[gpderetta]

> not hard SciFi, but close

I would say it is pretty much space opera (every single technology is handwaved away). It doesn't make it less awesome though.

[mercer]

That's fascinating! Do you know why this would be called 'space opera'? And could we also say things like 'western opera'?

[detaro]

I think for "simple" western movies the term was "horse opera", related is "soap opera", but in science-fiction it is not seen as such a negative term anymore and the definition has expanded to cover a wider range of works. Futuristic with not much in the way of technical details, hero figures, grand conflicts is roughly what makes a space opera now, and at least some of Banks' works fit right in there.