Books: The Tripods: The White Mountains By John Christopher (1966)

This year marked the 50^th anniversary of John Christopher’s young adult trilogy The Tripods. The author, who passed away in 2012 at 89, was a long-time writer of science fiction who published books and stories under various pseudonyms over his long career. But it was these three books –and a fourth title, a prequel released some 20 years after the last book, that he is mainly known for.

Two of the three books were adapted by the BBC and Australia's Network Seven into a series, one with 13 episodes and the other with 12. The third series was axed due to low ratings and (then) BBC head Michael Grade’s all out war on science fiction. Grade, of course, was the man who cancelled long running Doctor Who back then, only to revive when there was such an uproar and who eventually cancelled it again in 1989. 

Back in 1985 when my local PBS station in Chicago WTTW began airing this series on Sundays (pairing it with Doctor Who reruns), I remember enjoying the series. I have no reason as to why it’s taken me this long to read the books, but I do know that the series, despite its many issues it had, never left me. The acting, like most BBC dramas, was better than you would expect.  Of course the BBC was aware that its many shows relied on strong acting and characterization to make up for the less than stellar production values. And science fiction, despite the long running Doctor Who TV series, were not that highly budgeted shows. But for The Tripods, the visual effects became the marketing ploy designed to interest outside bidders just as effects driven shows and movies were becoming popular.

And I think that’s what stuck with me, the visual aspects, the fact that the show never really delved into how the alien Tripods over took the planet, and performances from the young cast. 

“Life goes on largely as it had in the pre-industrial era, excepting that all adult humans are subject to Tripod control. Will, a thirteen-year-old boy living in the English village of Wherton, is looking forward to the next "Capping Day", until a chance meeting with a mysterious uncapped man named Ozymandias who prompts him to discover a world beyond the Tripods' control. He is accompanied by his cousin Henry and latter a French teenager named Jean-Paul Deliet, nicknamed "Beanpole". The novel climaxes with Henry and Beanpole discovering that earlier, when Will had been captured by a Tripod, he had been unknowingly implanted with a tracking device. When Henry and Beanpole remove the device, a nearby Tripod attacks them; but the boys defeat the Tripod and eventually join the resistance, located in the titular White Mountains.”

Having re-watched most of the first series on Youtube, it’s amazing how much padding was added to the book. At a slim 195 pages, The White Mountains is much tighter tale than what amounts to six-plus hours of the first season of the TV series. I found I enjoyed the book much more than the show because Christopher did not need to go off on so many tangents. 

The book does have some weakness, but I believe that has something to do with the era in which it was written. While the themes of dystopian world have been around much longer than Hollywood’s current obsession with it, this series was clearly designed to appeal to white boys –who was the demographic that publishers only seemed to care about back them. Girls are rarely talked about or even mentioned, and when they’re seen and heard, they’re idealized versions -and usually end up being Capped as well. This may have worked in the late 1960s, but by the time the series was produced in 1984/85, the producers and writers saw subtle subtext of too many half-naked boys hanging (especially in series two) about and added some of the opposite sex. However, while the girls were a little more present in the later episodes of season one and more in season two, they were still seen as subservient to men, doing the cooking and being concerned with looks and whispering about boy. None could be considered individualistic and hero like. 

But after fifty years, The White Mountains is still a vibrant analogy about growing up and boys becoming men. Childhood is about freedom here, while being an adult is about being a sheep (the Capped could be seen as men donning ties and suits and heading off in trains to be controlled by bosses). Unintentionally or not by the author, Will can be a bit of jerk though, and carries typical teenage boy bravado of letting his hubris get in the way of most things, along with a bad temper. And I did find the impulsiveness of Will and Henry to abandon their families a bit odd. While Henry may have had a better reason –his Mom had died and barley had a relationship with his distant father- Will’s hastiness to walk out on his parents and his village seems an obvious plot device.

Books: Another Day, Another Dungeon by Greg Costikyan (1990)

“Do you ever get the feeling that we don’t know what’s going on?” said Sidney on page 196 of this fantasy parody novel. And it was here that I had to say yes, because Another Day, Another Dungeon spends little time explaining anything and as I plowed through this book, I got the uneasy feeling that I missed something. I felt, in some ways, this first book in a two-part series (and the debut novel by the author) was missing something. Like this was really the second book in a trilogy and somehow the first book got lost. One of the reasons I never got into Japanese animated films was because I always got lost very quickly in the narrative. I would try to watch them, especially when Sci Fi Channel aired them on Saturday mornings in the late 1990s, but ten minutes into a film I felt I missed about 50 minutes of the story.

This book is a satire of most well-known fantasy novels, but more specifically fantasy role-playing games as well. This may have been my problem because I never got into role playing games, and while I understand their basic structure, I felt lost. And writer Greg Costikyan is a game designer who worked for Simulations Publications, Inc. which published board wargames and became part of TSR, the legendary company that released Dungeons & Dragons onto the world. 

The novel features many twisted caricatures on the familiar fantasy trope, which are often caricatures themselves, such as the bookish wizard, the brutish barbarian, the greedy rogue, etc. The plot seems fairly straightforward at first, but even its straightforwardness appears to be a jab at the often paper-thin plots holding together similar fantasy novels and games. The main character literally goes "adventuring" because it is expected of him after finishing his wizarding degree. The other characters join him out of typical motivations of greed or because they have nothing better to do.

And that’s about it. Again, Costikyan spends little time creating individual characters with their own distinct voices, so it’s difficult at times to differentiate between them.  It’s a clever conceit, I guess, to write a book that pokes fun at role playing games by a guy who helped create role playing games, but ultimately this parody is no Robert Asprin, Craig Shaw Gardner or even early Piers Anthony. And it’s certainly no Terry Pratchett. 

On a final note, the only reason I read this book was I found it at a used bookstore for .50. It had been a while since I read parody fantasy novel so I thought I would give it try. I searched high and low to find book two and obtained it last year at Powell’s Books in Portland when I was there filming Something Like Summer. Now I’m not sure I want to read the second book.

Books: Star Trek: Legacies: Purgatory's Key By Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore (2016)

“Eighteen years ago, the Starship Enterprise thwarted an alien invasion from another universe, and Captain Robert April took possession of the interdimensional transfer device that made it possible. Since then, each captain of the Enterprise, from Christopher Pike to James T. Kirk, has guarded this secret with his life. Now, Romulan agents have succeeded in stealing the device and using it to banish Ambassador Sarek and Councillor Gorkon to an unknown realm in the midst of their groundbreaking Federation-Klingon peace negotiations. With time running out as interstellar war looms in one universe—and alien forces marshal in another—will Captain Kirk and his crew preserve the tenuous peace and reclaim the key between the dimensions?”

While Purgatory’s Key, the third book in this Legacies series, has some great science fiction elements to them -indomitable and slug like foe the Jatohr- the book is somewhat of mess and highlights why (at least to me) modern Star Trek is caught in a rut. 

Part of the problem lies in the story itself, which would’ve made a great one-off book (even if the ending was already known) but was ballooned out to three novels. Again there is some complex ideas here, but like every other modern Trek TV series, is bogged down in techno-babble and unflappable notion that luck does indeed protect fools, small children and ships named Enterprise.

What is detracting here is that both Klingons and Romulans are more or less the same thing. And while book two focused on Romulans and their ship and the drama that unfolded there –leading to a mutiny of sorts, the same exact thing happens here, but instead it’s the Klingons. Despite honor, despite that both the Romulans and Klingons value honor and hate the Starfleet and the Federation, both (conveniently and coincidently) have soldiers who go against the grain. This speaks –maybe- of modern Klingons, but in a series of novels set during season two of the original series run, these Klingons are reflecting modernistic Star Trek notions. It’s the retcon aspect that has pissed off hardcore Trek fans concerning not only TNG and later series, but JJ Abrams reboot. 

My conclusion has come that Star Trek books have a place today still, fifty years later. But until a writer –perhaps even David Gerrold himself- can write a book that actually takes some risk, then I’ll need to stop reading them for a while. I need to focus on stuff that stirs my brain and not rote books that puts beloved characters in danger only for the reader to know that all will be wrapped up in a neat bow by the end.

Finally, I made note in my last post concerning this series, that featuring Joanna McCoy –Bones daughter- was (again) too convenient. As it happens, back in 1987, Pocket Books released Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson that was set sometime during the fourth year of Enterprise's five year mission (though, as the Star Trek Wiki points out, “the stardate in the book implies these events took place after Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But that’s nitpicking). The point is, a previous novel, nearly 20 years old and set some two years after this series, had established that Joanna McCoy living on Centaurus. My bad. 

Books: The Nix By Nathan Hill (2016)

There is nothing like a great novel about families to bring out the drama and dysfunction inherit within them. A lot of great novels use this conceit in concocting identifiable situations that mixes identifiable characters with ones that are very hard to like.

We get a great slice of this in The Nix, the extraordinarily deft debut novel by Nathan Hill. 

“It’s 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson—college professor, stalled writer—has a Nix of his own: his mother, Faye. He hasn’t seen her in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s re-appeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news, beguiles the internet, and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows; his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart. Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: she’s facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuel’s help.  To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix. As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Faye’s losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.”

The book is a drama between mother and son, one that adds politics and family mythology to the mix. But it contains some sharp humor, and at times almost satirical look at today, with jabs at Millennial’s and their inability to take personal responsibility, and our whole political system which has done away with facts, making true and false a relic of some mysterious past time. It often reminded me of John Irving, something that many reviewers noted (though Irving himself claimed this story reminded him of Charles Dickens –ironically something Irving is often compared too). Hill’s tale, released a few months before 2016’s most divided election, could prove what a genius the writer could be. His wry at time take on 2012 election, mirrored with the 1968 one, and you wonder how he could be so spot on. 

So yes, The Nix delves into the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention, which remains a huge historical moment in that town, one that reiterated the fact that the Windy City could be ruthless and mean. If you watch Youtube videos of that time period and watch what is happening in 2016, you see a striking similarity. You understand, as I’ve always have, that nothing in politics changes, the faces, the themes, the schisms designed to alienate of America have always been there (and I’ll argue since the dawn of this nation 240 years ago). 

But while that’s fun and depressing to realize, The Nix is not about politics as a whole. Samuel’s mother Faye is not much of a sympathetic character, even as her history unwinds and you learn more about her past. Like many of us, she is caught in an odd time of life, coming of age in the turbulent 1960s, a time that effectively divided America and continues to do so. Her issues are complex and yet simple, and as the book comes along, you are forced as a reader to see her and have empathy or dislike her for never being a mother one expects she should be. 

The book abounds with a strong prose of a writer who’s been publishing for years, and it’s astounding to me to think that Nathan Hill accomplished a rarity today: a fully realized Great American Novel™ on the first try. This book towers over last year’s most touted new book by a first time writer, City of Fire, and yet has not gotten the press (I think it) deserves. 

And much like City of Fire, we're getting a limited TV series version of The Nix in the near future, though why they don't call is a miniseries is beyond me. New minds, fresh ideas some might say. But those ideas are never new, just repackaged.

Books: Star Trek: Legacies: Best Defense By David Mack (2016)

Star Trek: Legacies: Book 2: Best Defense by veteran Trek author David Mack is the middle installment in the Legacies trilogy commemorating 50 years of Star Trek.

“A debt of honor: One brave woman ventures alone into a parallel universe to save her old shipmates, exiled there decades earlier by a mysterious device called the Transfer Key. She soon learns the alternate universe harbors not just an alien invasion force, but a secret that underpins its very existence. A mission of peace: A long-awaited Klingon-Federation peace conference convenes, led by Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan and Councillor Gorkon of Qo’noS. But both sides have enemies who would prefer the two great powers remain at war—and who will do anything to make certain hate wins the day. An errand of justice: Captain Kirk and his crew seek the stolen Transfer Key that opens a door between universes, but their hunt is cut short by Ambassador Sarek’s plea for help. The Enterprise crew soon becomes targets in a deadly crossfire—one whose outcome will decide the fate of two universes.”

While this book builds on story elements from book one, it leaves a lot of the alternate universe stuff –where Una went to at the end of book one- as subplot (which is actually a good thing and a bad one) as it focuses on negotiations of a treaty between the Federation and the Klingons. Once again, a novel in the Pocket Book line-up uses a previous TV series episode as springboard to extend Errand of Mercy (among others) plotline, where the Romulans attempted to cause a war. And while this is a logical extension –if you can excuse the phrase- of that story, I find the adding of Joanna McCoy to the story as too much convenience and coincidence.

I mean, yes it makes sense Ambassador Sarek and his human wife Amanda our on Centaurus for these negotiations, and maybe it’s even logical Gorkon, only a Klingon Councillor here, is present also, but the happenstance Centaurus being a medical training facility and Joanna McCoy studying there is just too annoying for me. Yes, it adds drama to the story, yes it gives Doctor McCoy something more to do than trade bards with Spock, but it’s also bad storytelling.

I’m also annoyed at both the Romulans and the Klingons, as there is no subtly to them. It’s all very black and white with them, and it amazes me that they’re not on the same side (or have been destroyed by their stupidity). Sure, the Romulans are sneakier in their strategy, while the Klingons are openly aggressive, but both believe in honor. At some point, I’m saying, they could put some of their difference aside and work together, for both have the same goal: destroying the Federation alliances. There were passages in this book that made me roll my eyes, especially with the Romulans and their human Tal Shair officer –something that seemed out of place.

Meanwhile, the events in the alternate universe function as a subplot this time, as it appears its all set up for the final book in this trilogy. Which, I noted was good and bad. Part of the problem is that Mack was obviously hobbled by an uninteresting plotline. The events happening on Usilde are not very interesting to say the least and not spending much time there is good thing. The bad part, of course, is the reader assumes on the books blurbs that we’ll be spending time in this different universe. Which we don’t.

As I pick up the third book here, I’m hoping for an exciting adventure, even if I already know how this is going to end. Once again, this is another issue with these extended universe books of Star Trek (and Star Wars). You know how they’re going to end, you know that none of the main crew is going to die; you know that Joanna McCoy is going to survive and I can probably guess Una is going to sacrifice herself in the last book.

These books are fine to read between better novels, I guess, but I’m still hoping for a Star Trek book that tries to be different, original, and less dependent on any previous episode for the TV series. But I also know that won’t happen. So I may end up just stop reading them again.