Space Opera Fans discussion

This thread is for nominations for READER category for August 2025.

READER books need to be
* currently in print in either hardback or paperback (or both). Requiring a special order from a store or website counts, but not if the book is only available used.
* currently available in multiple ebook formats, from multiple vendors
* Space Opera, which means a spaceship has to be involved in the story somewhere.
* If it is part of a series, it needs to be suitable to being read without having read other books in the series.
* Please no blatantly erotic books, as some of our members are not full adults yet.

RULES:
* you may nominate one book on this thread.
* you may second as many nominations as you like on this thread.
* it is okay to nominate the same book on more than one nomination thread, as long as it meets the criteria
* books we already have on our bookshelf will be disqualified if they were added less than two years ago
* If a book you nominate or second is selected, you are expected to post at least one comment about it on the thread about the book.
* On the 22nd I will draw a book randomly, with each second being one raffle ticket for the book. That is, a book with three seconds (so four of us want it) will get three chances in the pool.

It is likely helpful if you know something about a book that has been nominated if you mention it in this thread, whether it is for or against the book.

I nominate Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer. We read book 1 of the series as the June reader pick, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Audrey wrote: "I nominate Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer. We read book 1 of the series as the June reader pick, and I enjoyed it a lot."

I'll second this, since I'm currently reading it.

Should Driving the Deep be a LIMITED nomination, rather than a READER? In the UK its available as hardback, paperback and audio book, but doesn't seem to be available as an ebook on either Kindle or Kobo.

I’m okay either way. We can either move it now or wait to see whether we get any more nominations on this thread.

Teresa wrote: "I’m okay either way. We can either move it now or wait to see whether we get any more nominations on this thread."

Thanks Teresa, that makes sense.

If novellas are allowed, I'd like to nominate Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.

Its described as a space opera novella, and is currently available (in the UK - not sure about elsewhere) for under £2 on both Kindle and Kobo. Its the first book of a trilogy and the blurb claims -

"Nnedi Okorafor's Binti is the winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novella!

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself — but first she has to make it there, alive."

Novellas are allowed. I read Binti some time ago and marked it as 3 stars. I don’t remember anything about it other than mentally marking it as not really my cup of tea.

I'm not 100% sure its my cup of tea either, Teresa, but being in this group has motivated me to try new things in my SF reading, and I decided I'd give this one a try. I saw it recommended in a "Five Books" thread recently and felt it was worth trying - especially as its both short and inexpensive.

John wrote: "Should Driving the Deep be a LIMITED nomination, rather than a READER? In the UK its available as hardback, paperback and audio book, but doesn't seem to be available as an ebook on..."

That's interesting. It's certainly available as an ebook in the U.S. (from Amazon, anyway). I didn't realize markets were that different in the U.K.

It's really weird, Betsy - the book is available in Audio but not on ebook. Amazon don't have any of her books in ebook, while Kobo have book 4 in ebook - but not the first three! Its more common for the same titles to be available in ebook in both countries, but for the prices to be different (with the UK normally more expensive, which is totally unjustifiable). Just one of the many reasons I detest Amazon. In the last few months I have significantly reduced my Amazon purchases.

I also wonder if sometimes an author doesn't "travel well" in another country, therefore dampening demand. There are no Suzanne Palmer books in any of the (many) Glasgow libraries and even my favourite online second-hand bookstore has only two of her books for sale, and one of those is almost £18.

If Driving the Deep is our choice for August, as looks likely, I'll buy it as an audio book from Audible. At the moment Amazon UK has the HB at £20.99, the PB at £17.79, and on Audio CD its "only" £99.99! I'd normally only pay those sort of prices for a novel that I knew I was going to love.

The group contains members from various countries - are you finding similar pricing discrepancies in your country?

John wrote: "I also wonder if sometimes an author doesn't "travel well" in another country, therefore dampening demand. There are no Suzanne Palmer books in any of the (many) Glasgow libraries and even my favou..."

99 pounds?!! That's ridiculous. I wouldn't pay that for any book. (Well for very very few>) That's one reason why I don't like audiobooks. I know they cost more to produce, but I have trouble believing it's that much more.

Anyway, I have sometimes been able to connect to amazon.uk to check prices. I'm wondering if you might be able to connect to amazon.com (U.S.) or some other U.S. based bookseller (bookshop.org?) and have it shipped across the pond. The shipping costs might be higher, but I have no idea how much.

I've occasionally ordered books on the US sites and had them shipped to the UK, typically Civil War books that are not listed on the UK site.

Its also possible to buy ebooks on the US site and download them to my UK kindle. I've done it before but its a bit of a faff. You either have to change all your country settings, payment details, shipping address etc, or use a VPN to appear to be in the US. The VPN route should be the simplest so I might try that.

Summary so far:
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Nominated by John. Awaiting seconds.

Possibly Limited instead?
Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer. Nominated by Audrey. Seconded by Betsy.

Teresa, I think Driving the Deep has been seconded by Betsy.

Good catch. I’ll edit my comment above.

Its encouraging to see that in both the READER and LIMITED threads we have 2 nominations - giving us a competition/choice in each category.

But it would be even more encouraging if more of us would second some of these nominations (or alternatively add our own nominations). SF fans are not known for being slow in expressing our opinions about our favourites - so please speak up!

Agreed, and I’m being a bad example. I’m having much too difficult a time lately in correctly predicting whether I’ll be mentally up to reading a particular book. I’m still not getting back into Line in the Sand. Sigh.

Nominations will close on the 22nd - tomorrow. If we don’t get any more seconds, our Reader Pick will be Driving the Deep.

Nominations are now closed. Our August pick is Driving the Deep.