When you discuss the "new" space opera, one name comes up pretty often: that of Alastair Reynolds, whose Blue Remembered Earth is coming out next month in the U.S. But in an interview over at Publisher's Weekly, Reynolds says he's less and less happy with that tag:
Q: Do you embrace the space opera label?
AR: Occasionally, but more and more often I'm getting weary of it. It imposes a set of expectations which are as often as not are not going to be met. Just because a book has space travel and other worlds in it doesn't make it space opera, but you'd be forgiven for thinking the opposite judging from some of the reviews and commentary in the field.