Al Jackson
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2018
- Messages
- 839
When Star Trek came out in 1966 SF fans , in a flash, recognized were the 'world of ST' came from , the pages of , mainly, Astounding Science Fiction magazine between 1940 and 1960.* We loved it.
These days I cast my mind about and ask "is there space opera more sophisticated than Star Trek" that would make a good SF space opera show?
(Actually I got a bit preempted on that one with the appearance of The Expanse which essentially 'Heinlein-like' (plus other solar system space opera from the 1950s.)
So now I would love to see Poul Anderson's Technic History done. Anderson's world building is the tag end evolution of Buck Roger and Flash Gordon.
Anderson was a great story teller , like Heinlein, and he had a refined feel for 'lived-in-super-science' . His extrapolated ,somewhat far future , settings are refined and the world building has some crafty domestication.
I think the Dominic Flandry novels would make a terrific TV series. The Flandy stories are sophisticated space opera Horatio Hornblower or more like Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series, following the life of a naval officer. Flandry becomes a dashing field agent of the Imperial Intelligence Corps for the Terran Empire. Flandry is a sort of military James Bond character. It would have to be done right , some high production values , a good cast, and above all attention to the 'feel' and world building that Anderson had on the page.
Dominic_Flandry
*Note: I went to the 1966 World Science Fiction Convention in Cleveland. Roddenberry came and showed the first pilot for Star Trek. The audience loved it. Next day Roddenberry was standing in a hallway with a model of the Discovery waiting to talk to people. No body was around him. So i went over and said "that sure was good and I recognize a lot of science fiction I know!". Roddenberry said "You should!" He told me how he had read Astounding in the 1940s and was a big fan of the prose form as it evolved away from it's pulp origins in the 20s and 30s. I don't know if he really talked about his admiration of prose science fiction in later years but he sure was knowledgable then.
These days I cast my mind about and ask "is there space opera more sophisticated than Star Trek" that would make a good SF space opera show?
(Actually I got a bit preempted on that one with the appearance of The Expanse which essentially 'Heinlein-like' (plus other solar system space opera from the 1950s.)
So now I would love to see Poul Anderson's Technic History done. Anderson's world building is the tag end evolution of Buck Roger and Flash Gordon.
Anderson was a great story teller , like Heinlein, and he had a refined feel for 'lived-in-super-science' . His extrapolated ,somewhat far future , settings are refined and the world building has some crafty domestication.
I think the Dominic Flandry novels would make a terrific TV series. The Flandy stories are sophisticated space opera Horatio Hornblower or more like Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series, following the life of a naval officer. Flandry becomes a dashing field agent of the Imperial Intelligence Corps for the Terran Empire. Flandry is a sort of military James Bond character. It would have to be done right , some high production values , a good cast, and above all attention to the 'feel' and world building that Anderson had on the page.
Dominic_Flandry
*Note: I went to the 1966 World Science Fiction Convention in Cleveland. Roddenberry came and showed the first pilot for Star Trek. The audience loved it. Next day Roddenberry was standing in a hallway with a model of the Discovery waiting to talk to people. No body was around him. So i went over and said "that sure was good and I recognize a lot of science fiction I know!". Roddenberry said "You should!" He told me how he had read Astounding in the 1940s and was a big fan of the prose form as it evolved away from it's pulp origins in the 20s and 30s. I don't know if he really talked about his admiration of prose science fiction in later years but he sure was knowledgable then.
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