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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ast week's issue of Science Fiction Weekly had an excellent comment in Paul Di Filippo's review of Banner of Souls by Liz Williams. ...
Bantam chose a wise course with Williams' career: to keep her accessible as a mass-market novelist, eschewing expensive and chi-chi hardcovers. Once, all SF was published this way, and the field seemed open to more experimentation and a flood of new writers. The annual Philip K. Dick Award acknowledges this tradition, and Williams certainly deserves to win one this year.
Allow me to endorse this statement. Too many publishers (especially fantasy publishers) have decided that the way to maximize profits is to publish pretty much everyone in hardback. This may work in the short run but it turns a lot of readers off in the long term. Aside from the not inconsiderable cost, there's also the lack of shelf space to consider. Publishers should remember that "mass market" means the masses are more likely to buy the book!
Karen Wester Newton
cnewton(at)his.com
was wondering if [the SCI FI Channel] could show the old (1950s and 1960s) Buck Rogers series that were in black and white. I remember them both as ahead of their time and humorous in their predictions that obviously didn't come true. The series would also give a perspective on today's science fiction that is sorely needed.
William Cassidy
wcassidy2001(at)yahoo.com
ejoice and celebrate the rebirth of the Great Bird's universe—Star Trek is fun again! After the shame that has been Enterprise, a show that has attempted to kill the long-term loyal fan base by rewriting Trek's history of the future, has returned to its roots!
Back to Vulcan, back to the original promise from [producer Rick] Berman that the show would answer questions on how the Federation was founded, etc. The aftermath of the Eugenics Wars promises to provide answers, facts to fill in the timeline of the universe all Trekkers know, love and follow with a passion.
This, this is the Trek history we the fans, those who have sustained the series between the cancellation of the original and the first movie and beyond the deeply disappointing Nemesis, know and love!
Sadly, when the show has returned to its roots and has a chance, it may have lost so many of the faithful to bad writing, dull scripts and, worst of all, character-altering horrors that the ratings may doom it as the first Star Trek franchise failure.
I urge all Trekkers who had given up on Enterprise to please, please, please give it another chance. Consider viewing a 21st-century letter campaign of sorts and try to save a show that Gene R. could now be proud of thanks to serious changes and improvements.
I also urge the writers—please, please, please no more historical changes, meaning no Borg, no Vulcan members of Star Fleet before Spock, no mind-meld taboo nonsense. Let's do a Dallas Bobby Ewing trick—forget the past three seasons ever happened and let's start anew, following the guidelines of the creator of Star Trek. This is Gene's Universe. May it live long and prosper!
Gloria Hoffner
Gloriah311(at)aol.com
ES! YES! YES!
I was so excited when I read [Joss] Whedon was doing the Firefly movie, Serenity. I bought the DVD box set and I have worn the DVDs out. (If that is possible.)
I know most of the characters from the original TV series have changed, but I would love to see them again in another TV series of Firefly.
[Note: Read the latest SCI FI Wire stories on Serenity here and here. —Ed]
Bonnie Jones
bonniebrent2000(at)yahoo.com
had planned on writing about Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars this week to air my views and fears about the miniseries and possible sequels. Then, while reading through the Letters to the Editor, I saw something that caught my eye and revived a memory long hidden in the recesses of my mind.
Star Blazers! ("Blazers Deserves Live-Action Flick") While originally titled Battleship Yamato when originally produced and released in Japan, for what were probably "politically correct" reasons, it was renamed Star Blazers when released for the American market in the early 1980s.
While never a great fan of Japanese anime, this offering is one of the best and strongest of its genre. No, it's not without its faults, but if you've never seen this two-season series, you're missing a superior science-fiction tale. I'm not sure if it has made it to DVD, but I know that at least part of the series is available on VHS.
While I wouldn't want to wreck the story for anyone, it starts off with Earth virtually decimated by years of bombing by an alien race. The oceans are gone, and what is left of humanity is living underground.
After being contacted by a benign race and told that if they can reach the specified planet within a specified time, not only can Earth be saved from destruction, but it can be restored to its original beauty, specifications for a star drive and helpful weapons are transmitted as well.
Using the hulk of the Yamato, which had been sunk by American forces during the final months of World War II, scientists and engineers build a spacegoing battleship with fearsome weapons and man it with a crew of the best Earth can provide.
As usual with Japanese anime, there is comic relief provided in the form of a rather wacky but brilliant scientist, a rather eccentric robot and some of the younger minor characters. The major characters are honor-driven, bound by the weight of responsibility that they alone can save Earth.
I'll admit that most of this comes from my somewhat inaccurate memory of a show that I watched in its entirety two decades ago, but it did leave a positive impression on me; otherwise I wouldn't remember it.
As with many series, the first season, when Earth was in dire trouble, with extinction a reality, was the better of the two seasons. The second showed the Yamato as obsolete, yet the only ship that could possibly win through to the show's destination.
I have to agree ... with so many Marvel Comics heroes and characters being brought to life, this Japanese anime series would be perfect to be brought to the big screen. With current technology, while it would take some time, this series could make an excellent live-action motion picture.
Just don't do Sailor Moon. ...
Keith Kitchen
boyoklaatu1(at)aol.com
fter finally watching the Peacekeeper Wars, I can honestly say it was well worth the wait. Loose ends were tied up (Jool and Sizoku), relationships culminated (John/Aeryn and Chiana/D'Argo), and tears were shed in sadness and happiness.
We were also treated to one of what I believe to be the funniest and most dramatic births/weddings in history. Even in happiness John was in deep to his knees.
Here's to the next miniseries and a trip to Hyneria to tie up more loose ends.
Todd [last name withheld]
weyrleader(at)gawab.com
s with many others I know, Farscape has been a refreshing series that should continue on. When the series was canceled, I have to say that I was quite upset and proceeded to write and call everyone involved with the making of Farscape, trying to get it going again. It is my firm belief that if all the fans of this program were to voice their feelings, maybe, just maybe, we could see its return.
If you will remember a while back, when Star Trek was canceled, myself and thousands of other fans wrote and protested the decision to end that series, and, as you know, Star Trek was picked up and the rest is history.
So, if you are a true Farscape fan, don't just sit there and hope for its return, let these people know in no uncertain terms that you want the series back, now!
In closing, I would like to say that the cast of Farscape rocks!
Sean E. O'Donnell
s2475041(at)frontiernet.net
have just read this week's SCI FI news of a new action heroine for TV named Painkiller Jane, and she sounds like the most ambitious attempt for a new series featuring a superheroine in recent years. Dark Angel and Birds of Prey were not as successful as they deserved to be with their reasonable concepts, and Darklight with Roswell's Shiri Appleby may seem like a semi-parallel for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But Painkiller Jane, who sounds almost like a female version of Bruce Willis' David Dunn from M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable, sounds basic enough (not necessarily in a derivative way) to attract a whole new audience back to the genre of female-centered superhero epics on television. I may be looking forward to this one and given the right stories and an appropriately talented actress, Rachel Skarsten for example, who would be my first choice perhaps, Painkiller Jane just might stand a good chance. This kind of genre combined with realistic-enough drama, like shows from The Incredible Hulk to Smallville, has usually proven itself.
Michael Anthony Basil
mike.basil(at)sympatico.ca
hen a door is ajar, isn't it still a door? So riddle me this: When is "sci-fi entertainment" not "sci-fi entertainment"? (According to Science Fiction Weekly, that is!)
As defined by Science fiction Weekly, "sci-fi" (a buzzword coined by Forry Ackerman and despised by Sf purists) ranges from classic SF and Greek mythology to the current Desperate Housewives. So nothing remotely connected to science fiction and fantasy would seem to escape SFW's all-seeing eye? (Ironically, The Lovely Bones, a hugely successful novel narrated by the spirit of a murdered young girl in heaven, got not a word from SFW.)
Sci-fi is more than collection of magical genres. It is a community composed of those who take pride in belonging with a spirit of cooperation and support. But sci-fi is first and foremost a business, and that's when the shtick can hit the fan.
Read SFW and you'll get the latest news on TV shows and movies and books and games produced by SF and fantasy writers and corporations in good standing with the sci-fi community. But what happens when an "outsider" creates a work of science fiction or fantasy? Therein lies the SFW (and other SF & F websites) dilemma: Is it the scope of the Web site to cover "sci-fi entertainment" or only that which is created by the SF & F community?
On the New York Times fiction bestseller this week, five out of the top eight books are well within the realm of sci-fi. Stephen King and R.A. Salvatore are SF & F members in good standing, but Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code has been on the list for an astonishing 84 weeks has yet to rate a review. Philip Roth, a giant of American literature, whose Plot Against America has drawn raves (and revulsion), has been on the list for more than a month and completely ignored by the SF & F community. Had Harry Turtledove written this alternate history, SFW would have covered it thoroughly. And what about Mitch Albom? You know, the "sports writer." His Five People You Meet in Heaven has been on the list for more than a year, and not a word from SFW.
It can (and will) be argued that SFW serves its consumers, whether they be of Dr. Who and Red Dwarf or Star Wars and Matrix or whatever TV show or movie or video game strikes their fancy. "We have to please the fans," is the logical Prime Directive.
This makes for a close-minded self-serving Web site. Regardless of their race, creed, color, gender or nationality, sci-fi is not determined by its fans, but by its works; SF & F is either on the screen or the page or it isn't, and when it is, fans of the genre should, at the very least, be made aware of it.
Gee, does that make me an elitist snob? On the contrary, I'm sick of SF & F being considered the "ghetto of literature," and when one of these so-called "respectable writers" ventures into the genre, he or she must be held accountable. They may slam-dunk, but out of their element, too often even the very best mainstreamers come off like Michael Jordan trying to hit a minor league curve ball.
Isn't it about time SFW stopped standing around and took some swings?
Kevin Ahearn
kahearn(at)netpub.net
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