The Book Lightwalker Files

Fifth Star Trek pick: “Assignment: Earth.”

In “Tomorrow is Yesterday,” it happened by accident. The Enterprise had drawn too close to the sun, slingshot around it, and wound up in the past. By “Assignment: Earth” it appears to have become standard practice—a highly unstable and dangerous procedure, in my opinion. No doubt the producers did it to tell more historical stories, but it always felt contrived to me.

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Fourth Star Trek pick: “Bread and Circuses.”

This is the closest to good speculative religion I have seen in the Trek universe. I’ve already gone through the tag of this episode way back on August 19, 2009. Today, I’m going to examine several previous comments made about “the sun,” which turn out to be about “the Son” of God.

First, le...

For November, our blog chain decided to do something with the number nine, for the month was originally the ninth in order (novem) before January and February were added. I had trouble thinking of something to go along with this, until my wonderful friend Traci Bonney suggested listing my nine most favorite science fiction stories of all time. Unfortunately, there were so many that I decided to narrow it further to my nine most favorite episodes of the original Star Trek.

The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 7

The Last Battle

Over the past three months, we’ve been looking at each of C.S. Lewis’ stories, known collectively as the Chronicles of Narnia. Today’s entry finishes the series, bringing it full circle. Whereas The Magician’s Nephew showed Narnia’s beginnings, The Last Battle explains how it ends.

It introduces us to two ta...

The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 2

Prince Caspian

No youth should go through this. Raised in the palace—tutored first by his nurse, then by the elderly Professor Cornelius—young Caspian seems to have it made. His father King Caspian IX has died in his sleep, and his father’s brother is ruling until Caspian is old enough. What he doesn’t realize is that Uncle Miraz had murdered his father, and as soon as Miraz ...

The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Of all the Narnia stories, this one is the most familiar because it’s the first, so it has the most versions. In a way, I hesitate to talk about a plot everyone knows, but I’ll run through it anyway.

During height of the London Blitz, the parents of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie send them to the English countryside, to st...

Over the next three months, I’m planning to post seven entries about The Chronicles of Narnia, the classic fantasy series by C.S. Lewis. I’ve read all the books, and I’ve seen all three of the Walden Media movies that have come out so far. Each movie added to and, in my opinion, vastly improved the original story. Even the additions maintained the spirit of Lewis’ vision. Not many movies would get that kind of endorsement. Of necessity, the last four will have t...

Part 4 of 4 on Sisko and the Prophets

Over the past three weeks, I’ve been tracing the thread of Sisko’s role in Bajoran religion. In Part 1 I gave my initial impressions, then I followed Ed “E.G.” Lewis’ lead to complete the picture, which culminates today.

Now that he is possessed with a pah-wraith, the Cardassian leader Gul Dukat disguises himself as a Bajoran. This is more than simply changing one’s appearance and ...

Part 3 of 4 on Sisko and the Prophets

Continuing the mythology: In the episode “Tears of the Prophets,” six years of never-ending Cardassian conflicts cause Starfleet to command a preemptive strike against their homeworld. Starfleet wants Sisko to lead the assault, along with their Klingon and Romulan allies, and exploit a weak point in Cardassian defenses. However, the Bajoran Prophets have other ideas.

“The Sisko is of Bajor. It is wh...

Part 2 of 4 on Sisko and the Prophets

Last week, I reported my first impressions about the ethereal Bajoran Prophets’ choice of Ben Sisko, an alien commander from Earth, to be their Emissary. In my early drafts, I had said, “It doesn’t matter what subsequent episodes show,” but I was wrong. One of my friends at Christian Writers, Edward “E.G.” Lewis, sees a fairly accurate Christological message in Sisko’s experience, drawn from abo...