Rating: 
Summary: Captain Proton On the Planet Locus
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Captain Proton saves the Galaxy!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Captain Proton saves the Galaxy!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Horribly humorous!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Horribly humorous!
Review: 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.
| 
