What makes this sci-fi subgenre special?
Ready to explore the far reaches of the galaxy, but not too worried about how you’re going to get there? There’s a sci-fi genre made just for you!
Space opera has been one of the most popular subgenres of science fiction — at least since Star Wars first hit movie theatres. It’s the source of some of the most , film franchises and audiobooks.
While some of its critics have called space opera “fantasy in space,” to its fans, that’s all part of the charm. Its creators may have traded elves for aliens, but that doesn’t mean the stories they tell are any less compelling. They just do it in a different way: packed with action, brimming with adventure and often featuring a fair bit of magic (or technology that feels an awful lot like it). If that sounds like it’s up your alley, Audible has tons of to get you started.
Why Listen to the Best of Sci-Fi?
The best of science fiction asks what it means to be human in a world with aliens or a world where technology has changed all the rules. Take Octavia Butler’s classic , in which an alien race intervenes to kidnap the human survivors of a nuclear war that has nearly brought them to extinction. It’s not philanthropy that drives them, but their own need to survive by cross-breeding with the humans they’ve “saved.”
Butler’s story focuses on the first human to wake up after the alien intervention: Lilith Iyapo. She’s the first to meet the alien species. After she gets used to their startling (and hideous) presence, the aliens ask her to wake the rest of humanity from their drug-induced comas and to coax them into accepting their ultimatum: live with us or don’t live at all.
Great science fiction brings up all kinds of philosophical questions. Space opera does too, though you can probably expect a few more high-octane blaster fights in the mix.
Space Opera vs. Sci-Fi: Does the Difference Really Matter?
For many fans, the difference between one genre and another isn’t really important. A good story is a good story and that’s that. But some science fiction purists say the genre really is about the science. The advances in technology might be futuristic, but they’re plausible.
That definition seems a bit too narrow for us. At the end of the day, what makes science fiction so compelling isn’t the crazy gadgets or space travel; it’s how technology or alien encounters alter the human condition.
Take one of the most memorable scenes from a true classic of sci-fi: by Douglas Adams. Arthur Dent wakes up one morning on Earth to discover that his planet has been slated for demolition by the space-faring Vogons for the construction of a hyperspace highway. It doesn’t matter why; in the vast emptiness of outer space, the hyperspace highway has to plow through Earth. The point is that Arthur Dent is now an interstellar refugee and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Where will it go from here?
