REVIEW: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

Cover of Space Opera. Review by MArkus McDowell

This is a fun, amusing, and witty book. If you are familiar with some classic science fiction, plus music from the 70s-80s-90s, and enjoy good old-fashioned cultural parody and sarcasm, you’ll love this book.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Eurovision in an over-the-top galactic science fiction spectacle from bestselling author Catherynne Valente where sentient races compete for glory in a universe-wide musical contest-where the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth.
A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock…
Amazon

To the Hitchhiker’s Guide and Eurovision mashup, I would add Spinal Tap. The particular band chosen by the aliens to represent Earth is intriguing: a collection of has-beens with all the attendant stereotypes that along with aging rockstars: fallouts between band members, lost loves, brains addled by drug use, ridiculous excesses, and so on. The lead singer, the protagonist, does have a kind heart and wants to represent Earth well, but is insecure and terrified.

This is a wonderful book, funny and light (but still satirizing the excesses of culture). A refreshing respite from all the heavy-handing SF about destroying the Earth, gender confusion, technology run amok, and social/political preaching disguised as literature. Valente has managed to do what is quite difficult: to create a novel full of fun and enjoyment that still has a cultural point without belaboring it.

Highly recommended!

Some other reviews:

” As if Ziggy Stardust went on a blind date with The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, then they got smashed and sang karaoke all night long. Cat Valente is mad and brilliant and no one else would have even thought of this, much less pulled it off.” New York Times bestselling and Hugo-Award winning author John Scalzi.
” It’s all big ideas written in glitter. It’s surprising tenderness on a galactic scale. It’s about loneliness and nerdliness and acceptance and making fun of the old, frowsy powers that be. Valente offers up a universe in which the only thing of true value is rhythm. Not guns, not bombs, not money, not power, but sex and love and pop songs.” NPR Books.
“Channeling the giants of sci-fi satire and glam rock into a brilliantly over-the-top burlesque, it’s a novel only Catherynne Valente could write.” B&N SciFi & Fantasy Blog