Two Quotes on Space Opera for Your Monday — from Iain M Banks & Gareth L Powell
May
13
2024
Last week, I posted on reading Station Eternity, the first in Mur Lafferty’s Midsolar Murders series — which as noted, is space opera with plenty of whodunnit thrown in.
I also think it more than meets this quote from the great Iain M Banks on space opera:
“I think space opera in general celebrates a certain manic wildness and vivacity of vision, a refusal to be constrained.”
To which Gareth L Powell added:
“Space opera affords us the chance to indulge our imaginations, giving us the twin infinities of time and space in which to examine ourselves and our place in the universe. It is one of the most vital of genres.“
It’s a genre that has seen quite a resurgence over recent years, with works such as those of Gareth L Powell himself, as well as Martha Wells Murderbot series and James A Corey’s The Expanse series, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie and John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War leading the charge.
As a long term fan of the (sub) genre, I thoroughly support the resurgence. 😀
