posted
Just some news for those of you who are waiting for the next War Against the Chtorr book. I heard that David Gerrold has moved to a new publishing house, which has agreed not only to publish book 5 in the series but to reprint his old books first. However, they want him to take the gay stuff, and especially the child-molestation stuff, out of the original first 4 books for the reprint.
Apparently Gerrold is refusing to do this, wanting the works to stand as they were first published. So we are left to wait for compromise to be reached.
Just an FYI, for anybody who cares about the most well-thought-out invasion series ever created. Written, I might add (for the benefit of this incredibly geeky audience [I love you guys]) by the guy who wrote the "Trouble with Tribbles" episode of the original Star Trek.
Posts: 82 | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
I'm a huge fan of the series but year after year after year of false promises and phantom publication dates have taken their toll.
In short, I'll believe it when I see it.
Also, I don't see Gerrold compromising himself by letting a publisher take the gay content out of the books. I don't remember *too* much child molestation stuff --? What is that about? I remember some extremely graphic scenes of children being eaten.
Refresh my memory about the child molestation stuff. Those fuzz people?
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I can see them wanting to make him revise the third book, with the molestation. But I hope he doesn't. It was there for a reason, and it's part of watching him falling to pieces mentally and emotionally (a process which continues even after that). I thought that book was far and away the best of the series (but then, I liked Order of the Phoenix best of the Harry Potter series, so I'm a bit odd, it seems), and I'm glad he's sticking to his guns.
Even though it means that the remaining books will probably be released around the same time we get to see Last Dangerous Visions (then again, that's what I thought about the Dark Tower series, for a long time, and King managed to get that finished finally).
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
(And if this thread had "spoiler" in the subject line, I'd share what I think is going to happen. But since I'm right, that'd be a big spoiler.)
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I must have blocked this stuff. I seriously cannot recall this. Well... I'm sure I'll have plenty of time (2 years? 3? 10?) to re-read the series before the release of the next book.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I only read the first one, but I read some of his other stuff and I used to hang out on his CompuServe forum back in the day.
There's no way he's going to censor his books.
I'm amazed they even asked.
Quite a few of his other books had pro-gay content, sometimes pretty heavy-handed, so it's obviously important to him.
In fact, I ended up leaving the CompuServe forum because after Matthew Shepherd was murdered, a large number of people there started bashing christians like crazy (because thinking certain sex acts are immoral was the same as approving of a vicious murder, in their eyes), and he did nothing to stop it.
By the way if you saw Enemy Mine, try the novelization which Gerrold wrote. It's much better than the movie. He put some of the material from the original short story, making the ending completely different, and intentionally didn't turn in the manuscript until past the deadline so they couldn't ask him to go back and change it!
Although (SPOILERS!), come to think of it, even in that book there's a little homosexual tension between the two main characters, on the part of Davidge anyway. He starts to develop feelings for Shigan, but since Shigan is a Drakk and they don't pair bond, nothing ever comes of it.
Posts: 454 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Seatarsprayan: I only read the first one, but I read some of his other stuff and I used to hang out on his CompuServe forum back in the day.
There's no way he's going to censor his books.
I'm amazed they even asked.
Quite a few of his other books had pro-gay content, sometimes pretty heavy-handed, so it's obviously important to him.
On the other hand, he let them de-gay his character in The Martian Child. So unless he'd relinquished all control over the film, he does seem to have a price.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Seatarsprayan: By the way if you saw Enemy Mine, try the novelization which Gerrold wrote. It's much better than the movie. He put some of the material from the original short story, making the ending completely different, and intentionally didn't turn in the manuscript until past the deadline so they couldn't ask him to go back and change it!
<blink> David Gerrold wrote a novelization of a movie based on a book by Barry B. Longyear? That can't be right.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
It's true. I have a copy. I even asked him about it, why the ending was different, and he told me that story about putting in Barry Longyear's original ending.
I don't remember everything he said, but he did indicate that they basically paid Barry Longyear enough money for him to allow them to change the ending for the film in the first place.
Posts: 454 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
He has talked about letting them de-gay his character in The Martian Child. I bought his explanation ... Maybe I'm a sucker.
To paraphrase: The story isn't about his being gay, it's about his relationship with his son.
To keep the character gay in the film would, for much of America, cause a kind of unnecessary controversy and shift public focus to this being about a gay parent instead of just being about a parent.
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