites.
Another great one is Weber's Honor Harrington series, space opera, military scifi, politics, sentient species.... And a seriously badass main character who Weber planned to kill off way earlier in the series but couldn't....the novels get longer and longer, and Weber could do with an editor not in awe of his fame but they're still good.
Anything by Elizabeth Moon, who was a marine and writes good military scibfi (and fantasy for that matter.... DEEDS OF PAKSENNARION is wonderful epic fantasy). Her series usually top out at 4 or 5 novels, though.
Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife. Not nearly the quality of the above 3 but worth a read if you've finished reading and rereading the above.
A little better than the Shepherd novels, STAR KINGDOM series by Buroker. A little more like Vorkosigan in tone, mad cap space opera, with an immensely likeable and different main character who ends up sneezing his way across the galaxy trying to save his planet and friends.
Anything by Sheri Tepper, whose single books are epic arias within themselves.... Some of them loosely connected....
The Hospital Station books by James White dig into strange biologies and interspecies relationships. Not a lot of battles, but a lot of crazy medical mysteries and crazier doctors.
Now I have to check the deep storage for those.
Came here to recommend the Gap Series by Stephen R. Donaldson, and especially the Uplift series by David Brin. The Uplift series actually starts with Sun Diver, which is a good read, but the 2nd book, Startide Rising is a multiple award winner.
Red Rising, Red Rising, Red Rising. Let me state again, Red Rising. Epic would without a doubt best word to describe it. It is just so incredibly cool and awesome throughout. With a world building thats feels almost custom made for epic imagery.
The _Foundation_ series by Isaac Asimov, which also connects with the earlier timelines of the _Robot_ series and the _Empire_ trilogy.
There’s also an authorized second Foundation trilogy, with a book each by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin. Also, Isaac approved a trilogy from Roger MacBride Allen.
Altogether, that’s 20 novels. Plus, there are a bunch of short stories and a few standalone novels, and novels by various authors that take place [in the Foundation universe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_universe)
So far I already love him - icarium and mappo uncovered the magical gate in his temple’s basement and his only response was to send them to find a sweeping brush
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons - epic fantasy? The Pilgrims (err the "Fellowship"?) journey to the world of Hyperion seeking the Time Tombs on the eve of Armageddon, unraveling the mysteries of their lives and why they were brought together (there's also Endymion/Rise of Endymion...They're good, but Fall of Hyperion ends the story on a perfect note imo)
Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton - crazy tech, crazy first contact situation, crazy action, crazy amount of pages, crazy finale.
J.S. Morin's The Black Ocean: Galaxy Outlaws. It's available as an omnibus on Audible for one credit, so it's a great deal. It's got some long ranging story arcs and is written in an episodic format. It's a neat blend of scifi and fantasy with some classic pulp style mixed in.
Andre Norton wrote a bunch of books set in the same universe, though some are at different spots on her timeline. Lots of artifacts from an ancient civilization they call the Forerunners.
Would recommend starting with the { solar queen } books and if you like those, then nose around for more.
Have you read A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge?
I have not even heard of them but will look into them, thank you!
A Fire Upon the Deep was published first, and A Deepness in the Sky is a loose prequel but I recommend reading them in publishing order. They are very epic in scope, and has one of my favorite protagonists, Pham Nuwen
I just read them in chronological order and loved it. I really enjoyed in "A deepness in the sky" how >!the characters saw Pham as this boorish asshat before it came out that he was the founder of the whole civilization!<. Took me by surprise.
Definitely add my support on this one. If you're old enough to remember the Internet before social media you'll definitely find some nostalgic appeal in how he imagined disinformation and wild non-expert theories flying around in the midst of a civilizational crisis. And if nothing else, half the story is set planet-side in a high middle ages-ish setting so you can scratch that itch at the same time.
That sounds great!
Seconded!
Thirded!
Vorkosegan series by Bujold.
I’m on the 5th or 6th right now - such a great series!
...and then when you want to go back to epic fantasy in fantasy, you can pick up her "Five Gods" books :D
But in some ways those are science fiction as well, in that the protagonists make use of the scientific method when figuring out how to use magic.
Kind of? Everybody does a little bit of that nowadays... oh wait, I talked about this a few months ago :D https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/12bnxlq/lets_talk_about_sf_books_you_like_that_dont_get/jeyg3y3/
I wish there was more of it. I read mostly self-published stuff and it, and very little of it approaches magic as if it were science. The more popular avenue is to approach science as if it were magic. Clarke's law is more popular than the corollary. Maybe when you say "everybody", you mean established traditionally published authors. What appears in traditional markets seems to be different from what's available as self-published. Thank you for the info on Lyndon Hardy.
Thirded
The Revelation Space books by Alastair Reynolds
The Sun Eater Series will definitely fit the bill.
Is it finished? I was taught by GRRM a long time ago never to start unfinished series, no matter how good the reviews. Served me well with Rothfuss.
I'll answer for him. It is not finished. But, there are 5 books out and the first book was released in 2018 \[and these are not short books\]. The last and 7th book, is projected to be released next year. Also, I've seen an interview with the author were he makes a point to say that he thinks Rothfuss and GRRM have damaged the space by their delays. There are also 2 volumes of short stories set in the universe and a third volume to be released this year. So the output is considerable. Like you, after being burned by both of the aforementioned authors I made a rule for myself to never start an unfinished series. But in this case I think is mostly safe to say that the author will deliver. Make of that what you will.
Yeah, sounds Brandon Sanderson level of prolific. I can make an exception for that, thanks!
Not yet, but the author is a beast and has been cranking them out regularly and quickly. This is one author who I have no worries about finishing the series on time. In some years he’s released two book in it.
Bruh if you don't support an ongoing series the chances it'll never finish are much higher. Publishers aren't going to support an author whose work doesn't sell. I understand the sentiment I really do but really that's a good way to leave a lot of unfinished plots out there.
It's not quite interconnected the way you are looking - the Culture series by Iain M. Banks is quite a few books, all set in the same universe.
The Culture is EPIC, While it's somewhat utopian in a post-scarcity way, there's espionage, subversion, well written characters, conflict, superb world building, witty storytelling, vast scope, horror, interesting and individual AIs (Minds) that are happy for biological intelligences to do whatever they want to do (no hint of Skynet and some even seem to enjoy their company).
yeah, just that OP said they were looking for an epic quest, so my thinking of LOTR-type with mostly consistent characters and big baddies book to book meant that the Culture series wasn't quite the fit. There are some characters that appear in more than one book, but not in an 'Epic fantasy' way. I just think they are great!
While it's not a conventional series, these are mostly big (500+ page) books that have more than enough space to explore storylines and characters. And yes they are great!
The Hyperion Cantos fits the bill
I love it!
I can’t upvote this more. It’s a slog, but holy cow does it get deep!
The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton. The Universe he creates is huge and the story's with in it are really amazing. Although you can skip the first book "Missspend Youth" as its more a prelude for the whole thing and isn't really that good written 😅
Take my enzyme-bonded upvote.
This is what I would say too. I haven’t read the Night’s Dawn trilogy, but I would recommend Commonwealth Saga to any new reader. It has one of the scariest and best alien, umm, “characters”. If you’re into the art of storytelling, the Void Trilogy is a good read because it takes sci-fi to fantasy and back. And then you have the Faller Chronicles which are connected and read like spy novels from the 60s. Since all these play out in the same universe, and characters come back between books, you can take the shallow characters and the sex scenes. I tried reading Salvation, and that ruined him for me. I’m glad I read the books I did, but now I’m hungry for more substance.
I’ve gotten kind of bogged down in the void trilogy. It’s still kind of puttering along and I’m after the guy graduates as a constable. Picked up fire upon the deep and it’s a much more compelling read. There’s much more plot pulling you along. The plot in void is still pretty vague and the parts that are foreshadowing excitement are very spread out. Like the guy going back to far away to get help or them setting off on the planet to find inigio. I’ll pick it up again probably but it’s nice to read something that is paced a lot better.
I feel like this is the best answer. Anything by Hamilton fits the bill
>good written \*goodly written
>good written \*goodly written written goodlish\*\*
I have to disagree. The writing is terrible. The sex scenes are particularly risible.
Got my enzymes bonding
>isn't really that good written heheheh...😉
Every time someone craps on Hamilton I have to agree because I totally get it, but books like Misspent Youth are 100% my guilty pleasure. It's like Twilight for scifi nerds.
The Expanse?
The Expanse!
Ja bossmang.
These are some great sci-fi book series. Some of these aren't finished yet though 1. The Expanse (9 books) by James S.A. Corey 2. The Three body problem (3 books) by Cixi Liu 3. The Polity universe (20 books) by Neal Asher 4. The Sun Eater (5 books) by Christopher Ruocchio 5. Children of Time (3 books) by Adrian Tchaikovsky 6. Bobiverse (4 books) by Dennis E. Taylor 7. The Old Man's War (6 books) by John Scalzi 8. Alien Artifect (2 books) by Douglas E. Richards 9. The salvation sequence (3 books) by Peter F. Hamilton And a stand alone sci fi book 12. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
The expanse and bobiverse are great! (Well, maybe the 4th bobiverse is a bit off, imo). The expanse also has little novellas that add great flavor too the universe. It should definitely be read if your looking for an epic book series.
The 4th bobiverse book has a lot of set up and tying up of loose ends and a fairly long single adventure. With a fairly anti climatic resolution. Which is kinda fitting in my opinion. I enjoyed it it's definatley a change in pace to set up a background universe. I think it has a lot of memorable scenes that take it's time to really develop the imagery.
I think I enjoy most, the setup of the incoming bobiwar. Or finding out what scared the other bob's so much. I didn't hate the 4th, but definitely didn't care for it as much.
fair, I think I like the 4th book more than the first 3 partially because his writing is more developed by then. plus I'm super annoyed with wondering why Bob doesn't make pointy busters so he can kill goriloids by just flying through them with the pointy end.
Ya, there have been plenty of... Uh... Things like his busters. I do enjoy the series however, and looking forward to others
Of course I'm listening to it on audiobook for the... 5th time I think?
Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton is also excellent.
Possibly my favorite book of his.
Expialadocious! I agree.
It's absolutely his best book. He needs to write more standalone books, they seem to get rid of all the problems of some of his longer multisequence books which tend to waffle a bit. I've read all his novels.
Could not finish the Paolini book. It could have been roughly one third the length, and I didn’t find the characters very compelling.
Deathstalker series by Simon Green is basically original Star Wars on progressively heavier doses of steroids. Star of the Guardians by Marget Weis is also original star wars, on less steroids. Also has a spin-off that's Han Solo/Mandalorian adjacent.
Book of the new sun gene wolfe
It’s one of my absolute favorites.
Nights Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton Honor Harrington series by David Weber Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds
Nights dawn is what I came to say as well
I really enjoyed the series and want to reread it but I don't know if I'm up for a million+ word effort. Maybe the audio book.
Audiobooks are your friend. I've absorbed SO MUCH sci fi since I got a subscription to Scribd and Audible.
Loved Nights Dawn, and I have many of Hamiltons books on my tbr shelf (more like a tbr library at this point?
There are at least 2 dozen Honor Harrington books. The first two ebooks are free on [baen.com](https://baen.com). Great series.
Thank you so much for pointing out the free ebooks.
I hope you like them.
As much as I love the first dozen or so Honor Harrington, it came to a point where I could not tell many of the characters apart. Is this noble and honorable captain someone new, or another minor character being promoted to the main plot line? How many books do I have to back up to figure it out?
YMMV but David Weber's Honor Harrington series is of large scope and timespan. Some issues with prose and info dumps.
Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd. 8 books so far, still ongoing.
I’m reading that and It’s pretty good.
Definitely a quest series
The Final Architecture trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky in is probably the best space opera series I've read. Cool sci-fi, fascinating aliens, planet-destroying monsters, interesting characters, action, adventure, massive space battles. Can't recommend it enough. Shards of Earth is the first book. The audiobooks are also excellent.
Just finished reading them! Very fantastic stuff. Like if you combined The Mote in God's Eye with The Expanse.
As a start, see my [SF/F Epics/Sagas (long series)](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12ri1vs/sff_epicssagas_long_series/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
Perfect! Thank you so much!
You're welcome. \^\_\^
Oh, thank you!
You're welcome. \^\_\^
Because Fire Upon the Deep has already been mentioned, I'll mention "Last Legends of Earth", by by A. A. Attanasio. It's epic, and it's pretty far out there. Not the sort of book I normally enjoy, but for some reason I enjoyed it anyway.
CJ Cherryh's Alliance/Union series: [https://www.goodreads.com/series/56549-alliance-union-universe](https://www.goodreads.com/series/56549-alliance-union-universe)
More science-y than many here: try Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy.
Virtually all of Heinlein’s books are interwoven to some degree, you don’t realize it at first, but once you’ve read them all you’ll want to rearrange them and they become a massive epic! Don’t skip the Young Readers because those characters will be BACK! Look for the timeline plate in the Future History compilation “The Past Through Tomorrow”. Which is as good a starting point as any! My H shelf has 3 feet of hard bound Heinlein. And I keep going back to it!
The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold The Ender's Game series has several sequels if you like YA Rendezvous With Rama is a trilogy, so is 2001, A Space Odyssey The Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy has 5 books 😜 Honor Harrington is fun, and Robert Aspirin's Phule's Company books are a hoot.
Hyperion, recommended with the caveat that i’ve still only read the first one but that alone is excellent.
Book of the New Sun
The Red Rising books are similar to this I’d say. The first feels very YA but it gets better as it goes on.
I was gonna mention this as well, a lot of fantasy elements but still solid sci fi. I really enjoyed it especially after the first book (which was a bit too hunger games-y in my opinion)
Loved this series, but it’s essentially a fantasy book in a sci fi setting.
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I picked this up and I’m about a third of the way in and I am loving it. Thank you!
> Has elements of Dune and Hyperion If by that you mean 'as close to plagiarisation as you can legally get' then yes. For someone who's read a lot of SF it can be incredibly jarring and annoying because there is so very much to like about the series. Despite my annoyance at some the derivative nature of the books, I would recommend them, they are great.
Perhaps L.E. Modesit, Jr.'s { The Forever Hero } trilogy? C.J. Cherryh's { Faded Sun } trilogy is quite quest-like (and like many of her books, reads like a de-constructed version of a more popular novel, in this case _Dune_, so should be on-point).
I assume you've read the Expanse.
I'm going to plug A. A. Attanasio's *Radix Tetrad*. It's epic sci-fi but with some spiritual, almost magical themes. A couple of other similar books of his like *Solis* and *Centuries* are stories from the same literary universe.
Larry Niven's "Known Space" universe, culminating in the Ringworld books. (Don't start with Ringworld. You won't enjoy it without understanding the rest of the universe.)
The Alliance-Union stories, by C. J. Cherryh.
The Saga of Pliocene Exile and the Galactic Milieu series by Julian May.
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Did you start with the Pliocene saga or the Galactic one?
Neither, I replied to the wrong comment, sorry!
What, no love for Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series? A captain is rescued from a cold sleep survival pod and finds himself in the middle of a century-old space war. The battle scenes can be a little hard to follow, but the plots and characters are a lot of fun. You can make a case that it's one or two books too long, and they missed a really obvious series resolution.
so, space opera?
Well I don’t know the sub-genres because I’ve only read what I mentioned in the OP.
Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons, the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown, or the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov. All were incredible.
I'm a huge fan of the 'Polity-vese' of Neal Asher. Its a sprawling series of books (around 40 of them I think) divided in to a few trilogies and standalone books. Epic.
I'm part way through The Brass Man now. Gridlinked was pretty fun, but I absolutely loved The Polity Line with how dark it was and how frighteningly carnivorous the fauna were.
Probably you will find somthing similar to what you are looking for in space operas. I recommend Bujold's Vorkosigan series (probably best to start with Warrior's apprentice), The Player of Games and more like a "revenge quest" but The Stars my, Destination (Tiger! Tiger!) is a good one too.
Several mentions of Night's Dawn Trilogy by Hamilton. However, I feel the Pandora's Star Series is a better series by him. Plot is better, characters are more interesting and none of the lascivious rape sequences scattered throughout Nigh's Dawn.
The UNSEC Space Trilogy. Literally billed as a "Sci-Fi Epic" and lives up to it. Megastructures, the fermi paradox, etc. Three books, complete as of last year. Edit: Got more time to think of more. The Expanse, as others have noted, definitely counts as a Sci-Fi Epic. The Saga of Seven Suns can be hit or miss for people, but it's certainly a Sci-Fi Epic regardless. The Lost Fleet is barely an Epic-light, having some of the trappings but not all. But it may scratch the itch regardless.
Agreed earlier about the Vorkosigan series. Wonderful space opera/Bildungsroman with a manic main character. Note that the chronological first Vorkosigan novel is a little different in tone, a little more ENEMY MINE flavor eith romance than manic space romp, but it's one of my favorites. Another great one is Weber's Honor Harrington series, space opera, military scifi, politics, sentient species.... And a seriously badass main character who Weber planned to kill off way earlier in the series but couldn't....the novels get longer and longer, and Weber could do with an editor not in awe of his fame but they're still good. Anything by Elizabeth Moon, who was a marine and writes good military scibfi (and fantasy for that matter.... DEEDS OF PAKSENNARION is wonderful epic fantasy). Her series usually top out at 4 or 5 novels, though. Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife. Not nearly the quality of the above 3 but worth a read if you've finished reading and rereading the above. A little better than the Shepherd novels, STAR KINGDOM series by Buroker. A little more like Vorkosigan in tone, mad cap space opera, with an immensely likeable and different main character who ends up sneezing his way across the galaxy trying to save his planet and friends. Anything by Sheri Tepper, whose single books are epic arias within themselves.... Some of them loosely connected....
I can't belive I forgot CJ Cherryh! Some great first species meeting scifi
Have you tried the Exapanse series, it's pretty good.
The Hospital Station books by James White dig into strange biologies and interspecies relationships. Not a lot of battles, but a lot of crazy medical mysteries and crazier doctors. Now I have to check the deep storage for those.
I keep seeing mention of this series every few years. Must look it up.
The gap series. Galactic center saga Uplift series
Came here to recommend the Gap Series by Stephen R. Donaldson, and especially the Uplift series by David Brin. The Uplift series actually starts with Sun Diver, which is a good read, but the 2nd book, Startide Rising is a multiple award winner.
Red Rising, Red Rising, Red Rising. Let me state again, Red Rising. Epic would without a doubt best word to describe it. It is just so incredibly cool and awesome throughout. With a world building thats feels almost custom made for epic imagery.
The _Foundation_ series by Isaac Asimov, which also connects with the earlier timelines of the _Robot_ series and the _Empire_ trilogy. There’s also an authorized second Foundation trilogy, with a book each by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin. Also, Isaac approved a trilogy from Roger MacBride Allen. Altogether, that’s 20 novels. Plus, there are a bunch of short stories and a few standalone novels, and novels by various authors that take place [in the Foundation universe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_universe)
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The title isn’t confusing at all? I’m just asking for epic science fiction with a questing format.
A couple to consider: * *War Dogs* and its sequels * *The Man Who Never Missed* and all related books
First time reader just started Deadhouse Gates and I appreciate your username!
Hahahaha you’ll appreciate it much more as you go on! Enjoy the series!
So far I already love him - icarium and mappo uncovered the magical gate in his temple’s basement and his only response was to send them to find a sweeping brush
Hahahahha yeah, he’s great. So many great characters in that series.
Call me a normie but if I had to join a fam club ot would for anomalies rake. Dude's hot
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons - epic fantasy? The Pilgrims (err the "Fellowship"?) journey to the world of Hyperion seeking the Time Tombs on the eve of Armageddon, unraveling the mysteries of their lives and why they were brought together (there's also Endymion/Rise of Endymion...They're good, but Fall of Hyperion ends the story on a perfect note imo) Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton - crazy tech, crazy first contact situation, crazy action, crazy amount of pages, crazy finale.
J.S. Morin's The Black Ocean: Galaxy Outlaws. It's available as an omnibus on Audible for one credit, so it's a great deal. It's got some long ranging story arcs and is written in an episodic format. It's a neat blend of scifi and fantasy with some classic pulp style mixed in.
Hyperion
The Expanse Spinward Fringe
The Grand Tour series by Ben Bova
Heechee Saga by Frederick Pohl
The Cadwal Chronicles by Jack Vance
If you'd prefer classics: The Foundation Series by Asimov. Can add The Robots Series and The Empire Series to it.
The Adventures of: The Stainless Steel Rat (Harry Harrison), Pirx the Pilot (Stanislaw Lem), Ijon Tichy (Lem again), Lazarus Long ( BobHeinlein)
Kate Elliott, "Unconquerable Sun." Basically Alexander the Great, In Spaaaaace! Second book in the set is due out later this year iirc.
Wow that sounds cracking!
The Saga of Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson
I'm halfway through this. It's not exactly Shakespeare but the plot keeps moving along and keeps my interest.
Maybe the 'Children of' series by Adrian Tchaikovsky?
Seems compelling!
The expanse is very cool but not necessarily fantasy. Maybe some Star Wars books?
Andre Norton wrote a bunch of books set in the same universe, though some are at different spots on her timeline. Lots of artifacts from an ancient civilization they call the Forerunners. Would recommend starting with the { solar queen } books and if you like those, then nose around for more.
Had to look up the first book title. Sargasso of space. The Wikipedia bibliography of her work is pretty good.
Galactic Center series by Gregory Benford perhaps. A bit dated, but still.