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Friday 12 October 2012

Making Sense of 'Space Opera' & 'Secret Agent'

Before I begin thinking up possible story scenarios and characters I thought it was best to make sure I fully understood the meanings of the qualities I had been given especially when it comes to space opera.

space opera normally involves...

-A massive adventure mainly focused on the good vs evil side of things rather than the technical things.
-Mechanics of how things work are usually glossed over.
-Not "hard sci-fi (realism isn't emphasized).
-Drama set in space.
-Setting in space is largely unimportant (more character focused).
-Can have emphasis on romance.
-Advanced technology on both sides of war.
-Setting, battles, powers, themes, characters = very large scale!
- Similar to military science fiction because of large battles with futuristic weapons.
-Futuristic melodramatic fantasy.

"Colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action, and usually set in the relatively distant future, and in space or on other worlds, characteristically optimistic in tone. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, large stakes." (Hartwell & Cramer: 2007)

secret agent normally involves...

-Employed in espionage by government.
-Someone who attempts to penetrate into 'enemy' territory with minimal notice.
-Spy, undercover, cloak-and-dagger man.
-A spy acting for one country/person/organization to take down/stop the acts of another.
-Someone who finds out top secret information from others.

Can mean...

-Big action scenes when discovered/in danger.
-Romantic interest
-Fancy/ high tech, big, expensive gadgets.
-Posh cars/vehicles!


Bibliography

Cramer, Kathryn and Hartwell, David G. (2007). The Space Opera Renaissance. Tom Doherty Associates. U.S.A

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