==== ==== Play Battlestar Galactica Online Absolutely FREE: http://www.nullrefer.com/aHR0cDovL3Ryay5lbXB5cmVtZWRpYS5jb20vP2E9MTAyNTIyJmM9MT Y2MiZzMT1zY3I=.shtml ==== ====
About a year ago I posted an article in which I praised Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica as the best science fiction show ever to grace a television screen. I stand by that article. Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is damn near perfect. Created by Moore, and based on the old series of the same name, BSG has set the science fiction bar to a new level in television. The reason, as previously stated, is that Moore understands drama. He has created a series (now complete and no longer airing) about people, and I can only hope that other producers will learn the lesson and create more of the same. I remain a dedicated BSG fan-as I said, the show is damn near perfect... ...but not quite. There is one flaw in BSG that irritates me every time I see it. As a writer of military science fiction myself, I feel compelled to point it out, if only to get it off my chest. In doing so I in no way intend to defame or detract from what remains the best sf show in television history, and probably one of the top five shows of all time in any genre. BSG fans who read this may curse me and tell me that I'm nuts, that my complaint is trivial. And they'll be right-it is trivial. But it is a flaw and I have to say it. So, if my words offend you, stop reading now. No Air In Space Though we have never met, Ronald D. Moore and I have a great deal in common. We are both science fiction writers, he in television, I in novels. We both like military sf. In my Fighter Queen series, I patterned my war after World War II; according to Moore's podcasts, he did the same with BSG. One of the major components we both reached for was the concept of a combat carrier, a large warship designed to carry smaller combat craft into battle. But here is where Moore and I diverge-he stuck with the concept of an aircraft carrier, while I went for a spacecraft carrier. And that's where my complaint lies. Moore and I both write about space battles using combat carriers. The problem is that there is no air in space, and when Moore's characters refer to a Commander Air Group (CAG), it just doesn't work. In my novels, the same officer is called a CSG (Commander Space Group), and I refer to Combat Space Patrols (Moore sticks with the traditional, and Earth-bound, Combat Air Patrol, or CAP). And it gets worse. In episode after episode, Moore's BSG characters make reference to "getting a fighter in the air", or they call their fighters "planes"; every time I hear that it's like biting a nail with an infected tooth-it just makes me shudder in pain.
Moore's characters also refer to "getting a fighter up" (there is no "up" in space; "up" has no connotation outside the gravity well of a planet); they even refer to day and night, which has no significance unless a planetary rotation is involved. In my novels I refer to "designated night", which is the only thing that makes sense to me, since people have to sleep and can't function well without some terrestrial reference such as day and night, artificial though it may be. It's Understandable I think I know why Moore chose the path he did, though I'm only guessing-I'm sure there were head sessions among the writers about how to handle these things. I suspect the decision was made to keep the traditional acronyms (CAG, CAP, etc.) because you really can't pronounce an acronym like CSG or CSP, and even if you found some substitute, people wouldn't know what it meant. Moore and his fellow writers may have decided that these are minor points and the public wouldn't mind, or even notice. He's probably right, because I pointed this out to my son and he simply didn't care. So maybe it's just me. Having said all that, I'm done. It's off my chest, and I won't bring it up again. Ronald D. Moore and his writing team have created an outstanding series, four seasons of heart-stopping drama unsurpassed in television history. My hat is off to them, and I hope they go on to create many more great series. The first half-season of Caprica was a good start.
Don't miss the Fighter Queen Saga! Four epic novels for one low price. As compelling as Battlestar Galactica--you've never read anything like it. Read about it here: http://bornnovelist.wordpress.com/the-fighter-queen-saga/ Available at http://www.akwbooks.com/BookStore/catalog/The-Complete-Fighter-Queen-Saga-p25.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Bowers
==== ==== Play Battlestar Galactica Online Absolutely FREE:
http://www.nullrefer.com/aHR0cDovL3Ryay5lbXB5cmVtZWRpYS5jb20vP2E9MTAyNTIyJmM9MT Y2MiZzMT1zY3I=.shtml ==== ====