Space opera/Talk

Attempting to keep the Neutral point of view in the entry.

It's popular stuff. Most people think it's fun. It has a venerable history.

It bugs some sci-fi pedants. Even many of them don't mind putting the mind on hold and having some fun with it once in a while.

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It's not easy to distinguish from soft science fiction, since it ostensibly deals with some human consequence of (vaguely defined) technologies. The only difference seems to be that space opera is lightweight, in literary terms.

Soft sci-fi is different in its attitude to science, though. Soft sci-fi either concentrates on areas of science other than physics, or simply plays it down. Space opera ignores it completely to fit in with the special effects budget, IMHO. --Robert Merkel

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Does this article include written space opera, like "The Reality Dysfunction" by Peter F. Hamilton? --Magnus Manske

Yes, the Lensman series is print space opera... of course there is Aniara to consider, which is actually a space opera, I believe,