Space Opera: It’s the (stupid) science

The trappings of space opera are beautifully illustrated here.

The recent arguments over the merits of Interstellar (is it good SF, is it crappy, is it too serious, is the science BS, etc, etc) has been ringing in my ears this week.  One poster even tried to label Interstellar as space opera.  Which reminded me of a post in IO9 a few months back about space opera and its merits.  Part of the discussion revolved around what, exactly, is considered space opera.

Syfy to produce Childhood’s End

My own cover design for the iconic novel.

Syfy is gearing up to produce Arthur C. Clarke’s science fiction classic Childhood’s End.

According to Deadline, Syfy’s ordering Childhood’s End to production as a six hour miniseries. Producing the project are Michael De Luca (The Social Network) and Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind). Writing the script is Matthew Graham (Life on Mars and Doctor Who) and just hired to direct is Nick Hurran (Doctor Who and Sherlock‘s “His Last Vow”). If nothing else, this line-up certainly suggests that Syfy is serious about doing this and doing it right.