Space Opera Series
The term refers to, loosely, a sub–genre of Science Fiction. Reading and re-reading some material, and then the digital equivalent of old-school pulp-fiction caught up with me.
The more recent Seveneves from Neal Stephenson had a strange echo about it, and I was trying to recall where I’d heard — or read — that kind of point of reference.
A. Bertram Chandler was an integral part of my education. His wide-ranging Space Opera is set in universe where the Australian Navy, perhaps merchant marine, where that forms the lattice-work for the future.
Space Opera Series
Loosely, the term itself, Space Opera, refers to that grand style of speculative fiction that was born of pulp, with ideas cached therein. Think: Star Trek. So a big part of my education was A. Bertram Chandler’s series, following a young man as he rose through the ranks of the Federation Survey Service, an organization that covered much of whatever the known universe was in that series.
Influential, and it came at a time when I was hungry for knowledge, perhaps marking this as some of the critical material I consumed.
“The admiral allowed himself the suspicion of a smile. “In any sort of crisis, Grimes, there is one thing better than presence of mind . . . .”
“And that is, sir?” asked Grimes at last.
“Absence of body.”
Excerpt From: A. Bertram Chandler. “First Command.” Baen.
Got to remember that one, in a crisis, what’s better than presence of mind? Absence of body. These days, I believe, the term is “Plausible deniability.” (Used that in a horoscope before, in context.)
I had been to Australia so I was passing familiar with language and customs. What I liked the first time through, was the idea that this was pure speculation, and it was based outside of the United States.
My library was lost in the great flood of ’93, or thereabouts. I miss the old yellow, dog-eared paperbacks with sophomoric cover art. $1.95, I think, was the price at the time.
The entire series is re-released electronically, and oddly enough, all DRM-free. However, at $6.99 for a three-book edition, this is excellent digital pulp.
The connection between Chandler’s epic Space Opera and Stephenson’s work, especially the recent (bloody brilliant) Seveneves? Started when I realized that both had a “Survey Service” in it. Not quite “army,” but not quite “civilian.”
“Encyclopedia Galactica” is best replaced with Wikipedia, not the same but close, so very close.
Space Opera Series
Just quick quote, from the early works?
“And the captain of a ship, justly or unjustly, is held responsible for the conduct of his officers in public places.”
Excerpt From: A. Bertram Chandler. “First Command.”
When reading material that dates back more than fifty years, some leeway has to be allowed in the way some material is described. “Radio mail” can mean, well, like using a phone to answer an e–mail. Considering the era of the author, some of this is remarkable in imagination, even if the nautical terms are a bit different.
“It’s a poor funeral without at least one good laugh,” said Grimes.”
Excerpt From: A. Bertram Chandler. “First Command.”
I’ve got the iBooks digital compendium, having lost all my original books. Still, there was, is, a quality to the stories that I enjoy. It’s a giant–library six–pack of novels, maybe two or three in each collection, all part of a longer, more strange narrative.
From whence I derive my favored expression, “Praise the odd gods.”
“If you’re dead,” she said, “you’re dead. Period. It’s quite permanent, you know.”
A. Bertram Chandler. “Galactic Courier.”
Then again, not always subtle.
Some of the eloquent language might difficult without a touch of historical perspective.
Digging around, it looks like the first of the universe in which the stories are set, first published in 1961, but the bulk of the tales – the series – is a decade between 1966 and 1976. Dated, sexist, but still, well-written.
There was an era when the Sci-Fi pulp was well-written.
Space Opera Series
Not to be confused with a book with the same title.
Still, little nuggets.
“But sometimes such apparently friendly gibes are symptomatic of well-hidden hostilities.”
A. Bertram Chandler. “Ride the Star Winds.”
Reading further, it’s fun, for me, as it was definitely formative, educational, in a way I wasn’t totally aware of, but the captain of the ship had to be able to handle any situation, and there’s a thread of personal responsibility that runs as an undercurrent, just a theme. Then, too, there is always the image of the waves gently lapping at the hull of the ship. Oh wait, these are space ships.
Yeah, the thematic elements of personal responsibility is part of what was a fictional foundation for me. I mean, personal foundations that were built out of fiction. Stories held greater truths than the real world. Wonder if that still applies.
Still love the nautical settings, “Navigator, you have the helm.” “Mr. Sulu, lay in a course for…” Wait, that’s too confusing.
Christopher Moore had a book about Cargo Cults, Island of the Love Sequin Nun? Does that even sound right?
An homage to cargo cults, and there is that notion, carried into space with Lost Colonies, running throughout the series Rim World Series.
There’s an almost camp element, retro, the flying cars and space ships zipping through A. Bertram Chandler’s version of hyperspace. He imagined a way of navigating that was suspiciously similar to an ancient mariner guided by the stars at night.
“But he knew, all too well, that real life abounds in coincidences that a fiction writer would never dare to introduce.”
A. Bertram Chandler. “Ride the Star Winds.”
