Science Fiction has become a poisoned well . .

7-27-06 | Marc Costanzo

[marc costanzo]

The essay below was originally written in the early Spring of 2001:

With the passing away of LEXX ends an intriguing albeit tawdry experiment in Sci-fantasy. One that breaks with conventions, or should I say cliches of TV sci-fi of the 90's . The politically correct pabulum, the multicultural indoctrination, the BladeRunner motifs, and not the least; the steroid mutated superbabes that can punch the lights out of men, but never get punched back in return !?

How about creating a new sci-fi anthology with none of the puerile baggage of Rod Serling, Rockne Obannon, Michael J. Stracinsky, etc .. It is time to end their reign of un-American cynicism and fatalism !

[exhaustguy]

"I hear tell of a "Princess of Mars" series."

Sounds interesting, do you have any refs for it?

http://www.erbzine.com/mag11/1136.html

Article is from Oct. 6, 2005. The project is on hold while the director, Jon Favreau, completes Iron Man. Don't really know much more about it.

[cripplecreek]

My point is that Compassion is rammed down our throats by TV sci-fi just like Tolerance

There was very little compassion from John Carter, only respect. That respect was reserved for warriors "almost" as good as himself because none were quite as good as he. That stuff written in the late 1800s had nothing in the way of PC getting in the way. It was kinda corny but that was part of it's charm.

[ChildOfThe60s]

L Sprague de Camp, IMHO, one of the greatest fantasy writers of the 20th century

[mountn man]

I love Pournelles' Falkenbergs Legion series.

[dynachrome]

"Ah, just imagine of Rumsfeld was a kzin"
He'd have a hard time chewing on Helen Thomas.
Look, spring, U-r-r-r-r-p!

[DBrow]

Screamers was IMO a good adaptation, though his family did not like it.

Through A Scanner Darkly is in the theaters now.

And don't speak of Blade Runner. Without the sheep the concept was lost.

Now imagine The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch done as a TV series!

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

Following the logic, this would make Kerry the Hindmost (as if he isn't already).

[cripplecreek]

If you like Burroughs you'll like this site.

http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/B/BurroughsEdgarRice/index.html

[Phsstpok]

In a better universe, there would have been an anthology series "Tales of Known Space"

Do not give up hope.  Jim Cameron still wants to make a movie of Ringworld and who knows where that could go.

But Gil Hamilton and ARM need a lot of adapting before they can be presented.  Same with Protector (see my screen name for my bona fides).  I actually personallly provided Niven with an out (short version - "Protectors lie") for his totally bogus evolution/biology from that book (which is one of my favorites anyway).

Can you imagine the long form series on SciFi of "Known Space?"  Now, heres a challenge: who to cast for Beowulf Schaeffer?  How about Louis Wu?  The voice of Nessus?  Teela Brown? Truesdale?  And who would you have do the FX?

And then to contemplate the Niven/Pournelle collaborations on Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer and Fallen Angels.  The mind boggles.  I would kill to get the part of Harry Red!
 

[marc costanzo]

The same stracinsky as Babylon 5?<<

EXACTLY !

Exactly !

Exactly !

His work is obsessed with reliving the Race Riots, JFK asassination, conspericies, fatalism, femminazi bitches in charge - - -

Babylon5 is prize example of Sci-Fi TV waging a hate war against America !

Michael J Straczinsky, he is the Cultural Al Qaida !

Bruce Boxlietner starred in this series and he claims to be Conservative, as well as actor Jerry Doyle ~

Jerry has a website of his own - I tired to leave a message on his website to ask why he would star in a series that has such leftwing acrimonious overtones ?

Why why why ??????????????????????????

[DBrow]

There are three good series of "bar" stories.

Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Niven's Spaceport Bar stories plus The Oldest Profession, and Asimov's Tales From The White Hart.

I'd do them up as one season of shows, loosely organized like Twilight Zone or Night Gallery.

Lots of room for jokes, latex aliens, music, fun.

[Betty Jane]

My point is that Compassion is rammed down our throats by TV sci-fi just like Tolerance - - That is the Totalitarian nature of this genre, they are always shoving PC down out throats.

I just finished reading a kids series of book. The first one is "Among the Hidden."

I don't know if it would be considered Sci fi or not. The series takes place in an American state in the near future. It revolves around the idea that third children are causing a famine. They are illegal and when found are killed.

A 12 year old boy is tired of hiding in his houde. His parents farm is taken away for big houses. He makes a friend and starts learning about how the laws were put into place. The series follows him over the next few years. The story shows the consequences of liberalism run rampant; eminent domain, vegetarianism, population control, identity cards and a ruling class of government employees who implement the rules, but don't live by them.

Ths series is popular among the 5th-8th graders I know. I would love to see it be made into a movie.

[MilspecRob]

I would also like a "The Mote in God Eye" time line expanded.

[Grut]

...it's an old story, but Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat would make a fine series!

It's been done, kind of. Slippery Jim Digriz is pretty much Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar, projected into space. 'The Saint' made a good series starring Roger Moore back in the Sixties.

[muawiyah]

Ah, yes, but all the Christians are Pentecostals, and sometimes "Zen" Pentecostals.

So don't be so anxious to gloat over the Moslems.

[Arthalion]

As others have pointed out... There are no muslims in the future...

The entire mythos of the desert culture in Herberts Dune series was based on Islamic Arab culture. Atreides was the Mahdi, or Muaddib, which according to Shia Islam is the title of the person who will unite Islam to conquer the world. Jihad is directly named in the books as the Fremen fight against the Harkkonen. The fedaykin strike forces are a variation of the spelling of the Feda'yin, which anyone who reads the newspaper should be familiar with. Lots and lots of words and names in the book come straight out of Arabic. On top of that, the whole concept of the spice...the energy the universe needs to transport itself being trapped beneath the sands of the desert people...was directly pulled from the middle east.

The references were dropped or buried in the movies for obvious reasons, but Dune stands as an example of a SciFi series where Muslims not only exist, but end up dominating.

[SunkenCiv]

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[marc costanzo]

>>I was pretty fed up with the PC Trek and it's naive humanism. Then I had to go read the Horatio Hornblower novels and Richard Bolitho series by Alexander Kent. I have loathed Trek with a passion ever since.<<

Intersting, for Roddenbery based his Star Drek series partly upon the voyages and discoveries of Captain Cook in the late 18th centaury .

But in the second season it was all leftwing messages,
like Sci-Fi of today - - only now this crap is made in Canada Z:-)

[marc costanzo]

>>How about creating a new sci-fi anthology with none of the puerile baggage of Rod Serling, Rockne Obannon, Michael J. Stracinsky, etc .. It is time to end their reign of un-American cynicism and fatalism !<<

My words were chosen carefully, not blurted out !

[Arthalion]

As others have pointed out... There are no muslims in the future...

Oh, I almost forgot. There are Muslims in the Enders Game series too. Not many though...most were vaporized. In what may yet turn out to be a prophetic bit of fiction, the middle eastern states launched WWIII against the west and were nuked into near oblivion. They still exist, and as the story reveals are still quite slimy, but they are far, far fewer in number.