Space Opera (Space Opera, The)

“Life is beautiful and life is stupid.“ Space Opera is a very particular kind of book. And by saying that, I don’t mean it’s a bad book, by any means. Quite the contrary. It’s an amazing work of science fiction that instantly catapults the author into the upper echelons of sci-fi writer-dom. But you have to come at it in the right way. This is not a book for those who are primarily hard sci-fi fans. The rules of physics are regularly taken out by the narrative behind the woodshed, ridiculed, spit upon, and then smashed into near-non-existence with a jewel-encrusted ball-peen hammer in this book. Genetics takes a beating too, as does pretty much everything in the cannon of supposed human knowledge about what might or might not be out there, waiting for us around other stars. Although the Dark Forest hypothesis does pretty well in this book. Because apparently, according to Valente’s shrewd observations, what awaits humanity in the great unknown is a sprawling, murderous, way over-the-top galactic version of Eurovision. Since the title of this madcap opus is Space Opera, you can’t say you weren’t duly warned. Instead, as preparatory reading, I recommend a little Prachett or Addams, preferably with a side viewing of the entire Doctor Who series, which functions admirably as a warm-up act for this glorious thicket of insanity and obscure yet hilarious references. The novel opens in the midst of a dream—or rather, some 7 billion of them–as an alien who resembles a tricked-out flamingo visits every human being on Earth at the same time, via some really cool alien technology. Earth has been discovered by the galactic commonwealth, which is trying to determine if humans are sentient… or meat. If the new species – in this case humanity – can’t do better than last place, their world will be obliterated. And they do this by – you guessed it – holding a music contest. The bird-alien has a list of possible singers and groups that Earth might want to send, but unfortunately most of them are dead. So it falls to a washed-up band called Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes to travel to Litost, a manically hapy place that would make Disneyland look like a morgue, save the world. Dess Jones is hungover after a bender, one of a series of bad life choices that has landed him all alone after the break-up of his band. His bandmate Mira Star Wonderful died in a car crash years earlier, and the other member, Oort St. James, is now writing vacuous TV commercial jingles. After riding the fame train to startling success a decade earlier, both men are lost, in their own ways. And yet somehow they are chosen to represent all of mankind in the greatest singing contest the world has ever seen, a mash-up of Eurovision and The Hunger Games and the Cantina in the first Star Wars Film, times infinity. This is not a fast-moving book. It’s a gloriously wordy book, full of sentences that span entire phone-screen pages. If you’re a fan of fast-paced fiction, this is not the book for you. But if you love gloriously-crafted sentences with hilarious sidetracks that twist and turn through the byzantine pathways of galactic culture in ways that often have you howling, this is exactly the book for you. As Valente says several times during the story, life is beautiful and life is stupid. Space Opera is a top-notch example of the kind of parody sci-fi that Addams and Prachett pioneered, and that Valente has perfected. Five stars.

"Life is beautiful and life is stupid. As long as you keep that in mind, and never give more weight to one than the other, the history of the galaxy, the history of the planet, the history of a person is a simple tune with lyrics flashed on-screen and a helpful, friendly bouncing disco ball of glittering, occasionally peaceful light to help you follow along." When the end of the world arrives, no one expects it to be announced by a giant blue half-flamingo, half-anglerfish creature with the voice of an angel, or the person you love most in the world, or a non-threatening American waitress in Cleveland depending on who you ask. Humanity is even less prepared to learn that Earth's very last hope is the washed out, broken up, and decidedly no-longer-good former glam rock sensation Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes. But that's jumping ahead. Really, it all started a hundred years ago when the Sentience Wars almost destroyed the galaxy. While everyone is always pretty clear on if they, themselves, are sentient it turns out that's a harder decision to make about your neighbors--especially neighbors who may or may not be parasitic zombie maggots, clouds of intelligence known collectively as Lola, or a race of beings who spend all of their time participating in a planetary Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game while building up their corner of the universe. In the peace following the Sentience Wars, everyone involved felt like it was time to celebrate while also expressing their sentience. And, you know, also imposing a non-negotiable hierarchy on civilization while distributing galactic resources. Also there's the matter of seeing if the continued existence of newcomers is a sure thing. Or . . . not. Thus began the Metagalactic Grand Prix, a combination talent show, beauty pageant. fight for supremacy where all participating species can demonstrate their sentience along with as many special effects and as much stagecraft as they can manage. Now all we have to do is put all of our faith in two thirds of what used to be the greatest glam rock band ever and hope that they can sing their hearts out to prove our entire species' sentience, our ability to rock, and how very much we should not be summarily vaporized in Space Opera (2018) by Catherynne M. Valente. Have you ever asked yourself what The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would have been like with ninety-nine percent more singing? If the answer is yes, then Space Opera is the Douglas Adams inspired homage to Eurovision that you've been waiting for. Space Opera is so much better and funnier and crazier than I ever could have imagined. This is a story about friendship, hope, and what makes us human. But with singing, glitter, and time paradoxes aplenty. Highly recommended for readers in need of funny, escapist sci-fi, fans of training montages, and anyone who is always ready to root for the underdog. Possible Pairings: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, Sci-Fu by Yuhi Mercado, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, Space Battle Lunchtime by Natalie Riess, Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Please download an extract before buying the book. Fun and unique story but impossible to read. It’s more about they way the story it’s written than what it intends to tell. Long and overly complicated grammar constructions that difficult the understanding of simple situations. The author seems to be more interested in displaying their writing skills than telling us a story. True, english is not my first language but I couldn’t tell the characters apart, the storyline from the references and the linear events from the complicated explanation of thoughts, feelings and parallelisms. To this point i’m even unsure if I understood how it ends (??)

“Space Opera” is a delightful homage to the works of Douglas Adams, David Bowie, and the Eurovision contest. Like Adams’s work, the book goes back and forth between telling the story of two hapless people thrust into a terrifying galactic community, and skewering the political and cultural scene of the day. Like Eurovision and Bowie, the book celebrates the wacky individuality and creative expression of everyone. The struggle of Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes to save the Earth in a bizarre galactic music contest encapsulates the struggle of each of us to be recognized for our lives, but most especially of marginalized people to be granted basic human dignity by a society that isn’t quite sure they count as persons. A timely novel with timeless style. Highly recommended for all, but especially for fans of Adams or Pratchett.

Space Opera may qualify as Catherynne Valente's magnum opus, the work that defines her career, or it could turn out to be a turning point marking the beginning of a new period in that career. Either way it definitely marks a milestone. I'll avoid spoilers, although after the first couple of chapters there aren't really any surprise twists for the remainder of the book. The ending is almost inevitable, with the only other possibility being "and then humanity was wiped out" and it's not that sort of book. "What sort of book is it then?" you may wonder, since if you are reading a review there's a good chance that you're deciding whether to purchase it. So, cut to the chase... Aliens arrive, neighbours turning up to inquire about the (radio) noise and make us an offer we can't refuse - send representatives to prove our worth by competing in Eurovision (or a galactic variety thereof) and not come last, because that results in extinction. Representing us is Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes, as selected by the aliens... they were on the bottom of the alien-compiled list and they were available. Top of the list was Yoko Ono, unfortunately deceased by this time. Alien musical taste is alien? Decibel Jones (born Danesh Jalo and basically Freddy Mercury if only Freddy hadn't been so quiet and conventional) is by this time a former musician running on fumes. Oort St. Ultraviolet (Omar Caliskan), second member of the trio, is slightly more successful as a session musician but basically just surviving. Mira Wonderful Star, the final member, is not surviving given her death was what finally broke up the band years ago. So Decibel and Oort have to come up with something that aliens will vote for in the aforementioned Galactic Eurovision. Of course, as with Eurovision, voting is largely by reciprocal arrangement, otherwise politically aligned, and odds are stacked against the friendless newcomers. Plus the runup to the competition is broadcast and eagerly watched by trillions given that the rules allow contestants to knock each other out of the running before the curtain goes up. These aliens are not cute - they're the few species that haven't been wiped out during the constant warfare that devastated the galaxy not that long ago - and the contest is less "coming together in a spirit of brotherhood" than it is a desperate attempt to avoid going back to war again to finish the job along with a mechanism for weeding out the newcomer with a tendency to turn up, look around, and start measuring up Poland for a backyard extension. So why read it? Space Opera is on the shortlist for the 2019 Hugo for best novel. I wouldn't be surprised if it won, but I also wouldn't be too surprised if it didn't. The main attraction of the book is that it's beautifully, lovingly, written. It's the sort of book that attracts writers more than the majority of fans. The sort of book that might have Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett considering arranging a Second Coming because it's "given them ideas". If you're after something light and frothy with lots of lasers going pew-pew-pew then this isn't for you. But if you're after a completely amazing book in which, it seems, each sentence has been hand-crafted and polished to perfection then I can't recommend it highly enough.

If you're looking for glamour, music and words that dance through your mind and lift up your soul in a Dirty-Dancing-lift, look no further! This book is a glittering disco ball, a bright light in dark times. Enjoy your trip!

This book is incredibly funny. It’s also full of lovable characters, incredible worldbuilding and the smartest prose I’ve ever read. It was totally worth the effort of reading it in English even if it’s not my first language.