Space Opera (Valente novel)

In order to join galactic civilization — rather than be declared non-sentient, and subsequently eradicated — humanity must participate in the Metagalactic Grand Prix, an interspecies music contest.

Kirkus Reviews found it "charming", albeit "(l)ight on plot and originality", and drew parallels to Rick and Morty and the works of Daniel Pinkwater.

[2] Publishers Weekly praised Valente's "effervescent prose (as) wildly creative and often funny", while conceding that the novel's "frequent tangents can make for chaotic reading.

[4] The Guardian called it an "over-the-top, absurdist extravaganza" with a "frantic narrative" and "pertinent observations about diversity and gender politics".

[5] Valente has described the book as the result of having been publicly dared, by one of her Twitter followers, to write a science fiction / fantasy version of Eurovision; an editor then offered to buy such a novel from her, sight unseen.