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.
-- Brooks Peck, Editor
Cassutt Urged To Fight On
Michael Cassutt's recent column, "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda," was simultaneously heartening and depressing. Heartening to find someone in Hollywood who both knows and loves the Good Stuff (Simak, Williamson, Heinlein, et al.). The only shows I have seen that ever indicated that their producers had any knowledge of the field were the reincarnated version of Twilight Zone (with which Cassutt may have been associated) and Babylon 5.
However, it was depressing that someone with his track record in the entertainment industry has not been able to bring us Way Station or The Humanoids. Despite his pessimistic last line, let me urge him to continue the good fight. I want to see those and the other stories he mentioned. Someday, at least.
Robert R. Chase
rrchase@arl.mil
Turn TV's Cast-Offs Into Comics
How's this for an idea:
Take all these cool sci-fi shows that are being cancelled before they can finish one season and put them into comic-book format. Shows like Prey, Brimstone, and Kindred: The Embraced (one of my favorites). The list could go on and on. They could even do this with shows that lasted for many seasons like Highlander, Quantum Leap and Pretender. Too many to list. But after seeing what Image comics, mainly Top Cow, has been doing, I think it's very possible for these short- and long-lived series to continue on.
Marc Wilson
dogblood@excite.com
Vicarious Gamer Plans Schedule
From your review of the PlayStation game Vagrant Story: "Go buy Vagrant Story. Then get ready to apologize to your significant other, call in sick and lose yourself in the city of Lea Monde."
As a significant other of a hardcore PlayStation gamer, I have to say that this game is even enjoyable to just sit back and watch. I'm just hoping that my next big commitment, Diablo II, and the ultimate FF for the PlayStation, Final Fantasy IX, can live up to the standards set by Vagrant Story.
Mayumi Hirtzel
mhirtzel@knowitallinc.com
Assmilate Voyager Writers
Star Trek: Voyager is ruining the Borg.
The reason I say this is that, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Borg had a dark near-omnipotence to them. They were like a hideous beast that you couldn't really hate because they were acting on instinct rather than emotion. They were unstoppable. They were what made Picard finally fear (respect?) Q.
Then Voyager comes along, and they waltz into the Borg hometown, no less, as though they have nothing to fear. All they have to do is demodulate their phase variance or whatever and they're immune to the Borg. The Borg are led by a fickle, emotional woman who is not part of the evil Collective. And whenever Voyager gets in trouble, it can somehow just outrun Borg cubes. A tractor beam locks on--no biggie--"we'll just change our shields."
Unimatrix 0 has even furthered this, going so far as to make a rebellion among the Borg drones themselves. I really wish the people who wrote The Next Generation and Star Trek: First Contact would go over and set the Voyager writers straight. Otherwise the Collective will be destroyed by the time the new Trek series starts, and that would just suck.
Eric "Seyon" Vogel
seyon@mediaone.net
Watch Trek Celebrity Death Match
This is in response to the person who wants to mix Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager characters all together into the plot of the next movie. You forgot the celebrity death match between Q, Trelane, the Organians and whatever other
omnipotent beings have appeared over the years. The movie would end up using
the original ending for Dr. Strangelove--a massive pie-fight amongst all the
characters while the universe is blown up (with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect
vicariously watching from a certain restaurant, eating tribble kabobs and
drinking bloodwine). Can we resurrect Slim Pickens to ride the Doomsday Device?
Shoot, a fellar could have a good time on Ceti Alpha 4! Hire Clint Howard to
light the Corbomite again and be done with this concept.
I just want a good
science fiction plot where the aliens actually look alien, not like humans with
forehead decorations (like species 867-5309) and where the universal
translator works the way it should. (Dune got it right, and please spare me some insipid Okuna "Technical Diagram" on the Universal Translator.)
Arthur Ramos Jr
aramos@sunyorange.edu
Counting Up B5/Trek Similarities
I am responding to Tom Curran's Issue No. 164 letter "C'Mon, Give Pessimism A Chance," which stated that Babylon 5 is not Star Trek-like. Is he blind? Babylon 5 was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine minus the technobabble. Think about it: It was set in the 24th century (just like DS9) after a interstellar war (like DS9). It took place on a space station (like DS9). The ships they used could traverse from one end of the galaxy to the other, by way of an artificial wormhole (like DS9, except the Prophets' wormhole was far more advanced). And let us not forget the "plot twist" that occurred towards the end of B5's run, where an alien achieved godlike status (gee, I wonder where they got that from?).
Frankly, I think the numerous similarities to DS9, and the fact that Harlan Ellison joined the writing team almost immediately after B5 started, are not a coincidence. I think if Harlan still didn't have a chip on his shoulder, albeit a valid one, B5 would have been a different and better show. Instead, it will go down in TV history as the only TV show to get away with borderline plagiarism for five years. So, in summary, B5 is not Trek-like, it is Trek!
Adam Boudreaux
TrekAdamG@webtv.net
Sleuth Rips Open Paramount Secret
Though it would seem that Rick Berman has been brushing aside any talk of the rumored Star Trek: Enterprise concept that was making the rumor rounds of late, it does appear that Paramount is making sure they have all the online domains covered. Paramount has registered the following domains:
StarTrekEnterprise.com
StarTrekEnterprise.net
StarTrekEnterprise.org
Is the company just securing them for later potential use or to prevent others from snagging them? Or is this in preparation for the fifth Star Trek series?
Alan Gotlib
optimus456@netzero.com
Vote For The Memory Tax
I really must say, the Exposure movie "The Memory Tax" has been a real inspiration for us. I've been hosting a Sci-Fi club, and every weekend we get together and review new and exciting ideas.
I understand how, on the Web, people tend to vote for the rendered movies because they are "techies." We Sci-Fi people love real stories with real people. That's one of the main reasons a lot of us love Star Trek so much. There's a real twist to this flick and I think you should review it on the air! All 42 of our members will be eternally grateful to see one of our favorite Exposure films get reviewed.
There are other great films, of course, but "The Memory Tax" had a lot of unique, new concepts that should be shared with the world. If a petition will help, I can get all of our members to sign one for you. Our numbers grow each meeting and every single member is an avid SCI FI Channel fan. We love what you've done, and wish you the best.
If there's anything we can do and/or if there's any way we could help get "The Memory Tax" on the air, please let us know. We would love to participate and/or give our opinions on other films, but this particular flick got our vote (82% voted for it!).
Frank Nichols
New Ideas Sci-Fi Club
frank@clubgods.com
Public Enlightenment Proves Elusive
I don't understand all this criticism of Battlefield: Earth and whether it does or does not promote Scientology. I don't practice Scientology, I don't even understand it, but if the movie does promote Scientology, so what? What does it matter? When the Omega Code, or whatever it was called, came out, nobody got angry about it promoting Christianity. It seems like people think it is okay to promote their own religion but god forbid anybody attempts to promote a minority religion like Scientology. Honestly, it seems as if the "enlightened" public is not as enlightened as they would have themselves believe.
Matt Shealy
euro2@innova.net
Hubbard Declared Long-Winded
This letter is in response to Randy Barrett's Issue No. 164 question ("Was It Budrys Or Francis Bacon?") about L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth series. I have indeed read the entire thing. Whether or not it was worth the time I spent is a matter open to debate. It was very funny, in a juvenile, sex-heavy sort of way. As far as the series' sci-fi content is concerned, I don't think it was anything special. It certainly took too long to tell.
Ben Davis
bendavis@fuse.net
Hubbard Donated To Charity
In answer to Randy Barret's query in Issue No. 164, I am one person who has read the entire ten-volume Mission Earth series/novel. And, to tell you the truth, I have no idea why. The first volume was pretty good, set in the capital city of an intergalactic empire. The story is a satire of bureaucracy and politics run amok, with a good deal of venom for intelligence agencies and their denizens.
In the second book, however, the action moves to Earth, and then the story begins to deteriorate. Frankly, I began to find it pretty repellent. The lead character was boring, the antagonist was one-dimensional, and the whole plot line descended into a thinly disguised treatise for a certain religion. Perhaps it is a testimonial to the writing skill of the late L. Ron Hubbard, but I kept buying the books (fortunately, in paperback), even though the story became more and more disgusting. Maybe I was hoping that it would get better. When the
story returned to the imperial capital, I hoped the story would get better, but
it never did.
I put all ten volumes in a paper bag, and donated them to a local charity used book sale.
Bruce E. Hanson
behanson@mint.net
