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
Where is the good SF?
n general I find [Science Fiction Weekly provides] a pretty good look at new SF. I do wonder if there is really any good new material. Most of the new stuff seems to lean heavily to fantasy these days. I was brought up on 35- and 50-cent Ace Doubles supplied by a very nice neighbor (which dates me as slightly younger than dinosaurs), and miss the optimistic view of the future the "Old Masters" such as Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke turned out with great regularity. I'm not ignoring Norton, since she successfully integrated SF and Fantasy, and the hundreds of "one-hit wonders" that made the pages of Astounding, Analog and the rest of the "pulp" magazines that proliferated in the '50s and
'60s so much fun to read.
The first SF I ever read was Heinlein's Have Space Suit Will Travel, and that hooked me forever on SF. It took me three months to go through the entire SF collection of the school (I was in 6th grade), and soon after that I had exhausted the local public library.
I still hunt new releases for the same kind of stories, but it's getting hard to find the optimistic adventures the '50s and '60s produced. I'll skip the commercial grinds like Shatner's Tek series (did he really write any of that stuff? Stick to acting, Bill!) and the committee-produced Star Trek stuff.
Here's hoping for a new Grandmaster and positive views of the future.
Brian
machine1@erols.com
Getting a clue about Psycho Shop
hank you for your review of Psycho Shop, by Alfred Bester and Roger Zelazny. I finished Psycho Shop last week, after reading two other Bester books, and found myself confused and a little disappointed with it. I was very surprised to see your review of the book, as I had just finished it, and I thought it was a pretty big coincidence. I couldn't really put into words my mixed emotions on the book, which was both captivating and fascinating as well as at times disjointed and unrealized. At many times during the book, I found myself thinking, "This was not where he originally meant to go with this." I had also found myself wondering how two great SF writers could collaborate (you'd think each Grandmaster would not be able to suppress his own ego enough to collaborate).
Thank you for cluing me in and fixing my bewilderment!
Jorian Schutz
jorian@stardot.com
You should do your research
n your latest article, you stated that Sliders would not miss newcomer Colin [Charlie O'Connell]. However, in a poll conducted by Sci-Fi Wire, over 85 percent of over 1,200 voters said that Colin was a welcome addition to Sliders.
In addition, there is a campaign to have him return. Letters, e-mails, and bulletin board posts are being sent daily.
Your article also stated that [the O'Connell brothers] did not want to return. The executives were the ones not happy with Colin and decided he should not return. They wanted Jerry [O'Connell] and used Charlie as blackmail material. Jerry tried to bargain a deal where he would return for a certain amount of time if Charlie could continue on Sliders...Universal declined. You also stated that these were rumors. However, Marc Scott Zicree stated at DragonCon that the O'Connells would not be returning.
I think you should do your research. If the fans know this, then so should Science Fiction Weekly.
The Sci-Fi Channel boasts that Sliders is its highest-rated series, so why change it? If Jerry wants to leave, we can't stop him. But to ax another character just because his brother won't cooperate is crazy. Lose half the cast...lose half the ratings?
Shannon Oliver
olivershannon@usa.net
Editor: We didn't state that the O'Connell brothers didn't want to return. What we said was, "there are rumors that the O'Connell brothers want to leave the series at the end of the season. While Sliders wouldn't miss newcomer Charlie, the show would have a tough time continuing without Jerry."
As to everything else, as far as we're concerned it's just speculation until we receive official word.
Stargate SG-1 is getting its due
just read the SF Fall TV Preview by Kathie Huddleston as I did this time last year to see the coverage my now all-time favorite show Stargate SG-1 received. Last year it appeared that Kathie felt the show was too cliched and was so bad that Showtime would not stick to their 44-episode commitment. Well, they'll be finishing up filming episode 44 in Vancouver next month and it looks like SG-1 has made it.
I'll admit SG-1's beginning was slow, as most shows are. Being too risky, introducing too much techno-babble, will definitely sink an SF show or make it an instant classic. So the producers of SG-1 took a conservative approach, but as the year wore on they started to take some risks and really pushed the entire story forward. It's no longer search a new planet each week, but now it's a fight for human survival against gods, the Stargate's survival against politicians, SG-1's survival against corrupt military officers, and the never-ending quest to free humans scattered throughout the galaxy. A very complex mythology has now been formed and the show is extremely engrossing.
SG-1 also has been performing exceptionally well in other countries such as Australia and Canada, where SG-1 has been on network television for a year now. It's a little early to tell how American syndication has accepted SG-1, but judging by reactions I have received, it could definitely become one of the highest-rated SF syndicated shows.
I feel that SG-1 has become a success; they have even impressed Kathie Huddleston. Friday nights are no longer marked as "X-Files nights" for me, although they can't because of the show's time slot change, but "Stargate nights", and I have two and a half years left of them (at least!). I hope with syndication more people are turned on to this wonderful show.
Sean Fitzgibbons
SG-1.Net Project Leader
sean@sg-1.net
Don't you want Poltergeist to succeed?
ow, I could be wrong, but to my knowledge, when a station picks up a show, they want people to watch it. How can people get interested in something (ratings, people) when that show is insulted as Poltergeist: The Legacy was in the "On Screen, Returning Shows'" pathetic ramblings on the show?
The show hasn't even begun airing on the [Sci-Fi] Channel and it's already being insulted? Makes me wonder why people are ordering a station just because the show has moved to it. What makes us think that you'll give it something that Showtime didn't?
Amy
ButrFlyTwn@aol.com
Editor: Please keep in mind that our reviews reflect the opinions of our writers only and not the opinions of Science Fiction Weekly or the Sci-Fi Channel as a whole.
Poltergeist deserves a chance
our reviewer was a little harsh in calling Poltergeist: The Legacy a "marginal" series which falls short creatively when compared with its SF sister The Outer Limits. To judge Poltergeist: The Legacy globally based on its disappointing third season is to dismiss out of hand any number of fine, taut, well-scripted and well-acted episodes from its first two years. Perhaps if Showtime and parent corporation MGM had ever thrown any advertising weight behind Poltergeist: The Legacy it might have attracted enough of a fan base to have forestalled season three's desperate, Voyager-like character machinations.
I dearly hope that a switch to the Sci-Fi Channel breathes creative life back into Poltergeist: The Legacy. The fine premise and talented cast deserve more of a showcase than they have received this past season.
Donna Trout
pipsangel@aol.com
Dismayed about Poltergeist review
just finished reading your lackluster review of Poltergeist: The Legacy, which will begin its fourth season by moving to the Sci-Fi Channel. I must admit, I'm a little dismayed at your lack of enthusiasm for the program. Taken as a whole, the stories and the interaction between the characters have been very entertaining in the last three seasons.
The series, however, suffered from a lack of publicity and support in comparison to its siblings such as Stargate and Outer Limits. I had hoped that the move to the Sci-Fi Channel would change that. The series regulars, Derek de Lint, Martin Cummings and Helen Shaver are fine actors and both Shaver and Cummings have directed episodes of the series which have been well received. Here's hoping that the new season is followed by more stories of the paranormal and more insights into the lives of the men and women of the Legacy.
Mary Wilerson
mwilkers@ghg.net
All questions are never answered
fter reading your review of the final episodes of Neon Genesis: Evangelion, I felt compelled to respond. We clearly agree that the final episodes are masterfully executed and incredibly powerful. However, I believe that your dissatisfaction in terms of getting something conclusive or having all the questions answered is somewhat misplaced. It is important to remember that in our lives all the questions aren't answered and there is never a conclusion (except death, but I think that would have been a little too dark even for Evangelion).
In a series that is as psychologically powerful as Evangelion clearly is, we must remember that the power comes not from the actions that are seen on the screen, but from the reactions that we have from seeing those actions. If the final episodes had answered all the questions and brought some conclusion to the piece, as you seem to desire, the impact and message (which is primarily one of confusion and uncertainty) would have been considerably damaged.
Evangelion is such a powerful piece of art precisely because it creates the confusion and uncertainty which are being experienced by the characters in the audience. If we knew exactly what was going on, the series would be a total bore.
Daniel Jordan
kusanagi_99@yahoo.com
Evangelion continues as movies
n the review of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it was written that the series didn't answer all of the questions and mysteries that the series brought up. Well, in case you did not know, there were also two full-length feature films released in Japan that continue the story and clear up some more of the mysteries in the series. They should be coming to the United States within a year or so, hopefully.
Chook Bobberki
chook5@juno.com
