Space Opera

By: Catherynne M. Valente

Narrated by: Heath Miller

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Eurovision in an over-the-top galactic science fiction spectacle from best-selling 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 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 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. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.

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.

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.

©2018 Catherynne M. Valente (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Heath Miller narrates a story that is equal parts scathing social commentary and hilarious send-up of music competitions.... Miller shines as the sarcastic and sardonic narrator who guides listeners through the byzantine galactic history that led to this confusing state of affairs. He also does an outstanding job creating a range of convincing alien personas, as well as bringing the human characters to life.... Those who enjoy intelligent satire will be richly rewarded." (AudioFile)

loved it

You should not wait to listen to this book. Fun writing, great themes, and the imagery will make you re-read sections, then feel like you need to read faster to catch up.

So much fun

This was quite the ride. The beginning felt but jumbled and exaggerated, like it was trying too hard, but once I got into the swing of the thing it was honestly quite good. There were some part as that felt too over the top but kept with the narrative energy so what can you do? Also the narrator was splendid.

witty, funny, but try too hard....

While the book is witty, funny and clever they try far too hard to pack it in every sentence, every spoken word. I found myself having to get through 3/4 the book before I could really enjoy it. I will admit it may be different if you're British since it is of English humor.

Glorious, glittering absurdity

"Life is beautiful, and life is stupid." If you loved Douglas Adams, don't miss this!

Don't panic. Just enjoy.

Listening to this for the plot, which is diaphanous at best, is like going to Las Vegas because you enjoy a good game of blackjack. It's fine, you certainly CAN do it, and some may even find it fulfilling. But it sort of misses the point. Because the point of Vegas isn't finely-run blackjack tables, and the point of this isn't the main plot, it's the spectacle, the show, the bright lights, the improbable alien beings all around, and the ludicrously purpled prose.

If you enjoy the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but wish it featured more excerpts from the guide itself, more dry humorous vignettes of a truly weird and fantastic cosmic society, then you will probably love this book.

meh

meh. Not hard sci-fi and not good comedy like hitchhikers guide or red dwarf

Hitchhiker's copy cat

I just felt like it tried too hard to be another Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. it also spent 95% of the book building up to this one moment that in the end seemed a bit anticlimactic and somehow even more weird than the rest of the book.

Could be fantastic, if it wasn't so bogged down

I really wanted to like this; the premise and story itself were great. But the endless quips, non-sequitor side anecdotes, and rambling analogies that go on and on and on really got old after a bit. It's like the author has a case of Ryan Reynolds syndrome combined with a huge helping of Peter Jackson "throw everything I can possibly think of into this" lack of restraint. It's funny stuff, but about half of it could've been cut out and the book would be more streamlined and better paced. We get it Catherynne, you're witty. Just dial it back a notch.

If this doesn't sound like something that would bother you, then by all means you could absolutely love this book. And in that case, I def recommend the audio version, as the narrator is fantastic. Heath is a perfect fit for this kind of silly story, and handles the many alien voices, accents, and dialects very well. Enough so that it made the more rambling bits a little less annoying.

Reminded me of Douglas Adams

This is a very fun book definitely in line with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy :) It’s lovely in its absurdity. It’s Eurovision song contest with a twist in space, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind their sci-fi with heaps of humor in it!

Rollicking, glitter splattered fun

If you like your prose dripping with humor and oozing with raw inventiveness, then this is the book for you. In fact, I would recommend any of her books for pretty much the same reasons.