Nana Visitor and the Women of Star Trek Take Us on a Beautiful Journey

Star Trek: Open a Channel, A Woman’s Trek – Nana Visitor (2024)

 

            I waited for this book for a while.  Initially, I heard that Nana Visitor, the actor who played the part of Kira Nerys on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, intended to write a book about her experiences on the show.  I caught updates from the publishing industry detailing her efforts to get the book made, and how it grew from a personal account into an exploration of what it means to be a woman in Star Trek, from the OG days of the 1960’s to the most current iterations of the franchise.  Hearing about Visitor’s interviews with many of the women from Star Trek increased my desire to read this book.  Thank Mario for the wonderful Inter-Library Loan program, since it allowed me to get this book sent to me from the University of Oklahoma.  I was ecstatic when I received it and instantly devoured it.

            Long-time readers of RXTT’s Book Journey will likely know I am a huge Star Trek fan, especially my single favorite television show of all time, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9).  Nana Visitor is one of the leads on DS9, with her character, Major Kira Nerys, serving as the second-in-command of a large, unwieldy, and chaotic space station. It is through her character that we learn about the horrors suffered by the people of Bajor and how outsiders perceive the United Federation of Planets.  Her character is integral from beginning to end.

            The character of Kira Nerys, alongside that of Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, is critical to understanding the central themes of DS9.  The first theme, and the most prominent throughout the series run, deals with how trauma affects us, how we deal with it, and how we manage to move on and continue living afterwards.  This is evident in Kira, a former freedom fighter/terrorist (depends on who you ask), forced to reckon with a lifetime of degraded living under totalitarian rule and how it affects her and her people during the “peace” that follows.  It, like all trauma, touches every single aspect of her life and being.  The same is true for Capt. Sisko, who we meet just after his wife is killed in a huge space battle, forcing him and his son Jake to escape with their lives.  The repercussions of this loss shape Sisko throughout the series, much like the Cardassian occupation shaped every aspect of Kira Nerys’ character.  It was a groundbreaking role for Visitor, whose career previously found her in steady work playing the girlfriend, the ex-girlfriend, the wife, the bothered secretary, etc., all roles with very little emotional or intellectual heft.

            In an effort to understand the dynamics of being a woman in the world of Star Trek, Nana Visitor explores the original creation of Star Trek, and the ways which the otherwise progressive show existed in a world where casual misogyny, the “casting couch” mentality, and abusive producers still ran the show.  To frame this story, Visitor discusses the person besides Gene Roddenberry most responsible for the very existence of Star Trek, comedy superstar Lucille Ball.  It was her DesiLu studios, which she ran alone after the illness of her husband, that green-lit Star Trek, and it was her efforts to keep it on the air that Visitor explores.  For each series, Visitor devotes a few chapters to exploring the lives and work of the individual actresses, including the most important woman on the original show, Nichelle Nichols.  Nichelle was not only a representational force for African-American women, but for all women.  In a world where women were still expected to serve in very limited and traditional roles, seeing a woman of color serve as the fourth in command of a starship was huge.

            Visitor pulls no punches and allows her subjects the bluntness they need  to describe the uncomfortable and terrifying situations these women endured just to be considered for a television show.  Every single one of them has had to deal with lecherous producers, men forcing themselves on them, sexist writing, overly-familiar co-stars, etc.  Some, with help from their loved ones, navigated these treacherous waters without too much horror, but most did not.  From the endless critiques of your appearance to the implication that if you do not do what is asked of you without questions you would be replaced by another “pretty face,” Hollywood has long been a bastion for asshole men and a trap for many a young woman.  After years of insultingly simplistic roles, the role of Kira Nerys helped Nana Visitor create a very real, very flawed, very human character, a character whose lines and actions do not rely on her femininity to succeed, something which she is rightfully very proud of.

            Visitor not only speaks to the various actresses from Trek, but she also re-watched a lot of the older and current shows.  In doing so she witnessed how, even in an era of feminism and women’s sovereignty, like the late 80’s and early 90’s, strong women characters were still mainly written as tropes.  For example, one of the characters, Keiko Ishikawa, married a minor Next Generation character, Miles O’Brien.  They both subsequently appeared on DS9.  While the character or Keiko was written as a deeply intelligent and forthright botanist, she was rarely, if ever, shown on TNG doing botany.  Instead, she was forced to act out endless “worried wife” or “angry wife” tropes.

On TNG, the Doctor was portrayed by the super-talented Gates McFadden, but whereas the original series’ Doctor McCoy was given license to behave as any doctor does, Dr. Crusher’s character, while initially a groundbreaking representation for women, was often used solely as the "mother” or as a potential love interest of the Captain.  Even in the supposedly progressive shows, the standard misogyny and sexism applied.  This is especially evident in the character of Counselor Troi on Next Generation.  Initially serving as pure eye candy, it took years for the writers room to catch on to what makes the character of Deanna Troi so intriguing.  As detailed by Nana Visitor, once an actress is placed in one of the very few “boxes” allowed for them, it was nearly impossible to escape.  Once a “beauty” always a “beauty.”  Once seen as a plucky and sexless “friend,” it is always thus.  These simplistic tropes continue on television to this day.  Shit don’t change.

While all of this is extremely interesting to me, my favorite parts of this book are where Nana Visitor discusses her own life and career.  She is blunt and honest in describing the many transgressions she endured by either changing herself, altering her mannerisms, or just behaving in the way that male society seemed to expect.  Each time, a little part of her died within her, but she endured it as the costs of the life she chose.  It is impossible to see just how callous and predatory those around you are until you get some distance from it, both emotional and physical.  In one of the most moving and disturbing sections, Nana discusses how she was kidnapped and assaulted sometime between seasons 2 and 3 of DS9, how she forced herself to testify against her attackers even though she was warned that bad publicity would ruin her career, and how it took her over twenty years to come to grips with the events of that horrible night. It is a testament to her willpower and life-force that Nana Visitor rebuilt herself, something many of the women she spoke to have had to do, some more than once. 

It is also a testament to Nana Visitor that, in the decades following the airing of Deep Space Nine, she has become something of a den-mother, or a loving aunt, to many Star Trek fanatics.  This is something that mirrors the character Kira Nerys’ arc on the show.  At the end of DS9, we see Kira Nerys and Jake Sisko staring out of a window at the wormhole outside.  She is left in charge of the station, and life goes on. In the DS9 documentary, What You Leave Behind, the writers posit a future where Kira Nerys grows wiser and becomes a spiritual leader for the Bajoran people, Nana Visitor also grew wiser and became an emotional and spiritual leader for us Trek fanatics.  It is a beautiful thing and I sincerely hope that Nana grasps the amount of care and love people have for her, and for the character she brought to life.  Her care for us, as fans, is evident in this amazing book. 

There is nothing easy about being a woman in this world, which makes it all the more admirable that Nana, and all the women she interviews, created characters and stories which honestly and permanently affected the audience.  Countless women went into science because they saw Lt. Uhura kicking ass on the bridge of the Enterprise.  Countless women saw Dr. Crusher as a great example of how to be a success and a great mother, without sacrificing her ideals.  Countless women saw the strength, resiliency and leadership inherent in Kira Nerys and found a role model for survival.  Even more women saw Captain Janeway lead a crew into and out of the wilderness, and felt inspired by her confidence and capability.  Representation matters.  We believe what we see.  For all the faults a TV show like Star Trek can and does have, the merits are beyond measure.  In 1966, Star Trek showed us a post-cold-war world where Russians and Chinese shared in the adventure, where women served alongside men, where people of color were portrayed as Admirals!  It was and remains one of the finest bits of television out there, showing the world that our shared humanity is a far greater thing than our perceived differences.  Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.  IDIC is the prevailing theme of all Star Trek, and I am very glad that Nana Visitor took the time and effort to craft this great tribute to the women of Star Trek and the characters they brought to life.  It is a beautiful book.

(This book can be purchased here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Star-Trek-Open-a-Channel-A-Womans-Trek/Nana-Visitor/Star-Trek/9798886633016 )

To My Readers

             

For the past decade I have published my thoughts on the many weird books I read.  In that time, RXTT’s Book Journey has grown in ways I never imagined, reaching readers worldwide.  The blog arose because of my love of the old, weird, out of print, and reference books, and my wife’s desire that I share my thoughts on them with the world at large, as I always do with her.  She is my inspiration.

If I believe in anything, it is the power of the wisdom, stories, and information contained within humanity’s writings.  The ancients assured us that language and written words were powerful tools.  “In the beginning was the word,” and all.  Our thoughts may or may not shape the world around us.  The mystics still debate.  However, our spoken and written words most definitely DO shape the world around us.  I am not the man I am, and this world we share is not the world it is, without the words handed down through the thickness of time. 

An example, nearly one hundred years ago, a man named Vonnegut witnessed the fickle whim of man’s inhumanity to man.  Decades later, after many stories and books, he wrote a novel called Slaughterhouse Five, or The Children’s Crusade.  In it, using the constructs and themes of science fiction (time travel, aliens, dimensional travel, lunatic fringe, etc.), Vonnegut vomited out his vitriol, pure and choleric, upon the vast, unchanging, and overwhelming stupidity of man, the stupidity that would allow for war, slaughter, pain, and terror to be the tools used to bring “peace.”  He told the rest of us what many tried to, but none had done in words which both a bright thirteen-year-old, and a deeply wise octogenarian would understand.  It is the saddest and funniest book I have ever read.  It changed who I am deeply, altering everything I have ever done, and every interaction I have ever had.  If that is not power, then nothing is.  That is just one book.  One among thousands published in my country that year alone.  It is said that most of the words written by man have been lost.  The works humanity is aware of existing are nearly infinite.  Thinking about the vast oceans of lost works is like mental torture to a book lover like me.

It is a mindboggling thought as I desire to know as much as possible, to understand as much as possible, at least about what interests me.  Because of this desire, I also flatly understand the impossibility of my dream.  I stare bluntly ahead, facing my own wall of ignorance, the mountain of books and wisdom and teachings lost to time, but specifically to me.  I think this is something all book lovers face sooner or later.

It is because I love books that I wanted to create RXTT’s Book Journey.  Each new book is a new world to explore, or a new idea to ponder, and I have travelled deep and wide, reading what interested me, when it interested me.   I appreciate a well-written, insightful review, whether it be of a film, book, or kitchen appliance.  It is a pure communication of ideas.  The feedback I receive from the authors themselves, sometimes concerning a decades-old book of theirs, is precious to me.  Corresponding with, and hearing sincere appreciation, from giants such as Freeman Dyson and Alan Moore was a never-imagined dream come true.  Meeting and reading brand-new works from young writers is an equal thrill, and I have been very fortunate in that regard as well. 

Writing a novel is another story.

While not many of the books I read are fiction, I love the power of a well-crafted story to illuminate, entertain, and enlighten its reader.  Most life-long readers dream of writing their own novel, and many try.  I joined them.  I wrote daily.  My story grew.  The world I created filled up, the story flowed like a glacial stream, slow but steadily building, and I managed to complete it.  IN CRED is my first novel.  I wrote it mindfully, wanting to present a self-contained world, a story entertaining and intelligible, to any clever reader willing to explore the mindways.  The tens of thousands of readers I have worldwide showed me that there are many like me, many who want deep dives into old texts, who are curious to know what the source materials are like.  Readers whose favorite reading experience is not the self-satisfaction of a driving plot, or the florid oscillation of word and language, but the quintessential feeling of having one’s mind BLOWN AWAY by a new idea.  I want my readers to experience that as often as possible, and I wrote IN CRED with you in mind.

Once finished, I had to share it with someone.  The magic and power of words truly spark up when they are shared.  I handed IN CRED to my wife.  I shared it with some close friends.  I reached out to a couple of authors I call friends and asked them for their opinion.  Their feedback and appreciation mean everything to me.  It took some internal literary courage, but I worked diligently to make IN CRED available to readers. 

It is available on Amazon, in Kindle eBook, glossy paperback, or hard cover versions. (I used my B.F.A. in Studio Art and drew the cover artwork also.)

IN CRED’s dedication page may speak of my wife and parents, but IN CRED would not exist without the readers of RXTT’s Book Journey.  I so greatly appreciate that you are out there, wherever you may be in this beautiful world of ours.  I hope my reviews have enlightened and informed you in the same way that the books I love have enlightened and informed me.

If you love science fiction that explores intimate segments of what it means to be human, you will enjoy IN CRED.  If you seek speculative fiction with big ideas told in intimate ways, you will love IN CRED.  If you enjoy original characters and settings, and a clever story whose progress is constantly surprising, you will love IN CRED.  If you appreciate literature that is honestly edifying without being sentimentally trite, IN CRED is for you.  If you enjoy stories where daily experiences go batshit crazy, and regular people are forced to deal with it, you will enjoy IN CRED.

This is just the beginning.  The spigot has been opened.  Further stories are in the works, and I am very excited about it.  If RXTT’s Book Journey was an initial stab at sharing my thoughts with the world, IN CRED is a mighty cannonade.  I would love for you, my fellow readers, to dive into IN CRED and let me know your thoughts!  Stories are magic, and I have just begun the show.

 

Sincerely Yours,

 

RXTT

IN CRED - Debut Novel by RXTT

IN CRED

A mystical experience or a death-time delusion. A journey to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, or a trip into the inner recesses of the mind.

Cred's day is not going well. Collapsing at the record store and finding himself face to face with the god he accidentally created unhinged him somewhat.

This new problem, however, completely terrifies him.
With the help of some friends, a desperate ploy to save our universe is put in motion.

If only Cred can figure out how.

♦

NOW AVAILABLE!

IN CRED

The debut novel by RXTT.

IN CRED - Kindle Edition

IN CRED - Paperback

IN Cred - Hardcover

Italo Calvino Uses Words to Help Us Travel Through Deep Time

 

Cosmicomics – Italo Calvino (1965)

 

            I have read so many science fiction books and stories.  Many of their authors use specific scientific data or details to build stories around.  A few actually try to create stories that help the reader understand the scientific concepts discussed in the works.  Even fewer of those manage to create gripping, inventive stories.  Italo Calvino managed all of this and more.  What an amazing collection of short stories!

            I have been fortunate to discover many classic authors as part of my reading on this Book Journey.  From OG sci-fi writer Henry Kuttner, to modern author Cory Doctorow, I treasure finding their work and feeding my brain with their stories.  The one book I have read which most closely resembles Cosmicomics, however, is Clifton Fadiman’s Fantasia Mathematica, a collection of short stories from the 1950’s dealing with purely mathematical subjects.

            Italo Calvino takes the same approach with cosmology, specifically an exploration of the basic concepts used to describe the development of our Universe, from the Big Bang to the farthest reaches of deep time. His main narrator, inscrutably named Qfwfq, regales the reader with stories of his past, describing in beautiful allusions and metaphors, what the universe was like in the very first instances of existence.  In one story, he describes how the Moon used to be so close to the Earth that at certain points in the year, people would climb long ladders to reach the Moon, and harvest essential nutrition from it.  This is based on the knowledge that our Moon, Luna, is slowly moving away from the Earth.  In a million years, the Moon will be far smaller in our sky, and will not completely cover the Sun during eclipses.  In the far past, the Moon was much, much bigger than the Sun in our sky.

            In another great story, Italo’s narrator describes what it was like for him to exist as a creature who once lived in water, but is now on land, and all the accompanying weirdness!  One tale describes what the inner thoughts of fundamental particles must be like, while another shares the story of three entities forever falling through space and time.  Each tale is self-contained, but the whole collection truly helps expand the mind.  I found much wisdom in these stories.  The ancient poets created stories such as these to use as learning tools, handing them down orally to the next generation.  Mr. Calvino wanted to do the same with the often-misunderstood knowledge of Deep Time brought forth by Relativity and 20^th century cosmology.

            Ancient scribes did likewise. These old stories were often misinterpreted or misunderstood by people of later generations.  Instead of seeking intellectual and informational wisdom in them, people started to see them as “divine” messages, or as dogmatic truth.  The very same thing could happen to Italo Calvino’s stories, should someone read them in two or three centuries, well after the average human forgets or is no longer taught basic scientific truths.  We seem to be headed in that direction now, sadly, and this blog, RXTT’s Book Journey, is my small attempt to forestall the stupidization of humanity.

            I must commend a Mr. William Weaver, who translated these stories into English around 1968.  The world owes so much to good translators.  It is almost as important a job as actually writing the books themselves!  Translation is how we can share ideas across cultures, continents, and centuries.

            I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science fiction, mind expansion, originality, and creativity in storytelling.  It feels like something of a miracle that stories like this are available for us to read.  We are very fortunate indeed!

(This book can be downloaded and read here: https://www.are.na/block/11318370 )

Rudy Rucker Shares His Life Story

 

Nested Scrolls – Rudy Rucker (2011)

            I feel like I just had a long, thoughtful conversation with one of my favorite authors.  Not only was it engrossing and entertaining, but it made me appreciate the man himself more than ever.  Rudy Rucker has long been someone whose books shape my mind.  He easily describes the most complex of ideas all the while making me crack up.  I find him to be one of the few authors, similar to Mark Twain or Kurt Vonnegut, who makes the reader laugh as much as he makes them think, sometimes in the same sentence!  This is how my mind works, and reading Rucker’s life story, I can see so many similarities to myself.  Life can be quite tough for people who choose to explore and think about topics normally avoided by the public, especially those who create something for others to absorb, whether it be literature, paintings, or music.

            Rudy Rucker begins his tale with a description of the brain hemorrhage he experienced in the summer of 2008, aged 62, and his brush with mortality. One of the realizations he describes really hit home, as it is a truth that I have come to understand.  Rucker states, “The richest and most interesting parts of my life are the sensations that come in from the outside.”  Our thoughts and ideas are merely reflections of the beauty and grandeur of the world around us, if we only take the time to actually look and listen, without judgement.  We all proceed through our lives as if we are the protagonist in a grandiose and important tale that matters to all.  Our self-importance seems to dictate the world around us.  However, the truth is that we are but reflectors of the world at large, and our self-importance blinds us to how fortunate we are to just breathe, eat, sleep, and love, existing in the amazing and infinite world that surrounds each of us.  This experience drove Rudy Rucker to write his autobiography, but without any of the self-promotional aspects of such writing.

            Reading about Rudy’s childhood and family was a joy.  Rucker’s writing style is so deceptively casual that his story flows smoothly, and I found myself as engrossed in his life as if it was one of his works of fiction.  Many of his childhood experiences mirror my own, and many of the questions he asked about the world around him I asked in my youth.  Rudy Rucker had to wait until he was much older to find people whose curiosity and genius matched his own.  It is a lonely thing to grow up understanding that most around you either do not ask, or simply do not care to know, about difficult ideas and concepts.  Expanding one’s mind, something that comes ridiculously easy to most toddlers and children, is beaten out of us by life, society, parents that do not care, and other such brutalities.  It creates a nation of adults who do not seek to understand, or to explore, but who want safety and certainty above all else.  Certainty is the absolute bane of wisdom.  Throughout Nested Scrolls, Rucker describes the many times he dealt with such inanity, from school to church to workplaces.  A freethinker will always threaten the status quo.  These moments truly resonated with me.

            Apart from learning about Rudy Rucker’s life and experiences, I enjoyed the sections in which he describes his state of mind as he wrote his various literary works.  Writers write.  It is their way of existing.  I have always enjoyed reading about the creative process of the people I admire.  I was reminded that while Rudy Rucker has written some of the most mind-expanding and hilarious science fiction literature I have ever read, he also wrote one of the most beautiful books, a historical fiction novel detailing the life and times of Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder titled As Above, So Below.  It is a triumph.

            One of the themes I found in Nested Scrolls is that of the “fringe” individual, and how to best exist as one.  Rudy Rucker studied and taught mathematics, but was seen as too weird and “out there” to belong with the mathematicians.  He studied computer science, but his metaphysical ideas about computing and the mind were too much for his fellow computer scientists.  Rucker wrote many amazing books, yet was pigeonholed as a science fiction author.  Far too many writers demean science fiction as if it was trash writing, not worthy of the high and mighty term “Literature.”  Not only that, many established science fiction authors isolate and demean writers like Rucker whose work is too transgressive, funny, or caustic for what they have determined is actual, hard science fiction.  The ego on these people!  If only they would see how blind they are, and that they have chosen to blind themselves with their intellectual bigotry. 

I relate to this aspect of Rudy Rucker’s life so much.   The Art Crowd found me too intellectual, too into sports, too into science, and too aware of the lies Art tells itself.  The jock crowd found me to artsy-fartsy, too mocking of the sacred ideas of sport competition, even though I love sports greatly.  The punk/underground music types found me too square, too “normal,” to truly accept me as part of that scene.  The “norms” found me too weird and uncaring about bullshit such as cars, money, or the latest useless status symbol.  It has been this way my whole life, and I feel it is that way for anyone whose mind and interests go too far beyond one or two self-defining characteristics.  The Public wants everyone to be easily defined, the faster the better, but people like Rucker and myself understand that the world does not work that way.  In fact, everything is far too complex for such simple-minded labels.  Much of Rudy Rucker’s work explores this idea.  As he states, and it is something I have myself claimed, there is no such thing as a “normal” person.  If you bother to scratch just below the surface, you will find that every single human you have ever met is a deeply weird individual creation.  The worst thing you could do for yourself is to force your life into the very narrow definitions that the people around you expect you to be.  They are the ignorant ones.  They are the ones whose minds are atrophied and scared of difference. 

Often Rudy Rucker describes how much of a grind it is to promote your work, to seek publishers, and to expand your readership.  Rucker has never had a “best seller” yet his works sell well and he is always able to publish his material.  His books are too weird for Hollywood, and none of them have yet been made into a feature film.  He taught at various Universities to make a living, but it took him over 35 years to get tenure.  All the while, he shared his life with his lovely wife and their three children, and as he describes their lives, I can see how much their love and stability aided him in his dream of writing science fiction.  Perhaps he is the most fortunate of all, experiencing a full life, while living out his childhood dreams.  Too many people consider you a failure if you do not become “the BEST,” or “the RICHEST,” or “the MOST FAMOUS!”  These are all meaningless labels.  Rudy Rucker grew up, married, started a family, taught countless students, created dozens of original works of literature, shared his ideas with readers worldwide, and even took up oil painting at a late age!  He is a success by any true measure, and I am so glad to have read his autobiography.  Rudy Rucker may not know me, but I count him as my lifelong friend.  Thanks for sharing the Gnarl, Rudy!

(This book may be read here: https://www.rudyrucker.com/nestedscrolls/ )

Rudy Rucker's Latest Novel Has Twisted My Melon, Man.

 

Juicy Ghosts – Rudy Rucker (2021)

 

            Once again, I venture forth into the Rudy Rucker Gnarl and find myself awash in intellect-tingling joy.  I cannot tell if Rucker’s stories live in my head or if I live in Rucker’s stories.  This is exactly the state of being I seek when I dive into a Rudy Rucker tome.  The story contained within Juicy Ghosts, like all of his novels, has left my mind delirious and giddy.  We are all very fortunate to share time-space with Mr. Rucker.

            I first began my love of Rudy Rucker through his Ware Tetralogy, (Software, Wetware, Freeware, and Realware), a series of seminal cyberpunk books that not only explored deeply weird and inventive scientific concepts, but also contained a deeply humorous and propulsive story.  Juicy Ghosts continues in this vein.  Rudy Rucker has a gift for describing the most complex and hypothetical scientific possibilities as if he was telling you a funny story about a wild neighbor.  The language pops.  The jokes pop.  The science pops.  I like my stories to pop.

            Rudy Rucker was inspired to write a short story, itself titled Juicy Ghosts, when he experienced the ignorant and hateful Trump presidency, and worried that he would be voted in for a second term.  The story was fleshed out into a full novel, thank goodness, for it is one of the best times I have had reading a book in quite some time.  In Juicy Ghosts, the United States have lived under the totalitarian rule of a malignant wanna-be dictator, and people are sick of it.  Technology has evolved to be organically based, with tools, vehicles, pets, and robots grown instead of constructed.  Humans use an uvvy, a mass of fungus that attaches to your body and feeds your thoughts to the world like a highly powerful modem.  A massive upgrade of this technology begins a series of events that end up connecting a group of people that seek to bring down the current government and enable a society that allows each citizen to benefit from the new tech.

            One of the best parts of a Rucker story is how he uses language to describe and explain quite far-reaching scientific ideas.  None of the tech in his books seems like magic.  It draws on the possibilities inherent in our current scientific knowledge, and, like the best of science fiction writers, he takes the ideas as far as they can possibly go.  The beauty is that all the while the story is so propulsive and downright fun that it never feels like a science lecture.  Instead, it feels as if I jumped forward into the future, and am trying to catch up to everyone else! I love science fiction that achieves this.  It is a visceral quality often lacking from such stories.  As with all of Rudy Rucker’s novels, this one is highly recommended.

            (As an aside, Rudy Rucker’s novels are RIPE for translation into a screenplay, and I think they would make AMAZING films with their combo of deep intelligence, hyperviolence, hilarity, and social commentary.  However, the Hollywood establishment will not touch any science fiction that is not 99% normal story with a dash of technobabble to make it sound sci-fi.  This is why so many of their sci-fi films are so boring.  They deeply underestimate the intelligence and curiosity of the average filmgoer.  Rudy Rucker respects YOUR intelligence!)

(Juicy Ghosts can be purchased in various formats here: https://www.rudyrucker.com/juicyghosts/ )

(Juicy Ghosts can be read online here: https://www.rudyrucker.com/juicyghosts/html/ )

A Second Trip to Mars from Damien Larkin

 

Blood Red Sand – Damien Larkin (2021)

 

            In 2019 I was introduced to a young science fiction writer named Damien Larkin after his publisher sent me a review copy of his debut novel Big Red.  Once I read the book and wrote up a review, I wondered when Mr. Larkin would transport me once again back to Mars to catch up on the doings of the Mars Expeditionary Force.  Upon receiving a shipment from the good people at Dancing Lemur Press I knew that time had come.  Inside was a review copy of Damien Larkin’s second novel Blood Red Sand for me to enjoy.

            The world of science fiction is as wide and varied as any other “genre.”  Blood Red Sand like Big Red, is a work of militaristic, alternate-history science-fiction, akin to Heinlein or other well-known sci-fi giants. Every author brings something of themselves to the stories they tell and it is evident while reading Blood Red Sand that Mr. Larkin not only experienced combat, but he understood the true feelings and horrors experienced by soldiers of all types, in all times.  The way he captures this on the page is thrilling and repulsive at the same time.  Mr. Larkin does not ever aggrandize combat or the military for their own sake.  Instead, they are the vehicle for the very large story he is telling.

            As with other novels, I do not wish to give away plot points, or anything that may take away from a reader’s enjoyment of Damien Larkin’s books.  I refuse to provide a synopsis.  Good science fiction needs an air of mystery going in, to let the mind be blown as it experiences the story.  What I can say is that this novel follows the events of Big Red at the same time that it precedes them.  Is that confusing?  Welcome to science fiction!

            One of my favorite writing devices that Damien Larkin utilizes is the way he separates the various “scenes” and chapters.  As we go back and forth between our protagonists and antagonists we see what they think, how they act, and why they feel they are in the right.  This is something that applies to nearly all wars, the idea that both sides are adamant they fight for the “true cause.”  Our heroes, regular men placed in extraordinary circumstances, understand that all that matters is one’s survival and that of your fellow soldiers.  Too often I have read fiction works that portray the military men and women as mindless, as robots trained to kill, not feeling the effects of what they do and what happens around them.  Much science fiction focuses on the bigger picture, not the individual story.  Damien Larkin knows the truth.  He shows those of us who have fortunately never been in combat what it is really like, including the worries, doubts, fears, and most of all the chaos.  There were times when I would read 10-15 pages in a frenzy!  It is an exhilarating read.

The filmmaker Truffaut supposedly once said, “There is no such thing as an anti-war film.”  He meant that any film about a war, even one vehemently against war, inevitably will aggrandize and glorify combat, soldiers, and their camaraderie, even as it tries to decry war itself.  Some may say this applies to books as well.  I think Damien Larkin has succeeded in telling a militaristic tale without forgetting the trauma and horror caused by wars and battles, especially to the innocent people on the sidelines.  I look forward to more stories about Mars and to whatever else Mr. Larkin puts his mind to write!

(This novel is available for purchase here: AMAZON )

Garak, from Deep Space Nine, Tells it His Way

Star Trek – Deep Space Nine: A Stitch in Time – Andrew J. Robinson (2000)

            When I was a young child in Puerto Rico, I would watch the Star Trek cartoon, dubbed in Spanish.  I thought it was so cool.  Soon after moving to Houston, Texas, I found the original Star Trek on cable TV and loved it too.  Spock was my MAN!  I think a lot of people who find emotions and feelings complicated see an ideal to strive for in Spock and his intellectual rigor.  I devoured Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) when it came out.  It was an entire program devoted to showing us an ideal of human interaction.  When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) came out, I watched it from the start.  It soon became my very favorite Star Trek show ever, and it has remained so decades later.

            One of the greatest aspects of DS9 is the effort taken by the writers to flesh out a truly massive list of recurring and guest characters.  The show takes place on a very remote space station, located next to the mouth of a wormhole which allows travel from our sector of the Galaxy to an unexplored sector, over 90,000 light years away.  Because of this, the focus is not aimed solely at Starfleet personnel, like all previous Trek shows.  It deals more with everyone’s interactions as they all try to live together, and the conflicts that inevitably arise.  These conflicts and morally “grey” characters were anathema on TNG.  On DS9, they drove the plots.  One of the favorite recurring characters on DS9, and maybe the single most loved character on the show, is Elim Garak, a Cardassian tailor exiled from his home world, who may or may not have, at one time, been an assassin, a spy, an undercover operative, a saboteur, etc.  He never tells the truth, yet he never tells the same lie twice.  Sometimes it feels like all his lies are actually truths!

            The part of Garak was played by Andrew Robinson, famous for playing the killer Scorpio in the Dirty Harry movie.   In order to prepare his character, once he realized it would be a recurring one, he began to create a back-story for Garak, and a personal character “bible.”  During the 7 seasons of the show, it became much more than this, and Mr. Robinson ended up with a full length novel on his hands.  This was published as a paperback in 2000, and quickly went out of print.  Once I found out this book existed, I had to read it!  The only problem was that copies were going for quite a high price on the internet, due to the rabid nature of Niners like myself.  Last Christmas, my wife surprised me by tracking down a surprisingly affordable copy and gifting it to me.  Double awesomeness! 

            This book is not a straightforward novel, but instead consist of three separate texts, all written by Garak at various points in his life.  One text is a personal diary Garak maintained since his youth and describes the schooling and training he received which started him on the path to the charismatic enigma we meet on DS9.  A second part consists of a personal log kept while Garak was exiled on DS9 which expands on many of the events and scenes that occur during the run of the show.  The third document is a series of letters written to Dr. Julian Bashir, in the years after the Dominion War.  During this time Garak is back on Cardassia, helping rebuild after the loss of ten Billion lives.  These three threads are interwoven throughout the book and  make for engrossing reading. 

            Possibly the greatest aspect of this is that I have watched DS9 so much, and am such a geek about it, that the entire novel in my head is read with Garak’s voice and inflection!  I love it.  It is like getting to have a daily lunch with him, much like Dr. Bashir did on the station.  Andrew Robinson did a superb job of crafting this novel into something that deepens the character he helped create, answering many questions fans have had about Garak’s background and experiences. I would hope that it is re-printed soon, so that the old fans can be re-acquainted with Garak.  As DS9 has had a huge increase in viewings, due to the various streaming methods and the ability to binge the episodes in the order intended, this book would also be appreciated by new fans.  I suggest someone pays Mr. Robinson some good cheddar to do an audiobook version in character as Garak.  Imagine that!  Niners throughout the Galaxy would be thrilled.  I highly recommend this book for all Trek fans, and especially all Deep Space Nine fans.

The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Mother-load is Mine

Star Trek – The Deep Space Nine Companion – Terry J. Erdman, Paula M. Block (2000)

            From 1993 until 1999, what I consider the greatest science fiction television show ever aired in syndication in the United States.  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) turned the Star Trek formula upside down.  Instead of a ship and crew of high-end achievers exploring the galaxy and encountering a new threat or danger or problem every week, DS9 showed us a flawed Commander and crew who take over a commandeered Cardassian outpost orbiting a small, seemingly inconsequential planet named Bajor.  Whereas, in Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) the entire ship was populated by Starfleet personnel and their families, in DS9 the command crew is composed of a mix of Starfleet officers and staff, Bajoran military and government officials, and a whole slew of civilian shopkeepers and workers, not to mention the constant arrival of travelers seeking refueling, repairs, or just some rest and relaxation after a long voyage.  Because of this, DS9 was able to tell deeper, more involved stories, sometimes taking years to fully understand.

            DS9 began in 1993, as a premium syndication show, meant to be the showpiece of a new network, UPN, now defunct.  It aired for 7 years, and because it was a syndicated show sometimes it was moved, pre-empted, or otherwise ignored by the UPN people.  DS9 always sought to maintain a sense of continuity between its episodes, but once they began to fully explore serialized storytelling, if became a difficult show to follow if you had missed a few episodes.  TNG, on the other hand, told stand-alone episodes, capable of being watched in nearly any order.  Watching DS9 out of order would lead to massive confusion!  It was a good thing that the people in charge of DS9 knew how special the cast and show were and kept this all in mind as they crafted season after season of amazing science fiction television.

            Because of this, Terry Erdman and Paula Block’s book, Star Trek – The Deep Space Nine Companion, is such a favorite among fanatics of DS9. (We call ourselves Niners, BTW)  Not only does this heavy tome detail every single episode’s narrative, but it provides countless piles of data and information about the show, including cast members, trivia from behind the scenes, the production teams, and thoughts about each episode from the pertinent cast or crew members involved.  It is literally the DS9 bible, and it fetches a fair price on the secondary used book market!

            I am a huge fanatic of reference material, and to have such a motherload of data about my all-time favorite television show is so cool.  I enjoy the insight provided to me by the cast and crew as they look back on some of the best work they ever did.  I look forward to a lifetime of curiosity leading me to dig back into the Deep Space Nine Companion.  I highly recommend it, either for yourself if you are a Niner, or as a gift for someone in your life that loves Deep Space Nine.

Gene Wolfe Ends the Book of the New Sun

The Book of the New Sun, Vol. 4: The Citadel of the Autarch – Gene Wolfe (1982)

            It is complete.  My tour through the mind of Gene Wolfe, and Urth, the world his protagonist Severian inhabits, has run its course.  I am not the same person that began this journey.  Neither is Severian.  In fact, neither is anyone or anything.  Permanence is an illusion.  Change is the only true constant of our existence.  Change is so constant and so pervasive that we flow through countless cycles unnoticed as we toil in our second-to-second existence.  The theme of change, or wholesale and wide-ranging change, and the ways that change can actually bring about order and stability, are at the core of the Book of the New Sun.

            The genius of Gene Wolfe helps facilitate this through his use of a narrator whose memory, he claims, is eidetic.  This narrator, Severian, is the writer of the tale, and also the hero.  Through the course of 4 novels, he tells his own story as he progresses from a know-nothing young apprentice, to a full Master Torturer, then into a world-weary traveler, and finally to his ultimate destiny as a leader of men.  While Severian may indeed possess an eidetic memory he does make mistakes and omissions in the telling of his tale, and later admits them to us, the reader.  If this did not complicate the story somewhat, the fact that Severian ends up absorbing the consciousness of various people throughout the tale increases his inner confusion, for he cannot tell whether the memory he experiences is his own, or one of the people whose memories he carries within him. 

            This is a neat literary trick to show how humans actually think.  We assume we are ONE BEING, but we have two brains.  We have multiple personas.  We all have multiple “selves” we carry within us.  The 6 year old me is still in there somewhere, as is the angry 19 year old me, and the depressed 30 year old me.  Not only that, but by virtue of their constant presence and nurturing, I carry my father and my mother and their voices within me as well.  Change does not erase.  It aggregates.  The same is true of our narrator, Severian, and every one of us.

            (I began this journey through Urth at the behest of a pal from the Sonic Youth Gossip Forum.  His screen name is Severian, and he has championed these books to me for EVER.  I first posted my review of Volume 1, The Shadow of the Torturer, on April 4, 2016.  It took me a couple of years to get back to the Book of the New Sun, and Severian let me know of his displeasure.  Now I have read the final three volumes, one a month, for the past three months and I am all Wolfe’d out!  What a story!  WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!! )

            When I last visited Urth, Severian had become embroiled with people who showed him the true age and mystery of his world.  Urth is very very old.  So very old.  Not only is Urth old, but the universe itself is exceedingly ancient.  The mores and dogmas that hold this society together are a bizarre combination of their access to high technology with no awareness of the science that makes the tech function, and of the descent of humanity into a strict feudal system, similar in rigidity to the old Hindu caste system.  In a world like this, the powerful are like gods, like magicians, and the regular people are solely there to feed the mill of life.  No questions are asked, and everyone knows their place.  Into this world, a young torturer’s apprentice is thrust, forcing him to question everything he has been learned, and yet reinforcing everything he has been taught.  It is as complex as real life.  Each human is doing their best to survive with what means they have at hand.  Life is too hard to worry about the big picture, or the bigger issues.

            In this type of world, war is constant.  Pain is constant.  Death is so pervasive that an entire Guild of Torturers exists to dole out punishments and executions.  Everywhere Severian travels death shadows him, or has been there before.  What is shown in this last volume is that Severian, a personification of death, grows to understand that absolute rule means that everyone is short-changed.  As he progresses through his final understanding, Severian realizes that the biggest change he will bring about will be to re-craft the rules of the world that made him who he is, to create a better world for all. 

            As with all fiction I review here at RXTT’s Intellectual Journey, I do not want to give away too much of the story.  That is the single greatest joy of fiction, the way the story is revealed to the reader, and I hope you get to experience the sublime literary and imaginative joys that gene Wolfe has crafted into The Book of The New Sun for yourself.