Space Opera
On sale
12th November 2019
Price: £19.99
Hugo Award Best Novel category, 2019
Genre
FINALIST FOR HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2019
FINALIST FOR LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL 2019
IN SPACE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU SING
A century ago, intelligent space-faring life was nearly destroyed during the Sentience Wars. To bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity and understanding, the Metagalactic Grand Prix was created. Part concert, part contest, all extravaganza, species far and wide gather to compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes or faces.
This year, humankind has discovered that it must fight for its destiny not with diplomacy, gunships and stoic councils – but with glitter, lipstick and electric guitars.
A washed-up glam-rock trio from London, Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes, has been chosen to represent humanity on the greatest stage in the galaxy. The fate of Earth lies in their ability to ROCK.
FINALIST FOR LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL 2019
IN SPACE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU SING
A century ago, intelligent space-faring life was nearly destroyed during the Sentience Wars. To bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity and understanding, the Metagalactic Grand Prix was created. Part concert, part contest, all extravaganza, species far and wide gather to compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes or faces.
This year, humankind has discovered that it must fight for its destiny not with diplomacy, gunships and stoic councils – but with glitter, lipstick and electric guitars.
A washed-up glam-rock trio from London, Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes, has been chosen to represent humanity on the greatest stage in the galaxy. The fate of Earth lies in their ability to ROCK.
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Reviews
Valente has cleverly recreated just the kind of surreal alien anarchy Douglas Adams would be proud of, all of it topped off with a Ziggy Stardust swagger . . . The result is so funny, so quirky and so downright weird that at times you have to remind yourself you're not actually reading Adams... and we can't praise anything more highly than that. Definitely not "nul points".
SPACE OPERA by Cat Valente is the experience of Finding Your Song stretched out over paragraphs and chapters and characters and story arcs, and it is glorious, it is painful and silly and serious and glorious and glitterpunk glamrock glory in multi-syllabic crescendos of idea.
As if Ziggy Stardust went on a blind date with The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, then they got smashed and sang karaoke all night long. Cat Valente is mad and brilliant and no one else would have even thought of this, much less pulled it off.
SPACE OPERA is a book I really needed in this dour, dire age: Valente's book contains a story and prose that is both electric and breathless, It has the heart of Douglas Adams and the soul of David Bowie. I loved it and it made me happy.
Cat Valente is the Ray Bradbury of her generation