Whenever you see an evil empire in science fiction, it’s likely inspired (at least in part) by the Galactic Empire. Much like Star Wars was inspired by various films that George Lucas saw, it has inspired many to create their own space operas. There’s no questioning it, Star Wars isn’t just a space opera, it’s the most famous space opera in existence! Though we’d hardly call the romance chivalric, there were several romance subplots throughout the series. One only needs to quote Darth Vader’s, “I am your father,” to understand that relationships are a big part of the Skywalker Saga. “Melodramatic, risk-taking adventures”? There are plenty of those to be had, from Luke Skywalker and crew’s rescue of Princess Leia, to the Boonta Eve Classic podrace. Star Wars has it in the name the fight against the Empire forms the heart of the conflict of the original trilogy, while the Clone Wars and Rebellion were similar events in the prequel and sequel trilogies.

First we will look at the first part of the definition, space warfare. Now that that’s out of the way, on to the question at hand.

Space opera returns