Space Opera Fans discussion

Greetings Space Opera Fans!

Our YOUNG ADULT FRIENDLY PICK this month is A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber. As a community, Space Opera Fans is reaching out to help our younger and legacy members meet somewhere in the galaxy over a good book that all members can enjoy. Remember these books when the time comes to buy that grandchild or niece a birthday present! Here's your chance to indoctrinate and assimilate your kids into your geeky ways by being knowledgeable and cool!



"Stephanie Harrington absolutely hates being confined inside her family's compound on the pioneer planet of Sphinx, a frontier wilderness world populated by dangerous native animals that could easily tear a human to bits and pieces. Yet Stephanie is a young woman determined to make discoveries—and the biggest discovery of all awaits her: an intelligent alien species.

Treecats are creatures that resemble a cross between a bobcat and a lemur (but with six legs and much more deadly claws). Not only are they fully sentient, they are also telepathic, and able to bond with certain gifted humans such as the genetically-enhanced Stephanie. But Stephanie's find, and her first-of-its-kind bond with a treecat, brings on a new torrent of danger. An assortment of highly placed enemies with galactic-sized wealth at stake is determined to make sure that the planet of Sphinx remains entirely in human hands—even if this means the extermination of another thinking species..."

ARE YOU READING A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP? Why not drop your ideas and impressions of the story into the discussion thread below and maybe, while you're at it, discuss why you think this might be a good book for young people to read today in 2015. Remember to be kind and use spoiler html to hide any comments which might spoil the story for others.

Be epic!
Anna Erishkigal
SOF Borg Queen

I just finished this book - absolutely great. Will post a full review later.

Yes ... please do! I am considering ordering the paperback version so I can share it with my kids.

I can't wait to read this one. I am a big fan of his Honor Harrington series.

I read this several years ago when it first came out. Here is my review.

I think it's a really good book for young teens because it deals with many of the issues they face: figuring out who you are apart from your parents, figuring out what you want to do with your life, dealing with new feelings for members of the opposite sex, trying to work out your own ethics, learning to make your own decisions and rely on yourself in unexpected situations. And all that in the context of an exciting experience on a relatively newly settled world(view spoiler)[ and the discovery of a possibly sentient new species (hide spoiler)].

I think the next two books in the series are better than this one, but that may be because this one contained so little new material for me.

Thanks Betsy! I think I'm going to go ahead and order the first three in the series. My 13-year-old is a voracious reader and I'm trying to steer her away from the sparkly vampires :-)

I'm looking forward to this one! I've read a fair few Honor Harrington books and am addicted to treecats.

Another thing this series gives young teens is a realistic role model, someone to emulate. She doesn't save the world, but she does accomplish something no one else in her world does, and she has to work through some ethical dilemnas at the same time.

It has a girl with a cat. My daughters will read it. The fact it will lead to a lifelong obsession with Honor Harrington...

[*Mwah-hah-hah!!! *]

Just ordered the first three books of the series. Grabbed Steph's book while I was there so I could get the free super-saver shipping :-)

Anna wrote: "It has a girl with a cat. My daughters will read it. The fact it will lead to a lifelong obsession with Honor Harrington...

[*Mwah-hah-hah!!! *]

Just ordered the first three books of the series..."

I love cats :)

Not just ANY cats, but six-legged, fully sentient PSYCHIC cats...

Talk about your crazy cat ladies :-)

Anna wrote: "Not just ANY cats, but six-legged, fully sentient PSYCHIC cats...

Talk about your crazy cat ladies :-)"

Haha!

Anna wrote: "...Just ordered the first three books of the series. Grabbed Steph's book while I was there so I could get the free super-saver shipping :-)"

Gosh. Thanks! My book also has a girl with a cat, albeit an electric one (cat, that is).

I confess I've yet to read anything by David Weber (to my shame). Is this book a good starting point, or is it best to read the Honor Harrington series first? I already have a couple of those on my Kobo awaiting my attention.

I've just started reading The Hydrogen Sonata so might not get around to this one.

Steph wrote: "I confess I've yet to read anything by David Weber (to my shame). Is this book a good starting point, or is it best to read the Honor Harrington series first? I already have a couple of those on my..."

I think it depends a lot on your tastes and determination. The Honor Harrington series is long (there are 30+ books in the full Honorverse), and most of the individual books are long. The Honorverse is a complex universe comprised of several political entities, each including multiple star systems and many planets. The books do include a lot of action, but also a lot of tech description, and a lot of political discussion. Obviously reading them will give you the best introduction to that universe.

However, there's no reason you couldn't start with A Beautiful Friendship. They're not heavily dependent on each other. This one takes place a couple centuries before the main Honor Harrington books. But it's definitely targeted to young adults. Not very complex plot, not too adult themes, no heavy tech or political descriptions. So it's not going to give you a full introduction to the Honorverse.

My books came in the mail today!!! Yea! And after ARISIA next week I might actually have time to READ it!

So Stephanie has just caught her first glimpse of Climbs Quickly... and so far I'm loving this book.

I think I might actually FINISH this book on time this month (yay ... considering how busy I've been). I absolutely love the story itself. Some of Weber's writing style as compared to other young adult authors is a bit 'telling' (as in he TELLS his story rather than SHOWING it) far more than I would prefer. Most modern YA is written first-person past-or-present tense or third-person 'close' POV. I find myself wanting to shout 'stay in Stephanie's head, dammit! And quit the omniscient POV!' But it's a great first-contact story. I bought all three books and will definately be handing them to my "Warriors" loving daughter when I'm done.

I will be reading this one, although I usually avoid YA. It might be Feb by the time I get to it, but no matter.

If I like it, I might hand it to my daughter, she is getting tired of the vampire YA fiction :)

Yeah! I think the vampire thing has pretty much had its day and has pretty much fizzled out. I started writing a vampire book called "The Beloved" and I got bored writing it. I can only imagine what someone else reading it would think.

Give your daughter David Weber's book. He is a wonderful writer, and it might just start her on lifelong journey of loving Sci-Fi!

Daniel (Devourer of Books) wrote: "If I like it, I might hand it to my daughter, she is getting tired of the vampire ..."

Yah! That's the general idea 3:-) Assimilate, indoctrinate, and in general entice the young peeps away from the sparkly vampires!

*******

Jeffrey wrote: "I think the vampire thing has pretty much had its day and has pretty much fizzled out...."

Gosh, I hope so! I didn't mind when there were a few of them, but when they started to sparkle? Uh-um!

I loved this book and here is my REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Anna, I hope you'll be sure to let us know what your daughters think, if you can get them to read it. I prefer third person POV myself, but I'm not a young teen and haven't been for a very long time.

Betsy wrote: "Anna, I hope you'll be sure to let us know what your daughters think, if you can get them to read it. I prefer third person POV myself, but I'm not a young teen and haven't been for a very long time."

There's something called 'third person/close POV' that is an acceptable substitute for 1st-person. The bigger problem is Weber infodumps a lot with his worldbuilding and it gets in the way of a young readers ability to get inside the head of the heroine. It kept knocking me out of Stephanie's head and it really annoyed me because I -ENJOYED- being inside her head. She's an awesome heroine.

Lionheart/Climbs Quickly, on the other hand, didn't get knocked out by backstory quite so much. I think it's because Weber has this whole other world for Stephanie that he kept trying to sneak in and it didn't work because this is supposed to be a prequel.

My kid has already begun to dive into the book. I think she'll enjoy it despite its flaws. It's an awesome story. I just wish I could hand it back to Mr. Weber bleeding red ink because, with that close-POV I think it would be the next Hunger Games.

yeah....read first chapter and I just could not get into it. Sorry, YA does not do it for me.

Maybe I will read On Basilisk Station instead :P

Daniel (Devourer of Books) wrote: "yeah....read first chapter and I just could not get into it. Sorry, YA does not do it for me..."

YA done right is incredibly addicting because it throws you right into the protagonist's body. For example, The Hunger Games or Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series are compelling no matter how old you are because they immediately throw you into the character's dilemma and the fact they're a bit younger or that cuss-words/sex are skimmed over barely registers after a while. But other stuff they label as YA is patronizing and dumbed-down. I've had people send me Review Requests for stuff for my kids and had to say 'no after skimming through it.

I suppose it's like literature in general ... people everywhere like good stories :-)

Anna wrote: "I suppose it's like literature in general ... people everywhere like good stories :-) "

True that. It might be that this is just not the right story for me at this time. I have had that happen, abandon the book, then come back to it 6 months later and wonder why I did not like it the first time.

A Beautiful Friendship is a good 'bridge book.' One that will introduce younger readers to the genre without overwhelming them with 287 point-of-view characters and 892 intersecting plotlines all spread over a 10-book, 1,000,000,000 word decathology.

And then ... next ... we'll entice them to read one of Peter F. Hamilton's doorstoppers... 3:-)