Space Opera Fans discussion

When trying to pin down the nebulous definition of "Space Opera" I would argue that a work from this genre to avoid discussing or concerning itself with the plausibility of technology or the laws of physics (gravity, relativity, etc). THoughts?

Dave
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I've always been more drawn to space opera than Hard SF for the very same reasons Shane describes. The mythic, adventure themes seem to resonate me more than stories than emphasize technology. I don't consider either form to be superior to the other, but they are different in those aspects.

I agree that Space Opera generally is concerned more with the grand story than with the hard details of How It's Done. My Agents of ISIS series has spaceships without ever caring about how they work--any more than Tom Clancy stops to explain the internal combustion engine in cars in his technothrillers. You just take some things for granted and get on with the story.

I like both genres, and would only spearate them by what's truly different -- the space element. You can have perfectly good hard sci fi that makes no mention of space. Space opera to me means ships in space and usually fighting for a Cause even if there is no Hero to admire. Neal Asher comes to mind.

I would loosely define Space Opera as an epic story containing very well defined characters and character development that when they act in the story their actions have vast and important, far-reaching consequences. I think that a Space Opera should obviously be set in space, but does not HAVE to deal with aliens per-say, however, this is more than often not, the case. I think that there are many GOOD examples of what a true space opera is, I think Peter F. Hamilton is a great example that spans many of the descriptors that people would put on the genre.

Also Alistair Reynolds, Iain Banks, Stephen Baxter and Kevin Anderson also fit the bill in different ways.

As a side note, I think that Dan Simmons 4 books around the Hyperion series is also a wonderful, yet atypical example of what a space opera can be while incorporating several different aspects of good writing in the book as well. These authors have all shown that just because it is a space opera doesn't mean it has to have shoddy writing involved.

I agree with you and you named all my favorite authors! We might share reading lists

Carol

I'd like to announce a permanent price reduction in the ebook versions of my 10-book space opera series Agents of ISIS. The individual titles are:











Fast-paced adventure on an interstellar scale. I hope you'll enjoy them.

Not to be snarky, but if a) it's on a spaceship or interplanetary, and b) Wagner pops up in my head while reading it, then it's space opera.

There is an opera set on board a space ship - "Aniara" (1959), by Karl-Birger Blomdahl. Not exactly Wagner though!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara_(...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DLBHL...

Stephen wrote: "I'd like to announce a permanent price reduction in the ebook versions of my 10-book space opera series Agents of ISIS. The individual titles are:
[bookcover:Tsar Wars: Agents of ISIS, Book 1|10232..."

Sounds exciting!

And all that time I thought that hard sci-fi mean book about mental illness or power. Guess I need to visit Wikipedia :-D on topic space opera is... space opera :-P :-P :-P space for influence of space in the plot, and opera for adventure.

Andi like my sci-fi self hosted. Ideas mechanics forces in the universe should be compatible.

If anyone is interested, my new novel Linked is out! It's more sci-fi of the mind (most of it is set in interplanetary travel), and it's really about the potential of human evolution, quantum entanglement and quantum connection in general.

I mean, there isn't an actual opera...in the space opera. But it sounds up you guys' alley!

Everything is connected.

It is the year 11,012 AD. The world is powered by Luminum, an incredible and exotic particle, generated by the Sun. It is the source of the Link, a universal quantum communications system. The entire human race has one unified government, known as The Alliance. After cataclysmic attacks on all major settlements in the Solar System, most of the human population is dead or missing. As their world collapses, Helia, Adlan and Soren, are flung into a millennia-long conspiracy.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HMNP5BM

I think of the Vorkosigan saga and Jack McDevitt's Academy series as space opera,agree? I don't like it when people nitpick the technology. If it's not too dumb sounding and with a good cracking adventure with good characters, who cares? I also am not overly fond of cerebral sci-fi. I just want to have fun!

Kirsten: I agree wholeheartedly about the Vorkosigan books. I'm not familiar with McDevitt's Academy series, but I love his Alex Benedict books. Yes, I think the principal ingredient for space opera is not aliens, not spaceships, not technology, but pure fun. While I can enjoy "cerebral" sf from time to time, my primary focus--both as a writer and as a reader--is "fun."

The first book of the Academy series is The Engines of God. My late father introduced me to them. He's also read the Alex Benedict books - but he liked these better.

What about Honor Harrington? I've just started On Basilisk Station

I read the first few Honor Harrington books. They're well written, but they tended to get very, very frenetic as they reach the end, and awfully intense/callous/bloodthirsty for my own tastes. But YMMV...

I'll definitely check out The Engines of God et seq, though my TBR stack is pretty high these days. What I like about the Alex Benedict books is that they remind me of Stieg Larson's books, particularly The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, solving mysteries that go back decades, if not centuries. Painstaking mysteries that get solved by adding up one little detail after another like a exquisite jigsaw puzzles until the whole picture emerges.