WEEK 9: THE SPACE OPERA

I’ve never been interested in space adventure/ sci-fi novels. To be honest, I feel like it takes more of a sophisticated/ mature taste to really enjoy space opera since it is littered with technicalities and intricate world building. I am a person who would much rather see movies like “Tangled” for the hundredth time than any of the Star Wars movie (and not just because of my major). I think the concept is amazing, it’s just not something that I would pick up for myself. So with that being said, let me explain why I didn’t really get into this week’s reading, The Stars My Destination.

I read that this novel is actually based off of The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas, which was a little disappointing to find out because I’ve actually read and enjoyed that book. I did find some similarities, like themes of revenge and betrayal, but overall it definitely did not give me the same vibes. I think a big reason why I don’t like space opera is probably because I’m not a fan of high fantasy/ adventure. This is another genre that is very relevant to the space opera genre as it drives the overall plot. I can say this confidently after reading some of Tolkien’s work. To be fair, the book was written in the 1950s so maybe the writing style was also throwing me off a bit. But I definitely did not enjoy many of the characters in this book, especially Foyle. It was probably meant to be this way, as I cannot find any reason why anyone would find his character appealing. He was like a villainous protagonist, which I have seen portrayed in some adventure/ fantasy novels before. Using this kind of character to drive the story is quite risky; you can have a unique and compelling character that keeps the audience entertained, but no one will like him. So who are we rooting for? This is the kind of book that I would need to sit down with and really nitpick in order to understand the characters better, but for now it will remain as a pass for my tastes.