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Cover of sci-fi magazine *Imagination*, June 1956

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction^[1] that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and social advancements (or lack thereof) in faster-than-light travel, futuristic weapons, and sophisticated technology, on a backdrop of galactic empires and interstellar wars with fictional aliens, often in fictional galaxies. The term does not refer to opera music, but instead originally referred to the melodrama, scope, and formulaic stories of operas, much as used in "horse opera", a 1930s phrase for a clichéd and formulaic Western film,^[2] and "soap opera", a melodramatic domestic drama. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and continue to be produced in literature, film, comics, television, video games and board games.

An early film which was based on space-opera comic strips was Flash Gordon (1936), created by Alex Raymond.^[3] Perry Rhodan (1961–) is the most successful space opera book series ever written.^[4]^[5] The Star Trek TV series (1966–) by Gene Roddenberry and the Star Wars films (1977–) by George Lucas brought a great deal of attention to the sub-genre.^[6] After the convention-breaking "new wave", followed by the enormous success of the franchises, space opera became once again a critically acceptable sub-genre. Throughout 1982–2002, the Hugo Award for Best Novel was often given to a space opera nominee.^[7]

Definitions

Back cover of the premier issue of *Galaxy Magazine*^[8]

Space opera has been defined as "a television or radio drama or motion picture that is a science-fiction adventure story".^[9] Some critics distinguish between space opera and planetary romance.^[10] 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.

The term "space opera" was coined in 1941 by fan writer and author Wilson Tucker as a pejorative term in an article in Le Zombie (a science fiction fanzine).^[11] At the time, serial radio dramas in the United States had become popularly known as soap operas because many were sponsored by soap manufacturers.^[12] The term "horse opera" had also come into use to describe formulaic Western films. Tucker defined space opera as the science fiction equivalent: A "hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn".^[13]^[11] Fans and critics have noted that the plots of space operas have sometimes been taken from horse operas and simply translated into an outer space environment, as famously parodied on the back cover of the first issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.^[8] During the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the stories were printed in science-fiction magazines, they were often referred to as "super-science epics".^[2]

Beginning in the 1960s, and widely accepted by the 1970s, the space opera was redefined, following Brian Aldiss' definition in Space Opera (1974) as – paraphrased by Hartwell and Cramer – "the good old stuff".^[7]^: 10–18 Yet soon after his redefinition, it began to be challenged, for example, by the editorial practice and marketing of Judy-Lynn del Rey and in the reviews of her husband and colleague Lester del Rey.^[7]^: 10–18 In particular, they disputed the claims that space operas were obsolete, and Del Rey Books labeled reissues of earlier work of Leigh Brackett as space opera.^[7]^: 10–18 By the early 1980s, space operas were again redefined, and the label was attached to major popular culture works such as Star Wars.^[7]^: 10–18 Only in the early 1990s did the term space opera begin to be recognized as a legitimate genre of science fiction.^[7]^: 10–18

Hartwell and Cramer define space opera as:

... colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action, and usually set in the relatively distant future, and in space or on other worlds, characteristically optimistic in tone. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, large stakes.^[7]^: 10–18

Author A.K. DuBoff defines space opera as:

True space opera is epic in scale and personal with characters. It is about people taking on something bigger than themselves and their struggles to prevail. Though a setting beyond Earth is central, being on a spaceship or visiting another planet isn't the only qualifier. There must also be drama and sufficiently large scope to elevate a tale from being simply space-based to being real space opera.^[14]

Space opera can be contrasted in outline 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. Examples are seen in the works of Alastair Reynolds or the movie The Last Starfighter. At other times, space opera can concur with hard science fiction and differ from soft science fiction by instead focusing on scientific accuracy such as The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld. Other space opera works may be defined as a balance between both or simultaneously hard and soft science fiction such as the Dune prequel series by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert or the Star Wars series created by George Lucas.^[15]

History

Early works which preceded the subgenre contained many elements of what would become space opera. They are today referred to as proto-space opera.^[16] Early proto-space opera was written by several 19th century French authors, for example, Les Posthumes (1802) by Nicolas-Edme Rétif,^[17] Star ou Psi de Cassiopée: Histoire Merveilleuse de l'un des Mondes de l'Espace (1854) by C. I. Defontenay and Lumen (1872) by Camille Flammarion.

Not widely popular, proto-space operas were nevertheless occasionally written during the late Victorian and Edwardian science-fiction era. Examples may be found in the works of Percy Greg, Garrett P. Serviss, George Griffith, and Robert Cromie.^[18] Science fiction scholar E. F. Bleiler cites Robert William Cole's The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236 as the first space opera in his 1990 reference work Science-Fiction: The Early Years.^[18] The novel depicts an interstellar conflict between solar men of Earth and a fierce humanoid race headquartered on Sirius. However, the idea for the novel arises out of a nationalistic genre of fiction popular from 1880 to 1914 called future-war fiction.^[19]

Despite this seemingly early beginning, it was not until the late 1920s that the space opera proper began to appear regularly in pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories.^[7]^: 10–18^[16] In film, the genre probably began with the 1918 Danish film, Himmelskibet.^[20] Unlike earlier stories of space adventure, which either related the invasion of Earth by extraterrestrials, or concentrated on the invention of a space vehicle by a genius inventor, pure space opera simply took space travel for granted (usually by setting the story in the far future), skipped the preliminaries, and launched straight into tales of derring-do among the stars. Early stories of this type include J. Schlossel's "Invaders from Outside" (Weird Tales, January 1925),^[18] The Second Swarm (Amazing Stories Quarterly, spring 1928) and The Star Stealers (Weird Tales, February 1929), Ray Cummings' Tarrano the Conqueror (1925), and Edmond Hamilton's Across Space (1926) and Crashing Suns (Weird Tales, August–September 1928).^[16] Similar stories by other writers followed through 1929 and 1930. By 1931, the space opera was well established as a major subgenre of science fiction.^{[citation needed]}

However, the author cited most often as the true father of the genre is E. E. "Doc" Smith. His first published work, The Skylark of Space (Amazing Stories, August–October 1928), written in collaboration with Lee Hawkins Garby, is often called the first great space opera.^[16] It merges the traditional tale of a scientist inventing a space-drive with planetary romance in the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs.^[7]^: 10–18 Smith's later Lensman series and the works of Edmond Hamilton, John W. Campbell, and Jack Williamson in the 1930s and 1940s were popular with readers and much imitated by other writers. By the early 1940s, the repetitiousness and extravagance of some of these stories led to objections from some fans and the return of the term in its original and pejorative sense.^{[citation needed]}

Eventually, though, a fondness for the best examples of the genre led to a re-evaluation 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 writers like M. John Harrison and C. J. Cherryh in the 1970s. 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.^[7]^: 10–18

According to author Paul J. McAuley, a number of mostly British writers began to reinvent space opera in the 1970s^[21] (although most non-British critics tend to dispute the British claim to dominance in the new space opera arena).^[7]^: 10–18 Significant events in this process include the publication of M. John Harrison's The Centauri Device in 1975 and a "call to arms" editorial by David Pringle and Colin Greenland in the Summer 1984 issue of Interzone;^[21] and the financial success of Star Wars, which follows some traditional space opera conventions.^[7]^: 10–18 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 older space opera, involves newer technologies, and has stronger characterization than the space opera of old.^[21] While it does retain the interstellar scale and scope of traditional space opera, it can also be scientifically rigorous.^[21]

The new space opera was a reaction against the old.^[22] 'New space opera' proponents claim that the genre centers on character development, fine writing, high literary standards, verisimilitude, and a moral exploration of contemporary social issues.^[22] McAuley and Michael Levy identify Iain M. Banks, Stephen Baxter, M. John Harrison, Alastair Reynolds, McAuley himself,^[21] Ken MacLeod, Peter F. Hamilton, Ann Leckie, and Justina Robson as the most-notable practitioners of the new space opera.^[22]^[21] One of the most notable publishers Baen Books specialises in space opera and military science fiction,^[23] publishing many of the aforementioned authors, who have won Hugo Awards.

Definitions by contrast

Several subsets of space opera overlap with military science fiction, concentrating on large-scale space battles with futuristic weapons in an interstellar war. Many series can be considered to belong and fall in two genres or even overlap all like Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card or the Honorverse by David Weber. 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 in fictional planets with fictional civilizations and fictional extraterrestrials. The term "military space opera" is occasionally used to denote this subgenre, as used for example by critic Sylvia Kelso when describing Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga.^[7]^: 251 Other examples of military space opera include the Battlestar Galactica franchise and Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel Starship Troopers. The key distinction of military science fiction from space opera as part of the space warfare in science fiction is that the principal characters in a space opera are not military personnel, but civilians or paramilitary. That which brings them together under a common denominator is that military science fiction like space opera often concerns an interstellar war. Military science fiction however does not necessarily always include an outer space or multi-planetary setting like space opera and space Western.^[24]

Space Western also may emphasize space exploration as “the final frontier”. These Western themes may be explicit, such as cowboys in outer space, or they can be a more subtle influence in space opera.^[25] Gene Roddenberry described Star Trek: The Original Series as a space Western (or more poetically, as “Wagon Train to the stars”).^[26] Firefly and its cinematic follow-up Serenity literalized the Western aspects of the genre popularized by Star Trek: it used frontier towns, horses, and the styling of classic John Ford Westerns.^[27]^[28] Worlds that have been terraformed may be depicted as presenting similar challenges as that of a frontier settlement in a classic Western.^[29] Six-shooters and horses may be replaced by ray guns and rockets.^[30]

Parodies

Harry Harrison's Bill, the Galactic Hero and Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers, Mel Brooks's Spaceballs, Galaxy Quest and Family Guy's Laugh It Up, Fuzzball trilogy parody the conventions of classic space opera.^[31]

References

^ Agafonova, Karina, et al. "How Do People Read Science Fiction and Why is it Popular: Common Tendencies and Comparative Analysis." CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Pringle, David (2000). "What is this thing called space opera?". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). Space and Beyond: The frontier theme in science fiction (1st ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0313308468. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
^ Nelson, Murry R. (2013). American Sports: A history of icons, idols, and ideas. Greenwood. p. 310. ISBN 978-0313397523.
^ Rastatt (July 1996). "Perry Rhodan 35th anniversary Press Release". Perry Rhodan English Language Homepage. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
^ Freistetter, Florian (15 April 2021). A History of the Universe in 100 Stars. Quercus. ISBN 9781529410136. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
^ Child, Ben (20 February 2017). "A modern space opera: Has Star Wars escaped the George Lucas worldview?". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Hartwell, David G. & Cramer, Kathryn (2006). The Space Opera Renaissance (1st ed.). New York, NY: Tor Books. ISBN 0765306174.
^ ^a ^b Cerutti, Vera; Gold, H.L., eds. (October 1950). "You'll never see it in Galaxy". Galaxy Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 163 (back cover). Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via Internet Archive.
^ "Space-opera". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
^ Sheidlower, Jesse, ed. (6 July 2008). "Planetary romance". Jesse Sheidlower. Science Fiction Citations in the Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b Stokes, Keith (January 1941). "Suggestion dept". Depts. of the interior. Le Zombie. No. 36. p. 9. Retrieved 24 March 2017 – via Mid American Conventions.
^ Turner, Graeme; Cunningham, Stuart (2000). The Australian TV Book. St. Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. p. 200. ISBN 1741153727.
^ Langford, David (2005). The Sex Column and Other Misprints. Wildside Press. pp. 167–168. ISBN 9781930997783. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
^ "A.K. DuBoff {Author of Architects of Destiny)". Goodreads. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
^ Britt, Ryan (28 February 2013). "How Timothy Zahn's heir to the empire turned Star Wars into science fiction". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dozois, Gardner & Strahan, Jonathan (2007). The New Space Opera (1st ed.). New York, NY: Eos. p. 2. ISBN 9780060846756.
^ Latham, Rob (23 February 2017). Science Fiction Criticism: An anthology of essential writings. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 133. ISBN 9781474248624. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bleiler, Everett F. & Bleiler, Richard J. (1990). Science-fiction, the Early Years. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 0873384164. A full description of more than 3,000 science-fiction stories from earliest times to the appearance of the genre magazines in 1930, with author, title, and motif indexes.
^ Clarke, I.F. (November 1997). "Future-war fiction: The first main phase, 1871–1900". Science Fiction Studies. 24 (74). Retrieved 28 November 2017.
^ Hardy, Phil (1995). The Overlook Film Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. p. 56. ISBN 0879516267.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McAuley, Paul. "Junk yard universes". Paul McAuley. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2017 – via Wayback Machine.
^ ^a ^b ^c Levy, Michael (June 2008). "Cyberpunk versus the new space opera". Voice of Youth Advocates. 31 (2): 132–133.
^ Walter, Damien (29 August 2014). "Space opera strikes up again for a new era". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
^ Livingston, Dan (14 March 2015). "23 Best Military Science Fiction Books". The Best Sci Fi Books. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
^ Green, Paul (14 October 2009). Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games. McFarland. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780786458004. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ "A First Showing for 'Star Trek' Pilot". The New York Times. 22 July 1986. p. 18. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Murray, Noel; Bowman, Donna (1 June 2012). "Firefly: "Serenity"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Franch, Darren. "12 Signs It's a Joss Whedon Project". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Bould, Mark; Butler, Andrew; Roberts, Adam; Vint, Sherryl (2009). The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction. Routledge. p. 508. ISBN 9781135228361. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Lilly, Nathan E. (30 December 2009). "The Emancipation of Bat Durston, or: "I'm from Iowa, I Only Work in Outer Space"". Strange Horizons. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Hartwell, David G.; Cramer, Kathryn (August 2003). "Space opera redefined". SF Revu (review). Retrieved 8 February 2009.

External links

"Space opera". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

[1] Agafonova, Karina, et al. "How Do People Read Science Fiction and Why is it Popular: Common Tendencies and Comparative Analysis." CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 2021.

[Pringle-2] Pringle, David (2000). "What is this thing called space opera?". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). Space and Beyond: The frontier theme in science fiction (1st ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0313308468. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

[Nelson-3] Nelson, Murry R. (2013). American Sports: A history of icons, idols, and ideas. Greenwood. p. 310. ISBN 978-0313397523.

[4] Rastatt (July 1996). "Perry Rhodan 35th anniversary Press Release". Perry Rhodan English Language Homepage. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2021.

[5] Freistetter, Florian (15 April 2021). A History of the Universe in 100 Stars. Quercus. ISBN 9781529410136. Retrieved 6 November 2021.

[6] Child, Ben (20 February 2017). "A modern space opera: Has Star Wars escaped the George Lucas worldview?". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

[Hartwell-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Hartwell, David G. & Cramer, Kathryn (2006). The Space Opera Renaissance (1st ed.). New York, NY: Tor Books. ISBN 0765306174.

[Galaxy1950-10-back-8] Cerutti, Vera; Gold, H.L., eds. (October 1950). "You'll never see it in Galaxy". Galaxy Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 163 (back cover). Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via Internet Archive.

[9] "Space-opera". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 20 January 2016.

[10] Sheidlower, Jesse, ed. (6 July 2008). "Planetary romance". Jesse Sheidlower. Science Fiction Citations in the Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

[Stokes-1941-11] Stokes, Keith (January 1941). "Suggestion dept". Depts. of the interior. Le Zombie. No. 36. p. 9. Retrieved 24 March 2017 – via Mid American Conventions.

[12] Turner, Graeme; Cunningham, Stuart (2000). The Australian TV Book. St. Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. p. 200. ISBN 1741153727.

[13] Langford, David (2005). The Sex Column and Other Misprints. Wildside Press. pp. 167–168. ISBN 9781930997783. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

[14] "A.K. DuBoff {Author of Architects of Destiny)". Goodreads. Retrieved 27 November 2021.

[15] Britt, Ryan (28 February 2013). "How Timothy Zahn's heir to the empire turned Star Wars into science fiction". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

[Dozois-16] Dozois, Gardner & Strahan, Jonathan (2007). The New Space Opera (1st ed.). New York, NY: Eos. p. 2. ISBN 9780060846756.

[17] Latham, Rob (23 February 2017). Science Fiction Criticism: An anthology of essential writings. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 133. ISBN 9781474248624. Retrieved 30 June 2017.

[Bleiler-1990-18] Bleiler, Everett F. & Bleiler, Richard J. (1990). Science-fiction, the Early Years. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 0873384164. A full description of more than 3,000 science-fiction stories from earliest times to the appearance of the genre magazines in 1930, with author, title, and motif indexes.

[19] Clarke, I.F. (November 1997). "Future-war fiction: The first main phase, 1871–1900". Science Fiction Studies. 24 (74). Retrieved 28 November 2017.

[20] Hardy, Phil (1995). The Overlook Film Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. p. 56. ISBN 0879516267.

[Mcauley-21] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McAuley, Paul. "Junk yard universes". Paul McAuley. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2017 – via Wayback Machine.

[Levy-22] Levy, Michael (June 2008). "Cyberpunk versus the new space opera". Voice of Youth Advocates. 31 (2): 132–133.

[23] Walter, Damien (29 August 2014). "Space opera strikes up again for a new era". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2020.

[24] Livingston, Dan (14 March 2015). "23 Best Military Science Fiction Books". The Best Sci Fi Books. Retrieved 27 June 2021.

[25] Green, Paul (14 October 2009). Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games. McFarland. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780786458004. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[26] "A First Showing for 'Star Trek' Pilot". The New York Times. 22 July 1986. p. 18. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[27] Murray, Noel; Bowman, Donna (1 June 2012). "Firefly: "Serenity"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[28] Franch, Darren. "12 Signs It's a Joss Whedon Project". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[29] Bould, Mark; Butler, Andrew; Roberts, Adam; Vint, Sherryl (2009). The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction. Routledge. p. 508. ISBN 9781135228361. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[30] Lilly, Nathan E. (30 December 2009). "The Emancipation of Bat Durston, or: "I'm from Iowa, I Only Work in Outer Space"". Strange Horizons. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[31] Hartwell, David G.; Cramer, Kathryn (August 2003). "Space opera redefined". SF Revu (review). Retrieved 8 February 2009.

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@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 :• ''[[Skylark (series)|Skylark series]]'' and ''[[Lensman series]]'' by [[E. E. Smith|E. E. "Doc" Smith]]
 :• ''[[Grand Tour (novel series)|Grand Tour]]'' by [[Ben Bova]]
-:• [[Frank Herbert]]'s ''[[Dune (franchise)|Dune]]'' [[Dune prequel series|prequel series]] by [[Brian Herbert]] and [[Kevin J. Anderson]]
+:• ''[[Dune (franchise)|Dune]]'' by [[Frank Herbert]], and sequels/prequels by [[Brian Herbert]] and [[Kevin J. Anderson]]
 :• ''[[Alliance-Union universe]]'' and ''[[Foreigner universe]]'' by [[C. J. Cherryh]]
 :• ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'' by [[Yoshiki Tanaka]]
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 :• ''[[Known Space]]'' by [[Larry Niven]]
 :• ''[[The Gap Cycle]]'' by [[Stephen R. Donaldson]]
-:• ''[[Xeelee Sequence]]'' by [[Stephen Baxter (author)|Stephen Baxter]]
 :• ''[[Ender's Game (novel series)|Ender's Game series]]'' and ''[[Homecoming Saga]]'' by [[Orson Scott Card]]
 :• ''[[Galactic Center Saga]]'' by [[Gregory Benford]]
@@ Line 40: / Line 39: @@
 :• ''[[Remembrance of Earth's Past]]'' by [[Liu Cixin]]
 :• ''[[Seafort Saga]]'' by [[David Feintuch]]
+:• ''[[Sun Eater series]]'' by [[Christopher Ruocchio]]
-:• ''[[List of Star Wars books|Star Wars novels]]'' by [[John Jackson Miller]], [[Timothy Zahn]], [[Jude Watson]] et al.
-:• ''[[List of Star Trek novels|Star Trek novels]]'' by [[William Shatner]], [[Alan Dean Foster]] et al.
 | heading2 = Television and film<!-- alphabetized by title -->
@@ Line 48: / Line 46: @@
 :• ''[[Flash Gordon]]'' by [[Alex Raymond]]
 :• ''[[Farscape]]'' by [[Rockne S. O'Bannon]]
-:• ''[[Space Battleship Yamato]]'' by [[Leiji Matsumoto]] & [[Yoshinobu Nishizaki]]
+:• ''[[Space Battleship Yamato]]'' by [[Leiji Matsumoto]] and [[Yoshinobu Nishizaki]]
+:• ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise created by [[Gene Roddenberry]]
 :• ''[[Star Wars]]'' franchise created by [[George Lucas]]
-:• [[Gene Roddenberry]]'s ''[[Andromeda (TV series)|Andromeda]]'' and ''[[Star Trek]]''
 :• ''[[Lexx]]'' by [[Lex Gigeroff]] and [[Jeffrey Hirschfield]]
-:• ''[[Blake's 7]]'' by [[Terry Nation]] with [[Chris Boucher (writer)|Chris Boucher]] as script editor
+:• ''[[Blake's 7]]'' by [[Terry Nation]]
 :• ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' by [[Glen A. Larson]] & [[Ronald D. Moore]]
 :• ''[[Macross]]'' franchise created by [[Shōji Kawamori]]
 :• ''[[Stargate]]'' by [[Roland Emmerich]] and [[Dean Devlin]]
 :• ''[[Babylon 5]]'' by [[J. Michael Straczynski]]
-:• ''[[Dark Matter (TV series)|Dark Matter]] by [[Joseph Mallozzi]] and [[Paul Mullie]]
+:• ''[[Dark Matter (2015 TV series)|Dark Matter]]'' by [[Joseph Mallozzi]] and [[Paul Mullie]]
 :• ''[[Lavender Castle]]'' by [[Gerry Anderson]]
 :• ''[[Final Space]]'' by [[Olan Rogers]]
-:• ''[[The Fifth Element]]'' and ''[[Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets|Valerian...]]'' created by [[Luc Besson]]
+:• ''[[The Fifth Element]]'' by [[Luc Besson]]
 :• ''[[The Expanse (TV series)|The Expanse]]'' by [[Mark Fergus]] and [[Hawk Ostby]]
-:• "[[Dune (2021 film)|Dune(2021)]]" by [[Denis Villeneuve]]
-:• "[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune(1984)]]" by [[David Lynch]]
 | heading3 = Games<!-- alphabetized by title -->
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 }}
-'''Space opera''' is a [[subgenre]] of [[science fiction]] that emphasizes [[science fictional space warfare]], with use of [[melodrama]]tic, risk-taking space adventures and [[chivalric romance]]. Set mainly or entirely in [[outer space]], it features technological and social advancements (or lack thereof) in [[faster-than-light travel]], [[Weapons in science fiction|futuristic weapons]], and sophisticated technology, on a backdrop of [[galactic empire]]s and [[interstellar war]]s with [[fictional aliens]], often in fictional galaxies. The term has no relation to [[opera]] music, but is instead a play on the terms "[[soap opera]]", a melodramatic television series, and "[[horse opera]]",<ref name="Pringle">{{cite book |author-last=Pringle |author-first=David |chapter=What is this thing called space opera? |year=2000 |editor-last=Westfahl |editor-first=Gary |title=Space and Beyond: The frontier theme in science fiction |page=36 |edition=1st |publisher=Greenwood Press |place=Westport, CT |isbn=978-0313308468 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLbvA_WyBRMC&pg=PA36 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref> which was coined during the 1930s to indicate a clichéd and formulaic [[Western film]]. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and continue to be produced in literature, film, comics, television, video games and board games such as ''[[Twilight Imperium]]''.
+'''Space opera''' is a [[subgenre]] of [[science fiction]]<ref>Agafonova, Karina, et al. "How Do People Read Science Fiction and Why is it Popular: Common Tendencies and Comparative Analysis." CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 2021.</ref> that emphasizes [[Space warfare in science fiction|space warfare]], with use of [[melodrama]]tic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and [[chivalric romance]]. Set mainly or entirely in [[outer space]], it features technological and social advancements (or lack thereof) in [[faster-than-light travel]], [[Weapons in science fiction|futuristic weapons]], and sophisticated technology, on a backdrop of [[galactic empire]]s and [[interstellar war]]s with [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|fictional aliens]], often in fictional galaxies. The term does not refer to [[opera|opera music]], but instead originally referred to the melodrama, scope, and formulaic stories of operas, much as used in "[[horse opera]]", a 1930s phrase for a clichéd and formulaic [[Western film]],<ref name="Pringle">{{cite book |author-last=Pringle |author-first=David |chapter=What is this thing called space opera? |year=2000 |editor-last=Westfahl |editor-first=Gary |title=Space and Beyond: The frontier theme in science fiction |page=36 |edition=1st |publisher=Greenwood Press |place=Westport, CT |isbn=978-0313308468 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLbvA_WyBRMC&pg=PA36 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref> and "[[soap opera]]", a melodramatic domestic drama. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and continue to be produced in literature, film, comics, television, video games and board games.
-An early film which was based on space-opera comic strips was [[Flash Gordon (serial)|''Flash Gordon'' (1936)]], created by [[Alex Raymond]].<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Murry R. |author-link=Murry R. Nelson |title=American Sports: A history of icons, idols, and ideas |date=2013 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0313397523 |page=310}}</ref> ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' (1961–) is the most successful space opera book series ever written.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Rastatt |title=Perry Rhodan 35th anniversary Press Release |url=http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/rdnpres.htm |website=Perry Rhodan English Language Homepage |access-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430072534/http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/rdnpres.htm |archive-date=30 April 2008 |date=July 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Freistetter |first1=Florian |title=A History of the Universe in 100 Stars |date=15 April 2021 |publisher=[[Quercus (publisher)|Quercus]] |isbn=9781529410136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAvzDwAAQBAJ&dq=Perry+Rhodan%2C+the+most+successful+Science-Fiction+series+in+the+world&pg=PT74 |access-date=6 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Star Wars]]'' films (1977–) by [[George Lucas]], and the ''[[Star Trek]]'' TV series (1966–) by [[Gene Roddenberry]], brought a great deal of attention to the sub-genre.<ref>{{cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |date=2017-02-20 |title=A modern space opera: Has ''Star Wars'' escaped the George Lucas worldview? |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/feb/20/a-modern-space-opera-has-star-wars-escaped-the-george-lucas-worldview |access-date=2017-03-24}}</ref> After the convention-breaking "new wave", followed by the enormous success of the franchises, space opera became once again a critically acceptable sub-genre. Throughout 1982–2002, the [[Hugo Award for Best Novel]] was often given to a space opera nominee.<ref name="Hartwell">{{cite book |last1=Hartwell |first1=David G. |author-link=David G. Hartwell |last2=Cramer |first2=Kathryn |author-link2=Kathryn Cramer |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=[[The Space Opera Renaissance]] |edition=1st |publisher=Tor Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=0765306174}}</ref>
+An early film which was based on space-opera comic strips was [[Flash Gordon (serial)|''Flash Gordon'' (1936)]], created by [[Alex Raymond]].<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Murry R. |author-link=Murry R. Nelson |title=American Sports: A history of icons, idols, and ideas |date=2013 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0313397523 |page=310}}</ref> ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' (1961–) is the most successful space opera book series ever written.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Rastatt |title=Perry Rhodan 35th anniversary Press Release |url=http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/rdnpres.htm |website=Perry Rhodan English Language Homepage |access-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430072534/http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/rdnpres.htm |archive-date=30 April 2008 |date=July 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Freistetter |first1=Florian |title=A History of the Universe in 100 Stars |date=15 April 2021 |publisher=[[Quercus (publisher)|Quercus]] |isbn=9781529410136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAvzDwAAQBAJ&dq=Perry+Rhodan%2C+the+most+successful+Science-Fiction+series+in+the+world&pg=PT74 |access-date=6 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The ''[[Star Trek]]'' TV series (1966–) by [[Gene Roddenberry]] and the ''[[Star Wars]]'' films (1977–) by [[George Lucas]] brought a great deal of attention to the sub-genre.<ref>{{cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |date=2017-02-20 |title=A modern space opera: Has ''Star Wars'' escaped the George Lucas worldview? |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/feb/20/a-modern-space-opera-has-star-wars-escaped-the-george-lucas-worldview |access-date=2017-03-24}}</ref> After the convention-breaking "new wave", followed by the enormous success of the franchises, space opera became once again a critically acceptable sub-genre. Throughout 1982–2002, the [[Hugo Award for Best Novel]] was often given to a space opera nominee.<ref name="Hartwell">{{cite book |last1=Hartwell |first1=David G. |author-link=David G. Hartwell |last2=Cramer |first2=Kathryn |author-link2=Kathryn Cramer |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=[[The Space Opera Renaissance]] |edition=1st |publisher=Tor Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=0765306174}}</ref>
 ==Definitions==
@@ Line 95: / Line 91: @@
 Hartwell and Cramer define space opera as:{{blockquote|... colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action, and usually set in the relatively distant future, and in space or on other worlds, characteristically optimistic in tone. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, large stakes.<ref name="Hartwell"/>{{rp|10–18}}}}
-Author A.K. DuBoff defines space opera as:{{blockquote|True space opera is epic in scale and personal with characters. It is about people taking on something bigger than themselves and their struggles to prevail. Though a setting beyond Earth is central, being on a spaceship or visiting another planet isn’t the only qualifier. There must also be drama and sufficiently large scope to elevate a tale from being simply space-based to being real space opera.<ref>{{cite web |title=A.K. DuBoff {Author of Architects of Destiny) |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18036488.A_K_DuBoff |website=[[Goodreads]] |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref>}}
+Author A.K. DuBoff defines space opera as:{{blockquote|True space opera is epic in scale and personal with characters. It is about people taking on something bigger than themselves and their struggles to prevail. Though a setting beyond Earth is central, being on a spaceship or visiting another planet isn't the only qualifier. There must also be drama and sufficiently large scope to elevate a tale from being simply space-based to being real space opera.<ref>{{cite web |title=A.K. DuBoff {Author of Architects of Destiny) |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18036488.A_K_DuBoff |website=[[Goodreads]] |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref>}}
 Space opera can be contrasted in outline 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. Examples are seen in the works of [[Alastair Reynolds]] or the movie ''[[The Last Starfighter]]''. At other times, space opera can concur with hard science fiction and differ from [[soft science fiction]] by instead focusing on scientific accuracy such as ''[[The Risen Empire]]'' by [[Scott Westerfeld]]. Other space opera works may be defined as a balance between both or simultaneously hard and soft science fiction such as the ''Dune'' prequel series by [[Kevin J. Anderson]] and [[Brian Herbert]] or the ''Star Wars'' series created by [[George Lucas]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Ryan |last=Britt |date=2013-02-28 |title=How Timothy Zahn's heir to the empire turned ''Star Wars'' into science fiction |website=Tor.com |url=http://www.tor.com/2013/02/28/how-zahns-heir-to-the-empire-turned-star-wars-into-science-fiction/ |access-date=2017-03-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616111805/http://www.tor.com/2013/02/28/how-zahns-heir-to-the-empire-turned-star-wars-into-science-fiction/ |archive-date=2015-06-16}}</ref>
 ==History==
-Early works which preceded the subgenre contained many elements of what would become space opera. They are today referred to as proto-space opera.<ref name="Dozois">{{cite book |last1=Dozois |first1=Gardner |author-link=Gardner Dozois |last2=Strahan |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Strahan |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |publisher=Eos |title=[[The New Space Opera]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780060846756 |edition=1st |page=[https://archive.org/details/newspaceopera2al00gard/page/2 2]}}</ref> Early proto-space opera was written by several 19th century French authors, for example, ''Les Posthumes'' (1802) by [[Nicolas-Edme Rétif]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Latham |first1=Rob |title=Science Fiction Criticism: An anthology of essential writings |page=133 |date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781474248624 |language=en |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WobBDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref> ''Star ou Psi de Cassiopée: Histoire Merveilleuse de l’un des Mondes de l’Espace'' (1854) by [[C. I. Defontenay]] and ''Lumen'' (1872) by [[Camille Flammarion]].
+Early works which preceded the subgenre contained many elements of what would become space opera. They are today referred to as proto-space opera.<ref name="Dozois">{{cite book |last1=Dozois |first1=Gardner |author-link=Gardner Dozois |last2=Strahan |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Strahan |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |publisher=Eos |title=[[The New Space Opera]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780060846756 |edition=1st |page=[https://archive.org/details/newspaceopera2al00gard/page/2 2]}}</ref> Early proto-space opera was written by several 19th century French authors, for example, ''Les Posthumes'' (1802) by [[Nicolas-Edme Rétif]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Latham |first1=Rob |title=Science Fiction Criticism: An anthology of essential writings |page=133 |date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781474248624 |language=en |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WobBDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref> ''Star ou Psi de Cassiopée: Histoire Merveilleuse de l'un des Mondes de l'Espace'' (1854) by [[C. I. Defontenay]] and ''Lumen'' (1872) by [[Camille Flammarion]].
-Not widely popular, proto-space operas were nevertheless occasionally written during the late [[Victorian literature|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era#Literature|Edwardian]] science-fiction era. Examples may be found in the works of [[Percy Greg]], [[Garrett P. Serviss]], [[George Griffith]], and Robert Cromie.<ref name=Bleiler-1990>{{cite book |first1=Everett F.  |last1=Bleiler |author1-link=E. F. Bleiler |first2=Richard J. |last2=Bleiler |name-list-style=amp |date=1990 |title=Science-fiction, the Early Years |pages=147–148 |publisher=Kent State University Press |location=Kent, Ohio |isbn=0873384164 |url=https://archive.org/details/sciencefictionea0000blei |url-access=registration |quote=A full description of more than 3,000&nbsp;science-fiction stories from earliest times to the appearance of the genre magazines in 1930, with author, title, and motif indexes.}}</ref> One critic cites [[Robert William Cole]]'s ''[[The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236]]'' as the first space opera.<ref name=Bleiler-1990/> The novel depicts an interstellar conflict between solar men of Earth and a fierce humanoid race headquartered on [[Sirius]]. However, the idea for the novel arises out of a nationalistic genre of fiction popular from 1880 to 1914 called future-war fiction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=I.F. |author-link=I. F. Clarke |title=Future-war fiction: The first main phase, 1871–1900 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=November 1997 |volume=24 |issue=74 |url=https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/clarkeess.htm |access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>
+Not widely popular, proto-space operas were nevertheless occasionally written during the late [[Victorian literature|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era#Literature|Edwardian]] science-fiction era. Examples may be found in the works of [[Percy Greg]], [[Garrett P. Serviss]], [[George Griffith]], and [[Robert Cromie]].<ref name=Bleiler-1990>{{cite book |first1=Everett F.  |last1=Bleiler |author1-link=E. F. Bleiler |first2=Richard J. |last2=Bleiler |name-list-style=amp |date=1990 |title=Science-fiction, the Early Years |pages=147–148 |publisher=Kent State University Press |location=Kent, Ohio |isbn=0873384164 |url=https://archive.org/details/sciencefictionea0000blei |url-access=registration |quote=A full description of more than 3,000&nbsp;science-fiction stories from earliest times to the appearance of the genre magazines in 1930, with author, title, and motif indexes.}}</ref> [[Science fiction scholar]] [[E. F. Bleiler]] cites [[Robert William Cole]]'s ''[[The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236]]'' as the first space opera in his 1990 [[reference work]] ''[[Science-Fiction: The Early Years]]''.<ref name=Bleiler-1990/> The novel depicts an interstellar conflict between solar men of Earth and a fierce humanoid race headquartered on [[Sirius]]. However, the idea for the novel arises out of a nationalistic genre of fiction popular from 1880 to 1914 called future-war fiction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=I.F. |author-link=I. F. Clarke |title=Future-war fiction: The first main phase, 1871–1900 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=November 1997 |volume=24 |issue=74 |url=https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/clarkeess.htm |access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>
 Despite this seemingly early beginning, it was not until the late 1920s that the space opera proper began to appear regularly in [[pulp magazine]]s such as ''[[Amazing Stories]]''.<ref name="Hartwell"/>{{rp|10–18}}<ref name="Dozois"/> In film, the genre probably began with the 1918 Danish film, ''[[Himmelskibet (film)|Himmelskibet]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hardy |first=Phil |year=1995 |title=The Overlook Film Encyclopedia |publisher=Overlook Press |location=Woodstock, NY |isbn=0879516267 |page=56 |edition=3rd}}</ref> Unlike earlier stories of space adventure, which either related the invasion of Earth by extraterrestrials, or concentrated on the invention of a space vehicle by a genius inventor, pure space opera simply took space travel for granted (usually by setting the story in the far future), skipped the preliminaries, and launched straight into tales of derring-do among the stars. Early stories of this type include [[J. Schlossel]]'s "Invaders from Outside" (''Weird Tales'', January 1925),<ref name=Bleiler-1990/> ''The Second Swarm'' (''Amazing Stories Quarterly'', spring 1928) and ''The Star Stealers'' (''Weird Tales'', February 1929), [[Ray Cummings]]' ''Tarrano the Conqueror'' (1925), and Edmond Hamilton's ''Across Space'' (1926) and ''Crashing Suns'' (''Weird Tales'', August–September 1928).<ref name="Dozois"/> Similar stories by other writers followed through 1929 and 1930. By 1931, the space opera was well established as a major subgenre of science fiction.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}
@@ Line 112: / Line 108: @@
 According to author [[Paul J. McAuley]], a number of mostly British writers began to reinvent space opera in the 1970s<ref name="Mcauley">{{cite web |last=McAuley |first=Paul |title=Junk yard universes |website=Paul McAuley |via=Wayback Machine |url=http://www.omegacom.demon.co.uk/opera.htm |access-date=November 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407103536/http://www.omegacom.demon.co.uk/opera.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref> (although most non-British critics tend to dispute the British claim to dominance in the new space opera arena).<ref name="Hartwell"/>{{rp|10–18}} Significant events in this process include the publication of [[M. John Harrison]]'s ''[[The Centauri Device]]'' in 1975 and a "call to arms" editorial by [[David Pringle]] and [[Colin Greenland]] in the Summer 1984 issue of ''[[Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]]'';<ref name="Mcauley"/> and the financial success of ''Star Wars'', which follows some traditional space opera conventions.<ref name="Hartwell"/>{{rp|10–18}} 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 older space opera, involves newer technologies, and has stronger characterization than the space opera of old.<ref name="Mcauley"/> While it does retain the interstellar scale and scope of traditional space opera, it can also be scientifically rigorous.<ref name="Mcauley"/>
-The new space opera was a reaction against the old.<ref name="Levy">{{cite journal |last=Levy |first=Michael |date=June 2008 |title=Cyberpunk versus the new space opera |journal=[[Voice of Youth Advocates]] |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=132–133}}</ref> ‘New space opera’ proponents claim that the genre centers on character development, fine writing, high literary standards, verisimilitude, and a moral exploration of contemporary social issues.<ref name="Levy"/> McAuley and Michael Levy identify [[Iain M. Banks]], [[Stephen Baxter (author)|Stephen Baxter]], [[M. John Harrison]], [[Alastair Reynolds]], [[Paul J. McAuley|McAuley]] himself,<ref name="Mcauley"/> [[Ken MacLeod]], [[Peter F. Hamilton]], [[Ann Leckie]], and [[Justina Robson]] as the most-notable practitioners of the new space opera.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Mcauley"/> One of the most notable publishers [[Baen Books]] specialises in space opera and military science fiction,<ref>{{cite web |last=Walter |first=Damien |date=29 August 2014 |title=Space opera strikes up again for a new era |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/29/space-opera-new-guardians-of-the-galaxy-ancillary-justice |access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref> publishing many of the aforementioned authors, who have won Hugo Awards.
+The new space opera was a reaction against the old.<ref name="Levy">{{cite journal |last=Levy |first=Michael |date=June 2008 |title=Cyberpunk versus the new space opera |journal=[[Voice of Youth Advocates]] |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=132–133}}</ref> 'New space opera' proponents claim that the genre centers on character development, fine writing, high literary standards, verisimilitude, and a moral exploration of contemporary social issues.<ref name="Levy"/> McAuley and Michael Levy identify [[Iain M. Banks]], [[Stephen Baxter (author)|Stephen Baxter]], [[M. John Harrison]], [[Alastair Reynolds]], [[Paul J. McAuley|McAuley]] himself,<ref name="Mcauley"/> [[Ken MacLeod]], [[Peter F. Hamilton]], [[Ann Leckie]], and [[Justina Robson]] as the most-notable practitioners of the new space opera.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Mcauley"/> One of the most notable publishers [[Baen Books]] specialises in space opera and military science fiction,<ref>{{cite web |last=Walter |first=Damien |date=29 August 2014 |title=Space opera strikes up again for a new era |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/29/space-opera-new-guardians-of-the-galaxy-ancillary-justice |access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref> publishing many of the aforementioned authors, who have won Hugo Awards.
 ==Definitions by contrast==
-Several subsets of space opera overlap with military science fiction, concentrating on large-scale space battles with futuristic weapons in an [[interstellar war]]. Many series can be considered to belong and fall in two genres or even overlap all like ''[[The Sten Chronicles]]'' by [[Allan Cole]] and [[Chris Bunch]], ''[[Ender's Game (novel series)|Ender's Game series]]'' by [[Orson Scott Card]], ''[[Honorverse]]'' by [[David Weber]] and ''[[Deathstalker (series)|Deathstalker]]'' by [[Simon R. Green]]. 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 in [[Planets in science fiction|fictional planets]] with fictional civilizations and [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|fictional extraterrestrials]]. The term "military space opera" is occasionally used to denote this subgenre, as used for example by critic Sylvia Kelso when describing [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s'' [[Vorkosigan Saga]]''.<ref name="Hartwell"/>{{rp|251}} Other examples of military space opera include the ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' franchise and [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s 1959 novel ''[[Starship Troopers]]''. The key distinction of military science fiction from space opera as part of the [[science fictional space warfare]] is that the principal characters in a space opera are not military personnel, but civilians or [[paramilitary]]. That which brings them together under a common denominator is that military science fiction like space opera often concerns an [[interstellar war]]. Military science fiction however does not necessarily always include an outer space or multi-planetary setting like space opera and space Western.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Livingston |first1=Dan |title=23 Best Military Science Fiction Books |url=http://best-sci-fi-books.com/23-best-military-science-fiction-books/ |website=The Best Sci Fi Books |access-date=27 June 2021 |date=14 March 2015}}</ref>
+Several subsets of space opera overlap with military science fiction, concentrating on large-scale space battles with futuristic weapons in an [[interstellar war]]. Many series can be considered to belong and fall in two genres or even overlap all like ''[[Ender's Game (novel series)|Ender's Game series]]'' by [[Orson Scott Card]] or the ''[[Honorverse]]'' by [[David Weber]]. 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 in [[Planets in science fiction|fictional planets]] with fictional civilizations and [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|fictional extraterrestrials]]. The term "military space opera" is occasionally used to denote this subgenre, as used for example by critic Sylvia Kelso when describing [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s'' [[Vorkosigan Saga]]''.<ref name="Hartwell"/>{{rp|251}} Other examples of military space opera include the ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' franchise and [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s 1959 novel ''[[Starship Troopers]]''. The key distinction of military science fiction from space opera as part of the [[space warfare in science fiction]] is that the principal characters in a space opera are not military personnel, but civilians or [[paramilitary]]. That which brings them together under a common denominator is that military science fiction like space opera often concerns an [[interstellar war]]. Military science fiction however does not necessarily always include an outer space or multi-planetary setting like space opera and space Western.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Livingston |first1=Dan |title=23 Best Military Science Fiction Books |url=http://best-sci-fi-books.com/23-best-military-science-fiction-books/ |website=The Best Sci Fi Books |access-date=27 June 2021 |date=14 March 2015}}</ref>
-[[Space Western]] also may emphasize space exploration as "the final frontier." These Western themes may be explicit, such as cowboys in outer space, or they can be a more subtle influence in space opera.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Paul |title=Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games |date=14 October 2009 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=9780786458004 |pages=3–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDnHo993Dv0C&pg=PA4 |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> [[Gene Roddenberry]] described ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' as a space Western (or more poetically, as "''[[Wagon Train]]'' to the stars").<ref>{{cite news |title=A First Showing for 'Star Trek' Pilot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/22/arts/a-first-showing-for-star-trek-pilot.html |access-date=4 January 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 July 1986 |page=18}}</ref> ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' and its cinematic follow-up ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' literalized the Western aspects of the genre popularized by ''Star Trek'': it used frontier towns, horses, and the styling of classic [[John Ford]] Westerns.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murray |first1=Noel |last2=Bowman |first2=Donna |title=Firefly: "Serenity" |url=http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/firefly-serenity-75661 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en-us |date=1 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Franch |first1=Darren |title=12 Signs It's a Joss Whedon Project |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20302134_20738454_30025733,00.html |website=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122183858/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20302134_20738454_30025733,00.html |archive-date=12 December 2014}}</ref> Worlds that have been terraformed may be depicted as presenting similar challenges as that of a frontier settlement in a classic Western.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bould |first1=Mark |last2=Butler |first2=Andrew |last3=Roberts |first3=Adam |last4=Vint |first4=Sherryl |title=The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction |date=2009 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781135228361 |page=508 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7CNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Six-shooters and horses may be replaced by ray guns and rockets.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lilly |first1=Nathan E. |title=The Emancipation of Bat Durston, or: "I'm from Iowa, I Only Work in Outer Space" |url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/2009/20091130/lilly-a.shtml |website=[[Strange Horizons]] |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314104907/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2009/20091130/lilly-a.shtml |archive-date=14 March 2014 |date=30 December 2009}}</ref>
+[[Space Western]] also may emphasize space exploration as “the final frontier”. These Western themes may be explicit, such as cowboys in outer space, or they can be a more subtle influence in space opera.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Paul |title=Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games |date=14 October 2009 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=9780786458004 |pages=3–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDnHo993Dv0C&pg=PA4 |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> [[Gene Roddenberry]] described ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' as a space Western (or more poetically, as “''[[Wagon Train]]'' to the stars”).<ref>{{cite news |title=A First Showing for 'Star Trek' Pilot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/22/arts/a-first-showing-for-star-trek-pilot.html |access-date=4 January 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 July 1986 |page=18}}</ref> ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' and its cinematic follow-up ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' literalized the Western aspects of the genre popularized by ''Star Trek'': it used frontier towns, horses, and the styling of classic [[John Ford]] Westerns.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murray |first1=Noel |last2=Bowman |first2=Donna |title=Firefly: "Serenity" |url=http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/firefly-serenity-75661 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en-us |date=1 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Franch |first1=Darren |title=12 Signs It's a Joss Whedon Project |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20302134_20738454_30025733,00.html |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122183858/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20302134_20738454_30025733,00.html |archive-date=22 January 2014}}</ref> Worlds that have been terraformed may be depicted as presenting similar challenges as that of a frontier settlement in a classic Western.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bould |first1=Mark |last2=Butler |first2=Andrew |last3=Roberts |first3=Adam |last4=Vint |first4=Sherryl |title=The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction |date=2009 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781135228361 |page=508 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7CNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |access-date=4 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Six-shooters and horses may be replaced by ray guns and rockets.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lilly |first1=Nathan E. |title=The Emancipation of Bat Durston, or: "I'm from Iowa, I Only Work in Outer Space" |url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/2009/20091130/lilly-a.shtml |website=[[Strange Horizons]] |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314104907/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2009/20091130/lilly-a.shtml |archive-date=14 March 2014 |date=30 December 2009}}</ref>
 ==Parodies==
-[[Harry Harrison (writer)|Harry Harrison]]'s ''[[Bill, the Galactic Hero]]'' and ''[[Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers]]'' parody the conventions of classic space opera.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hartwell |first1=David G. |last2=Cramer |first2=Kathryn |date=August 2003 |title=Space opera redefined |type=review |website=SF Revu |url=http://www.sfrevu.com/ISSUES/2003/0308/Space%20Opera%20Redefined/Review.htm |access-date=2009-02-08}}</ref>
+[[Harry Harrison (writer)|Harry Harrison]]'s ''[[Bill, the Galactic Hero]]'' and ''[[Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers]]'', [[Mel Brooks]]'s ''[[Spaceballs]]'', ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'' and ''[[Family Guy]]'''s ''[[Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy|Laugh It Up, Fuzzball]]'' trilogy parody the conventions of classic space opera.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hartwell |first1=David G. |last2=Cramer |first2=Kathryn |date=August 2003 |title=Space opera redefined |type=review |website=SF Revu |url=http://www.sfrevu.com/ISSUES/2003/0308/Space%20Opera%20Redefined/Review.htm |access-date=2009-02-08}}</ref>
 ==See also==
-{{Portal|Speculative fiction|left=yes}}
+{{Portal|Speculative fiction}}
 * [[List of space opera media]]
-* [[Science fantasy]]
+* [[Military science fiction]]
 * [[Space opera in Scientology]]
@@ Line 134: / Line 130: @@
 * {{cite book |author-link=Dave Langford |last=Langford |first=Dave |year=1996 |article=Fun with senseless violence |title=The Silence of the Langford |publisher=NESFA Press |isbn=0-915368-62-5}}
 * {{cite book |last=Sawyer |first=Andy |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-20LVwKfTMC |article=Space Opera |title=The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=505–509 |isbn=978-0-415-45378-3}}
-==External links==
 {{Commons category|Space opera}}
 * {{cite magazine |title=Interview with M. John Harrison |date=December 2003 |magazine=Locus |issue=12 |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue12/Harrison.html}} Harrison discusses his view of the nature of space opera in depth.
@@ Line 141: / Line 135: @@
 * {{cite magazine |title=Interview with Alastair Reynolds |date=August 2003 |magazine=Locus |issue=8 |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue08/Reynolds.html}}
 * {{cite magazine |title=Interview with Charles Stross |date=August 2003 |magazine=Locus |issue=8 |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue08/Stross.html}}
-* {{cite web |title=Space opera |website=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/space_opera}}
 * {{cite book |first=Gary |last=Westfahl |author-link=Gary Westfahl |chapter=Space Opera |year=2003 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction |editor1-first=Farah |editor1-last=Mendlesohn |editor1-link=Farah Mendlesohn |editor2-first=Edward |editor2-last=James |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=197 |isbn=9780521016575 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55wUHXiay-gC&pg=PP1}}
+==External links==
+* {{cite web |title=Space opera |website=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/space_opera}}
 {{Space opera serials 1930-1960}}
 {{Science fiction}}
@@ Line 149: / Line 144: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Space Opera}}
 [[Category:Space opera| ]]
-[[Category:Space warfare in fiction| ]]
+[[Category:Fiction about space warfare| ]]
+[[Category:History of science fiction]]
 [[Category:Science fiction themes]]
 [[Category:Science fiction genres]]

v t e Space opera serials (1930–1960)
TV series	Atom Squad Buck Rogers (Captain Video: Captain Video and His Video Rangers Tom Corbett, Space Cadet) Captain Z-Ro Flash Gordon Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers Space Command Space Patrol
Movie serials	(Buck Rogers: Buck Rogers) (Flash Gordon: Flash Gordon Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe) (Commando Cody: Radar Men from the Moon Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe) The Purple Monster Strikes Brick Bradford (King of the Rocket Men Lost Planet Airmen) Flying Disc Man from Mars (Captain Video: Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere) Zombies of the Stratosphere The Lost Planet
Radio serials	(Buck Rogers: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Dan Dare: The New Adventures of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future (Flash Gordon: The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon The Further Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon) Journey into Space Orbiter X Orbit One Zero Space Patrol (Captain Video: Tom Corbett, Space Cadet)
Related	Science fiction opera Planetary romance Military science fiction