Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera (Paperback, 2018, Saga Press)
Softcover, 294 sidor
På English
Publicerades 18 december 2018 av Saga Press.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente's science fiction spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic musical contest . . . and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth.
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.
Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures …
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente's science fiction spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic musical contest . . . and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth.
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.
Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes, or faces. And if a new species should wish to be counted among the high and the mighty, if a new planet has produced some savage group of animals, machines, or algae that claim to be, against all odds, sentient? Well, then they will have to compete. And if they fail? Sudden extermination for their entire species.
This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing.
Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.
What do you get if you cross Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Eurovision? And if you're a fan of audiobooks, the narrator gets to do some good ones.
What do you get if you cross Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Eurovision? And if you're a fan of audiobooks, the narrator gets to do some good ones.
Ah yes, the old "If I had a rock band" novel. Lots of novelists have tried, and most have failed. The tricky thing about writing a good rock'n'roll novel is that most novelists are shit musicians, and their fictional hits very rarely sound like something anyone would ever want to listen to.
So hey, write about the Eurovision where a song being euphorically shit is part of the draw.
Disclaimer: I loathe the Eurovision Song Contest. And yet I love this story of mankind being forced to participate in an intergalactic song contest to prove that we're sentient (and not a threat to intergalactic peace). Valente shamelessly pilfers her tone from Douglas Adams (and admits as much in the afterw... sorry, liner notes), but suffuses the whole novel with her own ideas: overstuffing it with all the glitter, glam, and just plain gleeful silliness you'd expect of a tale of …
Ah yes, the old "If I had a rock band" novel. Lots of novelists have tried, and most have failed. The tricky thing about writing a good rock'n'roll novel is that most novelists are shit musicians, and their fictional hits very rarely sound like something anyone would ever want to listen to.
So hey, write about the Eurovision where a song being euphorically shit is part of the draw.
Disclaimer: I loathe the Eurovision Song Contest. And yet I love this story of mankind being forced to participate in an intergalactic song contest to prove that we're sentient (and not a threat to intergalactic peace). Valente shamelessly pilfers her tone from Douglas Adams (and admits as much in the afterw... sorry, liner notes), but suffuses the whole novel with her own ideas: overstuffing it with all the glitter, glam, and just plain gleeful silliness you'd expect of a tale of a has-been glam rock band forced to get back together to compete in the silliest competition you could imagine, where the underlying darkness of devastating war and encroaching fascism can only be met with mirror balls, sequined gowns, and sexually ambiguous pop music.
Life is beautiful. And life is stupid.
I'll be damned if she almost makes me appreciate the ESC unironically. Almost.
