Addison Rizer is a writer and reader of anything that can be described as weird, sad, or scary. She has an MA in Professional Writing and a BA in English. She writes for Book Riot and Publishers Weekly and is always looking for more ways to gush about the books she loves. Find her published work or contact her on her website or at addisonrizer at gmaildotcom.
Falsely accused of murdering his family, Teo Anand flees to the moon. With pilot Ocean Yoon and their ragtag crew, he must uncover the truth in a city haunted by their pasts. As loyalties shift and romance ignites, danger closes in. The thrilling sequel to Ocean’s Godori is a showdown that tests identity, love, and loyalty.
Are you in the mood for sweeping intergalactic battles set in galaxies far, far away, complete with futuristic technology, touching romance, and aliens galore? Well, then, you’re in the mood for a space opera! Luckily for you, the space opera subgenre is thriving with new releases out every year full of planetary travel, thousand-year wars, and, at the core of it all, an exploration of what role humanity might play in the stars in a future none of us will ever see.
On this list, you’ll find a doorstopper of a novel exploring what humans might evolve into in thousands of years, a delightful mash-up between Regency romance and planetary time travel, and an intergalactic cooking competition that will make your mouth water, just to name a few. Without further ado, let’s talk about six new immersive space operas you may have missed from the last few years!
Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Thousands of years in the future, colonies have sprung up around the galaxy. Saraswati, a chef on Earth, sets out to win an intergalactic cooking competition on the planet Primus. There she crosses paths with Serenity Ko, an aspiring virtual reality designer who wants to make even eating a simulated experience. While they don’t exactly get along, their determination to achieve their goals on Primus forces the pair to work together.
The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
After a bout of time sickness strands him in 1812 London, time traveler Obi develops a relationship with Prince George, the future king of England. In 6066, Asha, an engineer, lives under the thumb of an emperor who imprisons her sister. A prophecy regarding the fate of the universe links them together in a centuries-spanning adventure.
Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by Peter F. Hamilton
After fleeing Earth thousands of years ago, humans ended up in the Centauri cluster of inhabitable worlds. Over the years, humans developed into Celestials, a new kind of being that then split into separate dominions. Finn is one of the Celestials of the Crown Dominion, working on an agricultural planet but dreaming of becoming a galactic traveler amongst the stars. To prove himself, he attempts to fly to another planet in his dominion, but finds himself stranded on the planet Anoosha when things go terribly wrong.
The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong
Jes is on the run from The Institute, a group desperate to study his gravity powers, when he stumbles upon and joins a circus on a pleasure moon. There, notorious crime boss Dax threatens to shut the circus down in favor of something more financially beneficial. Wanting to save the first place that felt like home, Jes offers up ideas to keep the circus running, catching the attention of Dax in the process. Using his fugitive status to his advantage, Dax blackmails Jes into doing his dirty work, thrusting Jes into a seedy underbelly he has no leverage to pull his way out of.
Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot
Rig is on the run with the schematics of a weapon of mass destruction she created, joining rebel forces and leaving the Pyrite faction and their war behind. But when the faction threatens to kill her twin sister if she doesn’t bring the schematics back, Rig must set out to rescue her without giving them the plans for such a deadly weapon in the process. Along the way, her path crosses with a bounty hunter named Ginka, a figure shrouded in mystery. Together, they mount a rescue operation that they may not survive.
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
Humans have made a home on planet Anjiin when an alien race, the Carryx, invades and kills off a significant portion of their population. The Carryx then capture the elite humans left, including a group of researchers where Dafyd works. In order to prove their usefulness to the Carryx, the group is tasked with adapting a new food source for another species. Should they fail, the human race will be eliminated. But, as they’re quickly finding out, living under the reign of the Carryx might not be worth surviving for.
I hope one of these space operas caught your eye! If you’re in the mood for more sci-fi adventures, check out these 25 best space operas of all time or these 20 space fantasy books!
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