"Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny. They must sing. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented by the remnants of civilization. Something to cheer up everyone who was left. Something to celebrate having escaped total annihilation by the skin of one's teeth, if indeed one has skin. Or teeth. Something to bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, understanding, and the most powerful of all social bonds: excluding others. Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for Galactivision--part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part, a very large, but very subtle part, continuation of the wars of the past. Thus, a fragile peace has held. This year, a bizarre and unsightly species has looked up from its muddy planet-bound cradle and noticed the enormous universe blaring on around it: humanity. Where they expected to one day reach out into space and discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of grave aliens, they have found glitter. And lipstick. And pyrotechnics. And electric guitars. A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies 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"--
"Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny. They must sing. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented by the remnants of civilization. Something to cheer up everyone who was left. Something to celebrate having escaped total annihilation by the skin of one's teeth, if indeed one has skin. Or teeth. Something to bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, understanding, and the most powerful of all social bonds: excluding others. Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for Galactivision--part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part, a very large, but very subtle part, continuation of the wars of the past. Thus, a fragile peace has held. This year, a bizarre and unsightly species has looked up from its muddy planet-bound cradle and noticed the enormous universe blaring on around it: humanity. Where they expected to one day reach out into space and discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of grave aliens, they have found glitter. And lipstick. And pyrotechnics. And electric guitars. A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies 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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Find Space Opera Catherynne M. Valente in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find Space Opera Catherynne M. Valente in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Space Opera
Space Opera
34 books in catalog
Speculative fiction gained a distinctive, mythic voice with the publication of fantasy series and standalone novels that reimagine folklore through intricate formal structures. Catherynne M. Valente achieved widespread acclaim with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, a crowdfunded bestseller that established her reputation in modern fantasy.
From the braided nested narrative of In the Night Garden to urban fantasy and science fiction, her expansive body of work bridges rich prose traditions with bold genre experimentation.
Catherynne Morgan Valente was born Bethany Thomas in Seattle, Washington, on May 5, 1979, and grew up moving between California and Washington. After graduating from high school in Davis, California, at age 15, she attended the University of California, San Diego, where she earned a degree in Classical Studies. She pursued graduate studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and lived overseas near Yokohama, Japan, for over two years before returning to the United States, living briefly in Virginia and Ohio, and eventually settling on Peaks Island off the coast of Maine.
Valente began publishing poetry and speculative fiction in the mid-2000s, winning a Rhysling Award in 2007 for her long poem "The Seven Devils of Central California." Her career accelerated with The Orphan's Tales duology; its first installment, In the Night Garden, earned the James Tiptree Jr. (now Otherwise) Award. She followed this success with the Andre Norton Award-winning The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and the Lambda Literary Award-winning Palimpsest. Her honors also include Locus, Mythopoeic, Theodore Sturgeon, Eugie Foster Memorial, and Hugo Awards. She lives on Peaks Island with her son.
Valente is widely recognized as a central figure in the "mythpunk" subgenre, defined by baroque, lyrical prose and formal experimentation. Her narratives frequently incorporate braided or nested frame stories, genre pastiche, and surreal imagery while blending ancient fairy tales and mythic motifs with contemporary politics and queer themes. Across her poetry, novellas, and novels, she balances elaborate stylistic complexity with sharp emotional stakes.
34 books in catalog
Speculative fiction gained a distinctive, mythic voice with the publication of fantasy series and standalone novels that reimagine folklore through intricate formal structures. Catherynne M. Valente achieved widespread acclaim with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, a crowdfunded bestseller that established her reputation in modern fantasy.
From the braided nested narrative of In the Night Garden to urban fantasy and science fiction, her expansive body of work bridges rich prose traditions with bold genre experimentation.
Catherynne Morgan Valente was born Bethany Thomas in Seattle, Washington, on May 5, 1979, and grew up moving between California and Washington. After graduating from high school in Davis, California, at age 15, she attended the University of California, San Diego, where she earned a degree in Classical Studies. She pursued graduate studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and lived overseas near Yokohama, Japan, for over two years before returning to the United States, living briefly in Virginia and Ohio, and eventually settling on Peaks Island off the coast of Maine.
Valente began publishing poetry and speculative fiction in the mid-2000s, winning a Rhysling Award in 2007 for her long poem "The Seven Devils of Central California." Her career accelerated with The Orphan's Tales duology; its first installment, In the Night Garden, earned the James Tiptree Jr. (now Otherwise) Award. She followed this success with the Andre Norton Award-winning The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and the Lambda Literary Award-winning Palimpsest. Her honors also include Locus, Mythopoeic, Theodore Sturgeon, Eugie Foster Memorial, and Hugo Awards. She lives on Peaks Island with her son.
Valente is widely recognized as a central figure in the "mythpunk" subgenre, defined by baroque, lyrical prose and formal experimentation. Her narratives frequently incorporate braided or nested frame stories, genre pastiche, and surreal imagery while blending ancient fairy tales and mythic motifs with contemporary politics and queer themes. Across her poetry, novellas, and novels, she balances elaborate stylistic complexity with sharp emotional stakes.
