Genre guide · Fiction
Space Opera: word count & book length
How long a space opera book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 100,000–130,000 words.
About space opera
Large-scale adventure across star systems: fleets, empires and characters swept up in galactic conflict.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 x 9 in US Trade | 348–448 pages | 0.78–1.01 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Series boxed sets in ebook are a strong format for this subgenre.
About Space Opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction and science fantasy that emphasizes epic outer space adventures set in a universe in which faster-than-light travel has become common. The plots often play out against a backdrop of space warfare, alien civilizations and galactic empires. The sub-genre is sometimes thought of as a futuristic homage to earlier adventure sagas, such as those found in mythology and chivalric romance. The term does not refer to opera music, but instead originally referred to the melodrama, scope, and formulaic stories of operas, much as used in "soap opera", a melodramatic domestic drama, and "horse opera", a 1930s phrase for a clichéd and formulaic Western film. Prototypes of space opera emerged in the early twentieth century, and the genre today enjoys great popularity in literature, film, comics, television, video games and board games.
From the Wikipedia article “Space opera”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published space opera works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams | 1979 | 130 |
| Space Viking | H. Beam Piper | 1963 | 51 |
| Heretics of Dune | Frank Herbert | 1984 | 48 |
| Children Of The Lens (Lensman Series, No 6) | Edward E. Smith | 1954 | 25 |
| The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet | Becky Chambers | 2014 | 21 |
| Fallen Dragon | Peter F. Hamilton | 2001 | 20 |
| 2312 | Kim Stanley Robinson | 2012 | 19 |
| Willful Child | Steven Erikson | 2014 | 19 |
| The Voyage of the Space Beagle | A. E. van Vogt, Bruce Jensen | 1950 | 18 |
| Redshirts | John Scalzi | 2012 | 18 |
Open Library lists 202 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a space opera book be?
What trim size is best for space opera?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).