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Classic pulp space opera cover, with the usual cliché elements.
'Space opera' is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic adventure, and larger-than-life characters often set against vast exotic futuristic settings.
History
''Grey Lensman'', 1939
"Space opera" was originally a derogatory term, a variant of "horse opera" and "soap opera," coined in 1941 by Wilson Tucker to describe what he called "the hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn space-ship yarn" — i.e., substandard science fiction.[1] "Space opera" is still sometimes used with a pejorative sense.
Space opera in its most familiar form was a product of the pulp magazines for the 1920s–1940s. Science fiction in general borrowed a great deal from the established adventure and pulp fiction genres, notably frontier stories of the American West and stories with exotic settings such as Africa or the orient, and space opera was no exception. There were often parallels between sailing ships and spaceships, between African explorers and space explorers, between oceanic pirates and space pirates.
An early proto-science-fiction novel may have also been the first space opera. Garrett P. Serviss's ''Edison's Conquest of Mars'', published in 1898, predates the term "space opera" but has all the cliché elements: spaceships, travel to other planets, flying cars, battles with evil aliens, military weapons of mass destruction, beautiful women being held prisoner, and even the first appearance of a disintegrator ray.
The prototype of the pulp space opera is E. E. Smith's ''The Skylark of Space'' (first published in ''Amazing Stories'' in 1928), in which a scientist discovers a space-drive, builds a ship, and flies off with a female companion to encounter alien civilizations and fight a larger-than-life villain. Smith's later Lensman series and the work of Edmond Hamilton and Jack Williamson in the 1930s and 1940s were popular with readers and much-imitated by other writers, and it was the imitators that inspired Tucker and other fans to use the label to indicate hackwork.
Eventually a fondness for the best examples of the genre led to a reevaluation of the term and a resurrection of the subgenre's traditions. Writers such as Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson had kept the large-scale space adventure form alive through the 1950s, followed by (to name only a few exemplars) M. John Harrison and C. J. Cherryh in the 1970s and Iain M. Banks, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Paul J. McAuley in the 1980s. By this time, "space opera" was for many readers no longer a term of insult but a simple description of a particular kind of science fiction adventure story.
Characteristics
The characteristics and connotations have changed and continue to mold in the various forms of media that Space Opera is present in.
While most science fiction in television and film, from ''Star Trek'' to ''Battlestar Galactica'', have space opera elements they usually lack one or more of the elements that sets space opera apart from the other parts of the sci-fi genre. Most new space opera tends to be a mixture of soft science fiction and fantasy with some exceptions mixing in hard science fiction as well.
''Below are some of the usual characteristics one might- but not always- see in a space opera.''
''Buck Rogers'' comic book
★ 'Setting'
★
★ Outer Space or distant planet
★ 'Characters'
★
★ Aliens are similar to humans in terms of culture, outlook, and often even physically; barriers to communication between human and alien are easily overcome.
★
★ Depth of character development and description can vary but some people refuse to apply the term ‘space opera’ to a work with well-developed characterization
★
★ Often no shades of gray in characters; they are good or evil
★ 'Plot'
★
★ Set apart from other science fiction sub-genres by ultimate good vs. evil stories
★
★ Large scale, planet/galaxy/universe depends on survival of hero’s civilization
★
★ Romance components
★
★ Formulaic
★
★ Space battles
★ 'Technology'
★
★ Ray-guns or a gun-like weapon
★
★ Robots
★
★ Spaceships
★ 'Scientific plausibility'
★
★ Spaceships violate laws of physics with faster-than-light travel. Also they can have unrealistic maneuverability and rarely need to decelerate
★
★ Diverge from known physical reality invoking paranormal forces or vast powers capable of destroying planets, stars or galaxies
★
★ Possibility of supernatural abilities by certain characters, although not normally to the extent of those in some works of fantasy.
'Definitions by contrast'
Space opera and planetary romance
Some critics distinguish between space opera and planetary romance.[2] Where space opera grows out of both the Western and sea adventure traditions, the planetary romance grows out of the lost world or lost civilization tradition. Both feature adventures in exotic settings, but space opera emphasizes space travel, while planetary romances focus on alien worlds. In this view, the Martian-, Venusian-, and lunar-setting stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs would be planetary romances (and among the earliest), as would be Leigh Brackett's Burroughs-influenced Eric John Stark stories. Other writers who have produced planetary romances include Jack Vance (the Tschai tetralogy and Durdane trilogy), Philip José Farmer (''The Green Odyssey''), Robert Silverberg (the Majipoor series), and Frank Herbert (the first three ''Dune'' novels).
Space opera and hard science fiction
Space opera can also be contrasted with "hard science fiction", in which the emphasis is on the effects of technological progress and inventions, and where the settings are carefully worked out to obey the laws of physics, cosmology, mathematics, and biology. There is, however (according to some), no sharp division between hard science fiction and true space opera. Many of Robert A. Heinlein's young adult novels, such as ''Starship Troopers'', are seen by his fans to qualify as both.
Space opera and military science fiction
One subset of space opera overlaps with military science fiction, concentrating on large-scale space battles with futuristic weapons (example: Honor Harrington series by David Weber). In such stories, the military tone and weapon system technology may be taken very seriously. At one extreme, the genre is used to speculate about future wars involving space travel, or the effects of such a war on humans; at the other it consists of the use of military fiction plots with some superficial science fiction trappings.
New space opera
In the 1970s, a number of mostly British writers began to reinvent space opera. Significant events in this process include the publication of M. John Harrison's ''The Centauri Device'' in 1975; a "call to arms" editorial by David Pringle and Colin Greenland in Interzone[3]; and the financial success of ''Star Wars'', which closely follows many traditional space opera conventions. This new space opera, which evolved around the same time cyberpunk emerged and was influenced by it, is darker, moves away from the "triumph of mankind" template of space opera, involves newer technologies, and has stronger characterization than the space opera of old. While it does retain the interstellar scale and grandeur of traditional space opera, it can also be scientifically rigorous. Among the practitioners of the new space opera are Iain M. Banks, Stephen Baxter, Simon Green, Peter F. Hamilton, M. John Harrison, Paul J. McAuley, Ken MacLeod, Alastair Reynolds, Charles Stross, Vernor Vinge, Walter Jon Williams, and John C. Wright.
A more recent movement of American space opera writers, many writing for the Baen books imprint, developed during the 1990s and 2000s. This new wave of space opera authors include David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, Eric Flint, S.M. Stirling, John Ringo and David Weber. This branch of space opera follows more military themes than the British branch and usually features tales of war on an interstellar scale.
Other older, more established writers such as James H. Schmitz and Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, among others, had produced space opera and were often reprinted by Baen during this same period, as part of an effort by the publisher to reestablish the market for more military-themed space opera.
Random House's Del Rey division, which had never totally gone out of the space opera business, also increased their output of space opera books during the 1990s and 2000s, including their own versions of military space opera. Stories such as David Sherman and Dan Cragg's StarFist series became increasingly common.
Parodies
Harry Harrison's ''Bill, the Galactic Hero'' and Douglas Adams's ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' parody the conventions of classic space opera. The 1987 film ''Spaceballs'', directed and co-written by Mel Brooks, is a ''Star Wars'' parody with many space opera characteristics. The American animated television series ''Futurama'', created by Matt Groening, plays with the space opera genre from time to time, for example in the over-the-top military officer Zapp Brannigan. Also on the ''Colbert Report'' is the author of a so-called "un-published and shopping it around to publishers" epic novel called ''. He occasionally reads excerpts from the novel, and later aired several animated shorts based on them.
In the comic strip world, the adventures of ''Spaceman Spiff'', the alter ego of Calvin, eponymous hero of Calvin and Hobbes, parodied many space opera conventions.
Examples of Space Opera
In all media below. Where a
★ is noted there are multiple types of media for a franchise.
Literature
;Novels & Series ★ the Lensman (1934-1948) and the Skylark (1928-1934) series by E. E. Smith, USA ★ the Captain Future stories (1940-1944) of Edmond Hamilton, USA ★ the Dominic Flandry novels(1951-1993) of Poul Anderson ★ ''Aniara'' by Harry Martinson (1956), Sweden ★ '' Dorsai!'' by Gordon Dickson (1959), USA ★ the Perry Rhodan series by K. H. Scheer and Clark Darlton (1961 - ), Germany ★ the Known Space series (1964-1995) by Larry Niven, USA ★ Heechee (1976-2004) by Frederik Pohl, USA ★ Ender's Game series (1977) by Orson Scott Card ★ Uplift Universe (1980-1998) by David Brin, USA ★ ''Downbelow Station'' (1981) and ''Cyteen'' (1988) by C. J. Cherryh, USA ★ ''Across the Sea of Suns'' (1984) by Gregory Benford ★ ''Santiago'' (1986) by Mike Resnick, USA ★ the Lt. Leary series (1998-2006) by David Drake, USA ★ the Barrayar series (1987-2002) by Lois McMaster Bujold, USA ★ the Xeelee Sequence (1987-2006) by Stephen Baxter, UK ★ The Culture series by Iain M. Banks, (1987 - ), Scotland ★ the Hyperion Cantos (1989-1997) and Ilium/Olympos by Dan Simmons, USA ★ ''Primary Inversion'' (1995) by Catherine Asaro, USA | ★ Night's Dawn Trilogy (1996-2000) and Commonwealth Saga/Void Trilogy (2002-2007) by Peter F. Hamilton, UK ★ Crest of the Stars series by Hiroyuki Morioka (1990s), Japan, basis of an animé TV series ★ ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' (1992) and A Deepness in the Sky (1999) by Vernor Vinge, USA ★ the Honor Harrington novels (1993-2005) by David Weber, USA ★ Revelation Space series (2002) by Alastair Reynolds, UK ★ Saga of Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson (2002-2006), USA ★ ''Light'' (2002) by M. John Harrison, UK ★ '' Accelerando'' (2005) by Charles Stross, UK ;Anthologies & Collections ★ ''Space Opera'', ed. Brian Aldiss (1974) ★ ''The Best of Leigh Brackett'' (1977) by Leigh Brackett, ed. Edmond Hamilton ★ The Man-Kzin Wars anthologies based on the Known Space novels by Larry Niven ★ ''The Plenty Principle'' (1997) by Colin Greenland ★ ''The Space Opera Renaissance'' (2006) ed. David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer ★ ''The New Space Opera'' by Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan (2007) ;Short Fiction ★ "The Swordsman of Varnis" by Clive Jackson (1950), USA; a story important to the redefinition of the term Space Opera in the 1950s ★ "The Prince of Space" (1931) by Jack Williamson, USA ★ "The Mountains of Mourning" by Lois McMaster Bujold, USA |
Film
During the Battle of Endor, Luke confronts Vader in an attempt to bring him back from the dark side.
★ The ''Star Wars'' films, (1977 - ) created by George Lucas
★
★ ''The Fifth Element'' ( 1997) written and directed by Luc Besson
★ ''Stargate'' (1994) directed by Roland Emmerich
★ ''The Last Starfighter'' (1984) directed by Nick Castle
★ ''Flash Gordon''
★ (1980)
★ ''Serenity'' (2005) written and directed by Joss Whedon
Television
★ ''Babylon 5'', created by J. Michael Straczynski
★
★ ''Blake's 7'', created by Terry Nation
★ ''Battlestar Galactica''
★
★ ''Captain Video''
★ ''Doctor Who''
★ ''Farscape'', created by Rockne S. O'Bannon and '', directed by Brian Henson
★ ''Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda''
★ ''Star Trek'', created by Gene Roddenberry
★
★ ''Tom Corbett, Space Cadet''
★ ''Space Patrol'' (US)
★ ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger''
★ ''Firefly''
Anime / animated
★ ''The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers''
★ ''Captain Future'', by Toei Animation, after the Space Opera classic by Edmond Hamilton
★ ''Captain Harlock''
★ ''Cowboy Bebop
★ ''Crest of the Stars'', ''Banner of the Stars'', ''Banner of the Stars II'', and ''Banner of the Stars III''
★ ''Crusher Joe''
★ ''Exosquad''
★ ''Gankutsuou''
★ ''Geneshaft''
★ ''Gunbuster'', and its sequel: ''Diebuster''
★ ''Once Upon a Time... Space''
★ ''Outlaw Star''
★ ''Space Adventure Cobra''
★ ''Space Battleship Yamato'', created by Leiji Matsumoto and adapted into the US TV series ''Star Blazers''
★ ''Stellvia of the Universe''
★ ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'', created by Studio Nue and later adapted as part of ''Robotech''
★ ''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann''
★ ''Tripping the Rift''
★ ''Ulysses 31''
★ ''Venus Wars''
Comic Strips or Comic Books
★ ''Adam Strange ''
★ ''Barbarella'' by Jean-Claude Forest
★
★ ''Buck Rogers'' by Dick Calkins
★
★ ''Dan Dare'' by Frank Hampson
★ ''Death Hawk'' by Mark Ellis
★ ''Flash Gordon'' by Alex Raymond
★ ''The Five Star Stories'' by Mamoru Nagano
★ ''Funky Koval'' by Maciej Parowski, Jacek Rodek and Bogusław Polch
★ ''Knights of the Galaxy''
★ ''Galaxion'' by Tara Tallan
★ ''Green Lantern''
★ ''Metabarons'' written by Alexandro Jodorowsky. Art by Juan Giménez.
★ ''Mystery in Space''
★ ''Schlock Mercenary'', by Howard Tayler
★ ''Space Opera'', MJ Weller's small press partwork
★ ''Strange Adventures''
★ ''Star Rangers'' by Mark Ellis
★ ''Mickey à Travers les Mondes'' (''Mickey's Travels to Other Worlds''), a French ongoing Space Opera series starring Mickey Mouse and Eega Beeva.
★ ''The Incal'', written by Alexandro Jodorowsky. Art by Moebius.
★ ''Mundo Futuro''. Created by Boixcar.
Stage
★ ''Starstruck'' written by Elaine Lee
★
Music
★ ''Songs from the Black Hole'', an unreleased concept album by the rock group Weezer
★ The works of Coheed and Cambria
★ "Knights of Cydonia", a song from the album ''Black Holes and Revelations'', by British rockers Muse
Games
'''Role Playing Games:'''
★ ''Fading Suns''
★ ''MechWarrior''
★ ''Space Opera'', setting created by E. Simbalist, M. Ratner & P. McGregor
★ ''Star
★ Drive
★
★ , a far-future space opera setting, using the now out-of-print Alternity RPG rule system. Originally published by TSR.
★ ''Traveller'', setting created by Marc W. Miller
'''Board games:'''
★ ''BattleTech''
★ ''Twilight Imperium
★ ''Full Thrust''
★ ''Hard Vacuum''
★ ''Heroscape''
'''Computer games:'''
★ '''Space simulating games:'''
★
★ ''Elite'' series
★
★ ''Starflight''
★
★ ''FreeSpace'' series
★
★ ''Freelancer''
★
★ ''Star Control''
★
★ ''Wing Commander''
★
★ '', ''X-Tension'', '' and ''
★ '''4x games and god games:'''
★
★ ''Alpha Centauri''
★
★ ''Galactic Civilizations I'' and ''
★
★ ''Master of Orion''
★
★ ''Spore'' (2007)
★ '''First-person shooters'''
★
★ ''System Shock'' series
★
★ ''Starship Troopers''
★ '''Real-time strategy games:'''
★
★ ''
★
★ ''Dark Reign''
★
★ ''Homeworld 1'' and ''2''
★
★ ''StarCraft'' and ''StarCraft 2''
★
★ ''Supreme Commander'' (2007)
★
★ ''Total Annihilation''
★ '''Adventure games'''
★
★ ''Space Quest''
★ '''Console games:'''
★
★ ''Colony Wars'' series
★
★ ''Destroy All Humans!''
★
★ '', ''Halo 2
★ , and Halo 3
★
★ ''Metroid Prime'' and ''
★
★ Phantasy Star series
★
★ ''Star Fox 64''
★
★ ''Star Ocean''
★
★ ''Xenogears''
★
★ ''Xenosaga''
★ '''Massively multiplayer online games:'''
★
★ ''EVE Online''
★
★ ''Anarchy Online''
★
★ ''Face of Mankind''
★
★ ''
★
★ ''Space Cowboy Online''
★
★ ''Star Sonata''
See also
★ Galactic empire
★ Hard science fiction
★ Jim Baen
★ Judy-Lynn del Rey
★ Lester del Rey
★ Military science fiction
★ New Weird, which has some overlap in the UK with the New Space Opera
★ Planetary romance
★ Political ideas in science fiction
★ Postcyberpunk
★ Religious ideas in science fiction
★ Space opera in Scientology scripture
★ Science fiction on television
★ Science fiction operas
★ Soft science fiction
★ Space Opera Noir
★ Space western
References
1. [1]| SF Citations for OED, "Space opera"
2. [2]| SF Citations for OED, "Planetary romance"
3. [3] See Paul J. McAuley, "Junkyard Universes," ''Locus'', August 2003
Articles
★ Dave Langford: "Fun With Senseless Violence," in ''The Silence of the Langford'' (NESFA Press, 1996, ISBN 0-915368-62-5)
★ David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, "How Shit Became Shinola: Definition and Redefinition of Space Opera"
★ ''Locus'', August 2003: Special section on "The New Space Opera." Articles by Russell Letson & Gary K. Wolfe, Ken MacLeod, Paul J. McAuley, Gwyneth Jones, M. John Harrison, and Stephen Baxter. Interview with Alastair Reynolds. Interview with Charles Stross.
★ The entry on Space Opera from the Grollier Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, 1995.
★ Gary Westfahl's chapter on Space Opera in The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, ed. Farah Mendlesohn & Edward James, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
★ Interview with M. John Harrison, ''Locus'', December 2003. Harrison discusses his view of the nature of space opera in depth.
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