That latter discovery was especially fortuitous, because, as I've noted elsewhere on this blog, I've been slowly filling in my collection of Berkley Galactica titles, buying them piecemeal from various online dealers, and Surrender has proven to be the priciest of the books in good (or better) condition. So, what a pleasant surprise to discover I already owned a copy - and in like-new condition!
As a Star Kid, I didn't collect a lot of toys/action figures - I had model kits - but, being a voracious reader, I did collect a lot of books and magazines. All these years later, it's still the books that really spark my nostalgia and the only Space: 1970 "collectibles" that I still hunt down and buy.
I was living overseas when EMPIRE was released, and the novelization had a white border instead of blue. To this day, the blue version looks weird to me ...
ReplyDeleteI found a copy of the first Berkley BSG novelization at a Goodwill last week. It had "Special Edition" on the cover.
ReplyDeleteOne of my two copies also has that "Special Edition" tag - I'm pretty sure that was a book club edition.
DeleteIIRC the first printing of that Empire book has a blue Yoda.
ReplyDeleteEvery edition of the ESB novelization I have, from the first editions to the later reprints, describes Yoda as being blue skinned.
DeleteAnd the first edition of the paperback ESB Marvel adaptation has a sort of purple Yoda that was based on early pre-production designs (the ones that you can see in the old ESB Sketchbook).
Chris, your time capsule discovery is a great story, it gives me hope that I might rediscover a box with unopened Megos in it that were forgotten about and failed to make it under the tree on Christmas eve..........I'm going to go check your archive to see if you've ever reviewed the Galactica books, i'm interested to know if they're fun reads, and the Trek books seem fun too!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read all of the Galactica novels I have, but #2, Cylon Death Machine (adapted from "The Gun On Ice Planet Zero") is a great adventure novel that takes advantage of the format to flesh out the characters (especially Roy Thinnes' "Croft") and expand the action. I read and re-read that one probably twenty times when I was a teenager.
DeleteAll of the ones I've read have differed a bit from the TV series, but usually in good ways.
I used to keep a bunch of these, but now not so much. Unless I'm going to read them again I don't see the point in holding on to a bunch of books anymore. I guess this change in my thinking happened when I had kids and space in the house became more of an issue.
ReplyDeletehttp://scifihorrorfantasy.wordpress.com/
That really brings back some memories. I had several of the 'Best of Trek' books, including that one. Haven't thought of those in years....
ReplyDeleteYeah, The Best of Trek series ran a long time. It was obviously a way for Signet to get some of the Star Trek fans' money without having to pay Paramount for licensing fees. Smart.
DeleteNow that I found all my Best of... books, I'll have to do a post on them one day....
DeleteChris, YES, please review that last BSG book.. I've seen it a few times, but never owned it. I collected the first half-dozen after the series left, just to keep the memory alive. I believe that last one was from an unused script, but don't recall for sure.
ReplyDeleteAnd YES, I also read 'Death Machine' a couple dozen times, both because it's my favorite Galactica episode (besides 'Hand of God' and a few of the final ones..), but the book was indeed very well done. And I love snow planets.
One of the things I like about Thurston's novelizations, is the way he "fleshed out" (in more ways than one), the Cylons. The show and merchandising was always rather inconsistent about their nature: were they simply machines? Or did they have organic minds? I like that Thurston maintained a consistency within his books.
DeleteThe two Goulart novels I've read have been the weakest - Goulart is a very talented and versatile author, but you can tell when it's just a "for the money" gig.