Catherynne M Valente: Space Opera

I loved this book so much it’s hard for me to write coherently about it. The language: dense, rich, vivid musical. The premise: yes, Eurovision in space, played for laughs, but not JUST for laughs, also a glorious, delirious refutation of “rare earth” and “habitable zones,” a dizzying celebration of near-infinite diversity. A plot twist, telegraphed literally from light years away, still deeply satisfying when it materializes. Optimism, not of the Pollyanna fairy-tale-ending variety: gritty, scrabbly, acknowledging the deeply fuckedupness of many things, but proudly declaiming that it can still all be WORTH something, that the chance to pull it off, if slim, is real. The rare trick of writing about music in a way that doesn’t make someone who’s played it cringe, and of paying tribute to Ziggy and the Spiders in a way that does them justice. Standing ovation. Playing the encore in my head.