I love sci-fi. I don’t think I’ve made that a secret at any point in my life. It is one of my great, if not my greatest, ambitions to be a full-time sci-fi author.
Sure, I love fantasy and speculative fiction and a smattering of alternate-history stuff, but in my heart of hearts, what I love is sci-fi.
That’s why it feels so nice to come back to a space opera. Cyberpunk is still sci-fi, but at its core cyberpunk is really about rebellion and theft (not necessarily in that order!). They’re heist stories or resistance stories first, and sci-fi stories second. And that’s fine! I’m not saying they’re not sci-fi.
But space opera, to me, will always represent the beating heart of the genre. Starships, and planets, and wars and exploration and all the wonderful and horrible and fantastical wrapped up with a Faster-than-Light bow. They’re human stories, even the ones about aliens (especially the ones about aliens!), but… better.
I hope mine will be, at least! It has a strong start at least!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!