I grew up reading anthologies of science fiction short stories and novellas, which instilled in me a love of tight, well-crafted speculative narratives – something I think has been lost in the grand multi-volume epics churned out by publishers now which seem to pad much of their stories with ‘character development fluff’ (yes, I’m talking about things like the Safehold series). And I love space opera as well as hard science fiction.

So I’m in rapture over the local public library taking my suggestion and acquiring both "The New Space Opera" and "The New Space Opera 2". Picked them up yesterday and thoroughly enjoying them.