Science Fiction
with Colin Steele
THE MEDUSA CHRONICLES. By Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds. Gollancz. $32.99.
Arthur C. Clarke's 1971 novella, A Meeting With Medusa, was the inspiration for award-winning British SF authors Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds to combine for The Medusa Chronicles. They take Clarke's story of Howard Falcon, an astronaut who, after an accident, becomes a human cyborg and meets the Jupiter jellyfish-like Medusans, and create a future history 800 years forward. Baxter and Reynolds explore issues, such as the nature of AI, cybernetics and robotics, with Falcon the often reluctant intermediary between "the creatures of carbon and the creatures of metal". Baxter and Roberts' clash of civilisations conclusion echoes those of Babylon 5 and Clarke's 2001.
THE ART OF STAR WARS. THE FORCE AWAKENS. By Phil Szostak. Abrams. $50.
The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a sumptuous coffee table book, is the definitive expression of how the latest film in the Star Wars saga was artistically created. Phil Szostak, a conceptual researcher and archivist, who was "embedded" in The Force Awakens' art department from December 2012, documents the art and design chronology from the earliest pre-production to post-production. The Star Wars new "Visualists", taking inspiration from the original Star Wars concept artists, Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston, provide new takes on the iconic characters and planetary settings. Szostak delivers an authoritative visual smorgasbord with hundreds of colour illustrations.
SET PHASERS TO STUN. 50 YEARS OF STAR TREK. By Marcus Berkmann. Little Brown. $19.95.
British television critic and columnist Marcus Berkmann overviews 50 years of Star Trek in Set Phasers To Stun. Although several other authors have boldly gone where Berkmann now goes, his boundless enthusiasm, and critical appreciation, make this an essential book for cultural historians and Trekkies. Apart from the historical analysis, especially of the the original 1960s TV series to the current reboot movies, Berkmann provides wonderful trivia information. Such as, why did Captain James Kirk's shirt always get torn in a fight? And what is the worst insult in Klingon? (Your mother has a smooth forehead). Original creator, Gene Roddenberry's foibles also come under close and amusing review.
