/** ***************************************************************** * ****************************************************************** * The Non-Sequitur Express * Bloop. Bluruoop. Blur-olo-olo-oop. * Published fortnightly by Phillip Thorne. More or less. * http://home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/NonSeqExp/ * * Volume 2, Issue 9: Monday, 10 April 2000 * ****************************************************************** * *************************************************************** */ OBSERVATIONS: Now open: The Non-Sequitur...Plus! UPCOMING: Heads-up, down, animation, primetime, Voyager. ANALYSIS: Fifth "Star Trek" series: prequel. BOOK REVIEW: _EFC: The First Protector_ by James White. ERRATA: What! Nothing of consequence? plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. /** ***************************************************************** * OBSERVATIONS * *************************************************************** */ The NSX homepage now includes a link to a new section: The Non- Sequitur...Plus! It's here that you'll find HTML-formatted copies of my reviews, work-in-progress data gathering on individual TV series, and analysis spreadsheets exploring topics such as: just how old are contributors to the major SF magazines, anyway? /** ***************************************************************** * UPCOMING * Series, Seasons, Episodes, Movies, Books * *************************************************************** */ SPECIAL HEADS-UP Thu-13-apr-19:05 : "Patlabor 2:The Movie" (1993), MoviePlex, 115 minutes. It's an anime full of giant Japanese police robots, domestic terrorism and beautifully detailed tableux that don't actually move. Thu-13-apr-21:00 : "Space Rangers Chronicles 1" Thu-13-apr-22:40 : "Space Rangers Chronicles 2" Thu-13-apr-00:15 : "Space Rangers Chronicles 3" (1993), MoviePlex. It's a repackaging of the six-episode 1993 SF series starring Jeff Kaake (Viper), Marjorie Monaghan ("Number One" on Babylon 5), and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (all sorts of things, mostly feature films including Michael Crichton's "Rising Sun") as a cross between a Klingon and Betazoid. Tue-18-apr-19:25 : "The Neverending Story" (1984), MoviePlex, 95 minutes. Sat-22-apr-16:00 : "Earth: Final Conflict" has a new episode! Sat-22-apr-20:00 : "Star Trek:First Contact" (1996), ABC, 120 minutes. Expect at least 21 minutes (19%) of the original 111 to be replaced by cybernetic DisnABCorg ads. SPECIAL HEADS-DOWN God is dead - Nietzsche. "God, the Devil and Bob" is dead - CBS. After only four episodes, the CBS primetime animated series is no more, ostensibly due to low ratings ("only" six million viewers) rather than the protests of the religiously-offended. The latter bring to mind the plot of Umberto Eco's _The Name of the Rose_ (and the movie version thereof, starring Sean Connery) in which the old monk burns a library of classics because he fears study of humor will lead to people laughing at God. Seems to me, if you can't withstand a few jokes around your cherished beliefs, you're just possibly not entirely secure in them. (Hey, "Star Trek" fans are told to lighten up every time a new parody airs...) NON-PRIMETIME ANIMATION 3 RSTC The Ice Men Goeth 55/125 bkn m 0410 2 RSTC Trackers 71/131 bkn t 0411 2 RSTC Requiem 75/135 bkn w 0412 2 RSTC Among Us 72/132 bkn r 0413 3 RSTC Hide 'N' Seek 74/134 bkn f 0414 2 RSTC Funeral For a Friend 81/136 bkn m 0417 2 RSTC Spirits of the Departed 82/137 bkn t 0418 2 RSTC Court-Martial of Lt.Razak c4/144 bkn w 0419 RSTC Marooned c3/143 bkn r 0420 4 RSTC Betrayal 31/111 bkn f 0421 4 RSTC The Face of Truth 35/115 bkn m 0424 4 RSTC Mixed Signals 52/122 bkn t 0425 4 RSTC D-Day 62/127 bkn w 0426 4 RSTC Metamorphosis 61/126 bkn r 0427 4 RSTC The Inside Story 54/124 bkn f 0428 PRIMETIME TV * Ros Crazy 116 pg wb m 0410-2100 * SAM The Elders 106 pg upn t 0411-2000 Buf Doomed 411 pg wb t 0411-2000 Ang Expecting 412 pg wb t 0411-2100 7D (Pr'emp'd) 0412 r Chm Reckless Abandon --- pg wb r 0413-2100 * N+A There Are No Words 119 -- cbs f 0414-2100 B5 The Fall of Centauri Prime 519 pg tnt z 0415-0700 BCJ And Baby Makes Three 123 pg tnt z 0415-1000 TR2 Rough Whimper of Insanity 107 -- nbc z 0415-1330 TNG The Schizoid Man 206 -- 57 z 0415-1600 r EFC Interview 311 g 17 z 0415-1600 s 0423-2330 r SG1 Tok'ra, Part 2 213 pg 29 z 0415-1600 s 0423-0400 * Cle Perceptions 1209 pg 17 z 0415-2000 z 0422-1300 * JAT Croque for a Day 1314 pg 17 z 0415-2030 z 0422-1330 SI1 Awakenings 111 -- 35 z 0415-2100 Who Destiny of the Daleks, Part 1 --- -- 35 z 0415-2200 Who Destiny of the Daleks, Part 2 --- -- 35 z 0415-2230 TNG A Matter of Honor 208 -- 57 s 0416-1200 * Fut The Deep South 212 pg fox s 0416-1900 r Sim Little Big Mom 1104 pg fox s 0416-2000 * XF Brand X 719 pg fox s 0416-2100 * Ros Tess, Lies and Videotape 117 pg wb m 0417-2100 r Buf A New Man 412 pg wb t 0418-2000 * FGy A Picture is Worth 1,000 Bucks 207 14 fox t 0418-2030 r Ang She 113 14 wb t 0418-2100 * 7D Brother, Can You Spare a Bomb? 218 pg upn w 0419-2000 * Chm Chick Flick --- pg wb r 0420-2100 * N+A Bugmister 120 -- cbs f 0421-2100 B5 The Wheel of Fire 520 pg tnt z 0422-0700 BCJ Bad Luck Betty 124 pg tnt z 0422-1000 r SG1 Touchstone 214 pg 29 z 0422-1500 s 0430-0400 * EFC The Fields 318 g 17 z 0422-1600 s 0430-2330 * Cle Trial and Error 1212 pg 17 z 0422-2000 z 0429-1300 * JAT Dead Woman Walking 1312 pg 17 z 0422-2030 z 0429-1330 STAR TREK: VOYAGER Alliances 214 m 0410-2200 Janeway gets ethical again. Threshold 215 t 0411-2200 More haste, less tongue. (Pr'emp'd by basketball) 0412 Meld 216 w 0412-2200 Tuvok and Maquis psycho. Dreadnaught 217 r 0413-2200 Torres argues with a bomb. Lifesigns 219 f 0414-2200 Doc gets girlfriend. r Equinox, part 1 526 z 0415-1700 Yet another hijacked starship. r Equinox, part 2 601 z 0415-1800 And they break regs, too! Investigations 220 m 0417-2200 Spy? Journalist Neelix! (Pr'emp'd by baseball) 0418 * Live Fast and Prosper w 0419-2100 New. Innocence 222 w 0419-2200 Tuvok must babysit. The Thaw 223 r 0420-2200 AI clown torments corpsicles. Tuvix 224 f 0421-2200 Tuvok+Neelix=handwringing. Threshold 215 z 0422-1800 This must be a typo. /** ***************************************************************** * ANALYSIS * New Trek series: "Birth of the Federation" * Anticipated: 2001 * *************************************************************** */ According to a story on space.com, a fifth "Star Trek" TV series is officially in the works, to be called "Birth of the Federation" (any relation to the recent PC game is unknown) and to replace "Voyager" after its end in May 2001. Every fan knows the UFP was founded in 2161 (TNG 517: The Outcast) about 100 years after Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight (ST9: First Contact), but the exact setting is unspecified. It may feature a 29cen criminal attempting to disrupt the nascent interstellar union. Several Trek novels have explored the early lives of the _Enterprise_, the TOS crew and a few pivotal worlds (_Best Destiny_, _Strangers from the Sky_, _Spock's World_, _Federation_, etc.), and a number of episodes have provided glimpses into the future. For instance: the 26cen archeologist's timepod stolen by Berlinghoff Rasmussen (TNG 209/509: A Matter of Time), the 27cen Vorgons (TNG 167/319: Captain's Holiday), and Captain Braxton of the 29cen timeshuttle _Aeon_ (VGR 850/308: Future's End) and timeship _Relativity_ (VGR 918/523: Relativity). Although disputed by some fan historians, the official Trek chronology (derived from data at startrek.com) goes thus: Series/Film Stardate Years Produced --------------------------- ----------- --------- --------- TOS (The Original Series) 1513- 5928 22xx-22xx 1966-1969 ST1 The Motion Picture 7412 2271 Dec 1979 ST2 The Wrath of Khan 8130 2285 Jun 1982 ST3 The Search for Spock 8210 2285 Jun 1984 ST4 The Voyage Home 8390 2286 Nov 1986 ST5 The Final Frontier 8454 2287 Jun 1989 ST6 The Undiscovered Country 9521 2293 Dec 1991 ST7 Generations (unknown) c.2300 Nov 1994 TNG The Next Generation 41153-47988 2364-2370 1987-1994 ST7 Generations (unknown) c.2372 Nov 1994 ST8 First Contact (unknown) c.2374 Nov 1996 ST9 Insurrection (unknown) c.2376 Dec 1998 DS9 Deep Space Nine 46379-52xxx 2369-2375 1993-1999 VGR Voyager 48315-? 2371-? 1995-? BOF Birth of the Federation ?-? ?-? ?-? /** ***************************************************************** * BOOK REVIEW * _Earth: Final Conflict: The First Protector_ * James White, edited by James Frenkel * Tor, February 2000, 315 pages, hardback * *************************************************************** */ PREMISE In the early 21st century, the alien Taelons amply fulfilled the promises of friendship and goodwill transmitted ahead of their arrival. With their indigo-hued organic technology they made the desert bloom, revolutionized medicine, and opened instantaneous transport links between major cities. Human idealists flocked to their service, receiving cyber-viral implants that bestowed enhanced memory and a Motivational Imperative; the elite became Protectors to the individual Taelon ambassadors to each nation, their right arms fitted with living Skrill weapons. Within a few short years, however, the true motives of the Taelon Synod became apparent... How the graceful, soft-spoken Companions were engaged in a brutal war with the Jaridians; how they bioengineered entire species to the cause; how the CVIs turned human Protectors and Volunteers against their own race. To the Commonality, /Homo sapiens/ is merely a resource -- and we've been under evaluation for a very long time. Thus proceeds the premise of "Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict" (www.efc.com), an internationally-syndicated live-action TV series now [Spring 2000] in its third season. The exact contribution of the eponymous creator of "Star Trek" is unclear, but the Canadian Alliance-Atlantis (www.allianceatlantis.com) production lists his widow, Majel Barrett, as executive producer. The first wave of novels set in the EFC universe is now arriving in bookstores. (See also my review of _EFC: The Arrival_ in issue 2.8.) SUMMARY Somewhere in Ireland in the mid-third century A.D., a disgraced-and- exiled son, hungry and cold, plans to waylay a bald, elderly tinker and his young apprentice -- but then notices a four-man party intent on a less merciful version of the same plan. Declan decides there's more profit in aiding the pair, and soon finds himself in the employ of a wizard named Ma'el. Ma'el, of course, is a Taelon scientist sent on a long-term scouting mission to Earth. For the experiment to remain uncontaminated, the experimental animals must remain ignorant of his true identity and motives -- but he nonetheless grows increasingly attached and reliant on Declan and the druidic healer Sean. The trio is soon sailing around the continent to Imperial Rome, and Ma'el is forced to reveal his magic map (a satellite imagery receiver) to the ship's captain to evade a storm. A lantern and Sean's cleverness frightens away a raiding party of Roman soldiers, and some inconspicuous antigrav speeds their escape from pirates. Ma'el's timesight -- a Taelon facility for limited precognition -- has atrophied with his enforced separation from the Commonality, and he takes measures to evoke it in humans, drawing the negative attention of Constantine. On to Alexandria, and then a camel caravan to far Cathay -- but not without a detour that forces the scout to reveal even more of his technology. Soon he's confiding everything in his aide and Protector, and his opinion of the race's potential rises -- to be included in his imminent report to the Synod. ANALYSIS This is the final novel of author James White (1928-1999), best known for his "Sector General" stories, which follow the adventures of the multispecies staff of an interstellar hospital, often as they treat disease and injury in first contact situations. (See also the short-lived UPN series "Mercy Point," which probably bears more ancestry to "E.R." and "Chicago Hope.") His medical expertise is evident in several gory-but-clinical scenes (amputating a leg, extracting arrowheads, draining an abscess). The rich descriptions of the Irish countryside attest to his status as a native and resident of that island (Portstewart, to be specific). Dramatically and as part of a larger saga, the novel is far more effective than Fred Saberhagen's _The Arrival_. There are more links to the TV series, there's far more action and movement, and we focus on a strong triumvirate of central characters. However, while they have distinct personalities, it's often difficult to distinguish them by dialogue; every single speaker is garrulous, loquacious, verbose. The feats of impassioned oratory in which every character engages strain credulity; they're forever ready to drive a conversation not just into the ground, but straight through the crust... but all of White's novels suffer thusly. The few uncaught mechanical errors include several mispellings of EFC-specific vocabulary. "Served" (severed) from the Commonality, Ma'el frets about regressing to an "avatus" (atavus), and thinks about scrill (skrill) and Jarridians (one "R"). Most chapters are prefaced by a datestamp ("Ma'el's Report, Day 112,538") but the sequencing is erratic: from 112,537-548; down to 112,454-455; up again 112,577-954; down 112,889-113,089; down again 112,138-353. Anyway, the main events span about two years, with a postscript several decades hence. Linkswise, Ma'el's scouting mission and Irish tomb were first discovered in episode 113 "The Secret of Strand Hill," while his lab and experiments with the Bliss narcotic were revealed in 217 "Bliss." The atavistic Taelon evolutionary form called an "atavus" featured in 202 "Atavus" and 219 "Defector." Ma'el's relationship with the ancient Incans (including the hiding place of his starship) is uncovered in 305 "The Once and Future World;" the trio visit the empire but not the latter. There's no mention of Julianus, a citizen of ancient Rome discovered aboard the ship (in 317 "Time Bomb"), entrusted by Ma'el with punishing the Taelons if they ignore his warning regarding Earth -- but (1) that script probably didn't exist while White was writing and (2) his recruitment could easily have occurred off-stage. /** ***************************************************************** * ERRATA * *************************************************************** */ Oh come on, I must've flubbed *something*! /** ***************************************************************** * Legalese * Acknowledgments * Opt-in/out Instructions * *************************************************************** */ All books, movies, television shows, toys and other creative works reviewed or analyzed herein are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement is expressed, implied or intended. The original reviews and analyses are themselves copyright 1999 by Phillip Thorne. Certain data may have been obtained from aint-it-cool-news.com, corona.bc.ca/films/ (Corona Upcoming Attractions), foxkids.com, the Internet Movie Database, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, roughneckchronicles.com, startrek.com, tv.excite.com, upcomingmovies.com, and/or other sites and hardcopy books and periodicals. If you're receivng this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it. To cancel your subscription, send an email message to pethorne@earthlink.net with the words "UNSUBSCRIBE NON-SEQUITUR" or 'unsubscribe nonsequitur' in the subject line and/or body. Capitalization and punctuation don't matter, 'cause I'm doing this all manually. /** ***************************************************************** * ****************************************************************** * The Non-Sequitur Express * http://home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/NonSeqExp/ * Volume 2, Issue 9: Monday, 10 April 2000 * Copyright 2000 Phillip Thorne, pethorne@earthlink.net * ****************************************************************** * *************************************************************** */