Science Fiction Themes: Space Opera
This article is the fourth in a series of articles highlighting traditional themes and concepts of science fiction. Each month we will take an in depth look at one of these themes to help you master and incorporate these important concepts in your writing.
A Precocious Child
Space Opera has long since established itself as a subgenre of science fiction, an outlandish offspring full of precocious energy. No, music is not an essential element and most space opera stories do not require a fat lady to break into song for the successful conclusion of their tale. So what is space opera all about?
Brian W. Aldiss lists some of these key features of space opera: a seasoning of screwy ideas, charging on with little regard for logic or literacy, all must come right in the end.
E.E. "Doc" Smith is considered the inventor of space opera. His Lensman series is a prime example of classic space opera. Some other notable practitioners include: Jack Vance, Jack Williamson, and Larry Niven . Star Trek is space opera. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is space opera. What these stories lack in scientific details they make up for in adventure and zaniness.
Space opera is colorful, filled with all sorts of new and exotic places. Lively and inventive characters populate these tales of galactic and interglactic travel. Space opera is not highbrow literature. These stories are light and enjoyable. A space opera book is the sort of thing you curl up with on a rainy afternoon when your goal is to escape from the trials and tribulation that make up our everyday lives.
Tips on Writing Space Opera
As fun as it is to read these tales of adventure, it can be equally fun to write them. As space opera stories need not rely heavily on scientific details, you can let your imagination run wild as you craft these stories.
Characters
With space opera, the wacky the characters the better. Your characters should be colorful and amusing. Give your characters rich and detailed pasts. As with any story the details about the past should in some way explain a character's actions and personalities. These details about your characters' past lives should also mesh logically with the plot. For example a character who suffers from insomnia should find this ailment helpful when his spaceship comes under attack by hostile aliens in the dead of night. While in an ordinary story going overboard with character details may be frowned upon, in space opera this is not the case. Outlandish characters abound.
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