Space Opera Renaissance, The
I came to this book with a fairly clear definition in my own mind as to what space opera is: a science fiction adventure story with a healthy dash of escapism, typically built around swashbuckling and/or western tropes, with the underlying assurance that in the end good will triumph over evil. For me space opera isn’t supposed to make any pretense of a following the laws of physics, economics, or evolutionary biology. The original Star Wars trilogy and the Miles Vorkosigan books (both of which I love dearly), are paradigms of space opera in my eyes.
After reading this book (which, at 941 pages, took me about two months to get through), I’m still not entirely sure that I understand what David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer think Space Opera is. Anything scifi and “epic,â€
David Geddes Hartwell /Kathryn Cramer - Space Opera Renaissance, The - 6
Moderators: clong, Mr. Titanic
Ive read a lot of the stories in that anthology before so I did not buy it, but it looked really good to me. I always thought that anthology should have also had The Death of Captain Future by Allen Steele. I thought that was one of the funniest things I have read in years.
If you really liked the Daniel Story give A Dry Quiet War a chance too. Daniel is hit or miss with me, but this story is one of my favorite military SF pieces of all time. A lot of other people thought that Grist was far superior, but I didn't.
I think that husband-and-wife team (whose other anthologies I generally like) were trying to show the evolution of the Space Opera story and explain how we got from old Edmund Hamilton and E.E. "Doc" Smith planet-busting and super-science stuff to the esoteric and thoughtful works that people like Ian M. Banks are putting out today. Space Opera by nature, IMHO, is almost as hard to define generally as SF itself is. I usually don't agree much with the works that get pigeon-holed with that label; but I will admit that the definition that the critics and marketers use is much broader than what I tend to believe it should be. That may have been one of the problems they had defining it for you. Plus the fact that it has morphed an enormous amount since the early days when it was first applied.
FYI, here are some of the things that the OED took into consideration when defining that term.
If you really liked the Daniel Story give A Dry Quiet War a chance too. Daniel is hit or miss with me, but this story is one of my favorite military SF pieces of all time. A lot of other people thought that Grist was far superior, but I didn't.
I think that husband-and-wife team (whose other anthologies I generally like) were trying to show the evolution of the Space Opera story and explain how we got from old Edmund Hamilton and E.E. "Doc" Smith planet-busting and super-science stuff to the esoteric and thoughtful works that people like Ian M. Banks are putting out today. Space Opera by nature, IMHO, is almost as hard to define generally as SF itself is. I usually don't agree much with the works that get pigeon-holed with that label; but I will admit that the definition that the critics and marketers use is much broader than what I tend to believe it should be. That may have been one of the problems they had defining it for you. Plus the fact that it has morphed an enormous amount since the early days when it was first applied.
FYI, here are some of the things that the OED took into consideration when defining that term.
Thanks for your comments, Omphalos.
I agree that "The Death of Captain Future," is a great story, and it is actually included in this book, but I didn't mention it because it is one of the five included stories I had read previously (which in retrospect was perhaps a mistake). Likewise for Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon" and Lois McMaster Bujold's "Weatherman" (which became the opening chapters of The Vor Game).
I will be happy to try "A Dry Quiet War." "Grist" reminded me of M. John Harrison not on drugs, if that makes any sense.
I agree that "The Death of Captain Future," is a great story, and it is actually included in this book, but I didn't mention it because it is one of the five included stories I had read previously (which in retrospect was perhaps a mistake). Likewise for Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon" and Lois McMaster Bujold's "Weatherman" (which became the opening chapters of The Vor Game).
I will be happy to try "A Dry Quiet War." "Grist" reminded me of M. John Harrison not on drugs, if that makes any sense.
Hmmm. Guess I had forgotten that Captain Future was in that anthology.
When you compared Daniel and Harrison were you thinking of The Centauri Device? I never made that connection before, but I can see it. I have always thought of Daniel as a throwback writer, though in my mind I saw his influences as coming from a time before the New Wave. But I can definitely see the comparison.
Hmmm. Now Ill have to go reread Centauri again.
When you compared Daniel and Harrison were you thinking of The Centauri Device? I never made that connection before, but I can see it. I have always thought of Daniel as a throwback writer, though in my mind I saw his influences as coming from a time before the New Wave. But I can definitely see the comparison.
Hmmm. Now Ill have to go reread Centauri again.