What's Ailing the X-Files, Redux

War in Orbit

Set Phasers on Warm Glow of Appreciation

We weren't the only ones surprised by Ben Sisko's emergence as the favorite captain among SPACE.com voters:

I stumbled across the poll results and was in shock. Sisko?????

Yes, he was good. But each captain was the best of their era. Given that Picard and Sisko came from the same time frame, Sisko wasn't in the same league.

Others were less surprised by either the poll's top scorer or the captain on the bottom:

As to Captain Janeway receiving the least number of votes, I believe it has little to do with sexism and more to do with Kate Mulgrew's maudlin portrayal and the poor writing on Star Trek: Voyager.

I know many women who dislike Ms. Mulgrew's performance and find her character unwatchable. People should simply admit that Voyager is a bad show and a disgrace to Star Trek.

It has little or nothing to do with sexism. Upon first mention of the development of The Next Generation, I had hoped that the new captain or at least the first officer would be a woman. I felt that the depiction of two white males in command of the Enterprise is the sexism that should be discussed.

With regard to Avery Brooks' Captain Sisko character, I have a large group of friends who watched the program Deep Space Nine, most of whom are European-American. Most felt that Sisko was the best captain in Star Trek history.

Sisko eloquently balances the machismo of Captain Kirk with the intelligence and diplomacy of Captain Picard. If I could choose, he is the leader that I would follow.

COOL IDEA OF THE WEEK

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	Letters to Space (Imagined), 000201
	Letters to Space (Imagined) - War in Orbit, 000209
	Letters to Space (Imagined) - What's Ailing The X-Files , Redux
	Sisko Leads the Boys' Club in Star Trek Popularity Contest

"I think you guys have a great site. I also think that you should all get together and buy the Mir space station."
     

Mixed Reviews for Half Life

In other mail, not everybody liked Hal Clement's new novel as much as we did:

I read the SPACE.com review of Half Life as I just completed reading the book. I have to say that other than a fairly interesting explanation for the diseases this book was a complete bore.

This book is basically a short story with marginal characters. The characterization was poor and the meandering of the plot and events almost made me put the book down.

This is the first book by Hal Clement that I have read -- and I will never read another one. This book cannot come close to Darwin's Radio.

While I enjoyed Half Life myself, I have to agree that Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio is an great read.

Lexx Takes a Hit

Just a quick blurb with my opinions on LEXX. I guess I'm too old for this "avant garde" program. I wasn't impressed with its storyline, or lack thereof.

The adult sexuality of it was easy to pick up, but I've been reading this hot & steamy stuff now for nigh onto 40+ years, and how many times and how many ways can they dance around the cow pie before stepping in it?

The special effects and animation were neat. The dragonfly space ship concept is an old one and particularly appealing to me. But the rest of it finally left me watching the Weather Channel. Time to crank up another Clancy novel!

My wife has asked me to point out that the Weather Channel is pretty exciting viewing. But Lexx does need to deliver some more engaging stories along with its outrageousness.