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Scientifictionist, v. 1, issue 2, whole no. 2, 1945
Page 6
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world someplace one of these actions is taking place. Thus we have an infinite number of possible worlds, the closest ones to our own being almost indistinguishable from this. In some, of course, the human race is already far advanced from our own stage of civilization. In others, civilization is still in the dark ages. Travel far enough in the dimension of parallel time and you would come to worlds where the human race is non-existent, either thru never having been developed or thru extinction of the race in some natural or artificial wave of destruction. And the number of these worlds would be constantly increasing! Naturally, there is also the other side of it, that some events duplicate completely the situation in another time-world and as a result, the two worlds become one. It could even likely be argued that because of this, worlds are quite apt to remain the same in number since for each new divergent time-world, two old ones merge. Anyhow, I am looking for a story which will really go into the matter fully. Some aspects of the theory would be fascinating when presented by a competent author. ---------------------------------------- SPACE OPERA, STANDBY OF SCIENCE-FICTION In recent years it has become quite the custom to refer to practically any interplanetary story somewhat contemptuously as "just another space opera." Everything from the hackiest space pirate tale to an E. E. Smith opus is classified by some fans as a "space opera", and the term is invariably derogatory. Yet the fact remains that, year in and year out, the interplanetary "space opera" is the most popular of all science-fiction types and mainstay or practically every s-f mag. Many of ASTOUNDING's most popular stories are interplanetaries, and PLANET and some of the others are built almost entirely around the so-called "space opera." But just what stories should be classed as "space operas?" Many fans so class any story which deals at all with space travel, whether interplanetary or interstellar, and whether the fact of space travel is only incidental to the story or whether it is the main part of the story. To deserve that terminology, I do not insist upon a story being only interplanetary in nature. Many interstellar stories are space operas in every sense of the phrase. But I do insist on a story being primarily an adventure story laid on another world or in space, and which, aside from its being laid in the future, is not overly science-fictional in nature, before I classify it as a space opera. Nor do I condemn all space operas, simply because I would class them as space operas. I've read many which were good, and which were definitely but adventure plots in a futuristic setting. Outstanding perhaps are the Rocklynne series of cops and robbers stories which ran in ASTOUNDING several years ago, of which "The Men and the Mirror" is the best rememebered example. But classing such stories as the Artur Blord or Venus Equilateral series as space operas, as I've heard done, is nonsensical. Such stories, while involving space travel, are primarily tales of future life and civilization, and the fact of space travel is only an incidental to the story. On the other hand, such junk as Captain Future is definitely space opera at its worst, despite the ultra-psuedo-scientific gadgets found there. Probably 75% of the stories to be found in PLANET are pure space opera and don't pretend to be anything else, and some of them are good. How, then, do we define the term "space opera?" I'd say that it was an adventure story in a futuristic setting, which could be changed into a present day adventure or western story without materially changing the plot or characters. If the plot is dependent upon a changed civilization of the future or upon natural phenomena to be found on other worlds or in space which is very dissimilar to any natural phenomena on earth, then it isn't space opera. The familiar plot where a spaceship must be fixed before the air is gone, for example, is space opera because the situation is similar to that of repairing a submarine or airplane in time. Yet the space opera is still important to s-f, if only because it is easily understood and more popular with new readers than any other type of story. page 6
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world someplace one of these actions is taking place. Thus we have an infinite number of possible worlds, the closest ones to our own being almost indistinguishable from this. In some, of course, the human race is already far advanced from our own stage of civilization. In others, civilization is still in the dark ages. Travel far enough in the dimension of parallel time and you would come to worlds where the human race is non-existent, either thru never having been developed or thru extinction of the race in some natural or artificial wave of destruction. And the number of these worlds would be constantly increasing! Naturally, there is also the other side of it, that some events duplicate completely the situation in another time-world and as a result, the two worlds become one. It could even likely be argued that because of this, worlds are quite apt to remain the same in number since for each new divergent time-world, two old ones merge. Anyhow, I am looking for a story which will really go into the matter fully. Some aspects of the theory would be fascinating when presented by a competent author. ---------------------------------------- SPACE OPERA, STANDBY OF SCIENCE-FICTION In recent years it has become quite the custom to refer to practically any interplanetary story somewhat contemptuously as "just another space opera." Everything from the hackiest space pirate tale to an E. E. Smith opus is classified by some fans as a "space opera", and the term is invariably derogatory. Yet the fact remains that, year in and year out, the interplanetary "space opera" is the most popular of all science-fiction types and mainstay or practically every s-f mag. Many of ASTOUNDING's most popular stories are interplanetaries, and PLANET and some of the others are built almost entirely around the so-called "space opera." But just what stories should be classed as "space operas?" Many fans so class any story which deals at all with space travel, whether interplanetary or interstellar, and whether the fact of space travel is only incidental to the story or whether it is the main part of the story. To deserve that terminology, I do not insist upon a story being only interplanetary in nature. Many interstellar stories are space operas in every sense of the phrase. But I do insist on a story being primarily an adventure story laid on another world or in space, and which, aside from its being laid in the future, is not overly science-fictional in nature, before I classify it as a space opera. Nor do I condemn all space operas, simply because I would class them as space operas. I've read many which were good, and which were definitely but adventure plots in a futuristic setting. Outstanding perhaps are the Rocklynne series of cops and robbers stories which ran in ASTOUNDING several years ago, of which "The Men and the Mirror" is the best rememebered example. But classing such stories as the Artur Blord or Venus Equilateral series as space operas, as I've heard done, is nonsensical. Such stories, while involving space travel, are primarily tales of future life and civilization, and the fact of space travel is only an incidental to the story. On the other hand, such junk as Captain Future is definitely space opera at its worst, despite the ultra-psuedo-scientific gadgets found there. Probably 75% of the stories to be found in PLANET are pure space opera and don't pretend to be anything else, and some of them are good. How, then, do we define the term "space opera?" I'd say that it was an adventure story in a futuristic setting, which could be changed into a present day adventure or western story without materially changing the plot or characters. If the plot is dependent upon a changed civilization of the future or upon natural phenomena to be found on other worlds or in space which is very dissimilar to any natural phenomena on earth, then it isn't space opera. The familiar plot where a spaceship must be fixed before the air is gone, for example, is space opera because the situation is similar to that of repairing a submarine or airplane in time. Yet the space opera is still important to s-f, if only because it is easily understood and more popular with new readers than any other type of story. page 6
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