On Fanlore, users with accounts can edit pages including user pages, can create pages, and more. Any information you publish on a page or an edit summary will be accessible by the public and to Fanlore personnel. Because Fanlore is a wiki, information published on Fanlore will be publicly available forever, even if edited later. Be mindful when sharing personal information, including your religious or political views, health, racial background, country of origin, sexual identity and/or personal relationships. To learn more, check out our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Select "dismiss" to agree to these terms.
Space Opera
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | Science Fiction, Spaceship, Time Travel, Military SF |
| See also | Space AU |
 | |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space-based adventure, character relationships, melodrama, and/or space warfare rather than scientific accuracy. It normally features interstellar travel, cosmic conflicts, super science, intergalactic police forces and stereotype clichées of „good“ and „evil“[1]. This genre sprang into life in the 1930s and was significantly shaped by writers such as Edmond Hamilton, E. E. „Doc“ Smith, John W. Campbell or Jack Williamson.
While attempts have been made to blend hard SF and space opera,[Note 1] these two subgenres are typically treated as opposing approaches to science fiction. The "opera" in space opera refers not to opera music but to analogous genres like horse opera and soap opera.
Space opera canons, like Star Trek, have been inspiring fans to write fic, draw art, create zines, and engage in other fan activities for a long, long time.
Space Opera AU
This article or section needs expansion. |
Space opera AU is a trope in which characters and other elements from a canon are transplanted into a space opera setting.
Examples of Space Opera Fandoms
Anime & Manga Fandoms
- Cowboy Bebop
- Gundam
- Knights of Sidonia
- Legend of the Galactic Heroes
- Space Battleship Yamato
- Toward the Terra
- Captain Future
Live Action TV/Film Fandoms
Literary Fandoms
- Many of C.J. Cherryh's works
- Dune
- Ender's Game
- The Expanse
- Honorverse
- Imperial Radch
- Machineries of Empire
- Vorkosigan Saga
- Lensman
Notes
- ^ See for example Kim Stanley Robinson's novel 2312.
References
- ^ Heyne Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Literature, 1980