Recently, I picked up a book from SciFi author Alfred Bester that made me aware of particular run of what were being termed ‘SciFi Masterworks.’  I did a quick Google search, and – after reviewing the lists of titles and authors that were part of the series – I realized that there were quite a few of them I had either never read or never even heard of.  (I’ve mentioned before that I’m not what you would classify as a ‘long-time’ reader; I started reading fairly voraciously about twenty years ago, and I have a pretty long bucket list of titles to get through.)  I decided it was time that I make my way through a few of these and/or a few others that had been recommended via other sites, so A.E. Van Vogt’s THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE is the next one up in my adventures.

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last two paragraphs for my final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)

From the product packaging: “An all-time classic space saga, THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE is one of the pinnacles of golden age SF, an influence on generations of stories.  An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery.”

The release I have does site a bit more on the back cover, but methinks you get enough from the above synopsis for me to cover what I’d like to about SPACE BEAGLE.  Basically, what you have here is a series of mostly ship-based adventures, one could say something even in the same vein as TV’s wildly popular franchise, STAR TREK, but written in the 1950’s before the Gene Roddenberry property.  From what I’ve researched about the tome, it was originally a series of short stories penned by Van Vogt that eventually were linked together by some supporting material and released in a single collection.  I can say that knowing this simple fact does alleviate some of the abruptness of ending one chapter before starting the next, so consider yourself properly prepared.

That said, SPACE BEAGLE differs from STAR TREK fairly significantly in tone; instead of having a grandly adventurous and morally-schooled command staff in charge of the ship, what Van Vogt envisions here is a more Democratic process – there’s a captain, but many of the vessel’s decisions are made by consensus of the travelers.  They’ll get together, debate an issue, and – yes, that’s right – vote on what course of action is best.  As the crew contingent is made up almost exclusively of scientists, this can make for some curious back-and-forth that – while resembling comedy – methinks Van Vogt intended as more tongue-in-cheek satire.  (I could be wrong there, but from what reading I’ve done I haven’t come across anything ‘scholarly’ that would make me conclude otherwise.)

So instead of having the grand cowboy (i.e. Capt. Kirk) at the helm, you have pretty much the pushover of an executive officer who essentially allows this population to engage in all sorts of political and/or politicizing shenanigans one might expect more so from a high school student council than you would a legitimate governing body.  There’s a fair amount of backstabbing that takes place amongst the figureheads of the larger science-based departments, and it does make for a vastly different dynamic than what one probably expects from the world of space opera these days.

As all stories do require some central protagonist, SPACE BEAGLE has one: Elliott Grosvenor is the ship’s sole Nexalist, an expert representing an all-new science known as Nexialism which (as best as I can describe it) is a discipline that combines the thinking and strategies of all known specialties in order to achieve the best plausible solution for any particular problem.  Whereas a biologist may recommend dissecting a specimen of a newly-discovered species so that mankind could best learn more about it, by contrast a Nexialist might better suggest allowing it to roam free in order for its demonstrated behaviors to teach us just how to deal with it.  Naturally, this makes for an interesting counterpoint … except when you have to allow the creature to roam your ship at its own pleasure while dining on your shipmates!

Therein lie the element of satire I believe Van Vogt intended.  As much as he pokes some obvious fun at specific modes of study or entire doctrines of science, he positions Grosvenor in situation after situation that requires a heavy amount of political play in order for him to achieve any measure of success.  Instead of playing the specialist as a ‘know-it-all,’ it’s very clear that others simply perceive him that way, and he’s only intending to do what he perceives is best for the ship and its survival.  Granted, not all of it may make perfect sense for a fast read, but I thought the author mostly intended to send up scientists who were firmly entrenched in their particular field of study as being the unintentional ‘curse’ of mankind while also showing that the shortcomings of personal bias are just as deadly for the educated as they are for the more common man.

It’s a terrific experience, though I found the first half of the novel a bit of a ‘slog’ only because it wasn’t as interesting as the latter half.  Perhaps that’s because the stakes were raised as the greater adventures came into play, or perhaps that’s even because the more Van Vogt toyed with these ideas he got closer and closer to perfection with subsequent tales as opposed to the first few.  Whatever the truth may be, SPACE BEAGLE is clearly worth the time and effort; occasionally meaty because of narrative shifts of view, it’s a much more honest look at what Earth’s collective march to the stars might inevitably look like.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  I have no problem whatsoever admitted that THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE probably wouldn’t have meant all that much to me when I was much younger because I tend to think a lot of what’s meaningful in there needs a fair amount of maturity to be fully appreciated.  Some of the moments play out like soft satire, and methinks a younger mind might’ve missed the point.  However, this old dog enjoyed it more and more as the stories wore on, and – by the end – it’s easy to see why some folks consider this one of the better SciFi novels written from a certain era.

As I’ve mentioned before, I nurture an on-and-off again love affair with written science fiction.  I started out reading some when I was young – some of it probably a bit meatier than what I could honestly understand at that age – and I’ve gone through ‘spurts’ of reading more and writing my own throughout my life.  As fate would have it, I do tend to prefer SciFi of a different era (vintage stuffy largely, works from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s) as opposed to modern day stuff which – to me – seems largely either unrelatable or too infused with the concept of being ‘edgy’ to draw characters that make sense much less be individuals I’d want to follow.

After recently finished Alfred Bester’s THE DEMOLISHED MAN, I wanted another taste of the man’s greatness, so I purchased a used copy of THE STARS MY DESTINATION that was part of the tale’s re-issue as one in the Millennium SF Masterworks imprint.  Having just finished it last night, I wanted to get down a few thoughts while they were fresh in my mind.

THE STARS is, indeed, an irrefutable epic, though it’s not without some creative blemishes (in my humble opinion).  The story involves one angry nomad named Gulliver ‘Gully’ Foyle who – after being marooned aboard a dying spacecraft in the vacuum of space – believes he’s about to be rescued by a ship known as the Vorga.  However, once he sees that the crew of the Vorga knowingly pass him up and go about whatever their space business is, Foyle commits himself to one singular agenda: if it takes him the measure of his life, he will get out of this wreck, he will find them, and he will have them suffer his wrath for abandoning him to die.

Necessarily, the wealth of the narration is just that: Foyle eeks out a plan step-by-step to bring a dead ship back to life, only then to turn his focus on flying it to where he can find civilization and continue his vengeful journey.  Along the way, he largely ignores that pain and anguish inflicted on him by others (he’s given a facial tattoo by a tribe of space hippies he encounters that makes him hideous; he suffers some modest setbacks by a curiously flaming vision of man who keeps thwarting his every attempt; etc.), and he remains committed to seeing his brand of justice served.  In the end, however, he comes to realize that one’s life mission may not ultimately deliver the redemption sought; instead, it may doom man to an even darker fate.

With as much that has already been written about this novel, I certainly don’t feel I have anything definitive to add.  What I can say is that the book has a prologue – one that establishes the time, place, and particulars of what’s to follow – that has to be one of the most brilliant chapters I’ve ever read; it flows with the calculated ease of pure genius, setting the epic stage for the protagonist the way only a literary scholar like author Bester could.  Foyle’s race to uncover the identities of those who damned him to that space grave plays out like a loose detective procedural, as do his ongoing attempts to get close to them, drawing the reader further and further into the man’s personal nightmare with great effect.  Lastly … the big finish?  (I won’t spoil it.)  I would imagine some found it more than a bit experimental for its time in literature – I’ve seen it tried elsewhere since it was possibly first done here.  In some ways, it felt a bit ‘forced’ to me only in that I thought it went on a bit longer than it needed … but that certainly doesn’t make it any less groundbreaking.

What have I learned from all of this?

Well, I’m definitely going to have to find and read more of Alfred Bester’s works.  And I’ll probably be on the lookout for more of these used Millennium SF Masterworks to add to my bucket list.

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE.  There are lesser elements with Alfred Bester’s THE STARS MY DESTINATION which debatably appear a bit dated, but the overall arch of the story and the characters easily establishes the novel as a revelation in science fiction storytelling.  Some might dismiss some of Bester’s prose as being more than a bit pulpy in nature, but all should agree that the ideas captured within certainly make this one to read if not one for the ages.

Folks who know me well know exactly how much I love my collectibles.

My den is full of the ones I'm actively displaying, but every room throughout my house is decorated in some way, shape, or form with something from genre entertainment.  Be it a trinket, a poster, a picture, an action figure, or some other obscure item, it's here somewhere ... and that's why I love receiving my weekly email from Things From Another World -- aka TFAW.com.  It details not only the comic books released on this day in history, but their weekly blitz also highlights all of the spectacular merchandise just released and available for purchase.

The upside to collecting?  There's never a better time to start than right now (that's how I justify so many of my impulse buys to my wife), and some of the product lines just keeping better and better.

The downside to collecting?  Most of the stuff I just simply can't afford.  Don't get me wrong: if I win the lottery, I'll have it all ... but until that time, I'll never stop championing the items, though, which I'm constantly hounding others to buy via Twitter or Facebook.

As this is Wednesday, I received the regular email blast from TFAW.com, so I thought I'd point out some of what's now available.

Star Trek Starships Figure Coll Mag #25 USS Prometheus

Star Trek Starships Figure Coll Mag #26 Tholian Starship 2150

Pop Star Trek Mirror Mirror Spock Previews Exclusive Vinyl Figure

Star Wars Yoda Hoth Statue

Star Wars Rebel Seal Bookends



Get 'em while they're hot so you can be the talk of Nerd Town!

I was one of the few and the proud who championed the entire run of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS animated program every opportunity I got.  Knowing full well that this Prequel Trilogy era didn’t quite work out to many long-time fans’ expectations, I went into TCW with little expectations and was rewarded handsomely for it.  The stories pushed the boundaries when there was room to play with the mythology, and more often than not the writers honed in on the treachery, politics, and deceit all Star Wars fans wanted to see in the big budget films, delivering quality narratives, interesting characters, and one more compelling reason to journey back to that galaxy far, far away.

Like most fans of the show, I was devastated when it was cancelled.  Sure, I was glad to hear that Disney wasn’t going to completely ignore a regular TV program in Lucas’s universe – STAR WARS: REBELS was announced shortly thereafter – but I’ll always wish for more stories in the war-torn corners of that Old Republic before the Empire took hold.

At first blush, STAR WARS: REBELS would certainly seem like a grand idea.  Set in those fragile days before the events of STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE, REBELS is free once again to explore these dark times when the Empire was closing its fist around star systems new and far, and – if SPARK OF REBELLION is any indication – it should enjoy a long life in the minds of those still young at heart.

See, THE CLONE WARS offered storytellers the opportunity to tinker with some meaty issues.  Understandably, the galaxy was mired in the chaos of war, so this presented an endless scope of opportunities rich for examination.  Conflict.  Allegiance.  Honor.  Duty.  Responsibility.  Sacrifice.  Teamwork.  So on and so forth.  All one need do is thrown in any quality World War II picture in the DVD player, and you can see the inspirations available.  And – in most respects – THE CLONE WARS did a stellar job working through some of its early missteps, eventually settling into broader tales that gave writers two, three, or even four episodes with which to play out character arcs.

By contrast, REBELS felt a bit rushed.  Granted, it’s never easy to launch an all-new incarnation of any franchise, but this one seemed dependent upon action to push the story forward instead of relying on characters easily recognizable and their actions understandable.  The opening – a bit of thievery between two opposing groups – seemed a bit nebulous (somewhat understandably once you know what’s going on), and it doesn’t get cleared up until fairly well invested into the 43-minutes.  While that might work for some, it required a bit of a stretch for me.

Immediately after viewing it, I wondered if the run-time wasn’t the premiere’s greatest disadvantage.  After all, THE CLONE WARS launched with a theatrical outing before settling in to its weekly 23-minute format, so audiences were given more material and the familiarity of established characters and settings to sort through.  I hate saying it but even if TCW wasn’t your particular ‘cup of tea’ then there still was more to digest with which you could reach that determination.  To me, REBELS seemed as if the writers wanted to speed events up to the point wherein the viewer had no opportunity to stop and posit a question as simple as “How did we get here?” and that could be because … well … they only had 43 minutes to work with.  Before the audience even knows all of the essential pieces they were whisked off on yet another chase, another battle, another argument, giving SPARK more the feeling that it was culled together for brevity rather than entertainment’s sake.

When you have a half-dozen new characters AND a new time and place AND new circumstances to establish, that’s a lot of ground to cover.  As I’ve always said when examining movies and television shows, I’d rather a storyteller take a few minutes extra to get something right than trim a few minutes off only to risk getting it wrong.

For all of the hype I’d heard around the new droid Chopper, good ol’ Chop didn’t seem all that feisty to me in this premiere adventure.  Some of that could be due to the fact that with a small handful of characters and only 43 minutes of run-time, scenes were divvied up as needed to keep focus on moving the story forward; as such, SPARK didn’t have all that many character moments.  I, myself, saw a few missed opportunities with which to add in more individual flavor, and that’s never a great thing.

Granted, some of this may seem like I’m nitpicking, and – if it does – then I’ll say I hope that only underscores how important I take my STAR WARS properties.  I’m all for lightening up the mood, and I’m even a pretty big proponent of keeping something kid-friendly so long as there’s no sacrifice to quality storytelling.  REBELS had a few great moments – the ‘big reveal’ regarding the true identity of a lead character, as well as the ominous set-up for the series promised villain – but they were spread out around some frenetic action sequences that looked good though didn’t make much sense.

RECOMMENDED.  Always the optimist when it comes to most things George Lucas, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.  The Force looks strong with this one, but as it’s airing on Disney / DisneyXD it definitely looks at first blush like STAR WARS: REBELS won’t have the intellectual depth of storytelling that populated so much of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS in its five/six season run on television/Netflix.  That may not necessarily be a bad thing as Dave Filoni and his merry band of animators clearly hope to capitalize on the nostalgia factor: I mean, how cool was it to see actual TIE fighters at work again?