Epic science fiction is often referred to as “space opera,” because the stakes are so large and so absurd that we can’t help but think of it as the opposite of a soap opera. The stakes are almost always the entire universe, the entire human race, or oddly, even bigger. From the early Lensmen series in the pages of Astounding to Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and of course, to Star Wars, the galaxy is the stage for these kinds of adventures.
