FANDOM NAME: The Thousand Worlds, by George R. R. Martin. This is a space opera setting he used for a bunch of short stories and one novel, The Dying of the Light. You don't need to read all of them to know the canon as they're all standalone. My favorites of the short stories, which will give you a good sense of the setting, are "A Song For Lya," "The Stone City," and "Sandkings."
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: These stories, which were written very early in his career, are lush, romantic, expansive space opera full of sense of wonder and the feeling of vast, strange, beautiful, terrifying universe. They make me feel like I'm looking up at the stars and imagining inhabited planets orbiting those suns, with each planet inhabited by beings living their own fascinating stories.
Warning for some "typical 1970s sf dudes writing about women" stuff.
I'm going to request worldbuilding for this canon - not in the sense of "write about the foodways of Shkeen," but to write me an original story set in this universe.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT (optional): The canon is scattered in a bunch of short stories and one novel. The collection Dreamsongs Volume 1 is in print, and collects nine of the stories in the Thousand Worlds universe. They are "A Song for Lya," "Bitterblooms," "The Stone City," "The Way of Cross and Dragon," "The Tower of Ashes," "And Seven Times Never Kill Man," "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr," "Nightflyers," and "Sandkings."
There is also the novel Dying of the Light. It's in print and is worth reading if you like the short stories, but I would try the short stories first.
The Thousand Worlds, by George R. R. Martin
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: These stories, which were written very early in his career, are lush, romantic, expansive space opera full of sense of wonder and the feeling of vast, strange, beautiful, terrifying universe. They make me feel like I'm looking up at the stars and imagining inhabited planets orbiting those suns, with each planet inhabited by beings living their own fascinating stories.
Warning for some "typical 1970s sf dudes writing about women" stuff.
I'm going to request worldbuilding for this canon - not in the sense of "write about the foodways of Shkeen," but to write me an original story set in this universe.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT (optional): The canon is scattered in a bunch of short stories and one novel. The collection Dreamsongs Volume 1 is in print, and collects nine of the stories in the Thousand Worlds universe. They are "A Song for Lya," "Bitterblooms," "The Stone City," "The Way of Cross and Dragon," "The Tower of Ashes," "And Seven Times Never Kill Man," "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr," "Nightflyers," and "Sandkings."
There is also the novel Dying of the Light. It's in print and is worth reading if you like the short stories, but I would try the short stories first.