Space Oddity
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Return to the greatest contest in the galaxy in this “beguiling, bewitching” (Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the October Daye series) sequel to the hilarious USA TODAY bestseller Space Opera from New York Times bestselling author and finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Ursula K. Le Guin awards, Catherynne M. Valente.
The Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past returns and the fate of the Earth is once again threatened. The civilizations opposed to the humanity have been plotting and want to take down the upstarts. Can humanity rise again?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this gonzo sequel to 2018's Space Opera, Valente dives deep into cosmic absurdity and intergalactic hijinks, throwing temporal paradoxes, uncaring bureaucracy, and myriad pop culture references together in a glittering cacophony of extended metaphors and weird imagery. Mere days after saving Earth by surviving the interstellar music contest known as the Metagalactic Grand Prix, aging rocker Decibel Jones and his temporally resurrected bandmate Mira Wonderful Star now navigate a capricious, chaotic cosmos as part of their "Contractually Obligated Publicity and Interstellar Diplomacy Tour." It's relatively uneventful, until Decibel asks their ship to take them "somewhere cool" and promptly stumbles across a previously undiscovered species. Cue another round of the Grand Prix, as Jones and Mira sponsor a representative of the profoundly uninterested Vedriti in an effort to prove the species' sentience as per the galaxy's standards. This narrative through line hides within a solar system of alien logic, random asides, laugh-out-loud humor, and introspective time-outs. Still, Valente finds scattered moments of genuine emotion for her protagonists. Dense, elaborate, and wacky, this reads like Douglas Adams writing on a sugar high.
