Space Opera Fans discussion

In the Amazon space opera forum, I asked a simple question; "What is the oldest space opera?" Some amazing answers have come out of this, going much deeper than Wikipedia, and much farther back in time than you might imagine. One person cited a work from 160 AD (Trips to the Moon by Lucian of Samosata) and another cited Homer's Odyssey (850 BC)!

What do you think?

Hello:
I think in the minds of many almost any speculative story or multi-level fantasy could be interpreted as space opera but what really comes to mind for me is Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon as classic space opera along with John Carter and Carson Napier. Those are all examples of what I feel is the core of early Space Opera.
I hope everybody had a Great New Year's weekend and hopefully we'll see a very active Space Opera year.
Have a Great Day!!!
The "Creature"

Agreed re Flash, Buck et al. Burroughs characters & stories are about the earliest that would meet my spaceships and derring-do criteria. From 1912, I believe, re the earliest Mars incarnations. Hugo Gernsback's "Ralph 124C41+" came out in 1911. 100 years ago. Hard to believe. But Burroughs' tales are still fun.

Hello:
Indeed they are. Just a little bit of exciting news for ya; John Carter is making a comeback in comic book form under Dynamite Entertainment. The series is called Warlord of Mare to be followed up in March with a Dejah Thoris series. The introductory first issue is only a buck. I picked it up the other day and it looks really good.
Have a Great Day!!!
The "Creature"

It's great to see John Carter and his red Martian wife back in the spotlight again. Back to the original question, has anyone read the piece written 160 AD "Trips to the Moon" by Lucian of Samosata?

Hello:
No, but if you hum a few bars (lol).
I haven't read it so I guess I'll do some searching today and see if I can find it.
Thanx for the heads up and...Have a Great Day!!!
The "Creature"

Hadn't heard of Trips to the Moon by Lucian of Samosata until now. Would be interested in hearing more.

HUGE John Carter of Mars fan. And Dejah Thoris has always been red hot.

John wrote: "Hadn't heard of Trips to the Moon by Lucian of Samosata until now. Would be interested in hearing more.

HUGE John Carter of Mars fan. And Dejah Thoris has always been red hot."

Available for kindle (& I assume all other ereaders) for free. Just downloaded it, will get to it someday!

other classic early space opera series I enjoyed when I ran across 'em back in the early '70's... E E Smith and his Lensmen series and Jack Williamson's Legions of Space series...

Homer Odyssey have one big disadvantage. There is no space travel involved. Nor possibility of space travel any influence for it plot. So no its not Space Opera.

PS For public domain work, great "bookstore" is google books.


Ladies and Gentlemen I've honor to presents to you
Trips to the Moon by Lucian of Samosata
http://books.google.com/books?id=k_vg...

Olaf Stapeldon, though his stuff is more philosophical and scholarly (in a sense) than traditional space opera?

Philosophical and scholarly themes can certainly be part of space opera plots. However, it there's no room for action or melodrama, then it may fall outside the genre.

I've been reading Trips to the Moon (mentioned previously) and I so see a slight relation to space opera there. However, I can't say the book is highly enjoyable. It's a bit all over the place.

edgar rice burroughs john carter of mars is a fantastic romance/space opera setting and it's 11 book series and over 100 years old this year.

also plan to see the movie this weekend.

Let us know what you think.