What is and isn't Space Opera?

Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
That's a new one on me. Military sci fi is its own sub-genre.

Yes, but genres should be described by inclusion, not exclusion. Just as you can have a "space Western", which has the tropes of both sci-fi, and westerns, you can be Space Opera and Military sci-fi.

Star Wars is iconic space opera - lots of war there, it is in the title, even. Babylon 5 is space opera - the main characters are mostly career military, and there's several wars in the 5 years of the series. Battlestar Galactica is space opera.

Starship Troopers (either book or movie) is Military Sci-fi, but most wouldn't call it Space Opera.

"Space Western" could cover everything from Star Trek TOS to the Mandalorian, but I don't think its generally considered a formal genre

There is no such thing as "formal genre". But, as evidence, the following is a comic book cover from 1952:

1657120312066.png
 

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gamerprinter

Mapper/Publisher
I don't know if I can claim the third party Starfinder setting I'm developing is space opera, or not. Some of the qualifications are ticked off, though some aren't. It's Starfinder, so many aliens out there, though my setting is a bit more conservative race multitude-wise, compared to Starfinder default, as well as both magic and fantastical technology it fits, though is more fantasy otherwise than other space operas. My setting, the Kronusverse is a vast region of space within proximity to Earth (so the Milky Way, more or less) with dozens of inhabited human colonies set in a region occupied by aliens. FTL or hyperspace travel is essential for making the vast distances manageable. All this fits space opera, certainly.

Where I deviate, is while I fully accept the fantastical elements, at the same time, I lean harder sci-fi, and inject a little more science. While every star system (at least the colonized ones) feature one or more inhabitable planets. They exist in systems with largely uninhabitable, and scientifically viable worlds. But I'm working in a wide spectrum between Traveller style quasi-realism and wahoo Starfinder default. It's a weird medium to play in. Maybe it's just another derivation of space opera, without a true category of it's own.
 

Ryujin

Legend
The say a picture says more than a thousand words, but could you elaborate more? ;)
On Doc Smith's "Lensmen"? Sure. It's a galaxy(ies) spanning series of adventure novels. Very "Star Wars" meets "Flash Gordon" in presentation. There is a species of altruistic uber-aliens who create "The Lens", which is a device that unlocks the psychic potential of appropriately capable creatures. These creatures, starting with humans, form The Lensmen Corps who are, for wont of a better term, galactic cops. There is also a race of evil uber-aliens, who operate a criminal organization called Boskone. This forms the basis for the conflict between good and evil, in the Lensmen universe.
 

gamerprinter

Mapper/Publisher
I think Space Opera has a backdrop of war, but needn't be military sci-fi. Star Wars has that episode which is military heavy, but all the Star Wars are in various states of conflict between the Alliance (and related groups) with the Imperium (at related governments).
 

The say a picture says more than a thousand words, but could you elaborate more? ;)

Just Google Lensman. It’s the foundational and defining text for the genre, and everything that’s followed either directly or indirectly drew from it.

ETA: I don't actually recommend reading the Lensman books, necessarily—I find all of that author's stuff lifeless and all tell, no show—but GURPS Lensman is a great overview of the setting, and the space opera tropes it kicked off. Like a lot of GURPS books it's useful even if you have no love for the GURPS rules.

 
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How important is space to Space Opera? Dune is often cited as Space Opera, but not until late in the series do the protagonists or antagonists have any meaningful interaction with space travel. The Spacing Guild would serve the same purpose if they were teleportation node operators.
 

Yora

Legend
Dune is very much interplanetary, though. Almost no time is spend on space ships and much of the story is shown from the perspective of characters mostly stuck to one planet, but the story as a whole is all about events that happen on different planets at the same time. Even the first book has things that happen on the Artreides planet, on Dune, on the Harkonen planet, and on the Emperor's planet. And they are not separate plotlines running in paralel, but the same struggle.

The reason that I think Stargate doesn't feel like Space Opera is that it's about contemporary humans who never really leave Earth behind to become part of a greater world. They use contemporary technology and the people they meet are also humans or effectively demon-possessed humans. They never take the "first step into a greater world". It feels more like an alien invasion story in which most of the fighting takes place on the doorsteps of Earth than actually Earth itself. Though I know that later in the series they do introduce all kinds of space ships.

Another thing I've seen described as space opera but really doesn't feel like it to me are the Riddick movies. Which I really quite like as the B-Movies they are. Again, they don't feel like there exists a greater universe beyond the horizon. I only recall one intelligent alien and that one took on a normal human appearance. There is some space magic and the conquerors in the second movie have very big and stylish ships, but the setting does not have the feel of a great scope and alien worlds.
Same thing also with The Expanse, but I only know that story up to getting access to the gates. It might change after that.
 

payn

He'll flip ya...Flip ya for real...
Dune is very much interplanetary, though. Almost no time is spend on space ships and much of the story is shown from the perspective of characters mostly stuck to one planet, but the story as a whole is all about events that happen on different planets at the same time. Even the first book has things that happen on the Artreides planet, on Dune, on the Harkonen planet, and on the Emperor's planet. And they are not separate plotlines running in paralel, but the same struggle.

The reason that I think Stargate doesn't feel like Space Opera is that it's about contemporary humans who never really leave Earth behind to become part of a greater world. They use contemporary technology and the people they meet are also humans or effectively demon-possessed humans. They never take the "first step into a greater world". It feels more like an alien invasion story in which most of the fighting takes place on the doorsteps of Earth than actually Earth itself. Though I know that later in the series they do introduce all kinds of space ships.

Another thing I've seen described as space opera but really doesn't feel like it to me are the Riddick movies. Which I really quite like as the B-Movies they are. Again, they don't feel like there exists a greater universe beyond the horizon. I only recall one intelligent alien and that one took on a normal human appearance. There is some space magic and the conquerors in the second movie have very big and stylish ships, but the setting does not have the feel of a great scope and alien worlds.
Same thing also with The Expanse, but I only know that story up to getting access to the gates. It might change after that.
I dont get the greater universe requirement. I have never heard it actually being required by anybody for space opera until now. Can you point out where you got this idea? Or is this just a personal criteria? Honestly curious.
 

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