Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Voyager: Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth

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

 

 

This was hilarious in its bad writing. I've seen some old Buck Rogers serials that Proton must have been based on, and they were just as over-the-top and badly written as the Captain Proton stuff that's appeared from time to time on Voyager. I also liked the subtle Star Trek in-jokes that appeared in it: Proton's ship gets thrown across the galaxy so far it would take 70 years to get home (just like Voyager), and a letter from Benny Russell, the '50s pulp sci-fi writer Sisko hallucinated he was on DS9.

Printed in two-column style, little this book is packed full of goofy but fun references to Destructo Beams and Imagizers, Giant Trundle Spiders and Beings Not From This Universe. And, of course, Constance Goodheart's very good screams.

I was disappointed in the photographs, taken as they were from Voyager's only Proton episodes, "Night," and "Bride of Chaotica!" and used over and over (all at least twice and several more times than that).

But if you're looking for a harmless bit of sci-fi fluff and don't mind the $$ for it this one's for you. Me? I got mine with a gift certificate!

This book is off the scale in terms of coolness. It really captures the feel of the Proton segments on Voyager and of old SF pulp magazines. It's got one "full-length novel," chapter 2 of the Captain Proton serial that starting in the last issue of AMAZING STORIES, and two short stories that focus on the supporting characters, Constance Goodheart and Ace Reporter Buster Kincaid.

The novel story ("Children of the Glass") was pure adventure, with Proton facing and defeating one dilemma after another. The short stories diverged from the formula more, and were my favorite of the fiction pieces. Proton still saves the day in them, but the supporting characters really get to shine also.

But my favorite part of the book is the letter column at the end. It's brilliant. The letters reveal points of view that cover the entire spectrum of opinions about SF in microcosm. And then there's the last letter, written by a young Benny Russell (Ben Sisko's alter-ego on Deep Space Nine). Truly inspired.

What did I not like about it? Well, the price is a little steep for the book's size and a lot of the interior photos are terribly blurry (but I understand that was done intentionally to give the book a 1940's feel). But don't let that stop you from giving this book a shot.

I howled with glee when I saw ST:V parody the '40's movie-serial vision of the future, studied with such reverant irreverance.

Now I am bowled over by the concept of publishing the whole thing. This is the moment I (author of the Bantam pb STAR TREK LIVES!) have hoped for all of the last 32 years and more: print used as an adjunct to expand on a visual medium sketch.

I'm so impressed, I'm using this book as recommended reading in our online writing school at simegen.com.

Thank you Pocket Books!

Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth plays off of a very good concept. It puts the hero of Tom Paris' holodeck adventures into written fiction. The fifties-flavored hero emulates classic spacemen like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Thus, it is logical to make the suggestion that if he had been an actual fictional character, he may well have started out in print before moving to the silver screen. This book could have made use of the Captain Proton character a few different ways; it could have written a serious, full-length novel starring the character, or it could have been a novel about the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager framing another Captain Proton holodeck adventure. However, what Dean Wesley Smith and the other writers (unless those other credits are just pen names for Smith) chose to do was emulate the style of the pulp magazines of yesteryear. These magazines thrived on science-fiction and "rocketmen," so they would be a likely place to find our good Captain.
In the main feature, "Children of the Glass," Smith does go a little over the top in reflecting this style, taking a somewhat tongue-in-cheek attitude in doing so. While I haven't read much else that he has written, it certainly appears that he is dumbing down his writing. The excessive use of single-sentence paragraphs that end in exclamation points can be incredibly annoying, as can the overuse of exclamation points in general. However, as I progressed through the story, I found that I got used to it slowly, and by the end, it really didn't bother me as much. That said, I think the story could have been much more enjoyable if he had curbed that just a little. All in all, though, the nineteen-chapter serial does do a very good job of reflecting the fast-paced and carefree stories of the Golden Age. Reflecting a worldview where good and evil were easily defined and the good guys always win, Smith keeps the action rolling, if not especially intense. If the reader can accept the pervasive purple prose, "Children of the Glass" will be enjoyable to fans of Captain Proton or any tribute to classic Sci-Fi.
After "Children of the Glass," there are six backup features that serve to fill in a little more space, and also help give this the feel of a real Golden Age pulp magazine. There are three shorter backup stories and three featurettes. The first backup story, "Death of the Patrol," is the second part of a serial. It continues from "Space Vortex of Doom," which appeared in Amazing Stories, I believe. The second backup story focuses on Captain Proton's secretary, Constance Goodheart, and the third focuses on his sidekick, Buster Kincaid. The three featurettes replicate nonfiction pieces that appeared in these kinds of magazines. The first is a description of the planet Mercury, the second details Seattle in the future, and the third is a number of letters to the editor. All of these did a very good job of emulating the style and feel of such features, and contribute well to the atmosphere of this book.
All in all, these backup features are really more of the same as the main story. If you liked "Children of the Glass," you'll probably enjoy these. If not, don't get your hopes up. But overall, I'd say that "Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth" is a good tribute to those good old days when you could spend a dime or so for a good magazine chock full of exciting stories like these. This book was by no means great literature, but it was certainly a nice dose of escapist fun.

The Fall issue of Amazing Stories includes... "The Space Vortex of Doom", by D. W. "Prof" Smith (a.k.a. Dean Wesley Smith) [which] is about Captain Proton, hero of a space adventure holodeck scenario...patterned after Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. Aboard Proton's spaceship is his pal Buster, and a woman named Constance Goodheart whose only function is to scream every third paragraph. They face a series of perils sent their way by Dr.Chaotica, "the meanest man in all of known space", including a red star sent hurtling toward Earth that Captain Proton must deflect into the space vortex at his own peril. A parody of creaky space opera, including Star Trek itself (sparks fly and smoke fills the control room as Proton's ship struggles to free itself), the story's effect is really too easy, but you can't help but smile anyway. There's something endearing about the totally naïve incomprehension of basic physics and astronomy that characterizes this subgenre.

--Mark Kelly, Locus Magazine

This is a spoof based on a holodeck game that Harry Kim and Tom Parris played, by the looks. The hero is a Captain Future style hero, without the more than human sidekicks, just a reporter.

The book is done to be a facsimile style pulp novel, with the same style for the table of contents, shorts, letters to the editor, backup features that are to be continued, etc. All spoofing as well. Quite well done for what they have have meant to do.

The writing, much like in Randall Garrett's Back Stage Lensman, is deliberately bad or incongruous.

"Now it was a One-Bug-Eyed-Monster! An O.B.E.M."

"It is amazing to me," Proton observed. "How far evil can fall when pushed slightly."

There are other similar literary gems to be had throughout the book.

Quite likely to amuse.

The Captain Proton episode was one of those rare things for Star Trek Voyager: a truly good episode. I picked up this book because it looked like an amusing hack. In part it is, but there is a big problem: the writing. The book would have been quite humorous had Smith written it deadpan, trying to mimic the style of the time. Instead, he tried to be over-the-top humorous, and this just didn't work as well. It was just flat and trite.

A number of other reviewers have stated that the Captain Proton character is based on either Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. They are incorrect. In reality the character is the Republic Pictures "Rocketman" character who appeared in 4 Republic Serials under the names Jeff King aka "The Rocketman", Larry Martin, and Commando Cody (twice). The Serials were respectively King of the Rocketmen, Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, and Commando Cody - Sky Marshal of the Universe (which was not realy a serial but a 12 Episode TV Show/Story Arc [ie: the episodes did not end in cliffhangers]).

OTOH: Chaotica WAS based on Flash Gordon's arch enemy Ming the Merciless.

The Robot (who appeared in the Star Trek Episodes [BTW: there were 3 not 2 two where were named - the 3rd was the flashback one about the Water-planet and Paris's Demotion]) is the "Republic Robot" who appeared in a number of Republic Serials including Zombies.

I'll fess up: I'm not a big fan of Star Trek novelizations, but I figured I'll give this one a try because I love old SF, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Commander Cody, etc. Wow, did I figure wrong!

If this book where any slower, it would have been arrested for blocking traffic. Those old serials were renowned for their frantic pace, which this book comes nowhere near.

Further, the author doesn't seem to be sure whether he is doing a hommage to the old serials or a satire. Doesn't really matter, though, because by the time you've noticed the inconsistency, you'll have given up reading this...book.