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Since they're not going to be faithful to the original books anyway, why not do a more modern sequel, Like PJ Farmer's A Barnstormer in Oz (See pjfarmer.com for info), about Dorothy's son who flies his biplane into Oz and has his own series of adventures, rather more adult. Farmer has done many stories reimagining pulp heroes like Tarzan, Doc Savage, etc.

bitch all you want about the recent star trek movies... but they still can't compare to the class of suckage that was ST:V.

but trek should go forward, not backwards. just from a logistics standpoint, how will they construct "technology" that looks older than TOS? card board & duct tape? with a shuttle pod made from a radio flyer?

ds9 was excellent. sisko & kira were the best "one-two punch" of any of the series. avery brooks ("hawk" from the spenser:for hire tv series) fit the actor to the role (of captain) better than any of the others, even patrick stewart. its premiere, movie-length episode (emissary), surpassed anything the franchise has put in theatres (with the exception, perhaps, of ST:IV).

as deep space nine was different in that it was focused on a space station instead of a space ship; voyager also differed in that there was no "federation" to call for backup; and like ds9, it was also an excellent series. imho, these were the best two series in the franchise -- the ones that weren't just TOS-redux.

enterprise had potential, but the TPTB mukked everything up: starting with dropping 'star trek' from the title and progressing through each and every storyline inconsistency... and bacula was a huge disappointment, imho, not even coming close to fitting the role of a star trek captain.

as far as a starfleet academy-based "prequel" goes.... spock graduated around the time that kirk entered the academy (both ocurring in 2050). so if the premise is their time together at the academy, it'll be an even shorter series than enterprise was, or a single movie tied around one specific event they both participated in. the novel 'aftershock' is about the only existing thing to draw from, and if 'the crew' was busy with that plotline during kirk's first acadamy year, that doesn't leave much time to "create" something new to squeeze into the timeline for cadets spock & kirk to get mixed up with.

mccoy and ulhura where in the academy around the same time as kirk (they were a year ahead of him).. so that *might* work. no sulu or checkov though, as they didn't start at the academy until several years after kirk graduated. also keep in mind that kirk entered the academy at age 17, so you'd have to go A LOT younger and find some (early) 20-something actor with no talent to play the role. reference: http://pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Startrek.htm

as much as i'd rather see trek move forward, if they go backwards.. the most interesting part of enterprise (even if its delivery wasn't that great either) was the retelling of carbon creek in episode 2 of the second season (originally in a trek novel from the late 80's or so, iirc). a movie or series based upon the vulcan's life on earth in the 1950's would be a hoot. eliminates all ties to the future and "known" trek universe (less chance of contaminating the 'timeline', so-to-speak). so in my book, this would be the next best thing to just starting after ds9 or voyager.

Imagine that your house is your computer!

Welcome to Dayworld, where your house and everything in it is integrated and on-line 24x7 (even if you aren't).

I've always wanted to play on the World of Tiers with Kickaha the Trickster.

He's more like the Golden Age Superman, leaps instead of flying, not nearly as strong.

And the Kryptonians are a genetically modified branch of humanity.

He's more like the Golden Age Superman, leaps instead of flying, not nearly as strong.

And the Kryptonians are a genetically modified branch of humanity.

For Poul Anderson, check out his "Time Patrol" series and "Boat of a Million Years".

For Charles Sheffield, his "Proteus" series is a definite must.

PJF: "Riverworld" series.

Resnick: "Widomaker" series.

Really, really good author... although not *hard* science fiction. Comes to mind the Riverworld series (esp. the first 2 volumes), the Dayworld series (all three are great) and the Creator of Universes series. Have a look at his Official home page