#spaceOpera

JenJen :heart_sp_pan: :twitch:✨ By Man & Angels print kickstarter launches TODAY 12noon UK time - Live on twitch! 💫 <a href="https://www.jenniegyllblad.co.uk/wp/2025/08/01/by-man-angels-print-kickstarter-launches-tomorrow/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.jenniegyllblad.co.uk/wp/2025/08/01/by-man-angels-print-kickstarter-launches-tomorrow/</a><a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/Kickstarter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Kickstarter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/Comics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Comics</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/Comic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Comic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/MastoArt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#MastoArt</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/IndieComics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IndieComics</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/SciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a>

SelfAwarePatternsThe AlgebraistWhen I picked up Iain M. Banks’ book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Algebraist-Culture-Iain-M-Banks-ebook/dp/B0BRJ5TTF5/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Algebraist</a>, I thought I was starting a Culture novel overlooked until now. (The way Amazon listed the book encouraged this belief.) However, while it is space opera on a grand scale similar to a typical Culture novel, it takes place in a different fictional universe, one where the technologies are a bit more grounded, but with very rich worldbuilding.Two thousand years in the future, humanity has reached the stars, and joined an ancient multi-species civilization known as the Mercatoria. The Mercatoria is an empire. The populations seem fairly prosperous, but the empire brutally represses dissent. It also attacks those who live outside of it, including a group known as the Beyonders, who respond by periodically attacking Mercatorian military installations. And about seven thousand years before the story, there was a machine war, which resulted in the eradication of most AI in the Mercatoria. The Mercatoria now ban and hunt down any remaining AI. There is also a religion based on the simulation hypothesis.In this universe, faster than light travel only happens via wormhole, both ends of which have to be constructed together and one end transported to another system at sublight speeds. Which means that systems that have their wormhole portal destroyed can become isolated from the overall galactic civilization, at least until a replacement can be brought in, which usually takes centuries. There are entire regions which are disconnected due to wormhole destruction.One system that has its wormhole destroyed a couple of centuries before the story is Ulubis. A new wormhole is on the way, but isn’t expected to arrive for decades. In the Ulubis system is a substantial human population, but also a number of other species, all ruled by the local Mercatorian government.In Ulubis is a Slow Seer community, humans who “delve” to study the Dwellers, aliens who live in the atmosphere of gas giant planets. The Dwellers exist in most gas giants in the galaxy and have a culture that is billions of years old. And individual Dwellers can live millions or even billions of years. Living outside of Mercatorian control, they seem to have a boisterous anarchistic society that doesn’t seem particularly high tech, although they are rumored to have devastating weapons at their disposal.Fissan Taak is an experienced Seer, destined to become the Chief Seer of his Sept. Centuries earlier he went on a delve in the local gas giant and received a book which he published in scholarly circles. In the wider interstellar community it was realized the book contained information about a possible secret wormhole network of the Dwellers, one much more pervasive than the Mercatorian wormholes, the legendary “Dweller list”. However, a key volume of the book is missing, the one telling how to find the Dweller wormholes.As the significance of finding the missing volume becomes understood, the Beyonders attack and destroy the Ulubine wormhole to prevent Mercatoria from getting the information. The Beyonders ally with a group called the Starveling Cult, led by a sadistic warlord named Luseferous. Luseferous, understanding the prize at stake, launches a fleet toward Ulubis in a decades long journey. Mercatoria also launches a fleet toward Ulubis, but the Starveling Cult will arrive first.As the book opens, Taak finds himself torn from his scholarly life, drafted into the military, and included in a briefing transmitted from the distant Mercatoria fleet, warning Ulubis of the situation. Taak is sent on a mission to go on a new delve with the Dwellers. His mission is to find the missing volume before the Starveling Cult arrives. Unknown to the Mercatoria is that Taak’s sympathies lie with the Beyonders, and he alerts them to his mission and its goal.Everything described here happens in the first act, and is just a sample of all the things going on in this novel. Humans in this universe are mortal, although there are treatments to preserve life indefinitely. And many characters have extended lives from traveling at relativistic speeds, or from existing in “slow time” while delving with the Dwellers. As a result, many of the adults have been alive for centuries.Unlike in the Culture novels, there’s no artificial gravity or easy FTL. Characters have to spend time in capsules of shock-gel to withstand the crushing acceleration of relativistic starships, or to delve in the high gravity environment of gas giants. Space battles have to be fought with all the limitations of slower than light travel and transmission. It makes for some very cool descriptions of the tactics and logistics involved.But much of the book takes place in the Dweller society. Their biology is very alien, although not as alien as I was expecting. I was anticipating gaseous entities or something along those lines, but the Dwellers and their environment turned out to be more solid than I expected. Which made me wonder where that solidity came from in a gas giant atmosphere. At one point in the novel it’s implied some of it comes from meteorites.The worldbuilding in this book is rich and extensive. As far as I can tell, it’s the only story Banks wrote in this universe. Which is a shame, because it seems rife with possibilities. The ending leaves a number of loose threads that could have led to future stories. Maybe Banks would have returned to it eventually. (Lamentably he passed away a few years later.) The book itself was a Hugo Award finalist in 2005, so it received accolades.It has similar themes to a Culture novel. Particularly noteworthy is that both the Culture and Dweller societies are anarchist, in that neither have formal governments, yet seem able to function as if they did. The idea of a very advanced but anarchist society appears to have been a fascination for Banks. There are some nits I have with the book, my typical ones with Banks, mostly related to pacing and some avant-garde techniques I could have done without. But overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it if you enjoy space opera.<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-review-2/" target="_blank">#bookReview</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-reviews-2/" target="_blank">#bookReviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-review/" target="_blank">#bookReview</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-reviews/" target="_blank">#bookReviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/books/" target="_blank">#books</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/fiction/" target="_blank">#Fiction</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/sci-fi-2/" target="_blank">#sciFi</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/science-fiction/" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/scifi/" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/space-opera/" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a>

JenJen :heart_sp_pan: :twitch:A new By Man & Angels page is up on my studio! Thank you for supporting indie stuff!<a href="https://www.jenniegyllblad.co.uk/wp/2025/07/27/by-man-angels-issue-5-page-17/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.jenniegyllblad.co.uk/wp/2025/07/27/by-man-angels-issue-5-page-17/</a><a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/Comics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Comics</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/TraditionalArt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TraditionalArt</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/MastoArt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#MastoArt</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/Scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Scifi</a>

Victoria JanssenWhat happens after rebel guerillas fight a fascist empire...but cannot win? A trilogy of novellas about choosing hope, recovery, and building community on the utopian planet Refuge. <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Hopepunk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Hopepunk</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sapphic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#sapphic</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/solarpunk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#solarpunk</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/cozy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#cozy</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#sf</a> 💙📚 🌈📚🪐Reviews are love!<a href="https://books2read.com/rl/aplaceofrefuge" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://books2read.com/rl/aplaceofrefuge</a>

Curtis Leon Fee: Mobius EngineAn <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/introduction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#introduction</a> for 2025 by way of as many hashtags as appropriate: <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/artist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#artist</a> through education, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#author</a> who is <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#writing</a>. <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/music" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#music</a> degree, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/bowie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#bowie</a> fan, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/ps5" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ps5</a> enthusiast, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/fanedits" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fanedits</a> and video editing, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/cardgame" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#cardgame</a> and <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/boardgame" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#boardgame</a> designer. Recently diagnosed <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/actuallyautistic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#actuallyautistic</a> and enjoying leaning into that newly discovered persona.All <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/art" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#art</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#books</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/video" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#video</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/fanedit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fanedit</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/music" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#music</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/story" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#story</a> and <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/comics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#comics</a> can be found at <a href="https://www.mobiusengine.co.uk" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.mobiusengine.co.uk</a>Some of these are free at the website, but there are deeper stories, source material, downloadable files at my <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/patreon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#patreon</a>: <a href="https://patreon.com/mobiusengine" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://patreon.com/mobiusengine</a>Created a <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/fourthwallshop" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fourthwallshop</a> to sell some cool branding ideas about the revamped website, including <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/mobiusengine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#mobiusengine</a> and <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/autism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#autism</a> merch: <a href="https://mobiusengine-shop.fourthwall.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://mobiusengine-shop.fourthwall.com/</a>I wrote a <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/novel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#novel</a> about the effect of <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/DavidBowie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DavidBowie</a> on a time traveler. Then a <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a> novel about a band of women mercenaries fighting psychic vampires. Then I wrote a novel about either <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/autism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#autism</a> or an android getting certified as human. It turned out to be about <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/autism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#autism</a>, so I am re-writing this and will be posting the progress at my <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/patreon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#patreon</a>.Currently writing a <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TTRPG</a> for no good reason. Watching a lot of <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/action" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#action</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/martialart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#martialart</a>, and <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/anime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#anime</a> as resource – which probably classifies as a special interest. Also building a mass of reference material for a <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fantasy</a> novel.Learning <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/piano" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#piano</a>, but no longer <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/composing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#composing</a>. Playing a lot of <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/PS5" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#PS5</a>, finally getting to grips with <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/CallOfDuty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CallOfDuty</a> <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/BO6" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#BO6</a>. Replaying <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/TheLastOfUs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TheLastOfUs</a>, <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/Uncharted" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Uncharted</a>, and <a href="https://sunny.garden/tags/DeathStranding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DeathStranding</a> periodically.

Thomas Wrightson (he/him)It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'utter'. Alone on a station, Lenore senses danger ahead.<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/BookQW" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#BookQW</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/horror" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#horror</a>

Rachel Thorn 🍉🇺🇦🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈Not to put too fine a point on it, but Leigh Brackett was a really good writer. Her characters feel alive, she can turn a beautiful phrase, and her plotting and story structure are so solid. Don’t be fooled by the goofy, click-bait titles she gives her stories. She always delivers way more than the title would suggest. (Okay, “Out of the Sea” was a huge dud, but apart from that, everything I’ve read by her I do not at all regret reading.) <a href="https://queer.party/tags/SF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SF</a> <a href="https://queer.party/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="https://queer.party/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a>

Jendia GammonFinishing the saga, LUMINIFEROUS is a truly epic conclusion, with callbacks from throughout the series, filled with secrets, hidden worlds, sinister villains, a grand love story, and an explosive final act! <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fantasy</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#books</a> <a href="https://jendiagammon.com/luminiferous/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jendiagammon.com/luminiferous/</a>

Jendia GammonACCRETION is a full-throttle third entry in the series. Buckle up! <a href="https://jendiagammon.com/accretion/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jendiagammon.com/accretion/</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scififantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scififantasy</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a>

Jendia GammonKicking it into high gear, EPHEMERIS introduces the true hero of the saga, Galla-Deia. Eat your hearts out, Superman, Supergirl, and She-Ra. This is Galla's story, and without her, the galaxy would fall apart: <a href="https://jendiagammon.com/ephemeris/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jendiagammon.com/ephemeris/</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scififantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scififantasy</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a>

Jendia GammonAnd taking it back to the start, HELIOPAUSE now has a page: <a href="https://jendiagammon.com/heliopause/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jendiagammon.com/heliopause/</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scififantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scififantasy</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a>

Genevieve WilliamsHalfway to goal! The <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Shakespeare" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Shakespeare</a> Adjacent <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Kickstarter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Kickstarter</a> has passed 50% of its funding goal. The <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/anthology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#anthology</a> collects 13 genre takes on Shakespeare plays, from <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a> to <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/steampunk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#steampunk</a> to <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/noir" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#noir</a>. I had a lot of fun adapting Much Ado About Nothing to a futuristic western setting, maaaaaybe informed by having recently rewatched <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/MadMax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#MadMax</a>: Fury Road. Check out the Kickstarter here: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/loutambone/shakespeare-adjacent/description" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/loutambone/shakespeare-adjacent/description</a>

Rachel Thorn 🍉🇺🇦🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈Hasn’t anyone else ever noted these similarities, or am I imagining connections that don’t exist? Why on earth would Lucas hire Brackett, best known in Hollywood as a co-scripter of The Long Sleep, to write his space opera if he hadn’t already read her space operas? Still, it was an odd choice, because while Lucas uses tropes and motifs from her work, her themes are decidedly noir, which something Lucas could never be. Honestly, I would love to read Brackett’s draft of the sequel to Star Wars. I bet it would be a lot more like Rogue One than the final form of The Empire Strikes Back. And I bet that’s why he didn’t like it. But what else could he have expected? <a href="https://queer.party/tags/StarWars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#StarWars</a> <a href="https://queer.party/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="https://queer.party/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a> <a href="https://queer.party/tags/SciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a href="https://queer.party/tags/SF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SF</a> (3/3)

K.N. Brindle (they/them)I'm super excited to announce this, and this is the perfect opportunity!I've just launched my open, generic, setting-agnostic, FREE (as in speech and beer), and modern <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TTRPG</a>It's currently in beta, and I'll be finalizing the version 1.0 release over the next few months, along with publishing an original <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fantasy</a> expansion, and a <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> expansion based on my novel Common Accord later this year<a href="https://versesrpg.com" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://versesrpg.com</a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/TTRPGRising" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TTRPGRising</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/@thoughtpunks/114789460090250538" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://dice.camp/@thoughtpunks/114789460090250538</a>

SelfAwarePatternsA reread of Consider PhlebasIain Banks’ Culture setting is probably the closest thing to outright paradise in science fiction. It’s an interstellar post-scarcity techno-anarchist utopia, where sentient machines do all the work and the humans hang around engaging in hobbies or other hedonistic pursuits. Some do choose to work, but there’s no requirement for it since money isn’t required. Everyone is effectively immortal and lives as long as they want.It’s worth noting that in the Culture books “human” means biological humanoid since many of the stories take place before Earth is contacted. This follows a trend in sci-fi in the late 1970s and 80s, following the lead of Star Wars, of telling stories of characters who are aliens that just happen to look and act like us. Banks hangs a lantern on the implausibility of this in at least one of the books, but I can’t recall him ever addressing it in detail.There are no laws in the Culture, only reputations and consensus. Everyone is free to do whatever they want. However, someone who shows themselves to be dangerous might have a drone assigned to keep them from hurting any other sentient entities.Perhaps the most striking thing about the Culture are the Minds, vast AI intelligences who control titanic spaceships, space habitats such as orbitals, and warships, among other major functions. This notion of god-like AI might be the biggest influence these novels have had, both on sci-fi and the wider culture. (Although what’s often left out of the wider meme is the Culture Minds’ internal workings existing in hyperspace, meaning their god-like capabilities come from processing information faster than light and in a hyperdimensional realm, essentially working on magic.)All of which is to say that the Culture unapologetically solves its problems with technology advanced enough to simply render them obsolete.Banks admitted in interviews that something like the Culture probably isn’t possible, but it made an interesting backdrop for exploring philosophical questions. I recently discovered that one of the Culture books I had missed when I read them many years ago, Excession, is coming out in ebook format later this year, which I’ve already pre-ordered. And that Amazon Prime is <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/02/consider-phlebas-amazon-charles-yu-chloe-zhao-1236300861/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">planning a TV series</a> based on Consider Phlebas, the first Culture novel. Given their recent track record, I’m not sure how optimistic to feel about that.But it reminded me that it’s probably been something like twenty years since I read Consider Phlebas, and that a reread might be interesting. Particularly since the first time I initially bounced off of it, and had to be convinced by a friend to finish it and look at the other books. I enjoyed it a lot more this time, either because my tastes have changed, or because I already knew where the story was going.The Culture is at war with the Idiran Empire, a theocracy of huge warlike aliens. (They seem very similar to Halo‘s Covenant, which they likely inspired.) Horza is a changer, someone who can take on the form of other people, along with other capabilities such as poison nails and saliva. He is an agent working for the Idirans, not because he believes in their religion or cause, but because he’s opposed to the Culture, repulsed by their dependence on machines, which he is convinced will eventually turn on the biological entities. Most of the story is told from Horza’s viewpoint. He’s a tough and relentless protagonist who we are with through several adventures. He’s often sympathetic, but seems blind to the atrocities the Idirans are committing. While he is usually conscientious toward the people he fall in with throughout the story, his attitude toward machines seems unrelentingly hostile. At one point he ruthlessly destroys a friendly AI that’s in his way, and his attitude toward a drone that saves his life is not to regard it as a thinking feeling entity, but as just a mechanism. And he ultimately coerces a captured crew into perilous mission.Horza is opposed by a Culture agent named Balveda. She is a member of Special Circumstances, which Horza considers the Culture’s version of military intelligence. If there is a hero in this story, it’s Balveda. Although she spends most of the book being passive, with most of her agency offstage. We only get into her viewpoint late in the story.Horza and Balveda have a high regard for each other. Balveda attempts to save Horza early in the book and Horza is concerned when he hears the Idiran order to execute Balveda when she is a prisoner. Later in the book, Horza often feels like he should kill Balveda but always seems to have an excuse not to.The MacGuffin of the story is a Culture Mind that escaped an attack by hiding in tunnels on a world. The world is protected by a powerful alien entity neither the Idirans nor the Culture can afford to antagonize. Yet the Idirans want to capture the Mind for the information it contains, and the Culture wants to rescue it. Horza is sent by the Idirans because he may be allowed in by the alien entity, because he once worked on that world with a team of changers, one of which was his lover. He accepts on the shaky promise that afterward he might be allowed to leave with her and enough money to retire as an agent. However along the way Horza is captured by a team of pirates and ends up on a series of side adventures which show us various locations in this universe, including a “temple of light”, an orbital, and Schar’s World, a planet which is effectively the burned out grave of a civilization that destroyed itself in warfare, and which is where the Mind is hiding.Without spoiling too much, this is not a happy tale, which was the reason I reacted against it the first time. But it does have some interesting situations and a lot of action, and as an introduction to the Culture, it has the occasional philosophical discussion. I enjoyed and recommend it if you’ve never tried it. I will warn that Banks’ pacing is far from snappy, but it doesn’t feel as ponderous as some of the other stuff I’ve recently complained about.While waiting for Excession I might reread some of the other Culture novels, particularly Surface Detail, my favorite. I suspect the TV show, if it gets made, will draw material from a lot of these books, not just the first.Have you read Consider Phlebas, or any of the other Culture novels? If so, what did you think? Read anything else with similar themes worth checking out?<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/ai/" target="_blank">#AI</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/" target="_blank">#ArtificialIntelligence</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-review-2/" target="_blank">#bookReview</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-reviews-2/" target="_blank">#bookReviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/posthuman/" target="_blank">#posthuman</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/sci-fi-2/" target="_blank">#sciFi</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/science-fiction/" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/scifi/" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/space-opera/" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a>

readingchameleonGasp, original fiction by <a href="https://sakurajima.social/@readingchameleon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@readingchameleon</a>?! In double-drabble form no less! :ngnnen_gasp: Well, you better believe it 'cause it's here! Inspired in part by <a href="https://aus.social/@Unixbigot" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@Unixbigot@aus.social</a>'s microfiction toots actually.<blockquote>The minutes pass and I'm left with a single task A found family builds a starship and walks the stars, until disaster strikes. A single pilot with a single task. The minutes pass, and all that’s left is me. The minutes pass and all that’s left…. is me. Standalone double drabble inspired by The minutes pass and all that’s left is me by Moonlit_Blossom (ao3) / yoroshiu (tumblr). [200 words]</blockquote>I can only imagine the world behind this little fic, and it's so cool :akko_excited: 🚀 🌠 <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/HopePunk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#HopePunk</a> is underrated. Pssst, seen any hopeful!space opera fics around here? I'd love to know 🌟 <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/Fic" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Fic</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/NotSureIfItsMicroFiction" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NotSureIfItsMicroFiction</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/But" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#But</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/MicroFiction" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#MicroFiction</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/Space" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Space</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/SciFi" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/SpaceOpera" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/Fiction" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Fiction</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/NotActuallyFanfiction" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NotActuallyFanfiction</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/ButKinda" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ButKinda</a>? <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/InspiredByFanfiction" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#InspiredByFanfiction</a> <a href="https://sakurajima.social/tags/OriginalFiction" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#OriginalFiction</a>

SelfAwarePatternsThe Forever WarFor some reason I had never read Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War, and recently decided to remedy that. Like most classic sci-fi novels, it’s a quick read, much shorter than most contemporary novels. It’s often been called a Vietnam veteran’s response to Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. Haldeman himself disputes that, although he admits it’s heavily inspired by Vietnam, and overall much more antiwar than Heinlein’s story.This novel originally came out in the early 1970s and is very much a product of its time. William Mandela is a physics student in the 1990s drafted into the United Nations army in a war against an alien species: the “Taurans”. Unlike in previous wars, a high IQ is part of the criteria. The military wants elite fighters. Women are included, so in this imagined near future military, it’s a mixed force, with roughly half female. As a morale boosting measure, the recruits in training are encouraged, even required, to have regular and promiscuous sex with their colleagues. Pot smoking is common and seen as just another recreational drug. And the automatic “Sir, yes sir!” chorus of obedience in previous generations is replaced with a “F— you, sir!” response, repeated with the same lack of enthusiasm.After some training in Missouri, the recruits are shipped to a planet in the outer solar system called “Charon” (not to be confused with the moon of Pluto discovered years after this story was written). Here they learn to use an armored exoskeleton suit so prevalent in military sci-fi. The training is grueling and dangerous. Several recruits are killed. Eventually they graduate and are sent to their first posting.Interstellar travel in this universe happens via “collapsars”, a type of naturally occurring wormhole. However the collapsars are often a substantial distance from local solar systems or each other, requiring months of travel time, typically reaching relativistic speeds. The result is that while the troops spend months in transit, years are passing at the bases and on Earth. The battles all seem to happen in solar systems near collapsar transit points.The Taurans, when first encountered, don’t seem like very good fighters, but they learn quickly, and the war becomes a long slog.When Mandella first gets back to base, he discovers that decades have passed. But he, his girlfriend, and many others are given a chance to cash out their backpay and return to civilian life, although they are warned that a lot has changed on Earth. When they take the cash out option, they get back to Earth in 2024, and discover that it is a dystopia, with overpopulation, sky high crime rates, society breaking down, and widespread misery. Mandella and his girlfriend eventually reenlist. As the war drags on and the decades and centuries pile up, Earth becomes increasingly alien from the view of the older soldiers. Governments on Earth begin to encourage homosexuality as a means to keep the population under control, and eventually make it mandatory. Mandella, as one of the longest surviving soldiers, finds himself considered a sexual deviant by the new recruits.There are some pretty good action and battle scenes in the book, but one theme throughout seems to be that military often doesn’t know what it’s doing. Also that it’s not the soldier’s friend. And that the future is going to be very strange by our standards, starting with the army a few years in the future, and getting progressively weirder as the story progresses.Reading older sci-fi is always an interesting experience. In this book, we get to see a 1970s vision of what the 1990s and 2020s would be like, and how dominated that vision is by the preoccupations of 60s and 70s culture. Certainly our 2020s is far from perfect, but it’s a picnic compared to the nightmare presented in the book. Something for us to keep in mind when contemplating the predictions made today.Obviously this book isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it an interesting ride, worth considering if you’re looking for classic sci-fi to read.<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-review-2/" target="_blank">#bookReview</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/book-reviews-2/" target="_blank">#bookReviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/sci-fi-2/" target="_blank">#sciFi</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/science-fiction/" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/scifi/" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://selfawarepatterns.com/tag/space-opera/" target="_blank">#SpaceOpera</a>

Alazarin MobiusHere’s the YouTube live stream of our show this evening, Friday 13 June 2025:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehrsU7UBRyA" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehrsU7UBRyA</a><a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/alazarinmobius" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#alazarinmobius</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/theinvisibleband" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#theinvisibleband</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/interplanetaryliberationfront" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#interplanetaryliberationfront</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/progressiverock" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#progressiverock</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/spacerock" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spacerock</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/secondlife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#secondlife</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/cubase" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#cubase</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/livestream" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#livestream</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/bandcamp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#bandcamp</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/youtube" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#youtube</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/music" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#music</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/progrock" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#progrock</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/livestreammusic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#livestreammusic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/mastomusic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#mastomusic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/musodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#musodon</a>

YoraThe Star Wars universe is ridiculously big, claiming to cover an entire galaxy. And it has more planets making an appearance than anyone could ever remember. But at leas they handwave distances and travel time.The Traveller Map has 128 sectors, composed of 2048 subsectors. The fastest ships flying nonstop without refueling would take over 2 years to cross it. Six or seven years seems more realistic. What stories would ever need such a giant map?<a href="https://mastodon.gamedev.place/tags/Traveller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Traveller</a> <a href="https://mastodon.gamedev.place/tags/worldbuilding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#worldbuilding</a> <a href="https://mastodon.gamedev.place/tags/spaceopera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceopera</a>

Petra van CronenburgYeah, <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/goodNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#goodNews</a>, just coming directly from Mel Brooks himself, who is 98 yrs old and wants to play the wise Yogurt! <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Spaceballs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Spaceballs</a> returns: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoAUHM7O6V8" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoAUHM7O6V8</a>Mel Brooks account: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/officialmelbrooks.bsky.social/post/3lrgcy27tyk2e" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://bsky.app/profile/officialmelbrooks.bsky.social/post/3lrgcy27tyk2e</a>May the Schwartz be with you! 😂 <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/film" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#film</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/spaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#spaceOpera</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/StarWars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#StarWars</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/parody" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#parody</a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/sciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#sciFi</a>

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