I chatted about what I think space opera is this morning.
I’ll just leave these here on the table…
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I certainly consider Cape Grace to be in the Space Opera genre.
And by Cape Grace, I meant South Coast…
I see the points made below and understand their point of view. The definition of Space Opera is very much in the eye of the beholder.
Nathan, Just finished the audio of South Coast and Jimmy’s father did tell Jimmy, Tony, and Jimmy’s Ex- who was running the farming opperations about the new contract, and basically tells him to work smarter not harder, and in the end they are in the process of getting it figgured out.
I would love to get it in Kindle format soon.
Thanks, William.
It’s coming…
If it were by itself, I would probably not consider South Coast (and later, Cape Grace) as Space Opera. However, as they do form an integral part of the Solar Clipper universe, I think they should be considered as such.
A single story may be a Space Opera, but for the true *scope* of Space Opera, you need multiple stories.
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I think Nathan pushes the boundaries of the definition of Space Opera, both with the South Coast and Solar Clipper stories. Having a nearly normal person as the protagonist in a SF world with Ishmael Wang and no saving of the universe or defeating the alien armada does this. But also, having an interesting plot and set of characters is a clever and intentional bit of writing. However it did take multiple books to give it the span that is associated with Space Opera. I am not sure if Quarter Share on its own is Space Opera, but all 6 books definitely are, whereas a more mainstream story could do it in 1 book.
I think I have to disagree here – and I hope you’ll join us over in the G+ Community Galaxy Ranger to discuss it further. But one of the key elements, I feel, to a Space Opera is a sense of optimism, of Civilization Uber Alles…
I know Dr. Lowell wants to go to the “Dark Side” of the Solar Clipper universe for his next set of books – but I think I’d honestly more like to see what he could do with the Exploration branch, and how those groups handle living confined and under extremely harsh conditions.
[“After about eight weeks of orientaion and training, they put forty of us on a barge, and dragged us out to the edges of the Deep Dark. It was a lot of dirt, a lot of chemicals, a lot of cold, and even more dirt. We mixed bacteria cocktails, and seeded whole planets at a go. Long hours, short pay, and we were out there for two stanyears. I met Andy Leyman out there. The group bonded pretty well. There were a half-dozen of us who held each other up, and together, while we poisoned planets.”
Ms Arellone looked shocked. “Poisoned planets?”
“That’s what we called it after a while. Admin hated it when we said that, but what else could you call it? The worlds were lovely and alien. We changed them to be something we could use, something we could exploit. In most cases that meant killing everything that was there and starting over from dirt, after we’d rebuilt the dirt.”
“Our group did four planets in the two stanyears. We did the initial groundwork, and then moved on. E and D let the initialization run for a decade or so, and then sent the next team along to seed the place with plants and animals. Whatever would work there.”]
From Owner’s Share.
Indeed. That kind of struck a chord with me.
Technically, I suppose South Coast & Cape Grace could be considered space opera, but, you’d have to be careful in the descriptions so that readers know what they are getting. Maybe subtitle the series “Solar Clipper : Dirtside” or something similar?
Actually, they all come under the umbrella of the “Golden Age of the Solar Clipper”.
The six Ishmael Wang novels are either “The Trader’s Tales” or “The Share Stories”.
_A Light In The Dark_ is “Tales from the Deep Dark, Book I”, though how that will hold with the up coming hexology of the Dark Side novels, I don’t know.
_South Coast_, and I presume _Cape Grace_, are the “Shaman’s Tales”