The Voyage of the Space Beagle
One of the great original classics of modern SF returns! An all-time classic space saga, The Voyage of the Space Beagle is one of the pinnacles of Golden Age SF, an influence on generations of stories. An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery. They encounter several terrifying alien species, including the Ix, who lay their eggs in human bodies, which then devour the humans from within when they hatch. This is one of the most entertaining and gripping stories in all of classic SF.
Stats for nerds
4recommend
9mentions
7people
2010–2026years
44% recommend56% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Wait till you read "Voyage of the Space Beagle"!
https://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Space-Beagle-van-Vogt/dp/07653...
- A.E. Van Vogt wrote it. Brilliant author. I am sure one of the tales in "The Voyage of the Space Beagle" was the inspiration for "Alien".
- Voyage of the Space Beagle (A. E. van Vogt)
- Some iconic science fiction books that can stand alone:
Some of these are the beginnings of series or have sequels, or exist in a larger continuum of stories. But each can be read and appreciated on their own. If you find one you really like, it's not hard to see if there are more in a series or sequel.Asimov: The Gods Themselves Clarke: Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama Herbert: Dune, Whipping Star Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Bester: The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination (also called "Tiger, Tiger") Niven: Ringworld Niven and Pournelle: The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall Gibson: Neuromancer Stephenson: Snow Crash, The Diamond Age Bear: The Forge of God, Eon Sagan: Contact van Vogt: The Voyage of the Space Beagle Lem: Solaris Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness Lewis: Out of the Silent PlanetEdit: formatting
- I can't accept that Wikipedia is an authoritative source, but existence of FTL is not the sole determinant. That would make 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' space opera.
Space Opera is any true descendent of Van Vogt's "Voyage of the Space Beagle" or EE Doc Smith Lensman series, Horatio Hornblower but in space, etc.
It requires the space opera quality, not the soap opera style.
Star Trek is in, Star Gate (core, not including their Universe and Atlantis) just jumps around with the Star Gate. It's Sci-Fi but not space opera. Probably a budgetary constraint of episodic TV, but nonetheless.
- Some TOS episodes were based on classic scifi stories, like "Voyage of the Space Beagle". Also, Roddenberry employed established scifi authors like David Gerrold to script episodes.
An annoying facet of ST episodes is the morality lessons they push, like on every episode of The Brady Bunch.
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