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Space 1999: THE FORSAKEN (2003)
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Fiction Review by The Gravedigger
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03.20.03
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This second SPACE 1999 book from Powys Media again far exceeds my expectations. Author John Kenneth Muir (who had already written a book about the television series for McFarland books) takes the familiar characters and places them in a tough situation that reveals more of their personal lives on Moonbase Alpha. The novel also alludes to how they've managed to survive in space for so long.
The Moon nears a habitable, earthlike planet, ideal for a new home. But they receive a mysterious signal that, when decoded by Computer, shows an age-old civilization recently destroyed by a series of natural disasters, a catastrophe caused by a flaring of their sun. Using the episode 'The Space Brain' as a reference point, Muir gives one of the goofier episodes and entirely new perspective. Koenig comes to realize that that entity's destruction (the moon passed through it like an assassin's bullet, killing it) has also caused the destruction of many alien worlds it maintained and cared for-including this particular planet they've come across. When Alpha sends an eagle to land, they find some survivors, a reptilian species that most resemble humanoid turtles. But, as it turns out, the natural disasters they so recently experienced are the least of the alien's worries.THE FORSAKEN also delves deeper into the character's relationships, particularly between Koenig and Russell and between Morrow and Sandra Benes. On the TV show their relationships were alluded to-here they do have sex. After all, you would indeed think that ThAT would be one of their pasttimes, with over 300 men and women stuck together on the moon.The coolest thing about this book is that it explains what happened to Paul Morrow, who was a central character in the first season, in a sad but very satisfactory way. And it also introduces security officer Tony Verdeschi and why he's one of Koenig's right hand men in the second season. It portrays him as slightly xenophobic, not liking aliens at all, which is extremely ironic since he hooks up with Metamorph Maya in the second season. That was a chuckle.THE FORSAKEN captures the spirit of the show and continues to add to the mythos, successfully bridging the two disparate seasons of SPACE 1999. It's also a damn good read. If you're a fan of the old series these new books will get you excited all over again. To order this book check out the website at: www.powysmedia.com
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Rating: nan out of 10.0 - votes cast total
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