Space Opera

Catherynne Valente

★★★★★

The intergalactic community is ready to welcome Earth into its fold…but only if we prove to be sufficiently civilized…by placing in an interstellar version of Eurovision. If we lose…well, “elimination” is the right word in more ways than one.

Absurdity, social satire, lots of music references, and a fast read that still feels like a wall of words at times. In the same vein as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Year Zero (though in this case humans are the worst musicians in the galaxy). Fun, though it’s got some dark moments. The world isn’t totally awesome or totally awful, it’s both: Everything is messy, and you can find the sublime in chaos.