What is and isn't Space Opera?

[payn]

I already said I felt the scale was appropriate. I think the characters and action are understated, and the pacing far too slow for space opera. LotRs aims for gravitas, rather than pulpiness, which makes it a poor fit for Space Opera.

That's a thin hair of difference for me. Which is why these genre conversations can be difficult, but also interesting to have. I dont care if you or I are right, I just enjoy discussing it.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Well, pity me then because I do not like the fantasy genre. Dont get me wrong, my motto is "dont knock it until you rock it", but as far as literature goes, fantasy is almost always a disappointment to me. I let Game of Thrones, probably the best fantasy I have read, sit on the shelf for 10 years because I dont like the genre that much.

Folks just have convention tastes as well. It can be a very well written story, but if folks dont like westerns, horror, fantasy, space opera, etc..., they wont dig it anyways.

Yeah, sorry if that came off a bit harsh. I was more referring to literary snobs who wouldn't lower themselves to read genre fiction etc.

And yes, I'm not a big fantasy guy myself. Kind of odd that I enjoy fantasy roleplaying, but as fiction to read it usually bores the socks of me. With exceptions of course, don't anyone dare to say a bad word about the sweet Felix & Gotrek cheese 8-P

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

My post was meant as tongue in cheek. Hand on heart, I couldn't care less about what people who don't like science fiction think about science fiction and it's subgenres. Well, almost

Sci-fi has been looked down upon during most of it's existence as a defined genre, even though it's more and more accepted at academies etc. And that's ok for me. I think that people who don't read sci-fi out of snobbery are lacking imagination and curiousity, and they think that I'm a tasteless geek. That's ok too. It's even more ok that my library includes a good part of the literary canon and Nobel prize winners, so I can smack them on the head if they deserve it ;-)

Sorry if this post came out bad, didn't mean to insult anyone. It's just something I've experienced a lot and is very, very tired of. But I try to formulate myself better

 

[payn]

Yeah, sorry if that came off a bit harsh. I was more referring to literary snobs who wouldn't lower themselves to read genre fiction etc.

And yes, I'm not a big fantasy guy myself. Kind of odd that I enjoy fantasy roleplaying, but as fiction to read it usually bores the socks of me. With exceptions of course, don't anyone dare to say a bad word about the sweet Felix & Gotrek cheese 8-P

It's all good. People have their quirks. A friend of mine is the "have to find it myself" type. He wont read books that more than 1 person recommends to him. "Too popular to be good" he says. I dont even know what that means?

 

[Yora]

I like space opera because I'm a big fantasy fan and find most science fiction rather dull.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The whole point is the term is usually used by people who wouldn't read a Sci Fi trilogy if you threatened them with thumbscrews.

That probably was once true, but has not been true for some time now; its become a term-of-art within the SF community long since.

 

[Ixal]

This thread reminds me of the old Wing Commander games where the intro literally started with a opera orchestra getting ready to play.

 

[Ryujin]

This thread reminds me of the old Wing Commander games where the intro literally started with a opera orchestra getting ready to play.

Just.... let's not bring up the movie, OK?

 

[payn]

Just.... let's not bring up the movie, OK?

Too late!

 

[Ixal]