Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Space Oddity by Catherynne Valente!
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Brown nonbinary pansexual MC
Published on: 24th September 2024
Goodreads
Return to the greatest contest in the galaxy in the 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.
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 humanity have been plotting and want to take down the upstarts. Can humanity rise again in this sequel to the beloved Hugo Award–nominated national bestselling Space Opera by New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente?
Do you remember, back in 2018, the sci fi that everyone was calling ‘Eurovision in space’? That made the awards list of all the SFF awards? That was a bestseller? That was repeatedly called the best thing since Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? That I put on my Best SFF of the Decade list?
THERE’S A SEQUEL, AND IT’S ALMOST HERE!
(If you haven’t read the first book, Space Opera: good news, there’s time! It’s about what happens when humans have to not-lose space Eurovision in order to be considered sapient; if they come last place, the whole species will be wiped off the galactic map. It’s huge on Feels and glitter and hope and defiant joy, the power of art, what makes people PEOPLE, British-style humour, queerness, telling fascists and cynics to fuck right off… It’s one of those rare books that will genuinely change your worldview, and for the better! Plus, a GAZILLION ridiculously cool and fun aliens and their planets! What’s not to love??? Nothing, is what: ALL OF IT is to love!!! Go love it, you’ll love it!!!)
(And you can read an except here!)
If you’ve spent ANY time on this blog, you know that Valente can do no wrong with me, and she’s the author I most recommend to other people. Space Opera was probably her most mass-appeal, accessible book (neither of those are insults!) to date, and is thus one of the best places to start if you haven’t read her stuff yet – but it was also completely and utterly GLORIOUS and GLITTERY and GIGGLY in its own right! And although it works perfectly as a standalone…
…I’ll be sunburnt on Pluto before I skip a sequel!!!
Space Opera is one of the books that made me me – I’m one of the people who had their worldview changed, VERY much for the better, re the value of art and also of being publicly, unapologetically weird; I was ashamed or embarrassed of so many parts of myself before Valente, via Space Opera, made me see sense! And even without all that…my gods, the JOY! The hilarity! The incredible imagination and whimsy and HEART that went into that book!!!
SO YES, I’M HYPED AS HELLS FOR SPACE ODDITY!
It doesn’t hurt that everyone’s been so sneaky about the story – look at that blurb!!! We get NO details! Why does humanity have to compete for its fate again? What’s happened on Earth since aliens were revealed? WHICH SPECIES ARE ANTI-HUMAN AND HOW COME? No clue, zilch, nada.
WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT!!!
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