Space Opera (Vance novel)
{{Short description|1965 novel by Jack Vance}}
{{for|the 2018 novel by Catherynne M. Valente|Space Opera (Valente novel)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{no plot|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = Space Opera
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image =
| caption = First edition
| author = Jack Vance
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = John Schoenherr
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Science fiction
| publisher = Pyramid Books
| release_date = February 16, 1965{{cite journal |date=February 16, 1965 |title=Books Today |journal=The New York Times |page=32 }}
| media_type = Print (Paperback)
| pages = 143
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
Space Opera is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in 1965 by Pyramid Books. It is a stand-alone work, not part of any of Vance's novel sequences. The term "space opera" is typically used in science fiction literature to connote interstellar adventures, clashes of spacefleets and galactic empires. The use here is literal, however, about an opera company touring in outer space.
Reception
Tom Staicar of Amazing Stories praised Vance for his "vivid and believeable" characterisation and called the novel "fun to read and a rare example of humor in SF as it should be handled."{{cite news |last= Staicar|first= Tom|date= November 1979|title= Space Opera, by Jack Vance.|url= https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Stories_v53n01_1979-11_MadMaxAU/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22Jack+Vance%22|work= Amazing Stories|location= |access-date= 27 September 2024}} Baird Searles of Asimov's Science Fiction called it a "one-joke book, which luckily doesn’t go on long enough to wear thin", although he opined that Vance "doesn’t take enough advantage of the intrinsic humor of opera itself, certainly one of the funniest of the fine arts."{{cite news |last= Searles|first= Baird|date= July 1979|title= ON BOOKS|url=https://archive.org/details/Asimovs_v03n07_1979-07/page/n11/mode/2up?q=%22Jack+Vance%22|work= Asimov's Science Fiction|location= |access-date= 27 September 2024}} Judith Merrill of F&SF wrote: "Only Vance could have brought this off, and he didn't manage."{{cite news |last= Merrill|first= Judith|date= July 1965|title= BOOKS|url=https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v029n01_1965-07_PDF/page/n81/mode/2up?q=%22space+oper%22|work= F&SF|location= |access-date= 27 September 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book | last=Underwood | first=Tim |author2=Chuck Miller | title=Jack Vance | url=https://archive.org/details/jackvance00erpr | url-access=registration | location=New York | publisher=Taplinger Publishing Company | year=1980 | isbn=0-8008-4295-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/jackvance00erpr/page/229 229]}}
{{Jack Vance}}
Category:1965 science fiction novels
Category:American science fiction novels