Comments on: ‘The Prince Of Space’ by Jack Williamson

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:43:53 +0000

In many ways seeking to produce the definitive space opera anthology represents the same problem as a similar venture for epic fantasy: the stories are just too damn big. Space opera and epic fanatsy is usually written not just at the novel length but the series length which makes it hard to cram into a short story anthology. Iain Banks is obviously one of the most important figures in the rebirth of space opera but he just hasn’t written much short fiction – although more than just one. Pretty much his whole output is collected in The State Of The Art but, of that, only two stories are set in the Culture and neither have a particularly high operaticality quotient. So you are definitely right but the editors’ hands were tied and I think this is probably preferable to excluding him entirely (as was the case with Ken MacLeod).

By: silver price

silver price — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:58:49 +0000

Perhaps the least satisfying choice here is Iain M. Banks’ “A Gift from the Culture.” Not because it’s a bad story — far from it — but, I would argue, because it’s barely space opera at all. It’s a pretty intractable problem, however, because Banks simply doesn’t write short fiction — “A Gift from the Culture” being the sole exception to this rule. But this is an author who, for me, single-handedly rescued SF from the crumbling brink of irrelevance, and who I consider would have been far better served by the inclusion of an excerpt from a novel such as Consider Phlebas, which — again, for me — personifies everything that is good and clean and pure about space opera.

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:25:56 +0000

Gareth: I did wonder if it was a valid alternate spelling but only did a cursory check and, from your chart, it looks as if it was completely out of favour by the time he was writing. I’m not sure if Hartwell should have modernised the spelling but Williamson himself probably should have at some point over the next six decades of his career.

Joseph: When you put it that way, it does sound rather operatic. For me though, the story seems to anticipate the superhero fiction of the end of the decade rather than full-blown space opera. The Prince of Space is a bit of a billionaire playboy in a mask, complete with trusted, scientifically minded confident and tame reporter. It takes place more at the individual level than the organsiational level. And, although the story gestures towards additional adventures, destroying Mars is pretty terminal and closes down the universe it is set in that I feel is the opposite of space opera.

By: Joseph Nebus

Joseph Nebus — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:08:53 +0000

It does seem like a Space Pirate who falls in love and blows up a planet ought to be primordial elements of space opera, doesn’t it? Although thinking of the space opera stories that I remember reading (admitting many of them blur together) planets seem more often to be blown up as the result of some concerted governmental action, like as part of making the universe that’s colliding with ours back off some.

By: Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:43:56 +0000

Chili was formerly an alternative (and more popular) spelling for the name of the South American country. The cross-over when Chile became more popular was around 1900 (see this chart) so Chili was already a bit of an archaism when Williamson was writing, but not a mistake. It's arguable that Hartwell should have modernized the spelling.