Customer Reviews

Cylons in America: Critical Studies in Battlestar Galactica

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you watch BSG actively, attentively, if you "work" at the show watching for where it's echoing our current political/religous/gender/? issues, concerns, then read this book of essays.

The essays are of varying density and depth, but I enjoyed them all. Something to be gained from each of them although many were definitely on the "scholarly" side of the street. Some of the essays intrigued me from the first sentence and I underlined extensively. Others, I read quickly, simply didn't resonate with the material.

The diversity of points of view, the diversity of aspects of BSG investigated and dissected by the the authors is what makes this book worth the money.

Cylons and humans...what's the difference?
Torture...is it ever justified?
Rape...can a machine be raped? (Is Boomer a machine? Does a machine have
feelings?)
Is Starbuck a serial killer? (How many times DID she kill Leoben??)
Is there racism among the the humans?
The Uncanny...the "double"
"The Farm" episode...pro life/pro choice...
Why is Hera so important? How important is a hybrid? What will synthesis mean to Human and Cylon???
...I could go on and on.

Again...if you actively watch BSG, like getting into philosophical/political/current events parallels, you will like this book. If you think about the show once you've seen an episode and then look out at the world we live in and relate the two...you'll like this book. If you're willing to put in some effort, you'll like this book. If you're already putting effort into BSG and enjoy doing that, you'll like this book.

I rated the book 4 stars...5 stars is perfect in my estimation and nothing is perfect...thank the gods for that!

Great book. If you're interested in learning more about the socially relevant elements of Battlestar Galactica or how to approach creating a socially relevant eposodic sci-fi TV show. I was afraid it would be bogged down with references to Plato and and other long winded philosophers taught in philosophy 101 college classes (like a lot of these types "You've seen the film/TV show, now copare it to such and such philosopher" books) that aren't too exciting to read about. I was pleased to find that it is both an easy read, very educational, and very enjoyible. I serious recommend this book to anyone who feels wacthing Battlestar Galactica changed their lives for the better.

Overall this was an interesting piece. Because it is actually a collection of essays it is hard to be more specific about the overall content. Some of the essays were better than others. A few brought out points I was unaware of and to me these were most interesting. It isn't light reading for the casual fan, but for anyone who likes to unravel all the fine details and analyze, it is an excellent tool.

As a strong fan of BSG, I was very excited to read this book. Though I plowed through it over the course of a weekend, I am left only feeling so-so about it as a whole. The essays within are very hit or miss, and with only about 10 pages per essay, some of them did not go into the depth I would have liked or expected.

Perhaps I wasn't sure what I was looking for in the book. It was good, and several essays were quite interesting, but I guess I just didn't LOVE it.