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I am brand new to sci-fi books, beyond childrens books, so I don't know of really any resources to find out about books to read. So the question i want to ask is.

Is there a list somewhere on the internet that lists space opera books series?

The list doesn't even have to be a complete list just something to get me started, therefore the question is answerable. However, anytime people ask similar questions it gets closed. So is there a way to ask the question so that it doesn't get closed?

2 Answers 2

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I think the consensus for list questions is this:

  • If your question can be answered by Wikipedia then the question does not belong here. It would be redundant to answer it here when Wikipedia covers it perfectly fine.

  • On the other hand, if the question can't be or isn't answered by Wikipedia, and has a definitive answer, then lists are allowed for as long as they're not too localized.

In the case of your question, it can be answered by Wikipedia so just visit that link.

As a rule of thumb, always try Google first before asking a question on Stack Exchange.

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  • I did google, but I sure never found that page. I also didn't find that searching wikipedia either. I got a bunch of categories that were similar, but nothing as comprehensive as that page. I spent a lot of time searching so I didn't have to ask on here. I barely figured out after a couple of days poking around that the series I'm reading now is a space opera much less what happens when googling for space opera and getting relevant results. My goal, as a newbie, was to try and get vetted results instead of wasting more hours. Just because someone asks doesn't mean they didn't do a search Feb 4, 2011 at 23:49
  • @percent20: I'm aware of that but, in this case, I googled your exact words "lists space opera books series" and it was the #2 result which is why I (incorrectly) assumed you didn't google it.
    – Borror0
    Feb 5, 2011 at 0:20
  • Is the marked-up part a quote from somewhere? If so, where?
    – Tony Meyer
    Feb 5, 2011 at 2:13
  • @Tony: No, not a quote.
    – Borror0
    Feb 5, 2011 at 2:50
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You can see the debate on this topic here. There is no fully-fledged policy, but there's a near consensus that a certain kind of list question is bad: questions such as “please list all the space operas you can think of” are not acceptable.

Asking about online resources should be ok. Make it very clear in your question that you're looking for sites with lists or recommendations, and not expecting people to cite any particular work in their answers.

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  • if the list would be infinite, that is always bad. Feb 5, 2011 at 4:48

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