Well, it took a few weeks (in truth, a couple of flights and waiting in airport terminals), but I’ve finished one of the best science fiction classics I have on my bookshelf.
“Battlestar Galactica”, published in 1978, written by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston.
Before I dive into the book, I want to preface this essay by saying that I never saw the first TV show adaptation; it was before my time. But I did watch the more recent version, and I’ve been a dedicated fan of Katee Sackhoff ever since.
Quick Sidenote: She was Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, in the 2015 short film “Power/Ranger”. Check it out when you can, but it’s a dark retelling.
I’ve had this book in my collection for years and years, but this is the first time I’ve made it beyond Chapter 2. Leisurely reading is difficult for adults, it turns out. While I knew to expect the book to be different from the show (and maybe both shows; I need to find the older one and go through it, sometime) I wasn’t expecting the story-crafting to be instructional for my writing and still entertaining for this sci-fi nerd, all these years and retellings later.
I’ll talk about the Cylons, but there’s something that I want to look over beforehand.
The biggest difference between the book and the show is, of course, the Ovions. Not mentioned in the show (to my knowledge, at least, but I admit that it’s been a minute since I watched it) and taking me completely by surprise, Larson portrays an alien species that, in my opinion, carries two traits that are both predictable and disturbing.
We always expect an alien species to have some resemblance to insects. They’re a diverse chunk of Life and occupy an entire Class of biological classification. Don’t pay attention to me flipping through old science textbooks and trying to recall biology lessons. We rarely see an insectoid alien species that holds to the same vices or virtues as humanity, such as ambition or servility.
The Cylons themselves were fascinating for more than just their strangeness. Like the Ovions, the humanizing of the Imperious Leader was expected, but his awareness and disgust of it caught my attention. Larson portrayed the Cylons as truly monstrous, yes, but that he included our own desire to see ourselves in a totally non-human species, and thus relate to them on some level, and then showed the rejection of that desire… now that struck a chord.
The show ended with the survivors finding Earth, but the book showed that the remnant of humanity was merely starting their journey. It left me with so many questions for which the show tried to provide answers. I’m not sure I’ve ever accepted those answers, and reading the book is bringing them back to the forefront.
If you’re a sci-fi nerd and haven’t gone through the classics, I recommend doing so and having this book in your itinerary.
Stay safe out there, folks.
-JB Swift
Swift's Corner 