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The Uplift Saga # "Temptation
The Space Opera Renaissance
"Space opera", once a derisive term for cheap pulp adventure, has come to mean something more in modern compelling adventure stories told against a broad canvas, and written to the highest level of skill. Indeed, it can be argued that the "new space opera" is one of the defining streams of modern SF.
Now, World Fantasy Award-winning anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled a definitive overview of this subgenre, both as it was in the days of the pulp magazines, and as it has become in 2005. Included are major works from genre progenitors like Jack Williamson and Leigh Brackett, stylish midcentury voices like Cordwainer Smith and Samuel R. Delany, popular favorites like David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Ursula K. Le Guin, and modern-day pioneers such as Iain M. Banks, Steven Baxter, Scott Westerfeld, and Charles Stross.
Now, World Fantasy Award-winning anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled a definitive overview of this subgenre, both as it was in the days of the pulp magazines, and as it has become in 2005. Included are major works from genre progenitors like Jack Williamson and Leigh Brackett, stylish midcentury voices like Cordwainer Smith and Samuel R. Delany, popular favorites like David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Ursula K. Le Guin, and modern-day pioneers such as Iain M. Banks, Steven Baxter, Scott Westerfeld, and Charles Stross.
944 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2006
49 people are currently reading
885 people want to read
About the author
David G. Hartwell
113 books93 followersDavid Geddes Hartwell was an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He worked for Signet (1971-1973), Berkley Putnam (1973-1978), Pocket (where he founded the Timescape imprint, 1978-1983, and created the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing line), and Tor (where he spearheaded Tor's Canadian publishing initiative, and was also influential in bringing many Australian writers to the US market, 1984-date), and has published numerous anthologies. He chaired the board of directors of the World Fantasy Convention and, with Gordon Van Gelder, was the administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award. He held a Ph.D. in comparative medieval literature.
He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.
He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
May 29, 2013
This is a potentially mammal-damaging collection (think crushing small, affectionate critters or inducing carpal tunnel syndrome from negating gravity). The 32 stories (plus introduction) span almost a century of science fiction; from the pulps (pre-Campbell) right up to its compilation 2005/2006.
The Space Opera Renaissance literally has something for everyone. But, it does not include everyone. Why? Well, for reasons of Space, of course. (Space being one of those things necessary for Space Opera, it’s almost self-reflexive to mention it.) And while some writers produce many more novels than short fiction, the bottom did not drop out of the short fiction markets until the end of the 50s/early 60s. Plus virtually every writer before the 1950s was writing for magazine publication (serialization) even for book-length works.
So, you won’t find every author under the sun within these covers: no Asimov, no Heinlein, no Clarke (that’s the original Big 3), nor will you find E.E. “Doc” Smith, Poul Anderson, Jack Vance, Harry Harrison, A.E. Van Vogt, Gene Wolfe, Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge and many others. But it is a good collection.
Long or short, serious, tongue-in-cheek, or outright parody, the editors have done a credible job. Many of these stories will stick in your memory – they have for me. (Whether I read them elsewhere in a multi-author collection or in individual collections I don’t recall.) But all are good. I won’t try to summarize each of them. I’d rather have you read the book (but take precautions around your furry & non-furry loved ones).
The introduction is both informative and sets up the editor’s premise: Space Opera was once only a pejorative term (coined in the 40s, I think) but has been reapplied to works that share the concept of grand, galactic (and bigger/smaller) action, but have good-to-great writing. They argue that the best of the “space action” stories from the beginning of the 20th century are not “Space Opera” because they were too good to be called it and that only the miserable hackwork that translated action-oriented western-themed “horse opera” beyond the wild blue yonder was deservedly so characterized. They develop this theme throughout the book with their own and the thoughts of writers and critics. But you should judge for yourself.
Within the book, these are among the most noteworthy (and my favorite) entries:
The Star Stealers
The Prince of Space
Enchantress of Venus (one that I immediately recalled)
The Game of Rat and Dragon (read in many places, always a favorite)
Ranks of Bronze (also read elsewhere)
Weatherman
A Gift of the Culture
Orphans of the Helix
The Well Wishers (one that was easily remembered)
Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington (possibly read before)
Ring Rats
The Death of Captain Future (easily & fondly remembered)
A Worm in the Well
The Survivor (the longest entry I think)
The Remoras (remembered from somewhere)
Recording Angel (also remembered)
The Great Game
Grist (the start of a novel)
Spirey and the Queen
Bear Trap
It’s not that these 20 are better in every way than the other 12, just that they are stories I’ve recalled enjoying in previous writings or that resonated with me most. I left out the excellent parody by Robert Sheckley and the only slightly longer “The Swordsmen of Varnis” (which despite the editors’ note, was not planned as a visual joke in an Indiana Jones movie).
The same team has also birthed, The Hard SF Renaissance another potentially lethal tome if suddenly released in to Earth’s gravitational well I am sure. Someday I’ll try tackling it, but my wrists must first recover from this one. Since in this book they write about Hard SF becoming equated with (or transforming into) Space Opera, I’m curious as to what they select (and write) in that companion volume.
The length may make the book seem tedious, but the stories are lively, well-selected (even if several favorites are not present), and present the editors theme well. Nothing of such disparate sources could ever be a Five, but it is also more than a mere pedestrian collection (a Three). It earns a full Four Stars (4.0).
Note: I read the hardback edition. I’m sure a paperback would be slightly easier on the hand and pets!
July 20, 2015
First point: This was huge. Just downloading it increased the physical weight of my Kindle by a noticeable amount -- in physical form, it clocks in at 900+ pages.
The title pretty much says it all. This is a survey of three quarters of a century of space opera (for varying definitions of same) ranging from Edmond Hamilton's "The Star Stealers" (1929) to Stephen Baxter's "The Great Game (2002). Also included: Jack Williamson, Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. Le Guin, Leigh Brackett and a couple dozen others, in stories ranging from space pirates vs. the Federation of Space to out-and-out sword & planet ("Enchantress of Venus", the Brackett story) to contemporary weird post-singularity baroque tales (Alastair Reynolds and Alastair Reynolds).
As with any such anthology, you'll like some stories more than others; but if you want to dip your toes into the works of a lot of major authors in the field, you could do a lot worse.
As for myself, my biggest takeaway is: I really,really, really need to read Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books.
OK, a few additional points: First, here's a link to the full table of contents. Second, there's a substantial amount of interesting editorial text -- an overview of the term "space opera" in general, a more focused view for each section (the stories are grouped into roughly chronological sections), and each story has its own introduction discussing the author and often quoting the author's on thoughts on space opera, etc.
The title pretty much says it all. This is a survey of three quarters of a century of space opera (for varying definitions of same) ranging from Edmond Hamilton's "The Star Stealers" (1929) to Stephen Baxter's "The Great Game (2002). Also included: Jack Williamson, Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. Le Guin, Leigh Brackett and a couple dozen others, in stories ranging from space pirates vs. the Federation of Space to out-and-out sword & planet ("Enchantress of Venus", the Brackett story) to contemporary weird post-singularity baroque tales (Alastair Reynolds and Alastair Reynolds).
As with any such anthology, you'll like some stories more than others; but if you want to dip your toes into the works of a lot of major authors in the field, you could do a lot worse.
As for myself, my biggest takeaway is: I really,really, really need to read Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books.
OK, a few additional points: First, here's a link to the full table of contents. Second, there's a substantial amount of interesting editorial text -- an overview of the term "space opera" in general, a more focused view for each section (the stories are grouped into roughly chronological sections), and each story has its own introduction discussing the author and often quoting the author's on thoughts on space opera, etc.
July 23, 2017
It appears themed reprint anthologies will always suffer from one fatal symptom: in trying to represent the fields as well as possible, the editor(s) will often struggle to pick as many authors as possible, including several that they don't even like, or several that don't excel at this kind of length.
This anthology is a perfect example for the 'law' above. You're going to love stories from authors you already love, and hate stories from authors you have tried and didn't like. That's a no-brainer.
There are two catches here in determining how much you liked a specific anthology:
First, the ratio of loved authors to hated authors (for me it was too low). When you add in the choice for each of these authors (sometimes it may not be the best suited), the ratio gets even smaller.
Second, what happens with authors you have not already tried. I was only able to discover one 'new' author.
Overall stand outs were the Simmons, the Hamilton, the Baxter and the Westerfeld. Way too few for a book of this size. While only just as many were unreadable, the remaining I found to be too modest.
This anthology is a perfect example for the 'law' above. You're going to love stories from authors you already love, and hate stories from authors you have tried and didn't like. That's a no-brainer.
There are two catches here in determining how much you liked a specific anthology:
First, the ratio of loved authors to hated authors (for me it was too low). When you add in the choice for each of these authors (sometimes it may not be the best suited), the ratio gets even smaller.
Second, what happens with authors you have not already tried. I was only able to discover one 'new' author.
Overall stand outs were the Simmons, the Hamilton, the Baxter and the Westerfeld. Way too few for a book of this size. While only just as many were unreadable, the remaining I found to be too modest.
May 22, 2019
This is my first foray into an anthology on this scale. I have previously been rather mistrustful of short fiction, often finding it disappointing, especially single-author collections from writers whose longer work I have been a big fan of. In retrospect, many of those collections probably aggregate a slew of early/inferior work to capitalise on the stature the author has obtained through longer pieces, an issue which does not apply to larger, multi-author anthologies like The Space Opera Renaissance.
While the quality of the individual stories in this anthology is predictably variable, in the aggregate I count it a massive success in that it has transferred a number of authors from my "oh yeah, I recognise that name" list to my "to read" list. There were a few truly great stories, a few that struck me personally as total rubbish and a lot that seemed to have potential but just failed to really hit the mark. Two issues recurred frequently that prevented stories from really standing on their own merits: many seemed to be far too short, failing to do justices to their own settings and ideas; and many were part of a larger universe built of both short stories and novels, and thus skimped on world-building, character-arcs, etc, as these were explored to a larger extent in other works. It was not uncommon for both these issues to affect a single piece.
The stories are roughly grouped into eras, tracking changing trends in space opera. This grouping seems to be more about the authors being showcased, as many of the stories were first published long after the era into which they are grouped in this anthology. The sense of historical overview is nice, and provides a metric to gauge other works of the same era, for authors not represented here. The six divisions span from the 1930s to works contemporaneous to the publication of this anthology (2006). I liked most of the stuff from the ‘60s through to the early ‘90s (roughly 3 ‘eras’ here) and the 21st century stuff. I was not at all a fan of the really early 20th century offerings and found the early to late ‘90s stuff to be quite the mixed bag.
Each story is accompanied by a 1-2 page summary of the author, including some notes on background and notable works. On the whole, I liked these blurbs, finding that they added a layer of enjoyment to my reading experience.
I would definitely recommend this volume to anyone interested in the genre, especially those who have not yet read widely in it.
------------------------------------------------
David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, Introduction: How Shit Became Shinola: Definition and Redefinition of Space Opera ★★☆☆☆
I tend to find introductions of this nature a bit dull and often skip them. I read this one and I guess it's fine, but it does manage to be simultaneously a bit dull and lacking in depth. I feel like I slogged through it without getting a sufficient insight into the development of the genre, but still enduring a seemingly endless list of names and quotations...
------------------------------------------------
I. REDEFINED WRITERS
------------------------------------------------
Edmond Hamilton, The Star Stealers ★☆☆☆☆
I was initially inclined to be more forgiving, given this story was originally published in the '30s. Then I remembered Verne and Wells, so... yeah. This was really too pulpy for me. It’s hard to gauge whether I would have enjoyed this had I been in the position to read it when it was new, but it definitely didn’t stand the test of time.
Jack Williamson, The Prince of Space ★★☆☆☆
A rather bizarre mix of hard- and soft-sci-fi elements in this story. The tale itself was honestly a bit lack-lustre but I guess it would have seemed much more fantastical in its own time.
Leigh Brackett, Enchantress of Venus ★★★☆☆
This was the strongest story in this section. Reading it, I could just see all of the action rendered in fantastic oil-paintings of that mid-20th century fantasy style; dark, brooding, muscle-bound men with long hair and bare chests, buxom women, and horrific, insectoid monsters. This kind of fantasy tale is not really my fare, but it's a pretty good example of it and I can appreciate it on its own merits.
Clive Jackson, The Swordsmen of Varnis ☆☆☆☆☆
Just What? This is not a story, this is a scene. Apparently, the gag in it was the inspiration for the (identical) gag in Raiders of the Lost Ark. That piece of trivia is the most interesting thing about this...
------------------------------------------------
II. DRAFTEES (1960s)
------------------------------------------------
Cordwainer Smith, The Game of Rat and Dragon ★★★★☆
I am definitely going to read more of this author. Beautiful dark imaging of the terrors of space, complete with a somewhat humorous tactic for dealing with them...
Samuel R. Delany, Empire Star ★★★★★
Took me a bit to get into this. The start is just so fucking pulpy. But it reveals itself to be much more. The kind of narrative woven here can be insanely difficult to balance but Delany does it with aplomb. Looking forward to reading some of his long fiction.
Robert Sheckley, Zirn Left Unguarded... ☆☆☆☆☆
Like The Swordsmen of Varnis in the previous section, this is not a story, merely an incoherent mash of words.
------------------------------------------------
III. TRANSITIONS/REDEFINERS (LATE 1970s TO LATE 1980s)
------------------------------------------------
David Brin, Temptation ★★★☆☆
This was well-written and I quite liked the weirdness of the cetnral idea but I just couldn’t get into the sentient dolphins...
David Drake, Ranks of Bronze ★★★★☆
This was one of the rare pieces in this anthology that seemed to be exactly the right length. A fun, engaging story that was a bit chilling when I thought a little deeper about its implications.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Weatherman ★★☆☆☆
The setting, central character, and concepts of this story felt like they belonged in a longer piece of writing. The plotting opened strong, climaxed too quickly and a bit arbitrarily, and then slid through a weird epilogue of sorts. It was an enjoyable read, but I can't help thinking it would have worked much better as a novel.
Iain M. Banks, A Gift From the Culture ★★☆☆☆
I actually read this years ago in a Banks collection that I almost universally hated. This story wasn't really an exception. The Culture is probably my favourite extended world in any medium and this tale just doesn't come anywhere near any of the other books.
------------------------------------------------
IV. VOLUNTEERS: REVISIONARIES (EARLY 1990s)
------------------------------------------------
Dan Simmons, Orphans of the Helix ★★★★★
Another author whose work I intend to dive into very soon after reading this. The world building is just beautiful and Simmons' capability to convey a lot of that subtly, balancing overt exposition with subtext was a joy to read.
Colin Greenland, The Well Wishers ★★☆☆☆
This story was weird. But for some of the language, I'd swear this was written in the first half of the 20th century. The core idea, the plot, and the protagonist have no resonance and so the whole thing falls flat.
Peter F. Hamilton, Escape Route ★★★★☆
Fun. With cool ideas. Utterly predictable, but enjoyable none-the-less.
David Weber, Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington ★★☆☆☆
This novella is the longest piece in the anthology and, though it could have happily been trimmed by 8 or 10 pages, it managed overall to make use of its length. It was a pretty fun read and the obsurdly competent, good at everything character(s) actually hit me as a bit of a novelty, something I haven’t really encounter much in the last decade or so of reading. This is real beach-holiday fare in my mind, good characterisation and character-development, a solid plot, and some shallow, yet well-executed world-building. The dialogue is just awful though, to the point of really breaking immersion. I suspect Weber’s political leanings might be another turn-off for some readers but that generally doesn’t bother me. That dialogue though...
Catherine Asaro, Aurora in Four Voices ★★★★☆
Romance is not a genre that particularly interests me; nor one I would think made for a logical match with hard SF. But Asaro's tale has math, art, romance, intrigue, and excitement; this is just a really well-structured SF story.
R. Garcia y Robertson, Ring Rats ★★★☆☆
Ending aside (its convenience does not bother me so much as how out-of-place the notion of getting rich by suing an interstellar organisation seems in this otherwise compelling world), this was a riveting read; tense and dark and possessed of that lethal frontier populated by people who've never known anything else vibe. For how quickly the ideas and characters have to be sketched, everything seems to have an appropriate level of depth, with nothing wasted.
Allen Steele, The Death of Captain Future ★★★☆☆
A well structured, tongue-in-cheek analysis of the changing face of operatic science fiction.
------------------------------------------------
V. MIXED SIGNALS/MIXED CATEGORIES (TO THE LATE 1990s)
------------------------------------------------
Gregory Benford, A Worm in the Well ★★☆☆☆
This was a bit weird. Neat concept, but it got lost in it.
Donald Kingsbury, The Survivor ★★★★☆
Set in Niven's Known Space universe, this novella follow's the military career of a cowardly Kzin during the Kzin invasion of Earth. I have read Ring World but none of the other works set in this universe, a fact which does not detract in any way from this story, which stands easily on its own. Kingsbury's background in mathematics is apparent in the rigour with which he constructs the universe, building it in painstaking detail that never seems out-of-place or unwelcome.
Sarah Zettel, Fool's Errand ★★☆☆☆
A cool idea that is not given any room to breathe. This story is just way too short to do justice to the central conceit and the consequences that could have been explored in great depth in a longer tale that could have taken many different paths between its open and close.
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Shobies' Story ★★★☆☆
Anyone familiar with Le Guin will find no surprises here, just the reliable enjoyment of an author who, though she really only does one thing, does it very well.
Robert Reed, The Remoras ★★★☆☆
The central plot is tight and compelling. The surrounding world-building is expansive and deep. This is a well realised sci-fi outing.
Paul J. McAuley, Recording Angel ★★☆☆☆
Like several of the stories in this volume, this is part of a larger universe that has been developed in other works both short and long. And it suffers, as they all do to some extent, from this; the world-building is intriguing, but shallow, by dint of length, while the central conceit of the tale, taken outside the extended-universe scenery, is insufficient to render the story worthwhile on its own terms. I suspect I would have liked this more if I was engaged in the universe already through longer works.
Stephen Baxter, The Great Game ★★★☆☆
I’m not much of a Baxter fan. He seems to have a real problem getting too distracted with an idea to writie a coherent plot or compelling characters. This story was pretty good though. The characters were sketches but it was well-plotted and fun to read.
Michael Moorcock, Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel ★☆☆☆☆
Yeah… Did not like.
Michael Kandel, Space Opera ★★☆☆☆
Cute. But a little too smug.
------------------------------------------------
VI. NEXT WAVE (TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY)
------------------------------------------------
Tony Daniels, Grist ★★★☆☆
A compelling blend of space-fantasy and post-singularity, super-tech weirdness. The story doesn't much rise above being an extended character study slash idea-dump, and really feels a bit too much like a prelude to a more extended work (which I believe it is) to pass muster as a stand-alone story. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.
Scott Westerfeld, The Movements of Her Eyes ★★★☆☆
A great treatment of AI and the notion of personhood. Definitely feels rushed, like this could have been a novel and would have benefited from it, but well-told and a pleasure to read.
Alastair Reynolds, Spirey and the Queen ★★★★☆
A nice, well-plotted story but, like Pushing Ice, my one previous foray into Reynolds' work, it is the backdrop where the wonder resides. Definitely going to read more Reynolds.
Charles Stross, Bear Trap ★★★★☆
Oh wow. This has shades of Jeff Noon and Hannu Rajanemi for me. Very cool. Great absurdist, post-singularity, mind-warping fun.
John C. Wright, Guest Law ★★★☆☆
This was very almost the best piece in this anthology, but it just couldn’t bring all the threads together. Wright didn't quite succeed in summoning the world of this story into a form that I felt I could touch and be emotionally affected by. The blending of a caste-based society, steeped in cruelty; the harsh realities of living in a world that is all frontier; and a basic twist-tale could have made for a truly great story, but it should have been longer. There was too much in this that wasn't given enough space.
While the quality of the individual stories in this anthology is predictably variable, in the aggregate I count it a massive success in that it has transferred a number of authors from my "oh yeah, I recognise that name" list to my "to read" list. There were a few truly great stories, a few that struck me personally as total rubbish and a lot that seemed to have potential but just failed to really hit the mark. Two issues recurred frequently that prevented stories from really standing on their own merits: many seemed to be far too short, failing to do justices to their own settings and ideas; and many were part of a larger universe built of both short stories and novels, and thus skimped on world-building, character-arcs, etc, as these were explored to a larger extent in other works. It was not uncommon for both these issues to affect a single piece.
The stories are roughly grouped into eras, tracking changing trends in space opera. This grouping seems to be more about the authors being showcased, as many of the stories were first published long after the era into which they are grouped in this anthology. The sense of historical overview is nice, and provides a metric to gauge other works of the same era, for authors not represented here. The six divisions span from the 1930s to works contemporaneous to the publication of this anthology (2006). I liked most of the stuff from the ‘60s through to the early ‘90s (roughly 3 ‘eras’ here) and the 21st century stuff. I was not at all a fan of the really early 20th century offerings and found the early to late ‘90s stuff to be quite the mixed bag.
Each story is accompanied by a 1-2 page summary of the author, including some notes on background and notable works. On the whole, I liked these blurbs, finding that they added a layer of enjoyment to my reading experience.
I would definitely recommend this volume to anyone interested in the genre, especially those who have not yet read widely in it.
------------------------------------------------
David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, Introduction: How Shit Became Shinola: Definition and Redefinition of Space Opera ★★☆☆☆
I tend to find introductions of this nature a bit dull and often skip them. I read this one and I guess it's fine, but it does manage to be simultaneously a bit dull and lacking in depth. I feel like I slogged through it without getting a sufficient insight into the development of the genre, but still enduring a seemingly endless list of names and quotations...
------------------------------------------------
I. REDEFINED WRITERS
------------------------------------------------
Edmond Hamilton, The Star Stealers ★☆☆☆☆
I was initially inclined to be more forgiving, given this story was originally published in the '30s. Then I remembered Verne and Wells, so... yeah. This was really too pulpy for me. It’s hard to gauge whether I would have enjoyed this had I been in the position to read it when it was new, but it definitely didn’t stand the test of time.
Jack Williamson, The Prince of Space ★★☆☆☆
A rather bizarre mix of hard- and soft-sci-fi elements in this story. The tale itself was honestly a bit lack-lustre but I guess it would have seemed much more fantastical in its own time.
Leigh Brackett, Enchantress of Venus ★★★☆☆
This was the strongest story in this section. Reading it, I could just see all of the action rendered in fantastic oil-paintings of that mid-20th century fantasy style; dark, brooding, muscle-bound men with long hair and bare chests, buxom women, and horrific, insectoid monsters. This kind of fantasy tale is not really my fare, but it's a pretty good example of it and I can appreciate it on its own merits.
Clive Jackson, The Swordsmen of Varnis ☆☆☆☆☆
Just What? This is not a story, this is a scene. Apparently, the gag in it was the inspiration for the (identical) gag in Raiders of the Lost Ark. That piece of trivia is the most interesting thing about this...
------------------------------------------------
II. DRAFTEES (1960s)
------------------------------------------------
Cordwainer Smith, The Game of Rat and Dragon ★★★★☆
I am definitely going to read more of this author. Beautiful dark imaging of the terrors of space, complete with a somewhat humorous tactic for dealing with them...
Samuel R. Delany, Empire Star ★★★★★
Took me a bit to get into this. The start is just so fucking pulpy. But it reveals itself to be much more. The kind of narrative woven here can be insanely difficult to balance but Delany does it with aplomb. Looking forward to reading some of his long fiction.
Robert Sheckley, Zirn Left Unguarded... ☆☆☆☆☆
Like The Swordsmen of Varnis in the previous section, this is not a story, merely an incoherent mash of words.
------------------------------------------------
III. TRANSITIONS/REDEFINERS (LATE 1970s TO LATE 1980s)
------------------------------------------------
David Brin, Temptation ★★★☆☆
This was well-written and I quite liked the weirdness of the cetnral idea but I just couldn’t get into the sentient dolphins...
David Drake, Ranks of Bronze ★★★★☆
This was one of the rare pieces in this anthology that seemed to be exactly the right length. A fun, engaging story that was a bit chilling when I thought a little deeper about its implications.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Weatherman ★★☆☆☆
The setting, central character, and concepts of this story felt like they belonged in a longer piece of writing. The plotting opened strong, climaxed too quickly and a bit arbitrarily, and then slid through a weird epilogue of sorts. It was an enjoyable read, but I can't help thinking it would have worked much better as a novel.
Iain M. Banks, A Gift From the Culture ★★☆☆☆
I actually read this years ago in a Banks collection that I almost universally hated. This story wasn't really an exception. The Culture is probably my favourite extended world in any medium and this tale just doesn't come anywhere near any of the other books.
------------------------------------------------
IV. VOLUNTEERS: REVISIONARIES (EARLY 1990s)
------------------------------------------------
Dan Simmons, Orphans of the Helix ★★★★★
Another author whose work I intend to dive into very soon after reading this. The world building is just beautiful and Simmons' capability to convey a lot of that subtly, balancing overt exposition with subtext was a joy to read.
Colin Greenland, The Well Wishers ★★☆☆☆
This story was weird. But for some of the language, I'd swear this was written in the first half of the 20th century. The core idea, the plot, and the protagonist have no resonance and so the whole thing falls flat.
Peter F. Hamilton, Escape Route ★★★★☆
Fun. With cool ideas. Utterly predictable, but enjoyable none-the-less.
David Weber, Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington ★★☆☆☆
This novella is the longest piece in the anthology and, though it could have happily been trimmed by 8 or 10 pages, it managed overall to make use of its length. It was a pretty fun read and the obsurdly competent, good at everything character(s) actually hit me as a bit of a novelty, something I haven’t really encounter much in the last decade or so of reading. This is real beach-holiday fare in my mind, good characterisation and character-development, a solid plot, and some shallow, yet well-executed world-building. The dialogue is just awful though, to the point of really breaking immersion. I suspect Weber’s political leanings might be another turn-off for some readers but that generally doesn’t bother me. That dialogue though...
Catherine Asaro, Aurora in Four Voices ★★★★☆
Romance is not a genre that particularly interests me; nor one I would think made for a logical match with hard SF. But Asaro's tale has math, art, romance, intrigue, and excitement; this is just a really well-structured SF story.
R. Garcia y Robertson, Ring Rats ★★★☆☆
Ending aside (its convenience does not bother me so much as how out-of-place the notion of getting rich by suing an interstellar organisation seems in this otherwise compelling world), this was a riveting read; tense and dark and possessed of that lethal frontier populated by people who've never known anything else vibe. For how quickly the ideas and characters have to be sketched, everything seems to have an appropriate level of depth, with nothing wasted.
Allen Steele, The Death of Captain Future ★★★☆☆
A well structured, tongue-in-cheek analysis of the changing face of operatic science fiction.
------------------------------------------------
V. MIXED SIGNALS/MIXED CATEGORIES (TO THE LATE 1990s)
------------------------------------------------
Gregory Benford, A Worm in the Well ★★☆☆☆
This was a bit weird. Neat concept, but it got lost in it.
Donald Kingsbury, The Survivor ★★★★☆
Set in Niven's Known Space universe, this novella follow's the military career of a cowardly Kzin during the Kzin invasion of Earth. I have read Ring World but none of the other works set in this universe, a fact which does not detract in any way from this story, which stands easily on its own. Kingsbury's background in mathematics is apparent in the rigour with which he constructs the universe, building it in painstaking detail that never seems out-of-place or unwelcome.
Sarah Zettel, Fool's Errand ★★☆☆☆
A cool idea that is not given any room to breathe. This story is just way too short to do justice to the central conceit and the consequences that could have been explored in great depth in a longer tale that could have taken many different paths between its open and close.
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Shobies' Story ★★★☆☆
Anyone familiar with Le Guin will find no surprises here, just the reliable enjoyment of an author who, though she really only does one thing, does it very well.
Robert Reed, The Remoras ★★★☆☆
The central plot is tight and compelling. The surrounding world-building is expansive and deep. This is a well realised sci-fi outing.
Paul J. McAuley, Recording Angel ★★☆☆☆
Like several of the stories in this volume, this is part of a larger universe that has been developed in other works both short and long. And it suffers, as they all do to some extent, from this; the world-building is intriguing, but shallow, by dint of length, while the central conceit of the tale, taken outside the extended-universe scenery, is insufficient to render the story worthwhile on its own terms. I suspect I would have liked this more if I was engaged in the universe already through longer works.
Stephen Baxter, The Great Game ★★★☆☆
I’m not much of a Baxter fan. He seems to have a real problem getting too distracted with an idea to writie a coherent plot or compelling characters. This story was pretty good though. The characters were sketches but it was well-plotted and fun to read.
Michael Moorcock, Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel ★☆☆☆☆
Yeah… Did not like.
Michael Kandel, Space Opera ★★☆☆☆
Cute. But a little too smug.
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VI. NEXT WAVE (TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY)
------------------------------------------------
Tony Daniels, Grist ★★★☆☆
A compelling blend of space-fantasy and post-singularity, super-tech weirdness. The story doesn't much rise above being an extended character study slash idea-dump, and really feels a bit too much like a prelude to a more extended work (which I believe it is) to pass muster as a stand-alone story. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.
Scott Westerfeld, The Movements of Her Eyes ★★★☆☆
A great treatment of AI and the notion of personhood. Definitely feels rushed, like this could have been a novel and would have benefited from it, but well-told and a pleasure to read.
Alastair Reynolds, Spirey and the Queen ★★★★☆
A nice, well-plotted story but, like Pushing Ice, my one previous foray into Reynolds' work, it is the backdrop where the wonder resides. Definitely going to read more Reynolds.
Charles Stross, Bear Trap ★★★★☆
Oh wow. This has shades of Jeff Noon and Hannu Rajanemi for me. Very cool. Great absurdist, post-singularity, mind-warping fun.
John C. Wright, Guest Law ★★★☆☆
This was very almost the best piece in this anthology, but it just couldn’t bring all the threads together. Wright didn't quite succeed in summoning the world of this story into a form that I felt I could touch and be emotionally affected by. The blending of a caste-based society, steeped in cruelty; the harsh realities of living in a world that is all frontier; and a basic twist-tale could have made for a truly great story, but it should have been longer. There was too much in this that wasn't given enough space.
June 2, 2020
i only picked this up to read the one bujold story in it but then quarantine hit so i decided to read the whole thing. i read them all save one which i simply could not stomach
authors i must read more of: sarah zettel, scott westerfeld, samuel r delaney
--
edmond hamilton, the star stealers
★★
jack williamson, the prince of space
★
disgusting portrayal of the ONE female character, sucky plot
leigh brackett, enchantress of venus
★★
bit all over the place
clive jackson, the swordsman of varnis
★★
again, misogyny out the wazoo, but twist at the end made me laugh out loud
cordwainer smith, the game of rat and dragon
★★★★
completely unlike anything i've ever read
samuel r delany, empire star
★★★★★
a devil-kitten that giggles when it's upset.. a ‘linguistic ubiquitous multiplex’ that makes literary allusions to wilde and bosie.. a story that starts where it ends and also doesn't ! absolutely terrific writing *_*
robert sheckley, zirn left unguarded. the jenghik palace in flames. jon westerley dead
★★★
confusing at first with all the proper nouns strewn about but rly pulls together in the last two passages
david brin, temptation
★★★
strong lady DOLPHIN
david drake, ranks of bronze
★★
much too military for my tastes
lois mcmaster bujold, weatherman
★★★★★
bujold does not disappoint :-)
iain m banks, a gift from the culture
★★★★
dan simmons, orphans of the helix
★★★
colin greenland, the well wishers
‘you couldn't stop working, they all agreed. none of them at the moment seemed to be in much of a hurry to start again, nevertheless.’
★★★★
fantastic murder sf
peter f hamilton, escape route
★★★★
excellent
david weber, ms. midshipwoman harrington
★★★★★
honor harrington can Murder me
catherine asaro, aurora in four voices
★★★
notbad; do not understand title of story
r garcia y robertson, ring rats
★★★
allen steele, the death of captain future
★★★
gregory benford, a worm in the well
★★★★
donald kingsbury, the survivor
dnf: couldn't get through more than two pages dripping misogyny
sarah zettel, fool’s errand
★★★★
ursula k le guin, the shobies’ story
★★★
robert reed, the remoras
★★★★
clever clever clever
paul j mcauley, recording angel
★★
stephen baxter, the great game
★★★
michael moorcock, lost sorceress of the silent citadel
★
hot garbage
michael kandel, space opera
★★★★
funny!! pierre menard vibes; there were a lot of music references that i wish had not gone entirely over my head
tony daniel, grist
★★
very confusing .....
scott westerfeld, the movements of her eyes
★★★★
i loved this author’s uglies series, and this story was fantastic too.. bit at the end was a little Uncomf though.
p.s. WILDE REFERENCE!!!!! UGH
alastair reynolds, spirey and the queen
★★★
not baaaaaad
charles stross, bear trap
★★★
too many finance references i do not comprehend!!!!
john c wright, guest law
★★★
did not at all enjoy the implications that humanity would regress so badly despite having progressed so far ;__;
authors i must read more of: sarah zettel, scott westerfeld, samuel r delaney
--
edmond hamilton, the star stealers
★★
jack williamson, the prince of space
★
disgusting portrayal of the ONE female character, sucky plot
leigh brackett, enchantress of venus
★★
bit all over the place
clive jackson, the swordsman of varnis
★★
again, misogyny out the wazoo, but twist at the end made me laugh out loud
cordwainer smith, the game of rat and dragon
★★★★
completely unlike anything i've ever read
samuel r delany, empire star
★★★★★
a devil-kitten that giggles when it's upset.. a ‘linguistic ubiquitous multiplex’ that makes literary allusions to wilde and bosie.. a story that starts where it ends and also doesn't ! absolutely terrific writing *_*
robert sheckley, zirn left unguarded. the jenghik palace in flames. jon westerley dead
★★★
confusing at first with all the proper nouns strewn about but rly pulls together in the last two passages
david brin, temptation
★★★
strong lady DOLPHIN
david drake, ranks of bronze
★★
much too military for my tastes
lois mcmaster bujold, weatherman
★★★★★
bujold does not disappoint :-)
iain m banks, a gift from the culture
★★★★
dan simmons, orphans of the helix
★★★
colin greenland, the well wishers
‘you couldn't stop working, they all agreed. none of them at the moment seemed to be in much of a hurry to start again, nevertheless.’
★★★★
fantastic murder sf
peter f hamilton, escape route
★★★★
excellent
david weber, ms. midshipwoman harrington
★★★★★
honor harrington can Murder me
catherine asaro, aurora in four voices
★★★
notbad; do not understand title of story
r garcia y robertson, ring rats
★★★
allen steele, the death of captain future
★★★
gregory benford, a worm in the well
★★★★
donald kingsbury, the survivor
dnf: couldn't get through more than two pages dripping misogyny
sarah zettel, fool’s errand
★★★★
ursula k le guin, the shobies’ story
★★★
robert reed, the remoras
★★★★
clever clever clever
paul j mcauley, recording angel
★★
stephen baxter, the great game
★★★
michael moorcock, lost sorceress of the silent citadel
★
hot garbage
michael kandel, space opera
★★★★
funny!! pierre menard vibes; there were a lot of music references that i wish had not gone entirely over my head
tony daniel, grist
★★
very confusing .....
scott westerfeld, the movements of her eyes
★★★★
i loved this author’s uglies series, and this story was fantastic too.. bit at the end was a little Uncomf though.
p.s. WILDE REFERENCE!!!!! UGH
alastair reynolds, spirey and the queen
★★★
not baaaaaad
charles stross, bear trap
★★★
too many finance references i do not comprehend!!!!
john c wright, guest law
★★★
did not at all enjoy the implications that humanity would regress so badly despite having progressed so far ;__;
January 1, 2019
The Space Opera Renaissance is the kind of book that deserves to drift in stately orbit around a gas giant while "Also sprach Zarathustra" plays. It's a massive tome of a book, 941 pages, 32 stories, close to 90 years of science fiction history. There are some very good stories in this collection. With this much diversity, you're sure to find something that you love, and the authors read like a who's who's of the field.
Space opera has always been something of an archaism, as science fiction tried to carve out a niche as serious literature. While early pioneers like E.E. 'Doc' Smith and Olaf Stapledon could imagine mythologies of cosmological scope, much of the early pulps were filled with poorly written adventurous tripe, the 'horse operas' of cheap western fiction redone on the Red Hills of Mars, rather than the Dakotas. Serious science fiction in the vein of Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction could discuss the engineering challenges of rocketry as a venue for a kind of Heinlein-Clarke 'competent hero', a man handier with a slide rule than a ray blaster. New Wave and cyberpunk turned defiant against outer space, conquering new realms of inner space and cyberspace. Yet the flame remained alive in the hands of M. John Harrison, and then a host of British retro-scifi writers (Banks, Hamilton, Reynolds) who imagined new kinds of post-imperial space opera. As fans, we love space opera, even as we're embarrassed by it.
Yet there's also an unbalanced quality to this collection, editorial choices that I found puzzling. No stories by Doc Smith or M. John Harrison, despite their status as grandmasters of the genre. Cramer and Hartwell use the page count to include complete novellas, but the early stories are some very rough pulps that outstay their welcome. Lois McMaster Bujold is represented by "Weatherman", which is a fantastic character study but entirely planetbound, while David Drake gets a fragment of a story about a Roman legion kidnapped and used as intersteller mercenaries, another mud bound adventure.
Space opera is a big tent of a sub-genre, but if I were to define it, it'd be about a certain grandeur of scope, of clashing planets and galaxies at stake, as well as a larger-than-life quality of its characters. It's a big universe, but with a fast spaceship, they can make it their own. There's lot of room to construct, parody, deconstruct the genre, to generate that necessary sensation of awe. There's a spot for a really great thematic collection, one that links the history of the genre to it's future, and frustratingly this is not that. I doubt anyone knew more about science-fiction than Hartwell, and Cramer was his partner of almost 20 years. So it's not enough for them to pick good stories. I want perfect stories, and this collection is about 500 pages overweight for perfection.
Space opera has always been something of an archaism, as science fiction tried to carve out a niche as serious literature. While early pioneers like E.E. 'Doc' Smith and Olaf Stapledon could imagine mythologies of cosmological scope, much of the early pulps were filled with poorly written adventurous tripe, the 'horse operas' of cheap western fiction redone on the Red Hills of Mars, rather than the Dakotas. Serious science fiction in the vein of Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction could discuss the engineering challenges of rocketry as a venue for a kind of Heinlein-Clarke 'competent hero', a man handier with a slide rule than a ray blaster. New Wave and cyberpunk turned defiant against outer space, conquering new realms of inner space and cyberspace. Yet the flame remained alive in the hands of M. John Harrison, and then a host of British retro-scifi writers (Banks, Hamilton, Reynolds) who imagined new kinds of post-imperial space opera. As fans, we love space opera, even as we're embarrassed by it.
Yet there's also an unbalanced quality to this collection, editorial choices that I found puzzling. No stories by Doc Smith or M. John Harrison, despite their status as grandmasters of the genre. Cramer and Hartwell use the page count to include complete novellas, but the early stories are some very rough pulps that outstay their welcome. Lois McMaster Bujold is represented by "Weatherman", which is a fantastic character study but entirely planetbound, while David Drake gets a fragment of a story about a Roman legion kidnapped and used as intersteller mercenaries, another mud bound adventure.
Space opera is a big tent of a sub-genre, but if I were to define it, it'd be about a certain grandeur of scope, of clashing planets and galaxies at stake, as well as a larger-than-life quality of its characters. It's a big universe, but with a fast spaceship, they can make it their own. There's lot of room to construct, parody, deconstruct the genre, to generate that necessary sensation of awe. There's a spot for a really great thematic collection, one that links the history of the genre to it's future, and frustratingly this is not that. I doubt anyone knew more about science-fiction than Hartwell, and Cramer was his partner of almost 20 years. So it's not enough for them to pick good stories. I want perfect stories, and this collection is about 500 pages overweight for perfection.
March 19, 2011
Huge anthology (941 pages) of mostly excellent stories, very few of which I had actually read before (Lois McMaster Bujold's "Weatherman", Peter F. Hamilton's "Escape Route" and Allen Steele's "The Death of Captain Future" - all great stories), tracing the space opera sub-genre through the decades. It's not always my favourite mode (and I found myself choking at short stories by a couple of writers whose longer works I have also bounced off) but the selection is generally good. In particular I appreciated the early stories from Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamon, Clive Jackson and especially Leigh Brackett ("Enchantress of Venus") - shamefully, I am not sure that I had read anything at all by her previously, but I must repair that omission. The longest story is "The Survivor" by Donald Kingsbury, set in the Man-Kzin wars cycle originated by Larry Niven, a gruesome and disturbing though well-written tale. In general this is well worth looking out for.
January 24, 2023
From my 2007 review: https://www.amazon.com/review/RVCX033...
I'm working my way through the Hartwell & Cramer SPACE OPERA RENAISSANCE anthology, and finding it well-done and to my taste -- I think it's Hartwell's best BIG review-anthology yet. Truly a doorstop: 940+ pages!, with a surprisingly large number of new-to-me stories.
Space Opera, as Hartwell points out in his nicely-done introductory essay and story notes, is a flexible concept. And when you get to New Space Opera, or Widescreen Baroque Space Opera -- well, no one really knows what these are. Really, space opera is what Hartwell (or whoever) points to when he says "space opera"...
.... there's a ton of good stories here, most of which you'll be happy to add to your permanent library. Check it out. 5 star book!
I'm working my way through the Hartwell & Cramer SPACE OPERA RENAISSANCE anthology, and finding it well-done and to my taste -- I think it's Hartwell's best BIG review-anthology yet. Truly a doorstop: 940+ pages!, with a surprisingly large number of new-to-me stories.
Space Opera, as Hartwell points out in his nicely-done introductory essay and story notes, is a flexible concept. And when you get to New Space Opera, or Widescreen Baroque Space Opera -- well, no one really knows what these are. Really, space opera is what Hartwell (or whoever) points to when he says "space opera"...
.... there's a ton of good stories here, most of which you'll be happy to add to your permanent library. Check it out. 5 star book!
November 8, 2022
Great reminder of why I love several of the authors represented in this collection (Hamilton, other Hamilton, Banks, Le Guin, Weber, Bujold, Asaro, Reynolds, and more) as well as an intriguing introduction to several others. Quality of stories varied greatly as some of the authors are much more adept to this format than others. And lastly, an anthology like this, I feel, necessitates a versatile narrator, which it did not have.
July 5, 2020
Great book but man a lotta pages
September 9, 2012
Anthology. This was a better than average anthology, although I didn't read all of the short stories. My feminist proclivities have made an appearance in this anthology. I only read the works by the female authors. What is extremely interesting in this anthology are the mini-biographies about each author before their short story. I usually will read the little sentence or two about the author whenever I read a book but these go into much more detail noting why the biographer feels the author fits into the space opera genre. Fascinating stuff and well worth the read.
Enchantress of Venus by Leigh Brackett. With the small biography, I knew that her work was written mostly in the 1940s and from what was said thought it would be a lot like Flash Gordon. The only thing I found Flash Gordon-ish was that the planets have breathable air. The main character is a human raised by aboriginals from Mercury so when push comes to shove he reverts back to his roots. I really enjoyed the story. As an aside, Leigh Brackett turned in the screen play for "The Empire Strikes Back" a few weeks before her death and helped write "The Big Sleep" with William Faulkner. I found that very impressive. I'm definitely going to be reading more of her stuff as this is the first time I really ever heard of her. *****
Weatherman by Lois McMaster Bujold. Miles has finally been assigned through the military but for the next 6 months he has to wait for the ship assignment, he's sent to be the weatherman at an arctic post. As usual, his "good" luck follows him. Very good story. *****
Aurora in Four Voices by Catherine Asaro. Jato has been stuck on a planet with perpetual darkness on trumped up charges just so an artist can use him as his model. Soz is there to investigate and figures out the plot. Now they have to try to escape. Although I have one of this author's books in my TBR stack, this is my actual first time reading her work. Loved it. *****
Fool's Errand by Sarah Zettel. Another first time read of this author. Dobbs is a "Fool" who is hired to break tension on board spaceships but they all are much more than that. When an AI destroys the world's online currency system and is trying to escape, the Fools try to stop it. Good story. Wish it was a little longer. I'm planning on reading the book that follows this story, "Fool's Run". ****
The Shobie's Story by Ursula K. LeGuin. Did a spaceship crew use a new method of travel or not? Okay story. **
Enchantress of Venus by Leigh Brackett. With the small biography, I knew that her work was written mostly in the 1940s and from what was said thought it would be a lot like Flash Gordon. The only thing I found Flash Gordon-ish was that the planets have breathable air. The main character is a human raised by aboriginals from Mercury so when push comes to shove he reverts back to his roots. I really enjoyed the story. As an aside, Leigh Brackett turned in the screen play for "The Empire Strikes Back" a few weeks before her death and helped write "The Big Sleep" with William Faulkner. I found that very impressive. I'm definitely going to be reading more of her stuff as this is the first time I really ever heard of her. *****
Weatherman by Lois McMaster Bujold. Miles has finally been assigned through the military but for the next 6 months he has to wait for the ship assignment, he's sent to be the weatherman at an arctic post. As usual, his "good" luck follows him. Very good story. *****
Aurora in Four Voices by Catherine Asaro. Jato has been stuck on a planet with perpetual darkness on trumped up charges just so an artist can use him as his model. Soz is there to investigate and figures out the plot. Now they have to try to escape. Although I have one of this author's books in my TBR stack, this is my actual first time reading her work. Loved it. *****
Fool's Errand by Sarah Zettel. Another first time read of this author. Dobbs is a "Fool" who is hired to break tension on board spaceships but they all are much more than that. When an AI destroys the world's online currency system and is trying to escape, the Fools try to stop it. Good story. Wish it was a little longer. I'm planning on reading the book that follows this story, "Fool's Run". ****
The Shobie's Story by Ursula K. LeGuin. Did a spaceship crew use a new method of travel or not? Okay story. **
September 24, 2010
A good book, comprehensive in its coverage of the genre through over half a century of existence and eye-opening! As with a lot of science fiction though, I got a little weirded out towards the 80s and 90s stories, mostly being that stuff like that hits a little close to home. It's still space opera and not hard science fiction, but I found it unnerving all the same. The drama was there that makes the genre separate from science fiction either way, and I thoroughly enjoyed it (though a part of me loved those pre-60s space adventure stories the best).
September 17, 2011
Another hefty tome from the Hartwell canon. Wide-ranging and brilliant, there's a nice assembly of stories to give you an idea that Space Opera should not be derided, nor is it as simplistic a subgenre as some would suggest. Not easy to do when such material these days is typified by 1000-plus-page multi-volume blockbusters. Though not all tales will be to everyone's tastes, recommended.
December 22, 2008
Were there a three-and-a-half star rating, I would give it that.
An uneven collection spanning seventy-five years of space opera. The stories are better than the commentary. I suggest the busy reader skip the editorial comments.
Of the unexpected gems, "Guest Law" is perhaps the most fun.
An uneven collection spanning seventy-five years of space opera. The stories are better than the commentary. I suggest the busy reader skip the editorial comments.
Of the unexpected gems, "Guest Law" is perhaps the most fun.
March 30, 2020
This is a weighty tome containing several novella-length works.
Table of Contents
The only thing I didn't read was Iain Banks' "A Gift From The Culture" which I read less than two years ago in The State of the Art.
There's a version of Donald Kingsbury's "The Survivor" from Man-Kzin Wars IV. I have read this before but it was long enough ago that I was able to enjoy the re-read. In fact, this left me wanting to read the whole series again. Great series! Larry Niven had a real gift for inventing plausible alien races.
I really liked "Escape Route" by Peter Hamilton, "The Remoras" by Robert Reed, "Recording Angel" by Paul McAuley, "Grist" by Tony Daniel, "Spirey and the Queen" by Alastair Reynolds.
Broadened my understanding of the term Space Opera. I was kind of expecting a bunch of old stuff like the work of E. E. "Doc" Smith but instead this collection takes us right through the cyberpunk and post-singularity fiction of the last decade.
Table of Contents
The only thing I didn't read was Iain Banks' "A Gift From The Culture" which I read less than two years ago in The State of the Art.
There's a version of Donald Kingsbury's "The Survivor" from Man-Kzin Wars IV. I have read this before but it was long enough ago that I was able to enjoy the re-read. In fact, this left me wanting to read the whole series again. Great series! Larry Niven had a real gift for inventing plausible alien races.
I really liked "Escape Route" by Peter Hamilton, "The Remoras" by Robert Reed, "Recording Angel" by Paul McAuley, "Grist" by Tony Daniel, "Spirey and the Queen" by Alastair Reynolds.
Broadened my understanding of the term Space Opera. I was kind of expecting a bunch of old stuff like the work of E. E. "Doc" Smith but instead this collection takes us right through the cyberpunk and post-singularity fiction of the last decade.
December 19, 2020
Impressive collection of shorts/novellas laying out the history of Space Operas with examples of multiple authors over a period of 85 years. With such a wide selection of styles highlighting the sub-genre's evolution, I liked some more than others (particularly those from my favourite publisher Baen). All in all, a really good primer of the top names in science fiction.
October 25, 2020
Fabulous list of great authors with some seminal short stories.
May 10, 2025
Wonderful overview of space opera with many examples of the genre. Appreciated the author summaries as well.
May 12, 2024
My faves:
The Star Stealers - Edmond Hamilton
The Prince of Space - Jack Williamson
Enchantress of Venus - Leigh Brackett
The Game of Rat and Dragon - Cordwainer Smith
Empire Star - Samuel R. Delany
Temptation - David Brin
Ranks of Bronze - David Drake
Weatherman - Lois McMaster Bujold
Orphans of the Helix - Dan Simmons
Escape Route - Peter F. Hamilton
The Survivor - Donald Kingsbury
The Shobies' Story - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Remoras - Robert Reed
Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel - Michael Moorcock
The Movements of Her Eyes - Scott Westerfeld
Spirey and the Queen - Alastair Reynolds
Guest Law - John C. Wright
The Star Stealers - Edmond Hamilton
The Prince of Space - Jack Williamson
Enchantress of Venus - Leigh Brackett
The Game of Rat and Dragon - Cordwainer Smith
Empire Star - Samuel R. Delany
Temptation - David Brin
Ranks of Bronze - David Drake
Weatherman - Lois McMaster Bujold
Orphans of the Helix - Dan Simmons
Escape Route - Peter F. Hamilton
The Survivor - Donald Kingsbury
The Shobies' Story - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Remoras - Robert Reed
Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel - Michael Moorcock
The Movements of Her Eyes - Scott Westerfeld
Spirey and the Queen - Alastair Reynolds
Guest Law - John C. Wright
May 23, 2020
"The Prince of Space," by Jack Williamson (1931): 8
- so, yes, I don't really know how to grade this, but it seems good enough, especially if I'm judging the context in place of the genre of the time of its creation. Short synopsis: Buck Rogers, space adventure, piracy, mars invasion, somebody or at the end sucking human blood, and quite a bit of interesting science dealing with evolution and natural selection that I didn't expect from something out of this period. As with most of these, the gender presuppositions and fairly broad psychological introspections are weak, even though they're given a sort of primacy in the story itself, counterintuitively. What does work here, however, is exactly what doesn't work in the Martian odyssey story by Weinbaum. To that end, the description of the otherness of the aliens is effective and mildly terrifying, and the infusion of technology into the narrative, as it served as a factor in the direction of the completion was convincing in a swashbuckling sort of way. Idea: take every pre-WWII space opera story and manually replace all the "space" stuff with parallel nautical themes.
"The Remoras," by Robert Reed (1994): 9.25
- such a strange story that's doing such a common thing; transplanting the narrative of the rich lady, bored as housewife, allured by the poor cool underworld and strange subculture into a place in which she's out of her depths until that dislocation is made abundantly clear. So, the question then is whether this is good BEYOND that smart Scifi allusion to mainstream tropes or if it can even stand on its own apart from that. here i think it does; there's enough strange compelling stuff going on in this Cruise Ship in Space and allusions to a broader world that work
"The Star Stealers," by Edmond Hamilton (1929): 9
- okay, so this seems to be what is meant by 'classic sci fi,' what all the conservative readers want a return to. indeed, this seems to set the template for all the, again, 'classic' images I have in my head, even without knowing their provenance: the bridge with the mighty vistas; the dually new/retrograde gender politics [the beauty parlor seemed even too much]; the strangely omnipotent, strangely understandable, strangely defeatable, fully malign alien force; and, basically the complete re-tread of a long history of pulpy naval adventures translated to space [dashing escapes; huge ports; sudden rescues].
"Enchantress of Venus," by Leigh Bracket (1949): 7
- Well-executed JCOfM pastiche--meaning, unlike contemporary practitioners of Space Opera, like Hamilton or Leslie F. Stone, we are operating largely within an Adventure Story mode, only liberally covered by an sfnal frame--with the interesting addition of a protagonist, explicitly coded as "black". STORY: a frontier city of outlaws and outsiders on Venus, ruled over by evil family who've raised themselves to god-like power, are brought down by our good guys.
- so, yes, I don't really know how to grade this, but it seems good enough, especially if I'm judging the context in place of the genre of the time of its creation. Short synopsis: Buck Rogers, space adventure, piracy, mars invasion, somebody or at the end sucking human blood, and quite a bit of interesting science dealing with evolution and natural selection that I didn't expect from something out of this period. As with most of these, the gender presuppositions and fairly broad psychological introspections are weak, even though they're given a sort of primacy in the story itself, counterintuitively. What does work here, however, is exactly what doesn't work in the Martian odyssey story by Weinbaum. To that end, the description of the otherness of the aliens is effective and mildly terrifying, and the infusion of technology into the narrative, as it served as a factor in the direction of the completion was convincing in a swashbuckling sort of way. Idea: take every pre-WWII space opera story and manually replace all the "space" stuff with parallel nautical themes.
"The Remoras," by Robert Reed (1994): 9.25
- such a strange story that's doing such a common thing; transplanting the narrative of the rich lady, bored as housewife, allured by the poor cool underworld and strange subculture into a place in which she's out of her depths until that dislocation is made abundantly clear. So, the question then is whether this is good BEYOND that smart Scifi allusion to mainstream tropes or if it can even stand on its own apart from that. here i think it does; there's enough strange compelling stuff going on in this Cruise Ship in Space and allusions to a broader world that work
"The Star Stealers," by Edmond Hamilton (1929): 9
- okay, so this seems to be what is meant by 'classic sci fi,' what all the conservative readers want a return to. indeed, this seems to set the template for all the, again, 'classic' images I have in my head, even without knowing their provenance: the bridge with the mighty vistas; the dually new/retrograde gender politics [the beauty parlor seemed even too much]; the strangely omnipotent, strangely understandable, strangely defeatable, fully malign alien force; and, basically the complete re-tread of a long history of pulpy naval adventures translated to space [dashing escapes; huge ports; sudden rescues].
"Enchantress of Venus," by Leigh Bracket (1949): 7
- Well-executed JCOfM pastiche--meaning, unlike contemporary practitioners of Space Opera, like Hamilton or Leslie F. Stone, we are operating largely within an Adventure Story mode, only liberally covered by an sfnal frame--with the interesting addition of a protagonist, explicitly coded as "black". STORY: a frontier city of outlaws and outsiders on Venus, ruled over by evil family who've raised themselves to god-like power, are brought down by our good guys.
January 1, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2 stars
Most of this anthology is composed of stories. However, the editors also incomprehensibly include one entire novel and two excerpts. The novel is long, based in someone else's universe and not very good. One of the excerpts is quite good, but there's little I like less than an excerpt - if you do buy the novel, you've already read part of it. If you don't, you've only read part of the story.
Normally, I enjoy the little bios and blurbs that precede or succeed stories in an anthology. In this case, however, the editors have taken such an academic tone that it pretty much kills your interest in reading the stories themselves. I also disagree with their definitions of 'space opera'. I read and considered their position, but found it uninformative, and the various categories of space opera they suggest have little to do with the stories included, and less to do with other work produced in those periods. Anthologies often have a feeling not so much of consistent concept as of "random stories we got from our friends." This one is no different. You won't really learn much about space opera (by any definition) here.
The editors make much of a posited distinction between British and US science fiction. I suppose they may be right - they quote a lot of people (mostly British) who seem to agree. But I read a lot of science fiction (both British and US), and I've never thought much about it. I like certain authors and not others; some are British, some are American. Their nationality has made zero difference to my enjoyment or selection criteria. So while it's a big deal to the editors, at least one very well-read member of the audience couldn't care less.
Leaving aside the pompous analysis, the artificial distinctions, the random selection, and the occasional bit of novel... - this anthology does collect some good work, and a wide selection of authors. If you can pick it up cheap at a discount bookstore, go to it. Otherwise, I suggest looking elsewhere. I certainly won't be picking up the editors' companion volume (Hard SF Renaissance).
December 31, 2013
An impressive list of stories from the 'early days' of SF when, as Douglas Adams would say, "when men were real men ... and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri," to today's practitioners of this form of SF.
The included stories offer glimpses of vast universes which form an 'operatic' backdrop for the stories to play out in. The early stories, like "The Star Stealers" by Edmond Hamilton and "The Prince of Space" by Jack Williamson, are 'clunky' and definitely not hard-SF (as defined nowadays) but still play to form against this kind of backdrop.
"The Survivor" by Donald Kingsbury (set in Larry Niven's "Man-Kzin War" sequence) gives the most rounded view of this form of SF, but then it is the longest story in the book. Others like "Temptation" by David Brin are best appreciated if you know some background to the stories.
In general, the book contains a list of enjoyable fiction but are best appreciated by those who like their SF expansive and, where appropriate, are 'hard-SF'.
The included stories offer glimpses of vast universes which form an 'operatic' backdrop for the stories to play out in. The early stories, like "The Star Stealers" by Edmond Hamilton and "The Prince of Space" by Jack Williamson, are 'clunky' and definitely not hard-SF (as defined nowadays) but still play to form against this kind of backdrop.
"The Survivor" by Donald Kingsbury (set in Larry Niven's "Man-Kzin War" sequence) gives the most rounded view of this form of SF, but then it is the longest story in the book. Others like "Temptation" by David Brin are best appreciated if you know some background to the stories.
In general, the book contains a list of enjoyable fiction but are best appreciated by those who like their SF expansive and, where appropriate, are 'hard-SF'.
January 19, 2009
This book was purchased as part of an effort to expand my rather narrow SF horizons. There's a lot of good stuff in here, but I'd have appreciated a slightly more professionally produced set of introductions and commentary- they're informative, but give the definite impression of having been created with a deadline and a internet connection.
Despite this, I've come across nearly half a dozen stories so far that have me interested in seeing what more the authors have to offer.
Like the title implies, this stuff is classic space opera- not all of it is going to be really hard hitting, deep SF, but something I can consistently enjoy- beats the snot out of television, for certain.
In the end, it's worth a read. I expect that I'll seek our and read further material from just over half of the authors included. Much of which is stuff I would not have picked up just looking at it in a bookshop.
Despite this, I've come across nearly half a dozen stories so far that have me interested in seeing what more the authors have to offer.
Like the title implies, this stuff is classic space opera- not all of it is going to be really hard hitting, deep SF, but something I can consistently enjoy- beats the snot out of television, for certain.
In the end, it's worth a read. I expect that I'll seek our and read further material from just over half of the authors included. Much of which is stuff I would not have picked up just looking at it in a bookshop.
March 9, 2012
The Space Opera Renaissance is a surprisingly hefty tome of words, made even more so by the sheer volume crammed onto each page. Some of the ‘stories’ published herein were originally published as stand-alone novels. Some of them are almost shockingly concise while the majority fall somewhere in between. There is something that fascinates me about so many things in this book. Samuel R. Delaney very nearly reformatted my brain while Dan Simmons kept me reading far longer than I had intended. Space Opera includes bits of many subgenres but its title really says it all. This is opera in space. It is big and filled with emotions that run raw and heavy. But it is not without the ‘important’ parts. It has heart and allegory and when written by the right people it is beautiful.
July 21, 2018
Read the overlong and ponderous Intro last night. Boy, is this a "dense" book! The editors need editors, IMHO. Some good info on the history of the term "space opera", but way too much verbiage. At 900+ pages, this paperback book is a real "heavyweight". Hopefully, the quality of writing of at least some of the short stories will make the strain of holding the book worthwhile! Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and get an eReader, if only for the "light weight" factor!
August 3, 2014
As with any anthology, there were hits and there were misses. Mostly, I enjoyed the stories. The historical context provided by the editor definitely helped to structure the anthology and explain certain aesthetic choices. My biggest gripe was with the copy editing, which was absolutely terrible; spelling and punctuation mistakes were rampant and really got to be distracting after a while. Otherwise, worth reading.
January 9, 2009
This anthology presents an awesome history of the Space Opera genre, including dozens of short stories and novel excerpts form the 1940's to the present. There is a brief but informative essay at the beginning of each section of the anthology explaining the shifts in the genre as it evolved over time.
March 20, 2011
Rather good selection of Space opera stories. As a whole, i liked the book; however, my general attitude to the genre became worse after reading this. E.g., writings by R. Garcia y Robertson and Michael Moorcock were just horrible. Many others were not bad or middling. Stories by Catherine Asaro and Robert Reed were good. And by Paul J. McAuley and Tony Daniel were very good.
July 25, 2011
An excellent collection of stories tracing the history of Space Opera from 1929 - 2004. It clocks in at just under 1000 pages, and about 30 short stories & novellettes. Most of the stories were great (particularly those from the past 20 years), and I only found one to be subpar. Highly recommended for any fan of short SF work.
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September 29, 2016I made it a lot of the way through this collection. Moved away and this book didn't make the keeper pile. Good if you want to read a lot of early space opera, and probably good if you want to read later sci-fi too, but I didn't make it that far.
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