Space Opera

'Valente has cleverly recreated just the kind of surreal alien anarchy Douglas Adams would be proud of, all of it topped off with a Ziggy Stardust swagger . . . we can't praise anything more highly than that' SFXA century ago, intelligent space-faring life was nearly destroyed during the Sentience Wars. To bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity and understanding, the Metagalactic Grand Prix was created. Part concert, part contest, all extravaganza, species far and wide gather to 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. This year, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. They expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes and stoic councils. Instead found glitter, lipstick and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny - instead, they must sing, and Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent humanity on the greatest stage in the galaxy. The fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.'Cat Valente is mad and brilliant and no one else would have even thought of this, much less pulled it off' John Scalzi'Cat Valente is the Ray Bradbury of her generation' Lev Grossman, Time