Space Opera [Mass Market Paperback]

Jack Vance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1965

An opera company composed of aliens from a world no human is familiar with makes a concert hall appearance on Earth. Their music is strange, somewhat disconcerting, but the performance closes to rave reviews. The next day, every one of the aliens has vanished. They didn't leave by spaceship, and it seems impossible to believe they have successfully hidden themselves on a strange planet; so where did they go, and how?

Roger Wool, a young dilettante who was enthralled by the "space opera," wants desperately to find the unknown world of origin of the musicians and hear more of their music. He persuades his wealthy aunt to sponsor a Terran opera company on a tour of the Galaxy, hoping to encounter the mysterious aliens, or their home world.

But alien musical systems are NOT always well-received by people unused to hearing them. . .

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 143 pages
• Publisher: Pyramid Books; 1st edition (February 1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515011401
• ISBN-13: 978-0515011401
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,936,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very tongue in cheek indeed, July 5, 2002

By 

D. P. Broer (LEIDEN, ZH Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Space Opera (Mass Market Paperback)

Not only the space oprea gets spoofed here, the classic opera as well, as well as the thought that the opera is a superior form of art. Vance even puts doubt to the feeling that we, earthmen, have the superior culture, and that is centuries before we even contact the others, which is showing quite some foresight indeed. All is done within the usual style of the master and it makes you wonder why 'The Dragonmasters' received such acclaim, while this book didn't. Did Jack Vance insult too many artcritics with this one? Have they the ability to read between the lines as well? Makes you wonder...
Much pleasure reading this one!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Asked to write a space opera, he complied., September 1, 2008

By 

Woofdog (Miami) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Space Opera (Mass Market Paperback)

Anecdotally, Vance was asked by his publisher to write a space opera, and presented this story, a literal interpretation of the title. Wikipedia says he was in fact given the actual final title, Space Opera, to work with. I did recently reread the VIE edition of Space Opera.

Obviously this title is only available used at present. Mild Spoilers may follow.

This entertaining and somewhat absurd tale does require some suspension of disbelief (the initial romance event/stowaway exceeded my ability to do so, though this is a space opera), but the story gives Vance considerable scope to present a number of different worlds and peoples, with their unexpected customs. This story also has the most non-anthropomorphic intelligent aliens from his writing that I can recall off the top of my head.

This is not Vance's best work by a long shot, but the light-hearted wit, sarcasm, irony, etc., is his trademark and on full display here. He manages to take the most comical interpretation of an absurd premise (the Space Opera) and make a humorous, witty, light-hearted story. Notably, major plot elements were re-used in Ports of Call 30 years later, without the Opera.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vance does PG Wodehouse - and both win! Great read., August 22, 2011

By 

David L. Luckhardt "thornezilla" (East SF Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Space Opera (Mass Market Paperback)

Vance is clearly influenced by PG Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, and has created a fun romp full of wealthy aunts, stealthy nephews, untrustworthy adventurers, Grand Opera productions and the puzzled aliens they are presented to. Read it and laugh!