When you think of sci-fi, the chances are you’re thinking of Space Opera. But as television turns its back on tales of “shooty-death-kill in space”, will the sub-genre continue to thrive on the printed page?

A stunning line-up of top sci-fi authors assembled at the recent SFX Weekender to confront this very question. Paul McAuley, Peter F. Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds, Dan Abnett, Jaine Fenn, Mike Cobley and Aaron Dembski-Bowden reviewed the current state of literary science fiction and raised some tantalising questions of their own. Have the harsh realities of modern life killed our dreams of exploration? Does it still count as Space Opera if the story’s set on Earth? And just what the frack is Space Opera anyway? All this and more, in the latest Impossible Podcast!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:36 — 50.0MB)