Week Nine: Space Opera

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Space Opera is the sub-genre of science fiction that was originally developed from the high adventure tales of the 19th century, especially the pulp western and sea story. Using the conventions of these genres transplanted into outer space settings, this form of science fiction dominated the types of stories published in pulp science fiction magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Space Opera was generally staged in large scale societies and across galactic distances. There are intergalactic empires, space pirates, ray guns, and faster-than-light spaceships. The plots and dialogue are often melodramatic and the prose purple, but these large canvas high adventures are still often the way fans first encounter the genre. This was true for the first wave of science fiction fans in the 1920s and 1930s and it is still true today for fans who first experience science fiction through space operas like Star Wars or Serenity.

By the 1940s, space opera was giving way to science fiction with more serious focus on future technologies, character development, and the fiction of ideas. By the 
1950s, Science Fiction was promoting the case for space exploration and interplanetary travel within the solar system. Interest in human exploration of the planets in our solar system has recently been renewed.  The novel The Martian by Andy Weir and the subsequent movie of the same name is an example of how those speculations, which adhere closely to scientific fact, are being dramatized for today's audiences. Weir's more recent novel, Artemis, is a science-based adventure tale set in a future moon base.  Either of these is an excellent choice for this week's reading.   

Alternate Reading Assignment:

I expect everyone to have seen Star Wars IV:A New Hope, the first, chronologically, of the Star Wars movies. You can find the options for this week's required reading on this week's Activity Page.

One of this week's suggested novels is Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, a romantic adventure on another planet. Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the best writers of space opera and she is still adding to her long-running story of the Miles Vorkosigan family which remains quite compelling in its adventure and social complication. The Saga begins with a two book series featuring the mother of the clan. If you really want to get into it you can read both books, Shards of Honor and Barrayar.

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, one of the relatively unknown and terribly under-read classics of Science Fiction is another choice. In this novel Bester creates one of the most memorable anti-heroes of science fiction, Gully Foyle, who is about as nasty and impossible a hero as you will find anywhere. Essentially a re-tellling of The Count of Monte Christo, the 19th century novel of high adventure, this work captures all the excitement of space opera with deeper development of ideas and characterization. Warning: Be advised, this novel does contain some disturbing scenes including scenes of sexual assault.



For those interested in a Queer approach to genre, I can recommend Philip Geusz's Furry Space Opera, Ship's Boy, the first in a series of Furry-based space adventures.

Another alternate reading suggestion is Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, a classic Science Fiction Novel.  This ranks as probably the first Military Science Fiction novel and was written by someone who was a military officer and understood the warrior classes. Heinlein was my favorite author from the New Frontier period of S.F.

There has been a revival in space opera and an interest in creating high adventure science fiction that makes the most of the expansive possibilities of super scale societies as it also makes use of the conventions derived from the western or the sea story. Joss Whedon's Serenity or Firefly series is space opera of this type. More recently the space opera that begins locally and enlarges cosmically is well-represented by the Wachowski siblings' Jupiter Ascending.

The English writer Alastair Reynolds is particularly adept at this in his short stories and his large canvas novels about Revelation Space. The SciFi Channel has been recently exploring this type of science fiction with The Expanse a series taken from the novels by James S.A. Corey, the pen name of the team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. This series combine aspects of the noir detective story with interplanetary adventure.

If you are interested in the fusion of space opera and romance novel conventions consider some of the work by Catherine Asaro. 

Here is a link to the Activity Page for this week which includes links to reading and viewing resources for this week.

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