Space opera is a type of science fiction and science fantasy that focuses on large-scale space adventures in a universe where faster-than-light travel is common. Stories often take place during space battles, among alien cultures, and within powerful galactic empires. This subgenre is sometimes seen as a futuristic version of older adventure stories, like those in myths or medieval tales.
The term "space opera" does not relate to opera music. Instead, it originally described the dramatic, grand, and predictable story patterns of operas, similar to phrases like "soap opera" (a dramatic story about everyday life) or "horse opera" (a term from the 1930s for a clichéd Western movie). Early examples of space opera appeared in the early 1900s, and today, it is widely popular in books, movies, comics, TV shows, video games, and board games.
An early film based on space opera comic strips was Flash Gordon (1936), created by Alex Raymond. Perry Rhodan (1961–), a German book series by many authors, is one of the most successful space opera stories. The Star Trek TV and film series (1966–), created by Gene Roddenberry, the Star Wars films (1977–), created by George Lucas, and the long-running British TV show Doctor Who (1963–) have helped make space opera more well-known. A wave of "new space opera" stories beginning in the 1970s, along with the popularity of these media series, made space opera a respected subgenre. Between 1982 and 2002, the Hugo Award for Best Novel was often won by space opera books.
Definitions
Space opera is a type of story found in television, radio, or movies that focuses on science fiction adventures. Some critics say space opera is different from planetary romance. Both involve exciting stories set in unusual places, but space opera centers on space travel, while planetary romance focuses on alien worlds. Stories set on Mars, Venus, or the Moon, like those written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, are considered planetary romance. Stories by Leigh Brackett, who was influenced by Burroughs, are also examples of planetary romance.
The term "space opera" was first used in 1941 by writer Wilson Tucker in an article for a science fiction fanzine called Le Zombie. At that time, radio dramas were often called "soap operas" because they were sponsored by soap companies. The term "horse opera" was also used to describe simple Western movies. Tucker used "space opera" as a negative term to describe stories that were seen as unoriginal or overly focused on space travel. Some space opera stories were said to copy plots from horse operas and move them to space. These ideas were shown in a parody on the cover of the first issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. In the 1920s and 1930s, space opera stories were often called "super-science epics" when they appeared in science fiction magazines.
In the 1960s, the meaning of space opera changed. Brian Aldiss, in his 1974 book Space Opera, described it as "the good old stuff," which was a more positive view. However, some critics, like Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband Lester del Rey, disagreed. They argued that space opera was not outdated and even labeled older works by Leigh Brackett as space opera. By the 1980s, space opera was again redefined and became linked to popular works like Star Wars. It was not until the early 1990s that space opera was widely accepted as a legitimate science fiction genre.
Hartwell and Cramer describe space opera as:
Colorful and dramatic science fiction stories with large-scale adventures. These stories are often well-written and focus on a heroic main character. They usually take place in the distant future and in space or on other planets. The tone is usually optimistic, and the stories often involve war, piracy, and large-scale action.
Author A.K. DuBoff says space opera is about big, epic stories that focus on characters and their personal struggles. While the setting is usually beyond Earth, being on a spaceship or visiting another planet is not the only requirement. The story must also have drama and a large scope to be considered true space opera.
Space opera can be compared to "hard science fiction," which focuses on real science and technology. In hard science fiction, the settings are carefully planned to follow the laws of physics and biology. Examples include works by Alastair Reynolds or the movie The Last Starfighter. Sometimes, space opera overlaps with hard science fiction, as seen in The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld. Other space opera stories balance elements of both hard and soft science fiction, like the Dune prequel series by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert or the Star Wars series created by George Lucas.
History
Early stories that came before the space opera genre had many of the same ideas that would later define space opera. These early stories are now called proto-space opera. Some of the first proto-space opera stories were written by French authors in the 19th century. Examples include Les Posthumes (1802) by Nicolas-Edme Rétif, Star ou Psi de Cassiopée: Histoire Merveilleuse de l'un des Mondes de l'Espace (1854) by C. I. Defontenay, and Lumen (1872) by Camille Flammarion.
Proto-space opera was not widely popular, but it was still written sometimes during the late Victorian and Edwardian science-fiction era. Writers like Percy Greg, Garrett P. Serviss, George Griffith, and Robert Cromie created some of these stories. A science fiction expert named E. F. Bleiler said that Robert William Cole’s The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236 was the first true space opera. This book describes a battle between humans from Earth and a powerful alien race living on Sirius. However, the story’s idea came from a type of fiction popular between 1880 and 1914 called future-war fiction.
Although space opera had early beginnings, it did not become common until the late 1920s. At that time, space opera stories started appearing regularly in magazines like Amazing Stories. In film, the genre may have begun with the 1918 Danish movie Himmelskibet. Unlike earlier space stories, which often focused on alien invasions or inventing space travel, pure space opera assumed space travel was already possible (usually by setting the story in the far future) and skipped the setup to focus on exciting space adventures. Early examples of this style include stories like J. Schlossel’s “Invaders from Outside” (1925), The Second Swarm (1928), The Star Stealers (1929), Ray Cummings’ Tarrano the Conqueror (1925), and Edmond Hamilton’s Across Space (1926) and Crashing Suns (1928). Similar stories continued to appear through the 1930s. By 1931, space opera had become a major part of science fiction.
The writer most often called the “father” of space opera is E. E. “Doc” Smith. His first published story, The Skylark of Space (1928), written with Lee Hawkins Garby, is often called the first great space opera. It combines a story about a scientist creating a spaceship with the adventurous style of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ planetary romance stories. Smith’s later Lensman series and works by Edmond Hamilton, John W. Campbell, and Jack Williamson in the 1930s and 1940s were popular and widely copied. However, by the early 1940s, some readers criticized space opera for being repetitive or overly dramatic, leading to the term being used again in a negative way.
Over time, readers began to appreciate the best space opera stories, leading to a renewed interest in the genre. Writers like Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson kept space adventure stories alive in the 1950s, followed by authors like M. John Harrison and C. J. Cherryh in the 1970s. By this time, “space opera” was no longer seen as a negative term but as a way to describe a specific kind of science fiction story.
In Japan, space opera themes became popular in tokusatsu films and shows starting in the 1950s. Examples include Warning from Space (1956), The Mysterians (1957), Super Giant (1957–1959), Planet Prince (1958–1959), Battle in Outer Space (1959), and Gorath (1962).
According to author Paul J. McAuley, many British writers began to create new versions of space opera in the 1970s, though some critics outside Britain disagree. Important events in this movement include the 1975 publication of M. John Harrison’s The Centauri Device and an editorial in Interzone in 1984 that encouraged new space opera writing. The success of Star Wars, which uses some traditional space opera ideas, also helped. This “new space opera,” which developed around the same time as cyberpunk and was influenced by it, is darker, focuses more on characters, uses newer technology, and explores modern social issues. While it keeps the large-scale space adventures of older space opera, it also includes more scientific accuracy.
The new space opera was a response to the older style. Supporters say it focuses on character development, strong writing, realistic details, and exploring moral issues. McAuley and Michael Levy name authors like Iain M. Banks, Stephen Baxter, M. John Harrison, Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Peter F. Hamilton, Ann Leckie, and Justina Robson as important writers in this movement. Baen Books, a publishing company, specializes in space opera and military science fiction, and it has published many of these authors, who have won Hugo Awards.
Definitions by contrast
Some types of space opera share similarities with military science fiction, focusing on large space battles with futuristic weapons during wars between different star systems. Many stories belong to both genres or overlap in ways, such as Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card or the Honorverse by David Weber. At one end of the spectrum, the genre explores ideas about future wars involving space travel or how such wars might affect humans. At the other end, stories use military fiction plots with some science-fiction elements, set on fictional planets with fictional civilizations and alien beings. The term "military space opera" is sometimes used to describe this subgenre, as noted by critic Sylvia Kelso when discussing The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Other examples include the Battlestar Galactica series and Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel Starship Troopers. A key difference between military science fiction and space opera is that space opera’s main characters are usually not soldiers but civilians or non-military individuals. Both genres often involve interstellar wars, but military science fiction does not always take place in outer space or across multiple planets, unlike space opera and space Western.
Space Western may highlight space exploration as “the final frontier.” These Western themes can be clear, such as cowboys in outer space, or they may appear more subtly in space opera. Gene Roddenberry described Star Trek: The Original Series as a space Western (or “Wagon Train to the stars”). Firefly and its movie Serenity made the Western aspects of the genre more visible by including frontier towns, horses, and styles from classic Western films. Worlds that have been changed to support life may face challenges similar to those of frontier settlements in old Westerns. Items like six-shooters and horses can be replaced by ray guns and rockets.
Parodies
Harry Harrison's books Bill, the Galactic Hero and Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers, along with the movie version of Bill, the Galactic Hero, the films Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs by Mel Brooks, and the Family Guy episode trilogy Laugh It Up, Fuzzball make fun of the usual features of classic space stories.