Has anyone read any distant future stories.

[Swede]

Beyond Star Trek and other space opera's.

[kcr]

1. Define Space Opera

David Briin, Charlie Stross, and Venor Vine all write good distant future work, as does Ken MacClean So does Sherri Tepper, for that matter, and I don't think there is any definition of space opera that would include Grass or The Gate to Women's Country

[Swede]

2. If you meant Vernor Vinge I'm reading A Deepnes in the Sky right now.

Brin I've heard of,the other's are unfamiliar to me,so thanks,I will check them out.

[Technowitch]

3. Try Stephen Baxter's 'Manifold' trilogy

There are three volumes in the series, each taking a kind of parallel examination of the Fermi paradox (given all the time since the start of the universe, why isn't space full of intelligent life?).

Manifold: Space, Manifold: Time, and Manifold: Origin.

I wasn't that crazy about the protagonist, but the concept was very well done, I felt. And they are very much about as distant a future as you can imagine.

[phantom power]

4. Greg Benford's "galactic center" series

Starts with "In the Ocean of Night", which is near-future, but ends up in the galactic core, tens of thousands of years from now. Titles are:

In the Ocean of Night
Across the Sea of Suns
Great Sky River
Furious Gulf
Tides of Light
Sailing Bright Eternity

[phantom power]

5. "Schild's Ladder" and "Diaspora", by Greg Egan

Two unrelated stories, set in the far future.