Buried Treasures/Star Trek at 50: TV Novelizations

Karen: Continuing the theme of Buried Treasures this week, I came across these four paperbacks a couple of weeks ago while looking for another book entirely in one of the plastic bins full of books in my garage. I had honestly thought I had donated my Star Trek novelizations years ago, so I was delighted to find these James Blish books were still in my collection.

Karen: Blish wrote the adaptations for the episode of the original series. Twelve books were produced, and each book contained  several episodes, typically half a dozen or so. Initially he often worked from the early drafts of scripts, and so sometimes the stories in the books were slightly different than the episodes broadcast. When the Trek production crew discovered that the adaptions in the books were not mirroring the final episodes, they were annoyed, to put it mildly. Marc Cushman describes what happened in his book, These Are The Voyages Volume Two. It was actually Leonard Nimoy who first heard about the problem, when a fan wrote him and complained about how Spock was portrayed in the first novelization, as well as discrepancies in the adaptation of "The Naked Time." Nimoy went to Roddenberry with it. After the second book came out, D.C. Fontana was upset that Blish had left out the central point of her script for "Tomorrow is Yesterday," that Captain Christopher had to be returned to Earth because of his unborn son. She also found fault with his handling of "Court Martial" and "Operation:Annihilate!". Roddenberry wrote an executive at Desilu (Star Trek's production studio) and he contacted Blish's editors at Bantam books. All of the complaints were sent off to the author, along with a writer's guide for the series. Later books appeared to cleave more closely to the finished episodes.

Karen: Of course I knew nothing about this as a kid. Back in the mid-70s, I was just happy for any Trek product I could get my hands on. Although I only purchased four of these books, I read all of them through our public library. It was a way to relive the episodes, back in those days before DVDs and the internet. 

Karen: I thumbed through the books, and actually read "Space Seed" from book 2. I can see why the Trek production crew were frustrated with the adaptations. In "Space Seed," Blish completely leaves out McCoy's encounter with Khan in sickbay, the scenes establishing Khan and McGiver's relationship are also left out, and the physical confrontation between Kirk and Khan at the end is summarized in a single sentence! He also spells Khan "Kahn" throughout. To be sure, the stories are less than perfect. But they have a certain nostalgic value. I think however it has lessened since we have easy access to the actual episodes now. 

Karen: Any thoughts or memories about these adaptations?

Buried Treasures: Star Wars - From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker

Karen: I didn't realize it had been just over a year -last November -since we last ran a Buried Treasure post. But categories never stay dead forever here, and with the new Star Wars film coming out in a few weeks, this seemed more than appropriate. I had rediscovered my copy of the Star Wars novelization last year but had just put it on the shelf until now. A little detective work tells me this is the second printing, which came out in May 1977 -and I do recall getting it not long before I saw the film, but as I have mentioned in the past around these parts, our town didn't actually get Star Wars until July 1977! So here I had this absolutely amazing book, chock full of photos and the entire story of the film, and it tortured me. Oh, how it tortured me. I did look at all of the pictures and read the captions -heck, I had been reading articles about "The Star Wars" in Starlog for a year or so, so I knew some of the details already. But somehow, I pulled together every ounce of willpower I had and did not read the novel until after I saw the film. And then I had questions. Like -how come we didn't see Luke go to Mos Eisley and meet Biggs in the film? We never saw Jabba in the movie. And so on. Of course, all those scenes that were cut have now been shown in out takes or, sadly in some cases (Jabba), reworked and put back in the films. But you get the idea. I have read that the novel was ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster from George Lucas' script and notes. Re-reading some scenes, it's interesting how they differ from the film - certainly, the dialog seems even worse in the book than the film, and that's saying something. Look, I love Star Wars, but dialog was never Lucas' strong suit.

Karen: If you have never seen this early movie tie-in, it's a beauty. I wish I could show you all of the color photo mid-section (16 pages of photos, as the cover says), but my poor copy is falling apart. I could barely hold it open to take a few pics. But it still looks great. It has photos of all the major characters along with brief bios. I like how Darth Vader is described as using his "extrasensory powers" to keep the Emperor in power -it's the Force, not ESP! Also, R2 and C3PO are called robots, not droids. I can just imagine some low-level copywriter going through all the notes from the studio  and trying to make it sound less weird. No one back then knew what the heck the Force or a Jedi was. Also interesting is that in the pages describing the production of the film, American Graffiti is referenced no less than four times. I know it was popular, but still! Then again, what else did Lucas have going for him at that point? Well, certainly he has a few other things on his resume now.

Guest Review - When comics guys write “real” books: Stephen Englehart’s The Point Man

Karen: Today we have a guest book review from our pal Edo Bosnar looking at comic writer Steve Englehart's science fiction novel, The Point Man. Take it away, Edo.

When comics guys write “real” books: Stephen Englehart’s The Point Man

It’s always interesting to see a “normal” book written by a comics writer, especially when it’s not just a merchandising tie-in featuring superheroes or other characters from the comics. Some efforts like this can be found in the Weird Heroes books (that I wrote a post about not long ago), with, say, Archie Goodwin, Elliot Maggin and Stephen Englehart writing short stories featuring original characters.

In The Point Man, Englehart introduces Max August, a Vietnam vet who works as a popular radio DJ in San Francisco. His on-air persona – he goes under a pseudonym, Barnaby Wilde – is sort of outsized and outgoing, while in real life he’s more subdued, and, except for a friend or two, keeps mostly to himself. It’s in the sanctuary of his home that he discovers his distinctive lion statue is stolen and replaced by a virtually identical replica. It’s one of his most beloved possessions as it was given to him when he was still a boy by his uncle; unbeknownst to him, it’s also a magical talisman, which is why it was stolen.

Rather quickly, August gets drawn into a tangled situation in which an attempt is made on his life (a mind-controlled out-of-towner shoots at him while he’s working his DJ gig in one of those street-view radio studios), the FBI questions him because it’s investigating the sexy yet mysterious new manager of his station, he meets an apparently centenarian wizard (who’s also the manager of a popular singer, who in turn eventually becomes his love interest) and he learns that it’s all part of a plot to usher in a reign of chaos by another wizard named Wolf Messing (who was actually a real person (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Messing), although, obviously, not really a wizard – more like a charlatan – and already dead for about 6 years when this novel was published). Max soon decides that he has to become a wizard-in-training to best deal with the entire conundrum (and just to pique everyone’s interest, I should note that part of the preparations for the big showdown with the bad guy involves tantric sex).

The Point Man is a pretty solid read all in all. It combines elements of suspense/espionage thrillers with horror, and at a few places the story even evokes the X-files a bit, because one of the FBI agents specializes in “weird cases” (although unlike Mulder and Scully he’s rather unlikeable). Also, the magic, wizards and August’s decision to learn the supernatural arts out of necessity are all quite reminiscent of Dr. Strange. On a 5-star scale, I’d give it about a 3.5, mainly because there are a few points at which the story drags a bit (mainly due to overly lengthy exposition). Also, the use of US/Russian Cold War politics as a plot device was a nice touch, but it also dates the story quite a bit, and may throw some readers out of it … although just the fact that the protagonist is a popular rock radio DJ sort of dates the story as well, I suppose.

I think fans of Englehart and/or Dr. Strange and other magic-based heroes might get a kick out of this book. Englehart fans might also be interested in knowing that more recently (starting in 2009), he wrote several sequels: The Long Man, The Plain Man and The Arena Man – which I have not read. (The Point Man was also reprinted, but I snagged a copy of the original 1980 paperback, which has the awesome cover art by Richard Corben).

I actually wanted to open the discussion up to other, similar efforts by comics guys: I know that, for example, Don McGregor, Mike Barr, John Byrne, Alan Moore, and, quite recently, Irene Vartanoff, as well as comics writers who became well-known mostly after the Bronze Age, like Chuck Dixon and Greg Rucka, wrote prose books. Has anyone read any of these, and what are your thoughts?

Discuss: Amazon's 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels to read in a lifetime

Photo from http://www.curiositykilledthebookworm.net/p/2012-sci-fi-challenge.html

Karen: Amazon published a list of 100 science fiction and fantasy books you should read in your life. I checked it out. I have read 36 of them. It's not a bad list, as these things go. It includes many of the usual suspects -Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, Herbert, McCaffrey, LeGuin, Tolkien - along with some more recent selections (including Richard Kadrey, a personal favorite of mine). 

However, there are also some omissions -for me, the most glaring is that of Roger Zelazny, author of the Amber series and Lord of Light. Also, not a single novel by the prolific Andre Norton?

If you can muster the time, take a look at the list and share your thoughts about it. No list like this is perfect and all are subjective, but I do feel that some more worthy titles were overlooked for perhaps trendier ones.

And if you don't have the time to peruse the list, what is your own personal handful of indispensable science fiction and fantasy novels?

What Are You Reading?

Doug: I think it's been a long time since we've checked in with each other concerning what lies atop (or a'bottom for that matter) the reading pile. I know I never feel like I read enough, although at the end of any day I guess I've read quite a bit either in the context of work, checking Twitter a few times throughout the day, or a daily newspaper early in the evening. But in terms of some seriously dedicated reading, I always feel deficient. So in the interest of prying into your personal lives and interests, here goes:

Doug: Presently I find myself in the middle of no less than four books, and that's a lot of plates to be spinning for me. Academically, I'm a few chapters into Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder and Hitler's Beneficiaries by Gotz Aly. Both are quite interesting and each book fills in my knowledge for the purpose of my teaching but also in regard to my "summer job" at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Each of these books is engaging, and neither appears to be a slog to get through. I just seem to never find a decent run of time to dedicate to really digging into them with the attention that I need to give in order to truly internalize the material.

Doug: On the lighter side of fiction, I've mentioned a few times that I began A Princess of Mars over the summer. It really never grabbed me, and although close to 3/4 of the way through I am not very eager to return. I think I'd rather re-read The Return of Tarzan, or perhaps return to The Complete Chronicles of Conan. Those short stories were nice, and as we remarked earlier Robert E. Howard seems to stay away from some of the formulaic storytelling tropes employed by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I especially enjoy reading one of those short tales and then finding the adaptation in my first four volumes of Essential Savage Sword of Conan. It's great to see the words of REH set to the comic medium.

Doug: Comics-wise, you know I've been enjoying the Marvel Pocketbook edition of The Astonishing Ant-Man: Origins; the last story I read was the 3-parter with the Hulk that originally ran in Iron Man #s 131-133. David Michelinie, Jerry Bingham, and Bob Layton paid homage to Avengers #s 93 and 140 in IM #133. I've also returned to Ed Brubaker's Captain America, finishing the Red Menace: The Ultimate Collection and now well into The Death of Captain America: The Complete Collection. Brubaker's writing is simply excellent, and the cadre of artists who illustrated these stories are top shelf.  I must declare that when I've sat down to read one of these trades I do not want to put it down. It is so entertaining. And there aren't a lot of comics that I read that are like that - page-turners. James Buchanan Barnes has really become a complex character for me, rather than the one-dimensional sidekick I'd previously believed him to be. We remarked about it earlier, but Brubaker has respectfully touched on elements of war that had been glossed over for decades. That Captain America never killed in WWII? Foolish, and Brubaker deals with that. Again, as we've said (we do have an abundance of conversations around here, don't we?) in the past, I will pass on the modern coloring for a brighter palette. But I don't let that kill my pleasure from soaking in the narrative. And I've come to employ a tactic encouraged by our friend Edo Bosnar -- in regard to the return of Bucky Barnes I just treat these as a sort of What If? or Elseworlds tale and leave it at that. I just want to find enjoyment without the continuity baggage, and Brubaker et. al accomplish that for me. I've also recently purchased the collections of Captain America: Reborn and The Winter Soldier (purchased in Lima, OH last Saturday). Once I'm done with this massive "Death of" trade, I'm hoping to get into my soon-to-arrive copy of The Monster of Frankenstein, Vol. I. I've only read the first issue and some other appearances of the Monster, so am looking forward to digging a bit deeper. And, another hardcover I need to get off the shelf is Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 13 -- gotta love some Bronze Age Superboy!

Doug: Your turn -- let's hear about your triumphs, shortfalls, and wish lists!

Take 5: Science Fiction Films of the 1980s

Karen: Boy, it's been a while since we did a Take 5! The premise here is to name your five top picks of the post's topic. Last weekend, I happened to put on the old classic Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Predator. I've always enjoyed that film, not only for the fantastic creature design of Stan Winston and his team but for the solid story and wonderful characters and performances by Arnold, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and of course, Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator. It was a great combination of action and science fiction. It also got me thinking about the science fiction films of the 80s. There were so many good science fiction films released in this decade (well, and a lot of terrible ones too). But a ton of great ones that I still think of fondly and will sit and watch just about any time. So why not do some reminiscing? 

Karen: I'll list my five top picks for my favorites of that decade, then you list yours, and let's all discuss. Deal? 

1. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

2. Predator (1987)

3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

4. The Thing (1982)

5. Aliens (1986)

Discuss: Isaac Asimov

Karen: It's been some time since we ran any posts on science fiction and/or fantasy authors, so I thought I'd pull the subject back out of the mothballs to see if we have any interest. In the past we've discussed Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein, John Christopher, Michael Moorcock, Harlan Ellison, Phillip Jose Farmer, Frank Herbert, and J.R.R. Tolkien. If you go to the tag cloud on the left-hand side of the screen and click on "author," they should all come up. If we've somehow missed tagging a post, somebody please feel free to speak up.

Today let's talk about one of the grand old men, Isaac Asimov. Although I can't say he is a favorite of mine, he was my big brother's favorite for many years, so I have some familiarity with his work. I did read some of his robot stories, but never the Foundation books, I'm afraid. By the time I began getting into SF, I was gravitating towards Roger Zelazny, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. LeGuin, and the like, and not so much the 'hard SF' types like Asimov. But he certainly is a giant in the literature, and his Three Laws of Robotics have had tremendous impact on not only SF but society as a whole. He also took on the role of science ambassador, perhaps less than Carl Sagan, but he still was a witty guest on talk shows. Let us also not forget the magazine that bears his name and has published some wonderful short fiction for many years.

The floor is open...

Discuss: Dune

Karen: I know I read at least the first two books, maybe three...but it was a long time ago. I was impressed with Herbert's world creation in book one, but I felt like there really wasn't a sympathetic character to root for, not even Paul. I have a few other vague memories about the books, some of which are now over-laid by the film 1984 film with Sting, which I don't really consider a good thing. Any thoughts on Dune, Frank Herbert, the series carried on by other writers, the David Lynch film, or even the SyFy Channel mini-series?

Discuss: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Karen: This past weekend I had a chance to see the two actors featured in 2001, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, at a show called Monsterpalooza in Burbank, California. They discussed the making of the film and shared memories of it and director Stanley Kubrick. These two men were very entertaining -they came across a bit like The Odd Couple, with Dullea as Felix and Lockwood as Oscar! Both had been fans of Kubrick's work prior to being cast in 2001 (both cited Paths of Glory as a favorite film), and Dullea in particular had been a fan of science fiction, actually recognizing elements in the script as having come from Arthur C. Clarke's short story, The Sentinel, which he had read years before. Both felt like they were making an important film at the time, although neither could have predicted the lasting impact of the film.

Karen: Another amusing tidbit: the fellow playing the voice of HAL on set had a very strong Cockney accent -a far cry from Canadian actor Douglas Rain's smooth tones! Dullea gave us a sample of a Cockney HAL doing the 'Daisy' shutdown speech and it was hilarious.

Karen: Share your thoughts on this classic SF film - you can take this any direction you want. Discuss the film's meaning, influence, effects -have at it.

Discuss: Robert Heinlein

Karen: I was introduced to the works of Robert Heinlein when I was a pre-teen by my older brother. I started with books like Orphans of the Sky, The  Door into Summer, then onto Starship Troopers, The Puppet Masters, and then to the really odd stuff, like Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein didn't become a favorite of mine, but I appreciated much of what I read. He's certainly not without controversy amongst the SF community though, particularly his final novels. Any thoughts on this writer?

Discuss: Andre Norton

Karen: Since we had  some interest expressed in discussing some science fiction and fantasy books and authors after the Tripods post, let's start with an author that has already been mentioned: Andre Norton. She's well-loved for her many juvenile novels. While I haven't read her extensively -I never got to the Witch World books for example -I did really enjoy her Time Trader series, and other books like Star Man's Son. Please share any thoughts you have on this prolific author.

Discuss: Tripods

Karen: John Christopher's Tripods series just popped into my mind the other day and I thought I'd see if there's any love for it out there in BAB-land. It may be more familiar to our British contingent than our other pals. The three books in the trilogy (The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire) were favorites of mine as a youngster, right there with Andre Norton. Cracking good adventure with some very solid commentary on freedom, individuality, friendship, loyalty, etc. Just great stuff to read while growing up. A few years ago I discovered that the books (the first two anyway) had been made into a TV show by the BBC, but other than a few clips on the internet, I've never seen it. I'd be interested in anything you might have to say on the subject!

Discuss: Battlestar Galactica

Karen: We're talking about the original Battlestar Galactica here, the 1970s series that capitalized on the immense popularity of Star Wars. While visually stunning (for the time), it always seemed to be missing something. I think a lot more could have been done with the premise, what with the lost tribe, the whole Egyptian motif, and so on. Also, I think the idea of having our heroes always running away might have rubbed people the wrong way on some level. But it's still fun to look at, and it inspired the new series, which many folks consider to be one of the best sci fi shows ever.

So what say you all on the adventures of the Galactica?

Battle of the Sci Fi Flicks: the 70s

Karen: Here we are, already in the 70s. Just like the 50s, this was a great decade for science fiction. The 70s start out with a lot of very cerebral, socially aware films. However, after Star Wars, we would see a ton of rip-offs all in the space opera-vein. Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars, but it could be argued that its success resulted in the juvenilization of the genre. On the other hand, it also opened a lot of doors for more sci fi films to get made. Two sides of the same coin, really.
But regardless, there were so many good films in this span of years that I couldn't limit myself to just five. Again, I'm trying to pick out the best films, ones that hold up and are still influential today. I'm sure I'll be leaving someone's favorite out, so let's hear about it in the comments. Once more, in no real order, here are my picks.
1. A Clockwork Orange (1971): I'd have to say this is one disturbing film. Is it about the evils of behavior control? The need for change to come from within and not be forced upon one? The dangers of a totalitarian society? I don't know exactly, but I do know I could never hear "Singin' in the Rain" without thinking of this movie. It's a film that I'm glad I've seen, but not one I really want to watch again. Still, it had a real impact.





2. The Andromeda Strain (1971): I wasn't sure about including this flick, because I don't know that it's truly been influential or that popular. But it's always stuck with me -maybe because I went on to a career in science. The threat of the space virus, the race against the clock, it was all very exciting stuff, and certainly seemed plausible.






3. Soylent Green (1973): Charlton Heston's fourth science fiction features him as a detective in an over-populated dystopian near-future. As he tries to solve a murder, he discovers the secret of the little crackers the government provides the masses for food. In case the one person in the world who doesn't know the ending is reading this, I won't spoil it for them. This was Edward G. Robinson's final film, and he does a wonderful job in it. The scene with him at the euthanasia center, watching the surround-screen showing how beautiful Earth once was, and Heston crying, saying, "I didn't know" -that's a heart-breaker.



4. Rollerball (1975): In the future, corporations have taken over the world and Rollerball serves as a gladiatorial-style blood sport to appease the masses. Player Jonathan E. (James Caan) has become too popular however, and his unwillingness to retire drives the corporations to make the game increasingly more dangerous, in an effort to kill him. But rugged individualism is not so easily defeated. I don't think this film has attained classic status (although it was very badly remade a few years ago), but it still has something to say about the dangers of corporate power - or any totalitarian society for that matter.


5. The Omega Man (1971): Charlton Heston's third sci fi film is a rootin' tootin' action flick. I know, many people would say this film has its problems. And it does -the vampire-like Luddite bad guys are fairly ridiculous looking. The obsession with Christ allegories doesn't help either. But dang it, this is a very watchable and fun sci fi film! Based only slightly on Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Heston's plight of loneliness comes across very strongly ("There is no phone ringing!!"). In some ways I prefer Vincent Price's Last Man On Earth, but that is really more of a horror film. Don't get me started on the Will Smith version.


6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): I really like the first 3/4 or so of this film. Watching Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfus) become completely obsessed with UFOs after an encounter is fascinating. His journey to Devil's Tower, and the parallel journey of investigator Lacombe (Francois Truffaut) is exciting stuff. It's when we get to the happy aliens and people bouncing out of the gigantic UFO that I feel a bit let down. But still, a heck of a film. Far better than Spielberg's E.T., which nauseated me to no end.



7. Alien (1979): It's really a horror movie set in outer space. The Nostromo is like a gigantic haunted mansion with nasty surprises springing out at us. The design of the Alien was terrifying and unique. It's been imitated (usually poorly) so many times now, that it might be easy to forget just how suspenseful and frightening it truly was when it came out. But this is a classic, no doubt about it.







8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): This film has a nice slow burn until it hits full on paranoia and keeps that level high until the very end. There are some indelible images from this movie -the garbage trucks with the mysterious gray 'stuff' in the back, the pods and the pod people in their early stages, and of course, the final scene, with Donald Sutherland emitting a frightful wail. This is a film that stays with you.






9. Logan's Run (1976): I figured if I included Omega Man, I might as well include this film. Again, it has its problems. But it was big and bright and certainly captured my 12 year old imagination. We don't get a lot of background about how this strange, population-controlled society evolved, but then, this is really an action film. Although skinny Michael York would have to work with a personal trainer nowadays to be believable! The film had some great visuals, my favorite being the interrogation scene towards the end -"There_is_no_Sanctuary!" There's talk this is going to be remade, but I can't see why -it is such a product of the 70s, like disco. Who needs a remake.


10. Star Wars (1977): And here we are, to the big enchilada: the film that either made sci fi a popular, important genre or ruined it forever, depending on your mindset. But I love the film. There's no denying the enormous impact it's had. The visuals are still fantastic -I still get a shiver when that Star Destroyer passes overhead -and it's a classic tale of coming of age. Am I glad it exists? You bet!

Okay, I expect to hear an earful this time. Where's Star Trek the Motion Picture? What about the Apes sequels? Some of the films I considered and left off: Westworld, Silent Running, and the previously mentioned Star Trek. Some of my guilty pleasures made it, like Omega Man and Logan's Run, while I just couldn't bring myself to put Zardoz on the list, no matter how much I enjoy seeing Sean Connery in a red diaper. So let's hear it from you!