It's Out! Galaxis #5

The latest edition of my little digital free magazined devoted to science and science fiction is now out.

It's Galaxis #5, and it's a special science-fiction television preview issue, with a roundup of upcoming genre shows—Foundation, The X-Files, and more. We've also got an interview with author David Gerrold, a portfolio of Mandelbrot art, a report on the Hugos controversy, seasons 2 and 3 of our Star Trek: The Next Generation episode guide, and much more, including our big reviews section.

Gregory Benford & Larry Niven's Bowl of Heaven

An hour ago, I finished reading Bowl of Heaven, a 2013 science-fiction collaboration between Larry Niven and Gregory Benford. I am left feeling refreshed — it has been a very long time since I read a hard-science, deep-space SF novel — and stunned. Stunned because the book reads at times as if it went right from the writers' computers to the printer, without going through an editor. I'm sure that isn't true, but how else to explain mistakes that had me wondering if I had missed a couple pages or was losing my mind?

It started early in the book where one character is injured; a metal shard had been embedded in his leg during an accident. He is tended to by a teammate, who removes the shard and applies medication. A few paragraphs later, however, a different teammate is removing the shard and medicating him.

It continued throughout the book. People who are described as being in a room are suddenly in a different room. An alien who is on the bridge of an airship descends a stairway and goes to ... the bridge. People who left a room are suddenly back in the room. The amount of time that has passed since the launch of the humans' spaceship is stated, but then it's given as a different amount of time later.

On and on.

I have read Benford's books before, but I'm surprised to say that I don't believe I have ever read anything by Niven, which is an admission not to my credit. Niven is a science-fiction legend with numerous big books to his credit. But, for whatever reason, I had never read his work. That was part of what made me select this book to read next after I finished reading a couple history books (Anne Applebaum's post-World War II history book Iron Curtain — a book that was stunning in a good way, though telling a very sad tale — and Robert Graves' historical novel Count Belisarius). This was my chance to read Larry Niven.

I actually enjoyed the grand-premise tale of Bowl of Heaven. The characterizations and relationships are a bit out of date (sorry guys, but having interpersonal relationships be key to the characters and their organization but not even mentioning a gay character — and then in the most oblique way — until the book is nearly finished suggests being a bit out of touch), but I'm willing to overlook that. However, I was astounded at the poor editing. It's old news that even big publishers don't do proper editing any more, but these mistakes (repeated incidences, actions described twice — just a few paragraphs apart — but differently, and more) are incredibly unprofessional. If it was a mind-bending game of fluid reality with the readers, that would be something, but of course the story would make use of that. No, that just was not the case. Bowl of Heaven was a normal hard-science SF novel, and publishers Tor did themselves, their authors, and their readers a major disservice — publishing malpractice, really — by releasing a hardcover book with this many major, obvious errors in it.

The writers should have caught some of this in the various drafts they would have proofed. But writers are often focused on making sure other aspects are correct; that is compounded by working with a collaborator. We'll give Niven and Benford a small slice of the blame, but the majority of the blame cake has to be served up to Tor.

The sequel to what apparently is the first of a series has been published. Called Shipstar, it was published by Tor in April 2014. Think they had an editor do a good line-by-line on this one?

Sex and the City ... Berlin 1931, That Is

Deutsche Welle has an (English language) article about German novelist Irmgard Keun, who wrote a number of popular books, including The Artificial Silk Girl, which has been compared to Sex and the City.

I've increasingly been thinking about the idea that women in the West were more independent in the years between the world wars than they were after World War II, when they were sent back home and told to spend their time being amazed by their electric washing machines.

I haven't read The Artificial Silk Girl yet, but I've put it on my Amazon wish list. Thanks, DW.

So, You're a Ferengi, eh? The Starlog Project, Starlog #190, May 1993

It’s Star Trek on the cover of Starlog for the second issue in a row, and the fourth time in the last five issues. If I were a better, more faithful chronicler of these Starlog issues, I would spend the time to look over all 374 issues that the magazine published in its 33-year life and report back to you on how many of those covers featured Star Trek of any sort. Then we could throw in the foreign editions of Starlog, the special one-shots featuring Trek, the licensed TV series magazines, the licensed movie magazines, the assorted Yearbooks and Spectaculars and Scrapbooks and Best of issues of Starlog, and even the paperback books. (Let us not forget the forehead-slapping-loopy cover of the fourth issue of sister magazine Fangoria, which featured Spock from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.)

Add up all of them, whateverthehell the final tally is, and I think it would be a safe bet that Starlog’s publishers produced more publications with Star Trek on the covers than anyone else in the universe.

Starlog #190
84 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.95

Would you date a fellow science-fiction geek? In the Miscellaneous section of this issue's classified advertising is an ad for "SCIENCE FICTION CONNECTION. Nationwide network for unattached SF fans forming. ..." Wonder how that worked out for them.

The rundown: The cover, in case you weren't paying attention, features Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Armin Shimerman, who plays Quark in that show; the contents page is given up to an illustration for a story by Anne McCaffrey, who is interviewed in this issue. In his Medialog column, David McDonnell reports that ideas are brewing to do some new things with William Shatner’s TekWar stories, which have already appeared as novels and comics. One idea: A series of TV movies. Could it happen? Wait and see. Michael McAvennie’s Gamelog column reviews T2: The Arcade Game, Dragon’s Lair, Dark Force Rising, and other games. And the Communications section includes Mike Fisher’s Creature Profile of The Phantom of the Opera, plus letters on Trek, Red Dwarf, Star Wars, and more.

Booklog’s reviews this month include The Door into Sunset, Arthur C. Clarke: The Authorized Biography, Maze of Moonlight, Stainless Steel Visions, The Architecture of Desire, Purgatory: A Chronicle of a Distant World, Skybowl, The Singularity Project, and Red Orc’s Rage, which might not be a bad name for a band. David Hutchison notes releases of new Dr. Who programs in his Videolog column. The Fan Network is comprised of the convention calendar and Maureen McTigue’s directory of fan clubs and publications. Kerry O’Quinn tells us how his friend Arthur C. Clarke “lives the large life.” And Lynne Stevens previews Raver, the new comic from actor and writer Walter Koenig.

Stephens also talks with actor Daniel Davis, who discusses his guest-starring role as Professor Moriarty in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Tom Weaver interviews Mark Goddard, the former star of Lost in Space who at the time of Weaver’s article was back in school earning his Masters degree in special education, which he would go on to teach for years. Sharon Snyder and Marc Shapiro separately interviewed actor Armin Shimerman, and Starlog knits together their interviews into one article, in which Shimerman talks about playing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Ferengi bartender, Quark (and which includes this quote: “This is not the kinky Star Trek, but there are darker, more multi-faceted sides than on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Geen Roddenberry’s vision is still here, but it’s being shifted around and re-examined through other people’s eyes.”).

Award-winning fantasy novelist Anne McCaffrey (The Ship Who Sang, the Pern series, etc.) is interviewed by Drew Bittner. Bill Warren checks in with actor Peter Donat to talk about his role as the villainous Mordicai Sahmbi in Time Trax. Marc Shapiro profiles actor Jeff Kaake, one of the stars of the ill-fated TV series Space Rangers. When the original Star Trek was being put together, actor Malachi Throne was offered and rejected the role of the Enterprise’s doctor, though he later went on to make guest appearances on the series. He discusses those roles in an interview by Joel Eisner.

Michael Wolff and illustrator George Kochell examine the history of body-snatcher pod-people movies. Speaking of which, Kim Howard Johnson interviews Abel Ferrara, director of the latest Body Snatchers film, starring Billy Wirth. Jean Airey talks with actor Deborah Watling, former companion of Dr. Who. Joe Nazzaro continues his look at the British science-fiction comedy series Red Dwarf with a profile of actor Danny John-Jules, who plays Cat on that show. And editor David McDonnell urges people to keep reading in his Liner Notes column, which is interrupted by a Kevin Brockschmidt “Terminator Bunny” cartoon. You kind of have to see it.

“That was the three years on Lost in Space for me: ‘Is the show good enough?’ ‘Is it getting the ratings?’ And the cast was worried: ‘Is this laughable?’ Especially after Star Trek came on – ‘Can we compete with this kind of a show?’ Then, we went up against Batman and that hit us – they got good ratings and we didn’t, although we did come back later. ‘Batman’s a real camp show, we're not a camp show. Are we a real show? We’re not a real show like Star Trek and we’re not a camp show like Batman.’ Tension! We didn’t know where we fit, we hadn’t found an identity. An identity came near the end, when finally it was Smith and the Robot doing silly things, and that’s what the show became. But that’s not what it set out to be. I always wanted to do a comedy, but I never knew [while on Lost in Space] that I was in a comedy. One day I said, ‘Hey, I’ve been doin’ all this Method stuff – I didn’t know we were doin’ a comedy here!’”
–Mark Goddard, actor, interviewed by Tom Weaver: “Space Duty”

For more, click on Starlog Internet Archive Project below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent site.

Hi, I'm Isaac Asimov. Which Science Fiction Author Are You?

This is a year or more old, but I stumbled across this quiz to find out which science fiction author you most represent. After taking the quiz, I was told I was closest to the good doctor Asimov. I think I'll take it again and purposely see if I can get it to tell me I'm Harlan Ellison (even if he has threatened physical harm to anyone calling him a science fiction author -- and therein lies the key to my hoped-for rigging of the quiz).

Who are you?

I am: Isaac Asimov One of the most prolific writers in history, on any imaginable subject. Cared little for art but created lasting and memorable tales.

Which science fiction writer are you?




UPDATE: I took the test again, but I missed my Ellison mark. I ended up as Frank Herbert. Who knew?