The Book Lightwalker Files

References to history tend to be dicey in the Trek universe. Not only are some of the situations contrived, but if we don’t research and learn the truth, we’ll believe what the fiction tell us over reality. It is, in fact, the same phenomenon as when secular producers attempt to make a Bible movie; their lesser knowledge makes them make mistakes.

On December 9, 2009, I noted several bobbles in “Requiem f...

Every once in awhile, the Trek universe takes its actors out of character and casts them in different roles. In general I love this idea, though I’m not always in favor of what they do with it. This is one of the positive episodes, as are the other two I will mention below, along with the links to my blogs about them.

As “A Fistful of Datas” opens, the Enterprise-D crew has a couple of days to kill before a tardy supply ship arrives. Most of ...

Part 6 of 6 on the “next generation” of space travelers.

In honor of Mother’s Day, May’s blog chain theme is “Nurture,” and in that spirit I present a story of two little boys in science fiction, one of whom is my own invention. This also finishes my series on children in space, so it works out perfectly.

I have indicated throughout this series that children need to be seen in space more often. Contrary to the ideas of ...

Part 5 of 6 on the “next generation” of space travelers.

As a child, did you have an imaginary friend? Many children do; it’s perfectly normal for a kid who has difficulty making and keeping real friendships. I don’t recall making up friends as a boy, but I did cut out the models’ pictures from old catalogs and make them act out the stories in my immature head. Though I was teased about “playing with paper dolls,” I believe it was t...

Part 4 of 6 on the next generation of space travelers.

In this series, we’ve been looking at people who are already children in the second incarnation of Star Trek, but today we’re singing a different tune. I mentioned “Rascals” briefly on April 14, 2010, in connection with a discussion on the Ferengi, for the episode features an unusual collection of four crewmates who become children...

Part 3 of 6 on the next generation of space travelers.

Some say it’s wrong for children to be in danger, whether it’s space travel, war, or similar events. But such idealistic thinking does not square with real life. True, we should never consciously place children in peril, but dangerous situations do happen. Assuming the child survives, he can come out the other end all the stronger, all the more mature. This fact is confirmed in how kids such as Anne F...

Part 2 of 6 on the next generation of space travelers.

For April, our CW blog chain gang chose the theme “Joy,” since it’s an important component of the Easter season. Technically Easter was last Sunday, but there’s no reason why we should give up celebrating Jesus’ Resurrection. This event not only procured our salvation, but through it God ordained Sunday as our worship day, as practiced by the first Christian missionaries in the book of Acts...

Part 1 of 6 on the next generation of space travelers.

Today I start a series examining episodes of The Next Generation which feature the younger set of the Enterprise-D crew, including my blog chain entry next week. The first two involve Wesley Crusher, but the others will go different directions.

In “Assignment: Earth” when Gary Seven first meets the Enterprise crew, he says he’s been raised on a secre...

Regardless of their philosophical bent, there’s one thing all science fiction has in common. The story begins when somebody asks “what if” such-and-such was true? The 1999 movie Galaxy Quest, for instance, asks, “What if aliens received TV sci-fi transmissions and thought everything they saw on the screen was real?”

Jason Nesmith (played by Home Improvement funnyman Tim Allen) plays Captain Taggart as a good caricature of Kirk. Th...

Our blog chain topic for March is “Savor,” which could take on all kinds of meanings in different authors’ hands. And it’s one letter short of our favorite subject, the Savior, who is really the One all our talent must glorify. Today I present my entry, talking about the assumption that some aliens might lack corporeal senses, yet savor them once they are exposed to our “strange ways.”

We begin with “Return to Tomorrow,” a wei...