Many authors attempt comedy in science fiction, but few pull it off. Alongside very funny works like John Scalzi’s Redshirts and Terry Pratchett’s

Space Opera is the funniest science fiction novel I’ve read since Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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2021-05-30 11:30:06

Many authors attempt comedy in science fiction, but few pull it off. Alongside very funny works like John Scalzi’s Redshirts and Terry Pratchett’s entire Discworld series, the pinnacle of hilarious science fiction is Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, about the misadventures of Arthur Dent as he travels across the universe. But Catherynne M. Valente’s new novel Space Opera might give it a run for its money, because it’s one of the funniest books that I’ve ever read.

Space Opera’s title is a pun. Valente said recently that the story came out of a dare on Twitter after a conversation about Eurovision, and the novel lovingly skewers long-standing science fiction tropes, driving home humor with every single sentence. In Space Opera, humanity is living blissfully unaware of alien life, until extraterrestrials appear and invite them into an advanced intergalactic civilization. But there’s a catch: humans have to prove their sentience in a talent show called the Megagalactic Grand Prix, instituted after a galaxy-wide conflict known as The Sentience Wars. If Earth comes in dead last, humanity will be wiped out, and the biosphere reseeded so the planet can try again later.

The alien envoy, a bird-like creature with an unpronounceable name who goes by Esca, suggests some possible human contenders — including Yoko Ono; the Spice Girls; Skrillex; Kraftwerk; and fictional singer Brian Slade from the film Velvet Goldmine. But ultimately, the honor goes to a defunct glam rock band called Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros, who scored a single hit album called Spacetrumpet in the mid-2000s. Decibel (real name Danesh Jalo) and bandmate Omar Çalışkan (aka Oort St. Ultraviolet) have been estranged for years, following the death of their third bandmate, Mira Wonderful Star. But they reunite to save the planet, working through their insecurities as they’re rocketed off to compete in the Grand Prix.

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