3.0
The Space Opera Renaissance
ByPublisher Description
From two acclaimed editors comes the best-ever anthology of science fiction’s most vigorous subgenres: the space opera.
“Space opera,” once a derisive term for cheap pulp adventure, has come to mean something more in modern SF: compelling adventure stories told against a broad canvas, and written to the highest level of skill. Indeed, it can be argued that the “new space opera” is one of the defining streams of modern SF.
Now, World Fantasy Award–winning anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled a definitive overview of this subgenre, both as it was in the days of the pulp magazines, and as it has become in the 2000s. Included are major works from genre progenitors, popular favorites, and modern-day pioneers.
“Space opera,” once a derisive term for cheap pulp adventure, has come to mean something more in modern SF: compelling adventure stories told against a broad canvas, and written to the highest level of skill. Indeed, it can be argued that the “new space opera” is one of the defining streams of modern SF.
Now, World Fantasy Award–winning anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled a definitive overview of this subgenre, both as it was in the days of the pulp magazines, and as it has become in the 2000s. Included are major works from genre progenitors, popular favorites, and modern-day pioneers.
Download the free Fable app
Stay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
Rate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
Curate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesStay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building toolRate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tagsCurate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities3 Reviews
3.0
“<a>reviews.metaphorosis.com</a>
2 stars
Most of this anthology is composed of stories. However, the editors also incomprehensibly include one entire novel and two excerpts. The novel is long, based in someone else's universe and not very good. One of the excerpts is quite good, but there's little I like less than an excerpt - if you do buy the novel, you've already read part of it. If you don't, you've only read part of the story.
Normally, I enjoy the little bios and blurbs that precede or succeed stories in an anthology. In this case, however, the editors have taken such an academic tone that it pretty much kills your interest in reading the stories themselves. I also disagree with their definitions of 'space opera'. I read and considered their position, but found it uninformative, and the various categories of space opera they suggest have little to do with the stories included, and less to do with other work produced in those periods. Anthologies often have a feeling not so much of consistent concept as of "random stories we got from our friends." This one is no different. You won't really learn much about space opera (by any definition) here.
The editors make much of a posited distinction between British and US science fiction. I suppose they may be right - they quote a lot of people (mostly British) who seem to agree. But I read a lot of science fiction (both British and US), and I've never thought much about it. I like certain authors and not others; some are British, some are American. Their nationality has made zero difference to my enjoyment or selection criteria. So while it's a big deal to the editors, at least one very well-read member of the audience couldn't care less.
Leaving aside the pompous analysis, the artificial distinctions, the random selection, and the occasional bit of novel... - this anthology does collect some good work, and a wide selection of authors. If you can pick it up cheap at a discount bookstore, go to it. Otherwise, I suggest looking elsewhere. I certainly won't be picking up the editors' companion volume (Hard SF Renaissance).”
John Klinkose
Created over 11 years agoShare
Report
Abby Flynn
Created about 14 years agoShare
Report
About Kathryn Cramer
David G. Hartwell, called "an editor extraordinaire" by Publishers Weekly, is one of science fiction's most experienced and influential editors. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award thirty-one times. Kathryn Cramer co-edited the World Fantasy Award-winning anthology The Architecture of Fear and was the editor of its widely-praised sequel Walls of Fear. She has edited and co-edited several other anthologies. Hartwell and Cramer co-edit the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Year's Best SF series. They live in Pleasantville, New York.
Other books by Kathryn Cramer
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
Similar Books
Save to a list
0
/30
0
/100
Private List