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.
— Scott Edelman, Editor-in-Chief
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n this space, some years ago, I wrote a letter praising Babylon 5, which I consider still to be the best SF show ever, but also saying that Farscape wasn't at all appealing. Well, I do want to amend that, especially in light of the excellent miniseries that the SCI FI network just had the smarts to air.
I, after scoffing at the puppetry, did start to watch it from the beginning on SCI FI, and as I watched, I became a believer in this unconventional, un-Trek-like program, and the puppets became alive to me, and I learned to understand where it was all coming from. But the heart and soul of the show was the characters of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun, so amazingly portrayed by Ben Browder and Claudia Black. And they sold it to me. What a wild, convoluted, yet wonderful love story. And they should both have Emmys by now, if there were any justice. It was a total shame that the show was canceled, and I have to give credit (as one who has been involved with saving shows in the past) to the 'Scapers that have worked so hard to bring this rousing four hours to fruition. With the 20 million they spent, though, it is a shame they couldn't have had a whole season to let it play out organically.
[Warning: Spoilers follow to Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.]
It has been a long time since I was so impressed with anything, since B5 went off the air, but The Peacekeeper Wars was just great. It was so sad and touching to lose D'Argo, and that end, well, I cried. Just really blew me away. I hope it gets whatever awards it can qualify for in the SF world.
Unlike some, though, I think there is still stories to tell in the world of Farscape. It is John Crichton's story more then anyone else's, and I am sure that Kemper/Henson and Co. could think up more tales to tell, of John's adventures with Aeryn in the Farscape universe. I hope we will see more, and I look forward to it.
I have met Viriginia Hey, Anthony Simcoe and Claudia Black, and they were great. And I want them to get more work. Anthony could return as D'Argo's brother or something. Science fiction provides those kinds of opportunities. I also want to praise the whole cast, they were splendid.
So, in closing, I just wanted to say: Hail Farscape, and I hope for more.
Connie Colvin
CCB5Flamekeeper(at)aol.com
agree [Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars] was a fantastic show ("War Has Created Farscape Peace", "Farscape Justice Has Been Served", "Miniseries Was a Series Finale").
[Warning: Spoilers follow to Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.]
But—I did not see despair on Scorpy's face. I saw satisfaction that two huge empires had been forced down a peg. Scorpy always said that he wanted peace—guess he wasn't lying.
I don't see this as being the end of the show. This miniseries was a perfect transition into another set of adventures.
As for D'Argo being dead—oh come on! We saw him blasting the crap out of some Scarrans and a little explosion—big deal. They did not show us a body that was not breathing.
J. Bicking
bickj(at)hydrosoft.net
was curious if anyone had thought about making a live, full-motion picture of the Star Blazers Space Battleship Yamato story. Of course, bringing it up to current, present standards and maybe rewriting a few things.
I mean, there's been so many other animated characters and series done, such as Spider-Man, The Hulk, etc. It was just a thought, and I wanted to know if anyone was having any ideas on it. It was the story that was similar to Star Trek.
Just a thought. Take care.
David A. Scott
QZoneDave(at)aol.com
AARRRRGGGGHhhhhhh!!!!! When will you people get it?
I tuned in to see Mosquito today, and for some reason it's not on. Ghost Hunters is showing, along with the show name in the upper left corner! So two corners now have info that won't go away! Enough! Let me watch without the extra graphics, without the flashy little animations—before and after commercials. Stop squashing the credits and stop telling me what's on later today or tomorrow or next week! You're promoting yourselves to death! I don't care! If you want me to watch anything, stop annoying me. What you do is rude, just like someone talking in a theatre.
TV today is becoming more of a challenge to watch. Commercials everywhere, and they are relentless! Lest you people forget, I pay for your service, I do not pay to watch commercials and the other crap you feed us, so how about just raising the cost of commercials and give the viewer more content? You do remember what content is ... don't you? It's
the only reason I watch.
In closing, I would like to say I like a lot of what SCI FI offers, you just make it hard to want to watch.
John Iwanicki
johniwan(at)adelphia.net
ith the unrated director's cut of Dawn of the Dead now out on DVD, I expect writers to Science Fiction Weekly will have more personal input on altered versions of original sci-fi classics. There have a few mixed opinions on the original Star Wars trilogy now out on DVD. Even I admit to having mixed feelings concerning some of the newest adaptations of some of these sci-fi films and their ultimate impact. Take Ridley Scott's re-releases of Blade Runner, for example. I agree that 1992's re-release of Blade Runner was, and is, the more appropriate version. But even though I gave Alien's 2003 re-release a fairly good review, which I felt it deserves, after familiarizing myself enough with it on both the big screen and DVD, I am more of a purist. Many seem to agree, from what I have read on the Internet. When I was browsing in an HMV store earlier this year when all the Alien DVDs were in stock, I noticed a whole shelf covered with copies of 1999's 20th-anniversary edition of the original Alien on VHS. I only saw them there once, so I am assuming they still sold well.
This is the one valuable lesson I have learned about reviewing science fiction in my letters, that the only absolute is there are no absolutes. Even the original Star Wars trilogy DVDs are divided into the silver-box wide-screen formats and the gold-box full-screen formats. Fans will probably rule on the majority vote for either version of Alien for Halloween's display of science-fiction horror on the SCI FI Channel. My own personal votes for the top three scary sci-fi thrillers are The Sixth Sense (#3), The Blair Witch Project (#2) and Alien (#1).
Michael Anthony Basil
mike.basil(at)sympatico.ca
was never a huge sci-fi fan, but since getting hooked on Stargate SG-1, I have also started exploring other sci-fi offerings, like Andromeda, Atlantis, Farscape, etc., and really enjoying them, and plan on watching Earthsea when it comes on, but my first love is Stargate SG-1. I love the adventure and exploration, the friendship and feeling of "family," the humor and the great acting skills of the lead characters. If Richard Dean Anderson doesn't return next year, I still hope [the SCI FI Channel] will continue with the show. I still love the show when he's not there, and with creative writing and good casting of some extra characters, I believe the show can have continued success. Keeping Daniel, Sam and Teal'c involved in exploring new worlds, being put in danger and peril, and the angst that develops from that, and the great friendships that were shown in earlier seasons, and just the multitude of stories that can be developed around the base and the Stargate, would certainly keep my family and I watching for a long time.
I'm really loving season eight, and also watching Atlantis, but Stargate is what draws me in, and then I also enjoy watching Atlantis as a companion show.
Lynn Starcher
rrstar47(at)earthlink.net
t last year's World Science Fiction Convention, Torcon 3, I recall reading a very thoughtful and well-reasoned essay by a Canadian journalist (whose name and affiliation escape me at the moment) who happened to be a SF fan who was attending his very first convention. The thrust of the essay, as I remember it, was that while it was all very fine and well to honor those who have built and maintained fandom and SF/fantasy literature over the decades, it seemed to him that an inordinate amount of time was spent either reliving or worshipping what had gone before instead of concentrating on the here, the now or the future of SF literature.
I remember thinking at the time that his point of view was valid only because he was new to conventions and fandom in general. It is true that Worldcons, especially Worldcons, are a yearly celebration of the rich and glorious cultural history which is fandom. The Hugo Awards. The John W. Campbell Jr. Award for Best New Writer. The Chesleys, the Sidewise Award, The Locus Poll Awards and the annual Masquerade are all prizes and entertainments that would not have been possible without them.
In future times, when the literary movements of the 20th century are studied and written about, it will be noted that science fiction and fantasy, particularly those written edited and illustrated by a particular group of American men and women, as being one of the most popular and best-documented forms of literature in history.
In the years since the passing of these fine artists and citizens, there have been occasional calls or inquiries about honoring them in some fashion. In May of this year, Gordon Van Gelder, the esteemed editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, launched a petition drive for a commemorative postage stamp for Isaac Asimov in the May 2004 issue.
The timing of which could not have been more perfect; the July release of the I, Robot film renewed the public's interest in Asimov's life and his various fictional works.
I, on the other hand, had been thinking of a more ambitious drive; for five years I and a fellow SF fan and self-described web-geek, Scott Street, worked on a project to start a Web site specifically to stir public interest in honoring SF great writers. After Mr. Van Gelder's effort to honor Dr. Asimov, I felt that it was imperative that we launch a petition effort this year.
We also developed an expanded list of 46 nominees who we thought best influenced modern literature and art and also inspired and entertained millions of readers, writers, critics, artists and filmmakers all over the world:
Author Nominees: Isaac Asimov, Charles Beaumont, Alfred Bester, James Blish, Robert Bloch, Leigh Brackett and Edmund Hamilton, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Avram Davidson, Philip K. Dick, Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Robert E. Howard, Will F. Jenkins (Murray Leinster), Cyril M. Kornbluth, Fritz Lieber, Paul A. Linebarger (Cordwainer Smith), H.P. Lovecraft, Catherine L. Moore and Henry Kuttner, Walter M. Miller, Alice Sheldon (James Tiptree Jr.), Clifford D. Simak, E.E. "Doc" Smith Ph.D., Theodore Sturgeon, Stanley G. Weinbaum and Roger Zelazny.
Editor Nominees: Anthony Boucher, John W. Campbell Jr., Terry Carr, Groff Conklin, Judy-Lynn and Lester Del Rey, Hugo Gernsback, Horace L. Gold, Donald and Elsie Wollheim.
Artist Nominees: Vaughn Bode, Hannes Bok, Chesley Bonestell, Ed Emshwiller, Virgil Finlay, Jack Gaugham, Roy Krenkel, Frank R. Paul and Richard Powers.
In late June, a petition to urge the United States Postal Service and the Stamp Advisory Committee to consider creating a annual series of commemorative stamps was first given out at the Cincinnati Fantasy Group's annual SF convention Midwestcon 55. Subsequently, three versions of the petition were posted on the Cincinnati Fantasy Group's Web site:
[This PDF] features photographs of John W. Campbell Jr., Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein and Chesley Bonestell.
[This PDF features] C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner, Alice Sheldon and Philip K. Dick
[This PDF features] Anthony Boucher, Judy-Lynn and Lester Del Rey and Clifford D. Simak
[This PDF] features spaces for signatures, write-in nominations and has other mailing information.
Please, feel free to print as many of these as you like and mail them to:
CITIZENS' STAMP ADVISORY COMMITTEE
C/O Stamp Management
475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Room 4474EB
Washington, D.C. 20260-6756
Critics, most notably Harold Bloom, have stated on many occasions that fantasy and SF has no intrinsic value as literature. Book and literacy maven Oprah Winfrey acts as though SF and fantasy doesn't exist at all (which will be the subject of another editorial for another day).
We know differently.
We know that without the influences of E.E. "Doc" Smith, Murray Leinster, Leigh Brackett and Edmund Hamilton, it's doubtful you would be enjoying Star Trek, Farscape, Babylon 5 and Star Wars today. Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg might have well been sitcom producers without them.
Do you like heroic fantasy? Imagine what would be around today without Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. Or horror fiction without H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch and Theodore Sturgeon. "New Wave SF" of the 1960s and experimental writing without Philip K. Dick. Modern astronomical and impressionist SF art without Chesley Bonestell and Richard Powers.
Ask the best writers, editors and artists working today, who had impressed you the most? Who moved you to become a writer/artist as a youngster? Why do you draw/write/edit this crazy stuff?
All of them will invariably cite one or more of the names above without fail.
During their lifetime, many of these authors, editors and artists were lauded and honored within their fields. But their work has effected so many generations of people and cultures beyond their time. Their names, their lives and their art deserve to be known by the general public. It is time to honor these pioneers of 20th-century arts and literature with not just one series, but several series of commemorative stamps over the next several years.
Before the end of the year, I will be calling upon the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, the International Horror Guild, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists and the SCI FI Channel for their formal support of the proposed stamps. A formal proposal for a annual series of stamps will be sent to the Stamps
Advisory Committee in January 2005.
In the meantime, please show your support for this project by printing and distributing these petitions to your friends, family, neighbors and fellow readers and other fans.
And who knows, one day soon you may holding a stamp with the regal image of Robert Anson Heinlein on your fingertip. The face will have a small, knowing smile that will tell you that wherever he is, he probably enjoys knowing that the works and legacies of he and his contemporaries, friends and fellow travelers will never be forgotten.
Chris M. Barkley
cmzhang56(at)yahoo.com
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