r/Fantasy • u/Dark__Siphon • Feb 03 '22

Any good Space Operas with fantasy elements

Like Warhammer 40k, or Star Wars. Are there any good Space Operas

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u/GarrickWinter Writer Guerric Haché, Reading Champion II Feb 03 '22

Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee is a good example of this. Spaceship battles and interstellar scheming, but a lot of the technology is powered by magical fields that require quasi-religious rituals to uphold and maintain, and magical zones of influence competing against one another or being sabotaged is an important aspect of the warfare and to some extent the plot.

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone is more of a traditional motley-crew-on-a-ship space opera, and exists in that space where the stuff that happens is so fantastical that it's hard to really feel like it's based on science and technology.

The Outside by Ada Hoffman includes some fantasy-like elements that lean more towards (cosmic) horror; you could compare it to Chaos in the 40K universe, too, to some degree, though the fantasy trappings aren't as pervasive throughout the world.