Well, this suggestion most assuredly does not follow especially if it's fairly recently-written, but The Series That Started It All was E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series, written in the late '30's and early '40s. And lost out to Asimov's Foundation series in the Hugo competition for Best All-Time Series.
Some of the technology is obviously dated (there is some discussion of vacuum tubes of a particular design), but the plot is fast-paced, with strong characterizations, some interesting alien races, nasty humans, Great Battle Scenes, True Heroes who most assuredly do not have an ego to match, and, well, it's your basic story of Good v. Evil, and good pretty much wins by the end of the set.
I haven't seen a full set for sale in quite a while; I bought mine, lord, has it been 30 years ago?, so you'll have to do a bit of searching in good used-book stores.
It was the first great Space Opera series, and bears the same relation to following Space Operas that C.S. Forester's Hornblower series does to Napoleonic-era British sea stories: many succeeding books were bad, some were so bad as to be unintentionally funny, and only a few were as good. Smith's work was often satirized, as was Forester's; it is, admittedly, fairly easy to do so - but the originals still retain a lot of their charm for me, and when I want something that's just a good ripping yarn, I look to Smith.
(In order of plot: Triplanetary, First Lensman, Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensman, Children of the Lens. There are works by later authors, none of which I've read, and one ancillary novel by Smith (The Vortex Blasters) which, well, is unreadable. Stick with Smith's originals, and you should do fine.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-05-24 07:16 pm (UTC)Some of the technology is obviously dated (there is some discussion of vacuum tubes of a particular design), but the plot is fast-paced, with strong characterizations, some interesting alien races, nasty humans, Great Battle Scenes, True Heroes who most assuredly do not have an ego to match, and, well, it's your basic story of Good v. Evil, and good pretty much wins by the end of the set.
I haven't seen a full set for sale in quite a while; I bought mine, lord, has it been 30 years ago?, so you'll have to do a bit of searching in good used-book stores.
It was the first great Space Opera series, and bears the same relation to following Space Operas that C.S. Forester's Hornblower series does to Napoleonic-era British sea stories: many succeeding books were bad, some were so bad as to be unintentionally funny, and only a few were as good. Smith's work was often satirized, as was Forester's; it is, admittedly, fairly easy to do so - but the originals still retain a lot of their charm for me, and when I want something that's just a good ripping yarn, I look to Smith.
(In order of plot: Triplanetary, First Lensman, Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensman, Children of the Lens. There are works by later authors, none of which I've read, and one ancillary novel by Smith (The Vortex Blasters) which, well, is unreadable. Stick with Smith's originals, and you should do fine.)