Two-Hit Wonder? Space Oddity by Catherynne M. Valente
Exposition is not just an opening act—it can be the headliner!
Series: Space Opera #2
Published: September 2024, Simon & Schuster (Saga Press)
Genre: Science Fiction / Space Opera
Summary: 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?
This review contains spoilers for the ending of Space Opera and minor spoilers for Space Oddity.
Truthfully speaking, I didn’t find myself with a burning need for a sequel when I finished reading Space Opera—yet Space Oddity remained one of my most anticipated books of 2024, if only because I had total faith in Catherynne M. Valente to deliver Good Vibes and/or Hilarious Insanity like no other author.
In this sequel that’s lowkey a meta commentary on the nature of sequels (“This time it will be different!”), we return to the Metagalactic Grand Prix, an intergalactic Eurovision-esque singing competition between countless species that determines everything from trade deals to resource allocations to potential wars to music chart-toppers.
Last year, humanity eked out a respectable tenth place in our first showing. This year, we’ve graduated from newbie, and soon become escort to a newly discovered species.
Where other novels may treat the Dreaded Exposition like a concert opener—quality may vary from offensively bad to mildly boring to surprisingly delightful, but nevertheless it’s the thing you have to sit through to get to the thing you actually paid money for—subtly weaving it through the text so as not to drag down the pace or distract from the plot, Valente’s exposition is the headlining star of the show—all the bloody intergalactic history and weird alien biology and that one ranting monologue about the Frankenstein monster that is the English language, sketched in run-on sentences that can span a whole paragraph, if not multiple pages.
While I was thoroughly amused by Valente’s bombastically stylistic writing (and her ability to build entire alien societies around a single pun), the absolute heart of this book for me is the Absolute Zeroes.
Good News: While lead singer Decibel Jones is the frontman of the band and the book, Space Oddity is actually, stealthily, a story about Fridged Woman–turned-paradox Mira Wonderful Star, and any time spent with Mira Wonderful Star is, well, Wonderful. It’s especially touching when Valente contrasts Dess’s washed-up ennui about placing tenth in the Grand Prix with Mira’s punk-hope enthusiasm about touring and exploring the galaxy.
Bad news: I probably took at least half a star off when I learned that Oort St. Ultraviolet, man-of-every-instrument and my favourite Absolute Zero, is relegated to a background character. (We’ve had a Decibel and Oort book. We’ve had a Decibel and Mira book. Am I wishing for a third book that’s all Mira and Oort? Yes.)
Space Oddity is an glitter-filled, imaginative romp that matches the frenetic energy of its predecessor. Valente’s maximalist writing style makes even the dullest topic (e.g. a never-ending intergalactic meeting that could’ve been an email) a sensory and humorous delight. But while Space Opera skillfully married the Absolute Zeroes’ sordid histories and personal hang-ups with grand intergalactic stakes, the finale of Oddity didn’t quite pack the same emotional punch—though, I’ll admit, I audibly gasped and shook my fist at the sky (affectionate) when I read that reveal about the Empty.