2019 HUGO AWARD FINALIST, BEST NOVEL The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente’s science fiction spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic musical contest…and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire … galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented–something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.
Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix–part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes, or faces. And if a new species should wish to be counted among the high and the mighty, if a new planet has produced some savage group of animals, machines, or algae that claim to be, against all odds, sentient? Well, then they will have to compete. And if they fail? Sudden extermination for their entire species.
This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny–they must sing.
Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.
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Catherynne Valente is insanely imaginative and this book was just as much fun as I hoped it would be. Beneath all of the aliens and glitter, there are some deeply insightful and entertaining observations on the nature of civilization, sentience, and humanity—or, as she so eloquently puts the question, what counts as people and what counts as meat? Loved it!
Like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but with a key insight Douglas Adams never had, which is that everything sucks in 2018. Also everything is David Bowie and the being in tears comes upon you really suddenly and catches you off guard. These are all wonderful things, if that’s unclear.
Oh. My. Flipping gods turning cartwheels. This is my book.
Oookay, now I got that out of my system, the world. Or rather, the universe. All of it. In this universe, all intelligent life very nearly wiped itself out. In the smoking rubble of the universe, everyone decided that the best way to answer the question ‘who is people, and who is meat?’ with music. In this universe, teeth and claws and big, big guns aren’t the only answer to survival. Sometimes, being unbearably cute and fragile and setting off every maternal instinct in every species is the answer. Or being made out of stuff so inedible that nobody bothers is. Or, in the case of humanity, being very, very odd is.
And we are odd. And beautiful. And stupid. And so is the universe.
The wild, playful and technicolor tale is a mix of the best concert you’ve ever been to, and that children’s book you remember even in your fifties. It’s told with endearing, cockeyed honesty and wonderful whimsy. In this glitter punk mix is a wonderful exploration of ethics, psychology, organic biology, the truth about colonialism, and all the possibilities of cultures that could come up if you started with, say, sea squirts. Or birds. Or viruses. And then let them evolve into something you could call a civilization. In a good light. If you squint.
It’s a drunken dream of the universe, and it’s adorably insane.
I already knew I liked Valente’s work after the Fairyland Series and the Orphan’s Tales. But in this book, Valente’s wondering, solemn whimsy has been allowed to grow up and use the F word, kiss (anybody you like!) open-mouthed and stay out among the stars past curfew.
It is a sweet, screwy, wild, honest, and heartbreakingly beautiful story of what it means to be sentient, and what it means to be worthwhile in this universe.
And these people. Oh, these people. Mira Wonderful Star. Oort Saint Ultra Violet. And of course, Decibel Jones. They all invent themselves–Des started as Danesh Jalo–and they all do the best they can. They make dreams. They make noise. They make a mess with sex, drugs and rock and roll. They make you fall in love and shake your head in patient, laughing dismay. They’re staring down the horrors of post-rock midlife crises. They’re drunk on Rose’. And they are us.
And that’s just the human characters. Then we hit the other species. The exploration of crazy Keshet time-travel logic, compassionate blue flamingos, wardrobes that read your mind and pompous, stuffy sea squirts whose culture is sooooo much better than yours wakes us up to basic humanity, empathy, and the true vulnerability that allows us to make art.
This is the best concert you’ve ever been to. Grab your seat. Cue the music.
An astounding cornucopia of verbal brilliance from prose poet Catherynne M. Valente — but then you already knew that, you get nothing less from any of her work. This is a romp of outlandish wit in a cosmic caricature ocean; this is futuristic Eurovision meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Oscar Wilde meets David Bowie, aliens mingle with has-been-will-be-again pop stars, and the result is Space Opera! Note — if you don’t like language (yes, I said “language,” plain and simple, with no other qualifier necessary), this is not for you.
I found this hard to follow and not engaging. Meh.
Read for 2019 Hugos
This was a cool Space Opera song contest story with strong overtones of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. That said, I think the prose was trying a little *too* hard to path that same laugh-till-you-cry path. Several of the interjections go on for so long that you lose the train of the story, only to snap you back in like a rubber band against the skin.
However, I did enjoy it a lot, and the different personalities and descriptions of the aliens, while showing they were all just as flawed as humans, was really well done.
I highly recommend listening to this one on audiobook!
This book has been described as Eurovision in space, which I think is pretty accurate. Following the devastating intergalactic Sentience Wars, all the remaining civilizations have created the Metagalactic Grand Prix to determine which species should be allowed to continue their existence. Earth is the new contender this year, led by washed-up former punk rock star Decibel Jones and what’s left of the Absolute Zeroes.
Catherynne M. Valente really knows how to construct a sentence. I was constantly blown away by her complex syntax, which felt like it was pulling me along on a wild ride. This book has some truly in-depth and creative worldbuilding, really getting into all the details of each civilization it introduced – to the point that at times it felt like a little too much and I wanted to focus on the story instead! But overall, this was such a clever and entertaining book that had me laughing out loud at multiple points. I would highly recommend going for the audiobook, since the narrator is hilarious and does all the different accents spot on.
Great use of language and humor. Not a lot of depth of but you won’t mind as its plain good fun.
Valente always writes amazingly well, and here she’s channeling Douglas Adams, but with a warmer heart. Eurovision in Space!
The story was great, but the writing style wasn’t my thing.
AMAZING. Best book of 2018, hands down. Made me feel better about the future.
Space Opera is ridiculously a well written story by an author that you can immediately tell is intelligent. It pulled me in instantly with just the first few pages. The main concepts of the story aren’t a combination you would usually expect, but they just work so well together because of how amazing the writing is. If you want realistic characters, creative alien races, amazing description, and an overall unique story, then this book is for you.
The short stories here are not for everyone’s taste, but i recommend this as an anthology of interesting speculation about our future in the Space Opera form.
Given the number of positive reviews, I had high expectations for this book. I’m afraid that I found it so infuriating that I couldn’t enjoy it. The author uses twenty words when one would suffice. There are sentences that are three or more pages long. I found myself needing to reread these sentences multiple times because I wouldn’t remember what was happening in the beginning by the time I reached the end. The story itself is compelling, the characters are interesting and the world they inhabit is fun, but I shouldn’t have to work so hard to understand the action in a book billed as lighthearted and entertaining.