Star Trek – Page 7

Who said fan fiction was not quality?

Hugo Awards, named after the Amazing Stories editor Hugo Greensback, are given out once a year for the best Science Fiction or Fantasy works of the year before. This has been going on since 1953, and the latest nominees for 2008 have just been announced. In the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category, we have Star Trek: New Voyages: "World Enough and Time" on the ballot, along with Battlestar Galactica "Razor", Doctor Who "Blink", Doctor Who "Human Nature" / "Family of Blood", and Torchwood "Captain Jack Harkness".

This shows that is not only the spirit the Star Trek is alive, but that it is gaining some respect out there. The New Voyages are fan works that rebuilt the sets from scratch and made new adventures. The effort has received some official kudos, with George Takei (TOS's Sulu) and others even playing parts. For more information, and to watch the shows, go to www.StarTrekNewVoyages.com.

To be honest, I am quite pleased with all of the nominees. The New Voyages are fun, Doctor Who is always pleasing, Torchwood is a great swashbuckling XFiles, and Battlestar Galactica is sure to entertain and intrigue. At this point I really do not have a favorite in this category, but if the New Voyages win it would give a good shot in the arm to more Trek, which is always wonderful. (When it comes it Trek I have never been one of those "less is more" mongers).

More details about the nominees:

Battlestar Galactica "Razor" written by Michael Taylor, directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and Wayne Rose (Sci Fi Channel) (televised version, not DVD)
Dr. Who "Blink" written by Stephen Moffat, directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)
Dr. Who "Human Nature" / "Family of Blood" written by Paul Cornell, directed by Charles Palmer (BBC)
Star Trek New Voyages "World Enough and Time" written by Michael Reaves & Marc Scott Zicree, directed by Marc Scott Zicree (Cawley Entertainment Co. and The Magic Time Co.)
Torchwood "Captain Jack Harkness" written by Catherine Tregenna, directed by Ashley Way (BBC Wales)

Aloha from the Beach,
greg

It was early 1970s, and I was a nerdy young man that was hooked on Star Trek reruns. Much to my pleasure you could find Star Trek Models in the stores at nearby towns, and I took advantage of that when I could. In chasing down these gems of the imagination I found one that got my attention. It was like the Star Trek models of the time, same size box overall, and in the same area. But it was not Trek – it was a starship of independent design. I was intrigued.

Now, given the date a few of you who know their history may guess that I had found the less prized glow in the dark version of this classic starship model, and you would be right. But for me it was a breath of fresh air. The box said "Interplanetary U.F.O", and the design was slick. It had an opening shuttle bay, with a small scout ship that would fit in there nicely. The starship itself looked expansive and swept back, more self contained than other models of the time. Having predated the web (and given my physical location) it would be a few years before I completely understood the connection this model had to Trek. But it immediately became a star in my budding Starship collection.

I still have the Leif Ericson/Interplanetary UFO model, and it looks as intriguing to me today as it did those many years ago. This is truly a testament to two things, a great design that stood up to the test of time and the effect that putting such a tool of the imagination into the hands of a curious boy from Eastern Kentucky can have. This wonderful effect of boosting the imagination is probably the greatest gift that Sci-Fi can hope to give us, and this one, at least for me, hit the mark.

Aloha from the beach,
greg

Tag: Star Trek

Star Trek: New Voyages are 2008 Hugo Award Nominees

The Leif Ericson Starship Model (a.k.a. Interplanetary U.F.O )