Comments on: Space opera

By: Avi Abrams

Avi Abrams — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 03:39:37 +0000

There is a difference between space adventure and space opera (for example, like Al Reynolds said, space opera does not even have to happen in space). Stanley Weinbaum’s sophisticated planetary romps are definite space adventure, but to graduate to the “opera” status, you gotta shift the focus from characters and single ideas to “concepts” and “principalities and powers”. So yes, it is a scale shift, and not always for the better. My personal preference would be toward scaled-down but more wondrous stories… simply because it is much harder to do it on a larger scale (it tends to dull your “sense-of-wonder”). It’s hard to write poetically about civilisations perishing in a blink. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible write a monumentally intellectual and engrossing thriller happening on a single spaceship, or even a submarine. (like Frank Herbert did)… One more point:
Space opera is all about epic plot and magnified “sense-of-wonder”, and if you look close you can find it even in the Bible.
(after all that’s what the Higher Powers do – wage epic battles, which humans are just too fragile to write about) As for Space Opera in science fiction, may it live long and prosper, as it requires first and foremost a child-like heart.

By: Ellen Datlow

Ellen Datlow — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 01:51:53 +0000

Einstein on the Beach IS fascinating. I’ve seen it performed twice.

By: Michael Puttre

Michael Puttre — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 17:02:46 +0000

The House of Wagner does have the clash of civilizations thing down: old vs new orders, hubris, overreaching ambition, betrayal, apocalyptic themes, good gunship music, etc.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:01:23 +0000

I think Wagner, surely? Even though, Einstein on the Beach could be fascinating…

By: Paul McAuley

Paul McAuley — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:45:30 +0000

Opera does indeed have many houses? Do you mean Fidelio, Turandot, The Ring, Einstein on the Beach, or Nixon in China? And when you’ve decided what you mean by opera, what do you mean by ’space’?