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.
— Scott Edelman, Editor-in-Chief
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Enterprise is a Fantastic Trek
love Enterprise! If the series is as good as [the series premiere] "Broken Bow," then it will be around for a good long time.
I've always liked Scott Bakula, and he makes a perfect captain.
My first gripe, however, is that I'd like to see T'Pol wear a standard uniform like the rest of the crew if she's going to stay. The other one is that I've never seen a Vulcan pout so much in my life!
Anita E. McIntosh
aemcintosh@voyager.net
Mutant X Maven Mars Motivations
eading your interview, it becomes apparent that Howard Chaykin is the personification of so much of what's wrong with the industry.
"I became a writer out of self-defense. For the most part, many of the writers I was working with were failed artists who'd found themselves a niche in the comic book business as writers. And, frankly, I'm better read, more literate, with a wider ranging set of interests than many of the writers I was working with, so I began to write my own stuff and pissed a lot of people off."
Beginning with Blackhawk fans 20 years ago, when Chaykin brought back the team in name only and stocked his flimsy vision with sex and profanity. Had he done that with Superman or Spider-Man, he would have been drawn and quartered.
"The old saw 'with great power comes great responsibility' is a wonderful idea if you're 12, but the truth is, if you were given one of these gifts, you'd find a way to use it in your job."
Chaykin's artistic gifts made him a "somebody." As almost nothing today is written by "nobodies," no matter how much talent they have, but by "somebodies" whether they can write or not. Chaykin's string of forgettable efforts reinforces the obvious fact that he possesses no "great power," but that he's fooled the industry into giving him "great responsibility."
"The comic-book audience accepts Batman's motivations and behavior as a given. From my perspective, Batman is a rich guy who uses his fortune to dress up like a bondage freak, running around with really cool weapons and gadgets, beating the living crap out of people he doesn't know. In the real world, Bruce Wayne would invest his fortune in the private sector or run for office. My job is to find a happy medium between those two sensibilities."
Who cares about Chaykin's "perspective" on Batman? Write the character or stay home! His "perspective" on Blackhawk ruined the memory of a classic team. Now that he's ripping off the X-men with his "happy medium between those two sensibilities." Oh, the humanity!
"I spent a year on The Flash, an action-adventure superhero show. I wrote nine episodes. I spent 3 1/2 years on The Viper, and a year on Earth: Final Conflict. The work I've done professionally has all been in the action/hour realm, both in network and in syndication. It's where I belong. It's the kind of sensibility I have. I try to bring a slightly more self-aware attitude without being snide about the material."
Viper and EFC, with his sensibility, that is where he belongs. And you wonder why SF on TV has been so bad for so long. Gee, I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Chaykin to write a "slightly more self-aware" movie.
So much for my attitude and being snide.
Kevin Ahearn
KEVTOMA@aol.com
B5 Shows Earth's Diverse Strength
atching the prayer service in Yankee Stadium reminded me of the episode "The Parliament of Dreams" on Babylon 5. In NYC, there were many speakers and guests marching to the dais, and it included many leaders of many faiths. One of the plot lines for the B5 show was having an exchange of the dominant faith for each race on the space station and Sinclair's concern about representing Earth.
The very powerful and moving ending of the B5 episode has Capt. Sinclair introducing a long line (the end out of sight) of representatives of all of Earth's faiths. Our nation's strength, at the national and local levels, has been our diversity and what each individual contributes. I sincerely hope this continues and we do not react in such a way to follow those who preach, even in this country, sameness in worship, beliefs and actions.
Charlain Greene
r-greene@home.com
Babylon 5 Written for Adults
a, thanks for the laugh ("B5 Strangely Similar to DS9").
Babylon 5 was clearly written for adults and got visibly better as the actors got the feel of their characters. I wish it could have lasted longer or that Crusade had been really supported. Actually, I'm surprised that it lasted as long as it did given the network's (apparent) hatred of intelligent dialogue, superb writing/plotting and excellent production.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was written and produced for Trekkies (and children) and the writing got increasingly childish as the series dragged on. It really lasted seven years? Wow, I quit watching long before then.
Mark Powers
powers@nuc.net
Potter's Popularity is Juvenile
pparently my choice of the words "dedicated" and "fanatic" were appropriate when reviewing some of the responses to my original letter ("Potter Is For Children, Not Hugo") concerning a Harry Potter book getting the Hugo award for best novel. But I enjoyed those comments nonetheless and their attempt to be thoughtful.
Based upon the riveting and glowing endorsement of Goblet of Fire, I look forward to seeing it compete in the Nebula Awards, voted by people who actually write science fiction and fantasy. Will it make the final ballot? Will it be in the preliminary ballot? Will it even make the ballot?
Of course, being the ignorant snob that I am, I guess I should whip out my old Hardy Boy books and reread them so I can fully appreciate the meaning of juvenile mass popularity. After all, who needs complex adult novels when the easy-to-understand stuff is so well written?
Reid Babbitt
qbit@hotmail.com
Adults Also Enjoy Potter
am sorry to be so tardy in replying to the discussions about Harry Potter ("Potter Defines the Magic of SF", "Harry's Hugo is More Than Hype", "Award Winners Often Hard to Find", "Potter For Children of All Ages" and "Harry Potter is Formula Fiction"), but I have been out of touch for several weeks. I would wish that more people would at least read a book before they denigrated it in press, or at least read it without preconceptions about children's books vs. adult works. The books were originally written for children, but have gained an extended adult following. They touch many deep roots of original sci-fi such as good vs. evil, honesty, strength of character, bravery even unto nearly certain death, true friendship and reaching beyond the bounds of what you believe you can achieve.
When Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was first released, my son (he is 25 and a computer programmer in Seattle) told me that on his ride to work in the bus, almost every adult businessman and businesswoman was busy reading the book. He said they could have had a mini-sci-fi/Potter con on the bus if anyone could have put the book down. The books have raised the rate of children's reading greatly and I personally know several non-reading children who have now become passionate readers. Most of them have expanded into many other realms of sci-fi and fantasy. (Isn't this what we want, many
new readers and many new sci-fi readers?) In many ways she has created a complete world and history that is internally consistent much like prior greats such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth and Lewis' Narnia. And like these prior greats, she is attracting many people, both children and adults, to sci-fi/fantasy.
My wife and I (both in our 6th decade) are both avid readers. My sci-fi/fantasy collection extends back to before my birth and contains over a thousand volumes. Thus I have extensive experience in the genre. I have attended world cons for both sci-fi and fantasy and continue to buy, and read, an average of over 20 sci-fi/fantasy books a month. I have met, conversed and corresponded with many authors (several Hugo winners), so I do have some background in the field. When the Potter craze was first starting, my wife got the first book. She kept remarking that she could not believe it was a first novel by an author considering the complexity, consistency and writing style that attracted both adults and children. We have since gotten every volume both here and in England. (She reads the American version, I read the British version and we look for minor differences.)
To end this, I recommend that the books be tried with an open mind and try to see why The New York Times had to alter its long-term practice and create a new category because one author's books stayed consistently in the 1, 2, 3 and then 4th slots of their bestsellers list for so many months. They weren't just being sold to children.
Bill Parker
bparkermd@earthlink.net
British Award Miéville, Not Rowling
'm sorry I offended Katie Newton ("Potter Defines the Magic of SF") with the truth. Her spurious logic in defining SF does not make Harry Potter science-fiction. It is fantasy.
Beyond that, I found it quite interesting that the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel went not to Harry Potter but to Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. Is it possible that British fantasy fans saw through the "drivel" of Harry Potter and disregarded the low-brow fawning over Rowling's insipid creation?
Kevin Fifield
deafened@yahoo.com
Fan Searches for Ancient Ghosts
've been searching for a book that I read about 12-15 years ago and my fiancé suggested I try one of your staff. (By the way, nice work on the Web site!)
I can recall the story line, but not the title or the author. Can you recommend a chat room, or anything else ... other than a better memory on my part?
The story took place in current times in a old mining town/ghost town out west. Basically, some folks end up getting chased around by aliens that don't realize that the folks are sentient and just consider them prey. Sort of like Predator. The aliens only start suspecting "intelligence" in the people when one of their own kind is attacked and his weapon taken ... a weapon that can only be fired by a "sentient" being that somehow is fired by the Earth animals.
Anyway, whatever advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Joe Radich
Armando.J.Radich.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
Old Buffy, New Angel Entertain
would like to comment on two of my favorite shows: Angel and Buffy. Angel's premiere was very good. Most interesting of all aspects was the letterbox format. The letterbox format should become the standard for TV shows in the future.
And Buffy reruns started showing on the F/X network, for those of us, like me, that did not begin to watch Buffy until one of the later seasons, these reruns, shown in order at 7:00 p.m. Eastern every weekend will allow us to catch up on all the episodes we missed.
Patrick Baker
bakerpat62@yahoo.com
Battlestar Boys Should Come Back
s a fan of the original [Battlestar] Galactica all those years ago, I agree with Richard Hatch (and apparently many other fans ("Galactica Needs Original Cast")) that the original cast should play a significant role in any new series. Certainly after 20 some years they would no longer be the action heroes they once were, and plot lines would probably revolve around the current crew, but that's not to say they couldn't be given supportive roles. And from time to time, I think it would be fun to see them reprise the roles we remember them for, albeit it a slightly more middle-aged forum. If nothing else think of the sub-plot possibilities. (Starbuck trying to teach a young, hot-shot Starbuck-like kid the need to be less irresponsible comes to mind immediately!)
Jim Meyer
KMRAMAN@JUNO.COM
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