The Letters to the Editor department is intended to be a forum for our readers to express their own opinions and ideas. While we appreciate the many complimentary letters we receive each day, you won't find them on this page. Instead, you will find letters that go beyond or even contradict what we have written, letters that offer a different perspective and provide a different view of science fiction. If you would like to submit a letter, please use our feedback form or send a message to scifiweekly@scifi.com.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
Harsh Realm Wasn't Given A Chance
ust this morning I heard that Fox canceled Harsh Realm after only three episodes. This looked to be
the best new show of the season, and the network gave it absolutely no time to gain a following,
and putting it on Friday night was no help to the show at all. This goes beyond just this one
show; the industry is sick. Nowadays a show has to be an immediate hit in order to survive. If
this was done years ago, shows like The X-Files wouldn't be here today.
David Bhattacharyya
DrKatz008@aol.com
Dune Prequel Isn't Up To Snuff
just plowed through Dune: House Atreides, the much-hyped first
installment of
a trilogy which serves as prequel to Frank Herbert's masterpiece
Dune.
I've never read anything by either co-author (franchise writer
Kevin J.
Anderson and Frank Herbert's son Brian), but I was eager to learn
more
about
the wonderful universe Frank Herbert created in the six Dune novels he
wrote
before he died.
Alas, I was disappointed. Anderson and Herbert do give us a
relatively
engaging tale with lots of different characters, but they present
the story
as three or four independent stories progressing along parallel
paths.
While hardcore Dune fans will still find the background
information
interesting (we get to see many Dune characters when they were
young), most
serious SF readers will find this novel a shallow bit of fluff.
It comes
across as a sort of 1920s pulp adventure with a Dune flavor. All
of the
characters are really just caricatures...the Harkonnens are so
ridiculously
evil one has to wonder how they maintain power. At one point the
Baron
shouts for his aides to bring him a dwarf to torture(huh?).
And must
all
the good guys be barrel-chested Dukes who laugh heartily and slap
one
another on the shoulder? At times the novel is so chauvinistic
one cringes
to continue reading. While I like a good SF novel that goes
against the
pressures of the politically correct, I was astounded that
Anderson and
Herbert practically equate Vladimir Harkonnen's homosexuality
with his
sadism!
Nonetheless, having heaped such scathing criticism upon them, I
must admit
I
look forward to the next installment (Dune: House Harkonnen, due out
next fall)
if for no other reason than to see where Frank Herbert might have
taken us
had he lived long enough.
Chris Snider
chris.snider@sciatl.com
What Makes Crichton So Special?
here does Michael Crichton get off thinking that his book is so great that it is worth all the
money and demands that he has placed upon the production of it? Sure, he has had Jurassic Park and The Lost World, but most of his adaptations do horribly at the box office. And this book does not even
seem that interesting. My first thought was that I was reading about Connie Willis' To Say
Nothing of the Dog, but alas, it was only Crichton. If producers want a time travel story, look to
either of Willis' books Doomsday Book or To Say Nothing of the Dog.
Sheldon Ehli
skiweasel12@netscape.net
Omega Code Packs A Violent Wallop
our news bit on The Omega Code says that there's no violence
or
profanity. There is no profanity, but violence--woah! People are
shot,
buildings explode and rain fiery death on those below, little
girls are
held hostage...this PG-13 movie has more than its fair share of
violence. The movie is also not very well made, but I guess
that's not
news.
Zachariah Smith
zmaturin@gateway.net
Go See Omega Code For Ironside
any of us are seeing The Omega Code not for the storyline or the "stars," but to see fan favorite Michael Ironside, who is in a supporting
role as the sidekick of villain Michael York.
Marguerite Atteberry Emmons
emmons@gte.net
Jeri Ryan Should Play Wonder Woman
would like to vote for Jeri Ryan as Wonder Woman! Not only can
she act, she's very easy on the eyes and would do Linda Carter
proud as the next Wonder Woman. She carries a proud self image
every time I have seen her on TV. I feel that she would do a
great job as the new Wonder Woman just like Carter did in
the '70s. She's pretty, tough and proud of it. I don't think people
should judge her simply because she's great looking, but should
feel good that someone does a good job at making so many people
happy, just by being there.
Eric Mims
ERICMIMS@AOL.COM
Star Wars Novels Diminish The Story
he extensive, needless proliferation of Star Wars novels has
hurt the
mythic nature of the story. Who says we need to know what
happens to the
characters after Return of the Jedi, anyway? Episode VI was
about peace
and
balance returning to the galaxy. Why do we then, for the sake of
more
novels,
have "evil" returning the galaxy again and again?
Timothy Zahn's first trilogy was fantastic, and served a purpose
in
answering
some questions about the wrap-up of Episode VI. However, since
then, the
numerous novels have only succeeded in making the saga quite
ordinary...and too contemporary.
I remember a scene in Shadows of the Empire in which Dash
Rendar takes a
taxi to the spaceport. Who takes a taxi in the Star Wars
universe
anyway?
Couldn't it at least have been called something other than just a
"taxi"?
I
think this moment summed up my feelings about the validity of the
novels.
For me, the true Star Wars canon is the movies, with at least
some
consideration payed to the Timothy Zahn novels, and Splinter of
the Mind's
Eye, which was at least unique at the time, before the era of
dime-a-dozen,
Star Trek-type franchise novels.
Greg Hignight
Denversaur@aol.com
There's Nothing Special About Janeway
don't think Janeway is a tyrant. I don't even think she's an incompetent captain. The character
as portrayed is so inconsistent and moronic that I don't think she deserves this lively a debate.
Star Trek has made some proactive decisions with casting captains. Certainly Picard broke the
mold set by the dashing, swash-buckling Kirk. Sisko expanded upon their concept of a non-racist
Federation by casting an African American. Janeway is a woman.
Except that's all she has going for her. There is little or nothing to expand her uniqueness except
for her gender as compared to previous series leads. Picard was a Renaissance man with a love of
archeology, music and art. Over the course of the series we learned of his run-in with the
Nausicans, met his family in France, saw his flare for diplomacy and the authentic trust he endeared
in others. Sisko had baseball, the anguish over his wife, his status as Emissary, his relationship
with Jake, and eventually his marriage. To some degree I could predict how these characters
would react to different situations.
I can think of nothing that is quintessential Janeway, other than perhaps a penchant for radical
and contradictory behavior. And the sad part is that some fairly decent supporting characters are
made invalid because they are written to respect her as their leader. Perhaps the best part about
Seven is that she seems to always disagree with Janeway.
I continue to watch because of Seven and The Doctor and the rare moments where Janeway is
unconscious and Chakotay takes command.
Phil Mitchell
mitchell.p@worldnet.att.net
Voyager Is The McDonalds Of SF
tar Trek is a franchise. Never, ever forget that. Star Trek: Voyager will never produce truly great science
fiction in the same way McDonald's will never produce truly great cuisine. The recipe for success
in any franchise is to serve up something that will appeal to the broadest demographic while
offending as few people as possible. As such, the Star Trek franchise will produce a
homogenized, inoffensive brand of science fiction. The up side to this equation is that it will only
occasionally produce really bad science fiction.
Mulgrew has matured in the role of Captain Janeway. The writers seem to have gotten a better handle on her
character and her acting skills have improved with practice. Her voice still annoys me and she
can't transcend the sometimes flat, Trek franchise writing as Brent Spiner or Patrick Stewart
could. She does okay. Good enough for government work.
But what if the writers went a little crazy with the Janeway character and started writing outside
of the McStarfleet box? What if they gave Mulgrew some serious red meat in her script diet?
I would love to see Janeway deteriorate into a space-going captain Ahab. Strip away her facade
of concern for ship and crew. Explore her blossoming obsession with maintaining a static
Starfleet microcosm aboard Voyager. Show this obsession as a struggle for her own sanity, still
reeling from the shock of her brutal extraction from the comfort and structure of her Starfleet
career. In this internal battle, the crew does not matter at all. They are a means to an end; a
justification for Janeway's actions which are, ultimately, for her benefit alone. Then, let the cozy
Starfleet fiction Janeway maintains for her crew (and along with it Janeway's tenuous hold on her
sanity) begin to fray at the edges.
But, sad to say, this will not happen. The Voyager characters are registered trademarks which can
never be pulled so far out of shape that they will not snap back in time for next week's episode.
The franchise will be maintained. Resistance, as they say, is futile.
John Popham
pophams@concentric.net
Voyager Is Second Among Trek Series
have been reading the letters pertaining to Star Trek: Voyager. I am astounded
at all of the negative remarks that have been made. I know we are all entitled to our own
opinions, but I'm surely glad that I didn't read these letters and form an opinion from them. I
think that this is one of the best Star Trek shows since the original. Star Trek: The Next Generation was far too
technically based, though it did improve much over the years. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was just too dark for my
tastes, and just when they started developing an interesting character situation with Worf/Jadzia
the writers had to kill her off. I'm not saying that every show is absolutely wonderful, and some
are downright ridiculous, but remember "Spock's Brain"? I don't want to get into specifics here
about why one character is good or bad or one relationship works while one doesn't, but there are
many reasons to enjoy as well as denigrate Voyager.
Mary Enger
engrflor@win.bright.net
Mulgrew's No Hepburn
he Third Law of Thermodynamics works on everything in the
universe, television series included. My guess is that the Star Trek universe
has just about hit entropy. If I want to see a strong female lead
character, (which I do like, provided they're good) I'll watch one of
Katherine Hepburn's classics, not someone whose best is to be a want-to-be
clone of the Great Kate.
Tom Smith
thomas.v.smith@gte.net
Could Janeway Be An Android?
reetings from Tasmania--Australia's island state. We have the misfortune to be well behind the United States and some other countries in Star Trek: Voyager's trek home, having just viewed the beginnings of the conflict between the Borg and a race which appears to have their measure. I've read with some interest critical comments on the role of Captain Janeway and find myself agreeing with the sentiments expressed by a number of your correspondents both for and against the lady.
On the basis of series viewed here, it is a pity that the writing team didn't provide us with a denouement in which "Janeway" is revealed to be "Strangeway," an attempt to reproduce a Data-like artificial life-form, complete with an emotion chip. Then the whole Voyager trek thus far could be a gigantic holodeck simulation to test the suitability of androids for command. Now there's a spin-off for you.
Christian Pownall
cpownall@utas.edu.au
Voyager Keeps Us Entertained
t seems as if we have a sizeable segment of science fiction fans who have nothing better to do than criticize and dissemble the work of many talented and dedicated individuals.
While I may not completely like a certain SF character or believe a certain concept is founded on established theory, I am able to revel in the fact that some of these things are plain and simple fun. You may not like Captain Janeway, but you have to grant that she makes for a very interesting, dynamic character.
Star Trek: Voyager, as with other science fiction platforms, does not have to live up to the ideals of our military structure or concepts such as group behavioral dynamics. What it needs to do, in my humble opinion, is keep us entertained. I want to see these people in their struggle to get home. I want to watch as they learn more about their new quadrant as well as their inner selves.
I salute and support all those creative artisans whose labors enable us to overcome the limits of present scientific development. If I cannot travel across light years at warp speed, I will content myself with those who do so and let me peek over their shoulders.
Chris Shrewsbury
sign4deaf@aol.com
