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
Clute pushes the envelope
hat fireworks in your Letters section this week (week of April 7)!
People seemed to have missed the title of John Clute's op-ed section -- it's called Excessive Candour for a reason, and it is an "editorial," not a statement on God and religion by Science Fiction Weekly. I, personally, am glad to finally read an editorial about science fiction that really has a meaty topic; usually, the "editorial" is reduced to fans arguing over fine details, not a confrontation of the ideas behind the details, or obvious and simple-minded statements that don't invite reflection. Had this been a limp, meaningless piece, you certainly would not have received so many e-mails -- especially, so many e-mails reflecting such a range of reactions. The whole point of science fiction is to push the envelope, to explore old ideas from a different perspective, to give birth to new ideas, and to attempt to shatter preconceived notions. The concept of paternalistic beings just seems to be a tougher envelope to punch through than most.
Thanks Science Fiction Weekly. Keep my brain working.
Anne Simmons
asimmons@nas.edu
Set and match go to Clute
ow delightful to find John Clute's commentary in the pages of
Science Fiction Weekly! His understanding that SF at its best is a literature of ideas, that good SF deserves and requires serious (not humorless) attention, and that SF and its history are part of our culture and can be examined as such remain welcome
glimmers of intelligence in the murk of contemporary critical commentary.
Now, of course, the ball is in the readers' court: we'll have to rummage around for a few functioning brain cells and come up with comments a little more to the point than the predictable, defensive squeals of self-appointed apologists, else Mr. Clute may become bored with us and go away. (Though I was surprised at the lack of protest over his sideswipe at good, old Heinleinian SF. Now that they've apparently been replaced by choirs of religiosos, I find that, indeed, there are worse things than hordes of diehard Heinleinists.)
I was tempted to quibble that much (most? all?) of the good SF of the past several decades has been a reaction to just that theme Mr. Clute describes as "America pushing outward." Penetration of the future, like all penetration fantasies, depends for its power on the idealization and trivialization of its object. Good writers have striven to replace SF's inflatable toys with real futures for decades, though not, I admit, in bestsellers.
But, then, John Clute knows that. And his allusion to Fritz Leiber's
send-up of L. Ron Hubbard, scientific idealist turned messiah, is clever and pertinent enough that all I really want to do is grin, award him set and match, and eagerly await the next column.
Howard Coleman
coleman@bluerider.com
Heinlein defies Spock
just read your review of the classic Robert A. Heinlein book,
Starship Troopers. While I agree with most of what you said in your review, I think you missed something important about this book.
I recently read this book in anticipation of the upcoming movie. I found it to be an amazingly conservative book (a good thing, by the way, for a book to be). I also clearly saw large portions of it as a response to the growing popularity, at the time of the book's first publication, of the writings of Dr. Benjamin Spock.
Mr. Heinlein clearly called for a much more traditional upbringing than that which was being espoused by Dr. Spock, and I think he forsaw the societal calamity that would result in the coming decades due to the popularity of those teachings.
This is, as you said in your review, a most excellent book, both for the reasons you stated and the underlying message of conservative child
rearing. I think if you look at Starship Troopers in that
light, you'll gain a much deeper understanding, and a greater appreciation for what is possibly Heinlein's best novel.
Alan Keith Carver
akcarver@seanet.com
Reassured about Troopers
our review of Starship Troopers reassured me immensely. I had first read it 30 years ago, then re-read it three years ago, gave it to my son to read when he turned 14 and gave it to my nephew a few months back, much to my sister's dismay, when he turned 14. I was glad to see your analysis of the book as a story about assuming responsibility, rather than the Alien Shoot-em-up I fear the movie will be.
Chris
JubalHa@aol.com
Inspired to reread Troopers
hanks for a concise but thoughtful review of a true classic, Starship Troopers. It's time to read it again.
On the bounce, trooper.
Mike Combs
mike@combsnet.com
Boys and men transposed
ne of the very last lines of the [Starship Troopers]
review, it says "all sergeants everywhere who have labored to make out boys out of men." It ought to read "all sergeants everywhere who have labored to make men out of boys." The boys and men have been transposed. Just for your information.
paulchi@acsu.buffalo.edu
Editor: Oops, you're right. It's since been fixed. Thanks.
Angels of death, not aliens
our review of Evangelion did not hit the mark at all. The angels are not aliens, but the angels of death prophesized by the Dead Sea Scrolls. God sees man as getting too close to his power, so he came out of heaven to finish him (if you observe NERV's slogan, "God's in His Heaven, All's Right with the World"). Ikari Shinji is not flirting with Ayanami Rei, he's just trying to break the ice with her, and to figure out why she thinks his neglective father is such a great man. Having seen the entire series, I can tell you that the tension builds in character development that goes into this show is amazing, and the climax of episode 24 is not to be missed. Episode 19 was banned from serveral stations in Japan (it would spoil it to tell you why) And I could do nothing but sit there with horror and cry becuase of what happens to Shinji.
Now that I've vented, you are the only review I've seen that has seen a glimmer of the excellance of Anno's creation, and I commend that. I just hope you're not watching the putrid dub (if you are, this may be the reason you think Shinji's flirting). So to close, I noticed you spelled Ikari Shinji's name wrong on the title page, and I hope that this has heightened some understanding of the greatest Anime
since Mobile Suit Gundam 0083.
Jeff Kleist
cerebus@iss.dccc.edu
Editor: Jeff, you have an advantage over us. We're reviewing the episodes as they're released by A.D. Vision, so what is perfectly clear to someone who's seen the entire series is a bit murky to us. Don't worry, we'll report on developments as they happen. And yes, we are watching the dubbed version. I'll see if we can get subtitled versions for the upcoming reviews.
Gunbuster will grow
've read your reviews of Evangelion and Gunbuster with great interest. I encourage you to see the other two volumes of Gunbuster, as the story tips slowly -- very slowly -- from satire to drama over the course of its six episodes. Evangelion has been the most controversial anime TV show of the 1990s in Japan; you will find it only gets more interesting with successive episodes. If I may suggest a future review possibility, few anime could be more appropriate for an SF magazine than The Wings Of Honneamise, released by Manga Entertainment. If you are able to see it, I would suggest the subtitled version rather than the English-language version, as certain small but significant changes were made in the course of the dub.
Let me say also that I'm glad to be able to read a woman's perspective on Evangelion. The show is unusual for anime in that it features older women such as Misato Katsuragi (29) and Ritsuko Akagi (30) as major characters, rather than only the teenaged
girls more common in the medium.
P.S. Shinji (and Gendou)'s last name is "Ikari" rather than "Akari."
Carl Gustav Horn
garden@netcom.com
Editor: Carl, you were right about our "Ikari" misspelling. It's since been fixed. Thanks, and we'll be sure to take a look at Honneamise for a possible review.
In love with VEX
oltayre's Encyclopedia Xenobiologica is one of my favorite Babylon 5 sites -- precisely because it deals with all of the characters, races, and aliens which are found in the Babylon 5 universe. I have been following this site for years and am always delighted to see new entries which keep it fresh and up-to-date with the series. Very few other sites have the complexity and creativity as VEX.
Cara A. Torta
jctorta@aol.com
Pasquale's Angel won a Sidewise
noticed your review of Pasquale's Angel by Paul McAuley and just wanted to point out that it won the first Sidewise Award for alternate history in 1995 (given out in 1996). For more information on the award, please check out our website: http://www.skatecity.com/ah/side
wise. There is also an interview with one of the judges at http://www.delphi.com/sflit
/sidewise.html.
Please feel free to update the review to mention the award and/or
include a link to our site.
Steven H Silver
shsilver@ameritech.net
Editor: Steve, we reported on Pasquale's Angel winning the Sidewise in Issue 30. It's a fine award, and a deserving book.
