XVI. Triplanetary or Bust!

In the world of science fiction there have been many people hailed as the "first". Mary Shelley is with no argument the "Grandmother" of modern science fiction. With that H.G. Wells and Jules Verne both hold titles of being the "Fathers" of science fiction and Hugo Gernsback being the "Father" of the pulp science fiction that gave us such writers as Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl and A.E. VanVogt. So, what does this have to do with this re-review? Very simple. The book that we are going to take a look at is the first in a series that gave us the mighty "space opera", and its author is no other then a legend in SF, E.E. "Doc" Smith.

Triplanetary: A Tale of Cosmic Adventure was a book released by Fantasy Press in 1948 from a series of short stories published in Amazing Stories from January to April of 1934, with filler material to tie it together for the final book form. The story itself is the staging point for the Lensman series, a sort of a Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings where Smith introduces us to his world and the events that lead up to the next book, First Lensman, which is the true beginning of the Lensman saga.

Triplanetary is staged into three parts, the first taking us back millions of years to a time when two galaxies came together and formed what is now the Milky Way galaxy. At this time there are only two known races in the Universe: those of the planet Arisia and those of Eddore. The beings that live on Arisia are an advanced form of humanoid that had become almost a being of energy. They are peaceful, enjoy learning and are immortal. Those of Eddore are similar to insects, warlike and also immortal. The Arisian encounter the Eddorians by accident and realize that they are a true threat to the universe, so they make the Eddorians forget the encounter and start a plan to battle their new enemies. This leads to life forming and growing in the galaxy, including the planet we live on, Earth (called Tellus in the book). There we learn of the loss of Atlantis, a people more advanced then we are now, and an attempt to kill a Roman emperor. Both events are part of the hidden battle between those of Arisia and their unsuspecting foes from Eddore.

As the story continues, we enter the second section of the book, and some of the filler material that ties the short stories together. The part that I found most interesting is a semi-autobiographical time of Smiths life. It starts in 1918 with the US now part of the War effort in Europe and a young soldier named Captain Ralph Kinnison (Smiths alter ego) and his efforts to stay alive in battle. We flash forward to 1941 when Ralph Kinnison become involved with the war effort in the US with weapons manufacturing and the politics behind it all. Here we can see that Smith has an axe to grind over his entire experience and delivers his full frustration over the events in his life that gave us this chapter. We flash forward to the beginning of World War Three and another Kinnison, Theodore, who tries to protect the US from an incoming missile attack.

This leads into the third section that takes place into the far future where three planets have come together in the protection of the solar system, hence the title of the book: Triplanetary. We find that the big danger of the day are the pirates who prey on cargo ships and passenger liners, the worse being a man called Gray Roger. Roger is, in fact, a being from Eddore called Gharlane who launches his attacks of human and robot pirates from a mobile planetoid. Into the mix comes another alien race, the Nevian, who come from a world, poor in metals that is used as a fuel source for their starships. Out of this comes battles and alliances that conclude rather abruptly at the end of the book.

With Triplanetary we have a book that inspired others to follow with their own space sagas, but sadly the book tends to drag and in spots it is hard to follow. The Lensmen have yet to be formed, and some of the characters are written as if they are in a melodrama, which to give some defense was popular in that day. The writing is not in top form, and is hard to keep track of what is going on, and the ending comes to quick and clean. My personal recommendation for a reader is to start with the second book, First Lensman, saving Triplanatary for last. But as stated before, this is the start of a saga that had inspired many we have today.

The most famous of those inspired is J. Michael Staczynski, who gave us the five year television saga Babylon 5. One can point to the age old battle between the Arisians and the Eddorians similar to that of the Vorlons and Shadows. Similar, but different. Plus the very idea of the Lensmen can be said to have inspired the Rangers on Babylon 5. But you can also point out that the Jedi in the Star Wars series of films might have had some inspiration from this saga.

So powerful was this series that in 1966 it was a finalist for a Hugo award for All-Time Best Series (an award that I feel was handed out prematurely) losing out to Asimov's Foundation saga, then consisting of three books. For some time is was hard to get ones hands on a copy of this might legacy... until now.

For those who are members of the Science Fiction Book Club, you can pick up two 3-in-1 editions that reprint the entire series for about $15 each, a total of about $30. But the most spectacular reprint has to come from Old Earth Books out of Baltimore, Maryland that have made a facsimile of the original hard cover edition by Fantasy Press released in 1948. Inside you will be able to read the same text and enjoy the same artwork that people before us had enjoyed. The sad part is that it is getting harder and harder to find these copies that was released in 1997 and each book costs $15, totaling up to $90 for all six books, but well worth the price. The only disappointment out of the Old Earth Books editions is the forward by John Clute is hard to figure out what he is saying. Skip the forward and jump into the story.

So in closing I must recommend that you take time out to discover this saga, but save Triplanetary for last and start with the second book First Lensman.


Eirik Farwanderer
10 December, 2009 Anno Domini.

XV. A Story about L. Ron.

Back in 1998 I went to MadCon 5 in Madison, Wisconsin just for the fact that Harlan Ellison was there. I have always admired Harlan's writing and had been amused by his commentary's so I wanted to meet him.

While there he told several stories about L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology whom he knew. Many may not know that Hubbard started out as a pulp writer in many genres: westerns, war and of course science fiction. Not only was he a pulp writer, but he was a writer that didn't know when to quit. He just kept writing and writing making tomes instead of books. One only needs to see his Battlefield Earth to know that. Harlan recounted that when Hubbard bought his first electric typewriter he would feed meat packing paper into it off of a roll and would type until he the paper was in the way, then rip that 'page' off and continue on the next 'page'.

But the one story that amused the crowd was when he recounted the 'true story' on the start of his Church of Scientology. It seems that Hubbard was at a party talking with Lester Del Ray (of Del Ray Books and native Minnesotan). It seems that Hubbard was complaining to Del Ray about the all the taxes he had to pay to where Del Ray told him to 'start a religion and have a tax shelter'.

So if one wishes to believe this story or not, all I can say is that it came from the Harlan's mouth.


Eirik Farwanderer
9 December, 2009 Anno Domini.

XIV. On Forgiveness.

Forgiveness is truly the hardest thing for man to do. To wave off a wrong or harm as if nothing happened. This is against human nature where we wish to garner revenge on those that have wronged us.

If one looks we can see that there are two kinds of sin; one against God and another against man. When we turn our backs on God, take his name in vain or other slights to Him, these are the sins against God. This is when we must go to Him and ask God for forgiveness with a true and contrite heart. Because of Jesus, we are assured of his forgiveness if we do so.

But sins against man (which one could also say are against God) must be forgiven by those wronged by us. It is too easy to demand an apology from someone who did not do any harm against us, but in our hubris we think that they must. This is when harm has been done in the public eye or to someone we know. But the act is between those two (or group in some cases) that the harm had been done.

As hard as it might be we must forgive those that do truly come to us with contrite heart and do truly mean to right the wrong that was done. In all eras of history people seem to just give empty, blank apologies because they feel they have to or was made to. Their hearts are not in the task and in those cases one cannot forgive, not because they don't want to but because those that did the harm do not want to be.

But if one does truly come with that contrite heart we must find it in our heart to forgive, no matter how hard it may be. Remember what God does for us, and the price that was paid that we might be forgiven.

But we as humans must remember that there is the unforgivable sin that we are able to commit to one another. This is in the form of murder, or causing enough harm that the person is unable to do so because of vegetative states. No matter how contrite our heart is, they are unable to forgive us because they are gone and that sin remains with us until our final days. With that we must put our faith on God that he will right that wrong and wash away the harm done.


Eirik Farwanderer
9 December, 2009 Anno Domini

XIII. Going Berserker!

Fred Saberhagen follows in the path of E.E. "Doc" Smith by giving the readers his own space saga centering around alien robot killing machines that humans call: Berserkers. The first book in this series, simply called Berserker, is a collection of short stories published between 1963 and 1966 and centers around four humans in the battle against the machines,Hemphill, Mitchell Spain, Johann Karlsen and his half brother, Lord Felipe Nogara.

Unlike other serials that were made into books, such as the Foundation Series and I, Robot, Berserker does not flow between the chapters as smoothly as it could have. In fact many chapters have nothing to do with the story arc that was growing and served only as distracting, but interesting, intermissions.

The basic story is that mankind had rose to the stars and made contact with the Berserkers, a left over doomsday weapon from a long dead race and war. The Berserkers only goal is to kill all life in the universe, deeming it as "bad life". In their battle, the Berserkers have found ways to brain wash some humans into being puppets for their assaults (these being called "Goodlife") and traitors of humanity who wish to serve their own goals by helping the machines. Berserkers are a giant city sized spaceship-robots that uses smaller drones as "arms" and "eyes" for their attacks and show no mercy to humans, often deceiving and lying to them with false promises of mercy.

In the battle against the machines, Humans also face their own power struggles as they position themselves into hopeful empires, the strongest being the Esteelers lead by Lord Felipe Nogara. His half brother Johann Karlsen becomes the head of the humans resistance against the machines, and the one man the robots learn to fear. Along the way he gathers both Hemphill and Spain to lead the battle against the machines and temporary victory.

Saberhagen does not fear bringing religion and politics into the story, not as deep as Frank Herbert did with Dune, but just as effective by using it in a everyday style and not as an overall driving force in the storytelling. The most interesting factor in the religion arc are the humans who start a doomsday cult centered around the Berserkers and calling them gods.

The thing that stood out to me in the book is how the Berserkers may have influenced, partially or in full, some "enemies" we have in today's television science fiction. The first being the Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. The Berserkers speak in an eerie multi voice, much like the Borg did in their communications, and did their assaults in giant city sized starships. The Berserkers even turned a person into a cyborg to use as a weapon against the humans much like the Borg did with Captain Picard. Yes, much of the Borg in my feelings was ripped off from the Cyberman in Doctor Who, but this aspect cannot be left out in the evolution of the Borg. Also, the Doomsday Weapon from the original Star Trek may have found influence from Saberagen's work. J. Michael Stracznsky also did a tip of the hat to Saberhagen by using a "Berserker Probe" to assault Babylon 5 in the episode 'A Day in the Strife' in its search to destroy all intelligent life.

In closing, Berserker is a fun romp into a universe of survival of the human race, and is very much a book that readers of science fiction should make room for on their lists. And if they like the first trip into this universe, there are many more books that follow in this series.

Eirik Faranderer

8 December, 2009 Anno Domini

XII. The Home of Lost Opuses.

Not too long ago I was at Goodwill in Shakopee and was aghast at what I saw: A lone stuffed Opus in a pile of teddy bears, clowns and the like.

How could anyone let go of a stuffed Opus? Don't they know the worth of a stuffed Opus is? Well, at Goodwill it was .50¢. But that is not the point! A stuffed Opus is like a happy Buddha, good luck! Rub his nose in the morning and all will be good - maybe.

I got my first Opus around 1985 and still have him with his tag. The tag is a bit worn, but he still has it. This poor lost Opus didn't have that, and his poor foot was tore a bit. So what did I do? I did what any true and good 'Bloom County' fan would have done - I rescued him!

So home he came and his poor foot was sewed, almost like new. Now he sits with my first Opus and a mini Opus I got at a convention that is dressed like Tom Baker's 4th Doctor.

But look at that mug. How could ANYONE who had an Opus let the poor thing go? He is an icon of the 80's and even into the 90's. The sign of innocence that can only be found in a flightless swimming bird that eat herring and hates walruses.

So of that date my home has become the 'Home of Lost Opuses' all. Any poor Opus that has been so cruelly and thoughtlessly discarded will be rescued by me and have a haven to live their lives out without fear of a walrus attack or British invasion of an island that was invaded by Argentina that the British colonized all those years ago.

Then again, maybe I have too much time on my hands.


Eirik Farwanderer
5 December, 2009 Anno Domini.

XI. Review of 'The Blackcollar' by Timothy Zahn.

It is a shame that many peoples first exposure to the writing of Timothy Zahn was his three cycle series of novels for the Star Wars universe. But let us thank that series for bringing Zahn into the minds of many science fiction readers who might have missed him otherwise.

For those who might not have known, Timothy Zahn had over ten years of experience writing science fiction before his Star Wars outing, first with short stories and winning the Hugo Award for best novella in 1984 with Cascade Point, then with novels starting with The Blackcollar.

The Blackcollar centers around Allen Caine who is part of a resistance against a race of aliens called the Ryqril who had defeated Earth and her colonies 30 years before. Mankind is now under the puppet rulership of humans called Collie's (short for collaborators) that are conditioned controlled to never betray the Ryqril, no matter what happens. As a result, the general population is unable to travel between the worlds once ruled by Earth. But the people of this time are also blessed with a longer life cycle thanks to a drug called Idunine.

Caine is given a task to try to travel to the former colony world of Plinry to try to gather support from the local resistance, if there is any. In doing so, he runs into a former Blackcollar commander named Damon Lathe, and by doing so is introduced to the world of the Blackcollars.

The Blackcollars are the 24th century equivalent of a cross between the US special forces and the Japanese Ninja. Using nunchakus and an advanced form of the shuriken, they are trained in close quarter combat and are conditioned with a drug called Backlash that heightens their senses, reflexes, speed and memory. It is with this force that Caine is hopeful that his mission is a success, the finding of a fleet of five Nova-class battle cruisers lost since the war. These ships could be the key in overthrowing the control of the Ryqril, and the freedom of Earth.

An authors first novel can be the one that makes or breaks a career, and this one helps Zahn's career skyrocket. The style of writing is very similar to his first Conquerors novels and has very strong characters to work with. Along the way there are turns and surprises that help the story's path that are not typical of the overused diversions that are used today, and have become very predictable.

The only compliant that I have with this novel is the handling of the possible origins of Allen Caine, and how it helps him in his undercover mission. It seems to me like a whole area of development wasn't fully touched on, or done so very hastily. I can only hope that this is dealt with a little more in the follow up novel, Blackcollar: The Backlash Mission.

The Blackcollar was published by DAW Books (ISBN: 0-87997-843-0) in 1983 and is no longer in print, but your local used book store may help you in finding a copy of this and it's follow up novel The Backlash Mission. Trust me, finding a copy is well worth your time.

Eirik Farwanderer
5 December, 2009 Anno Domini.

X. Ten of the Coolest Ships in Science Fiction.

This is a list that I did back in 2000 that I feel still holds up. There really have not been any major "oh mys" that have busted forth in the looks and designs of spaceships in science fiction since then. The 'new' Enterprise for the reboot movie just misses the mark and the Galactica from the reboot series looks like an adult toy gone wrong. That may change now with the new web series 'Buck Rogers' after looking at the ship in the teaser trailer. I do have a soft spot for those 'golden age' space craft designs. So without any further ado, here is my 10th post on 10 ships nearly 10 years after I wrote it for the first time. I love a theme.

In the visual world of science fiction in space (ie: television, movies and comics) the look of the starships that the hero's, and villains, fly around in is a very important thing to grab the viewers and convey the personality of the characters. Here is a list of ten vessels that I feel have been very successful in doing so. Feel free to agree or disagree, or even submit a list of your own.

#10. USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

For fans of the television series Star Trek, it had been a long decade since they last saw the adventures of the crew of the Starship Enterprise, and lets face it the first movie outing was shall we say - DULL! But the one thing that stood out was the Enterprise herself. Seeing her all decked out and updated was like seeing ones high school sweetheart after ten years, and my god, she looks better then she did when you dated her in school! A little sleeker, more detailed, and better lighting, made you believe that the Enterprise was up there and ready to fly into the 'final frontier'.

#9. The TARDIS (Doctor Who)

Not very impressive looking, a blue police box sitting in a junk yard. That is the first view people saw of the TARDIS when watching the first episode of Doctor Who. Little did we know what laid behind those doors of that police box, and what a concept the BBC gave us for a space and time vessel on a children's show in the early 1960's. Larger on the inside then the outside, maybe the size of a small city. If working right, it can change shape to fit in its surroundings, and can travel anywheres in time and space at a blink of an eye. It is safe to say that the TARDIS is the longest serving cast member of Doctor Who, outlasting ten lead actors and a legion of supporting cast members. She had a personality that came off on screen, that made you believe that this might be more of a living entity then a machine, and has in its own way, burned its image into the minds of millions of people.

#8. Scanner One (Atari Force)

In the mid 1980's, DC comics tried to give it's readers a more adult science fiction comic with a story arc that lasted over several issue. It was a tie in with the ATARI computer game company with the first five issues offered in several game packs. But it showed enough interest to become a 20 issue series with one special and was named one of the 5 best comics for the year 1985. The ship looked like an off shoot of the stylized A that ATARI used as its logo, but it worked. It used a multi phased type of faster the light drive that took it into universes that existed next to ours (called the Multiverse) in such a way that it could "take off" in a closed off hanger. No heavy weapon, super shields, it was just a glorified taxi to take our hero's to their adventures. But that's all the heros needed to find adventure and save the universe.

#7. The Leonov (2010)

Bulky and ugly, the Leonov gave movie viewers a very realistic image of what a space vessel would look like in the near future more then any other film at that time. In fact, Arthur Clarke once said that the Discovery should have looked like the Leonov and the other way around to better show the natural "evolution" of space vessels. It was one of the first, if not the first, to show the rotating section on the outside of the ship that would produce gravity for its crew. Yes, the Discovery had one also, but it was all covered up inside its hull and could not be seen. There is also no doubt that the Leonov helped inspire the Omega-class destroyers seen in Babylon 5 almost 10 years later.

#6. USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E (Star Trek: First Contact)

Again, another Star Trek vessel appears in these pages, and for good reason. This is the ship that should have been used for Star Trek: The Next Generation instead of the bulky ovals that was known in that series. Sleek and detailed, this is the type of ship that one could be seen taking over the legacy of the Enterprise line. The sad thing about it, though, is that it may have less screen time then the before mentioned for-runner (that having only been seen 6 times while the E model has been seen only three) because the producers wish not to share it with the other Star Trek franchises. This is a ship too good to waste on a dying franchise, and begs to be seen more often. Lets hope that it will, but with the new 'Star Trek' reboot, I doubt it.

#5. The Eagles (Space: 1999)

Gerry Anderson's big live action foray into science fiction after his UFO series had big potential, sadly it had a rather silly plot of the Moon being used as the space vehicle to transports the shows hero's to their adventure. But the one thing that burned into my mind was the Eagle space craft used by the Moonbase Alpha personnel to get from point A to point B. As a space craft used in low to zero gravity, it was very believable. Having sections able to be taken out and replaced with others for specific job duties is a idea that NASA has in mind for future space programs, and in fact, the space shuttles ability to take modular science modules in the cargo bay helps see this onscreen science fiction become science fact. But as a vessel used inside normal atmospheres, it became typical Hollywood (or in this case, British Television) crap. But maybe one day the Eagles will see their use on a future moon base.

#4. The El Dorado (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)

The only time I saw this ship was in a book of model making that a friend Charles Beardshear picked up. Inside they had ideas on what to do with your science fiction models, such as the Eagles from Space: 1999 or how to turn your AMT USS Enterprise model into a Federation Tug seen in the Star Fleet Technical Manuel by Franz Joseph. But inside those pages was a section on how to make the El Dorado used by Buck Rogers in the comic series. It was the typical sleek cigar shaped ship with the rivets running down the side and multi tubed engine, but with the golden paint job over her, she made the image of the "classic" 30's space ship. Makes me wish I had picked up a copy of the book that sat on the shelves of Hub Hobbies for years.

#3. War Cruiser Ajax (Flash Gordon)

To follow in the line of the El Dorado, the makers of the 1980 film Flash Gordon did allot of work in paying a campy homage to the 1930's serials about Flash Gordon. In that homage the Mongo War Cruiser Ajax stands out very much to me. Keeping to the style of those 30's space craft, it was 'cigar' shaped, sleek, had stylized fins and something new -- a deck for the soldiers to defend the ship from the Hawkmen. Plus, it had a convenient pike in the front to spear the bad guys when crashing a wedding. Yes, not good science, but fun science fantasy.

#2. Millennium Falcon (Star Wars Trilogy)

When one first saw this ship, you just didn't know what to make of it. It was a saucer with a cockpit off the side and a giant radar dish mounted on top. Then besides that, it was marred and dented- - nothing like a starship we had been shown until then. It was all part of George Lucas's view of a universe where things had that used look. The Falcon was a hot rod starship where things broke down at the wrong time, and in Episode IV: A New Hope had dice hanging in the cockpit. It didn't take fans of the movie series to fall in love with this ship, and I'm sure that a level of shock crossed them when word got out that the Falcon was destined to be destroyed in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Lets just be grateful that Lucas changed his mind on that idea.

And Now...

#1. The Excalibur (Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, Crusade)

As the television show Babylon 5 came to an end, TNT television green lighted a new series based in the same universe. To be based on a ship instead of a space station like Babylon 5, the creators of Crusade had to design a ship that would grab the attention of the viewers, and grab they did. The ship was a cross of Human/Mimbari/Vorlon technology to create the first in the series of White Star-class Destroyers to battle the forces that would try to destroy the alliance created after the Shadow War. About a mile and a half long and using a gravity drive to propel it through space, she made one sleek and mean looking ship that would have any hostile being thinking twice before taking her on. There is the Vorlon super weapon that is emitted from the upside down Y 'fins' at the aft of the ship that can stop just about anything that is thrown against her, but with one flaw. Firing the super weapon causes a major power drain that lasts about a minute before the ship is recharged. When the Crusade creators showed the design of the Excalibur to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, they exclaimed that they would love to take the ship on a 'ride around the block' if it really existed. So one could presume that in the future some NASA space ship designs might just bear some resemblance to this impressive ship. Its just sad that TNT had a major stupid moment and canceled the show at 13 episodes before it even aired because I would loved to have followed this ship on its "five year voyage".

Some Very Notable Mentions that we had no room for because 10 is still 10 and not 11 and so on:

#1. Planet Express Ship (Futurama)

When Simpsons/Futurama creator Matt Groening was a young lad, he was an avid science fiction reader. So needless to say that his comic homage to this genre had a blend of the old, with a mix of the new. He was able to take that classic look of the 30's space craft and blend it into the ones we are familiar with now today. The ship does not have a name, and the captain is a one eyed alien (really mutant). But this ship has found a way to be able to become a 'believable' entity to this viewer, and secretly would love to have a trip on it some day. (sigh)

#2. Imperial Star Destroyer (Star Wars Trilogy)

Lets face it, the opening moments of Episode IV: A New Hope blew people out of their seats when a fairly large starship (Leia's corvette) flew across the screen followed by a giant wedge shaped monster chasing after it. It's amazing that such a simple shaped starship (a wedge with a bridge tower on top) could imposed such an image of evil and fear to the viewer but the Star Destroyer did a great job. The only thing that came along to top it in the series was Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer.

#3. Battlestar Galactica (Battlestar Galactica)

After Star Wars came out, every studio had to have their own "Star Wars". Universal tapped Glen Larson who had been working on his own idea Adam's Ark since 1974. Out of that idea came Battlestar Galactica. The Galactica was part of a fleet of 12 Battlestars designed to protect the 12 Colonies of Man from the forces of the cyborg lizard race known as the Cylons. The ship was a mile long (the same length as the Imperial Star Destroyer of Star Wars fame) with two giant fighter bays that hang off the side of the Battlestar that were almost the length of the ship. On the aft section, almost a quarter of the ships mass, sat the two giant engines that pushed the ship through the sea of stars. The show may have come from the "Star Wars" race, but the Galactica was an original of her own.

#4. The Klingon D-7 Battlecruiser (Star Trek Original Series)

If there was a ship that seemed to be more advanced then the original USS Enterprise of the original series, it was the D-7 Battlecruiser. Sleek and swift looking, the ship was a perfect complement to her "enemy" Enterprise. She had more compact engines then the Enterprise, making it seem like the Klingons might have been slightly more advanced then the Federation and a smaller silhouette that was ideal for a combat starship as not to make it too easy for the enemy to lock their weapons on it. Seen only in the series third season, a more updated version was seen in the movie series with a much added bonus - - rear firing torpedoes.

So this is my list of 10 (plus a few) of the coolest starship in science fiction.Let us hope that we will see more original designs in the future from our writers, film makers and artists.

Eirik Farwanderer

5 December, 2009 Anno Domini