Photo by Min An
The Shadowed Stars book series is a wonderful example of the space opera genre; full of galactic empires, alien gods, and mysterious phenomena—it’s a heck of a setting!
If you loved Star Wars, Mass Effect, Halo, the Fifth Element, and all other similar works, I’m afraid I have to diagnose you as a fan of the space opera.
What is the space opera?
Basically, it’s what happens when you read Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, love them, and get to thinking that maybe–just maybe things would be infinitely better if they were set IN SPACE!
Fantasy IN SPACE
The space opera is a particular subgenre of science fiction. While most other subgenres branch off to do more focused examinations of specific themes and subjects, the space opera wants and tries to swallow everything up. It’s basically a speculative fiction sink where you are allowed (and encouraged) to throw everything in, from faster-than-light travel, alien empires, magic, technologically advanced predecessors, magic, genetically altered humans, cyborg dinosaurs, magic, space elves, space orcs, space whales, magic, and everything else that you want to cram into your work. And did I say you could add magic?
Of course, there’s more to the space opera than that.
In a space opera, the first thing to note is scope. And what do you do with that scope? You take it by the sides, and you STRETCH it! There’s no such thing as too small in a space opera. Everything is epic. Everything is mythic. There are planet-sized conflicts, adventures that span the galaxy, and a generous helping of fictional technologies and wondrous sciences.
With a space opera, it’s basically your imagination’s the limit.
The Appeal of the Space Opera
There are a lot of reasons why the space opera genre is fast becoming a staple in speculative fiction, but let’s just stick to five reasons and blow up from there:
- Adventure. Space opera stories are, first and foremost, always focused on the adventures that the characters have and the potentiality of future adventures happening. From exploring new worlds, fighting against fascistic space empires, or saving the whole galaxy/universe from apocalyptic scenarios, space opera can fit about just anything.
- Wonder. Within the pages of many space opera stories, you are never starved for creativity and imagination. Nowhere will you find a setting or genre that seamlessly weaves in complicated mathematical equations with hooded wizards fighting with magic lasers. In these grand narratives, there is also the creation of aliens with their own extensive cultures, brilliantly realized worlds and governments, and a whole lot more.
- Hope. While a space opera can start out bleak and depressing, it gradually transforms itself into a story of resilience and triumph. The universe is vast–vaster than what our human minds can comprehend–and it can be easy to fall into a lull knowing that we humans, with all our stuff and civilization, are just grains of sand in an immensely large and almost-infinite beach. But space opera shows us that there is still value in persisting, always a chance for a better tomorrow, even in the darkest times.
- Scale. One of the things that I love most about this genre is that it takes your sense of scale and just throws it out the window. What happens is that you’ll have spaceships the size of planets, empires that span galaxies, entities that are essentially sentient black holes, and infinite parallel realities. Space operas are often set on a galactic level, giving stories an epic grandeur that is sorely unmatched by any other subgenre in science fiction or any genre at all.
- Characters. Finally, the characters in space opera stories are wonderfully great. They are the drivers of the plot, actual larger-than-life entities that basically have heroism and tragedy etched into their veins were they real. They are the ones who make the stories come alive, and they are the ones who keep me coming back for more.
My Favorite Space Opera Stories
These stories all feature the elements I love about space opera: large-scale conflicts and adventures, advanced technology, imaginative world-building, and memorable characters. If you have the same taste that I do, you definitely need to check these out:
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
- The Culture series by Iain M. Banks
- Star Wars by George Lucas:
- Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry
- Shadowed Stars book series by Steven Koutz
Trina’s Travel 