Quote:
Originally Posted by Penforhire
To me a space opera is distinguished from other SF by the scale or scope of the story. Action on multiple planets at least (multiple star systems are more common), affecting millions or billions of people. But yeah, lots of space ships, lol.
I'll throw out The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks as a sprawling whimsical space opera contained in one book. A more serious one is A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (more of a space opera than its follow up, A Deepness in the Sky).
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In terms of movie classifications, that would have been known as an "epic" rather than an "___ opera". When I think of opera, I think of a simple story that can be done on a stage with limited numbers of people. It sounds like "space opera" has morphed in meaning over time if your definition is the primary one today.