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Space Opera
• Definition • Typical Subject Matter • Key Works and Figures • Sources •
Definition

The term "space opera" was originally derived from references to soap operas and horse operas. According to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the term was first used by Wilson Tucker in 1941 to refer to the "'hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn" (Stableford).

The term has come to refer to "colorful action-adventure stories of interplanetary or interstellar conflict."

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Typical Subject Matter
Typically space opera unfolds on a galactic scale and involves spaceships, space battles, and lots of action and adventure. Much popular space opera unfolds in a series of novels with the same cast of characters.
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Key Works and Figures

Early development of the space opera in the 1920s and 1930s is attributed to five writers:

  • E.E. "Doc" Smith, author of the Skylark and Lensman series of stories and novels
  • Edmund Hamilton
  • Ray Cummings
  • John W. Campbell, Jr.
  • Jack Williamson (Stableford)

During the 1940s space opera developed its more romantic side with works by Catherine L. Moore and A. E. van Vogt.

Some other prominent practictioners of space opera include:

  • James Blish in his Okie series
  • Poul Anderson in his Ensign Flandry series

Award winning space opera includes works by:

  • David Brin (Startide Rising)
  • Lois McMaster Bujold (the Vorkosigan Saga)
  • C. J. Cherryh (Downbelow Station)

For more titles, see
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Sources
Stableford, Brian. "Space Opera." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. ed. John Clute and Peter Nicholls. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 1993.
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