Space Opera: 04/21/18

Follow Catherynne M. Valente on Twitter and you'll learn just how passionate she is about Eurovision. Last year during one such love fest / bitch fest Space Opera was born. It started as a joke and like so many fantastic off the cuff ideas, it quickly took on a life of its own. By November, the joke had become a book deal to be published by the same house that published The Refrigerator Monologues.

Space Opera is set in the near future and alternates between stories about life the universe and everything and the tale of a 2000s glam band wrangled to save Earth from total destruction.

Earth has gotten the attention of the sentient species of the galaxy and they've created a Eurovision-esque way for species to prove their sentience. Those that come in last, have their planets wiped clean of life so it can start over and maybe get things right the next time.

Before you read this book, listen to at least one episode of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio play.

Now you know the tone in which to hear Space Opera in your head. Valente has captured Adam's banter but she's also brought in her mastery at word play and world building (or in this case, universe building).

To truly enjoy Space Opera, you need to have a soft spot for glam rock from about 1970s to the early 2000s. Space Opera is peppered with lyrics and titles and other references. You'll probably find yourself singing along to some long forgotten song or watching it on Youtube.

Catherynne M. Valente has tweeted that she would love to write more books set in this universe if Space Opera sells well enough. I hope it does because I would love to see what she does next.

Five stars

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at 10:02:02

herding cats

Oh I don't know much about glam rock so may not be for me but it does sound great. Glad you enjoyed it!

Comment #2: Tuesday, May 01, 2018 at 09:04:00

Pussreboots

Maybe not. If you see a copy in the library, I hope you give it a try.