For Space: 1999 fans....

[Steve Roby]

After a few years of inactivity, Powys Media, the officially licensed publisher of new Space: 1999 and Prisoner novels, is back in action. The anthology Shepherd Moon and David McIntee's novel Born From Adversity are already out and William Latham's novel Omega is now available to order.

To be completely honest, the Space: 1999 novel line has been a bit inconsistent. I wasn't blown away by their first novel, Resurrection, nor the expanded version published as Eternity Unbound, and not all of the stories in Shepherd Moon are what I'd consider professional quality... but John Kenneth Muir's The Forsaken was an impressive sign of where the books are going, explaining some of the cast and other changes between the two seasons by way of an emotionally affecting story, and Brian Ball's Survival is a good final (?) Victor Bergman story. Born for Adversity kicks off Year Three with a lot of action and some significant changes to the Year Two status quo; Omega's supposed to do even more, though I hope Latham's writing has improved. And Shepherd Moon has some good solid stories.

The other problem is that the books are a very very small press operation, so they're more expensive than most mass market paperbacks. But at least Powys is using lulu.com as a printer now, so ordering and delivery are easy.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Thanks for the info. It seemed like I was waiting forever for the next book to come out. Not unlike the DS9 relaunch.

 

[Steve Roby]

Oh, and I forgot to mention... Telos, the UK small press that has published a lot of great Doctor Who-related material, among many other things, has just published Destination Moonbase Alpha by Robert Wood. Apparently it's an extensively revised and expanded version of Space: 1999: The Future is Fantastic, the book Wood published through the vanity press Trafford a few years ago.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I've been reading "Destination Moonbase Alpha". It's not a bad read as these sort of books go, with plenty of interesting quotes from the cast and (especially) the writers. Worth getting hold of if you're interested in the background to the series.

As for the Powys books - I've never bothered with them. For one thing, I've found them quite hard to get hold of in the UK.

 

[Steve Roby]

The newer ones should be easier to get hold of, thanks to Lulu. That's who the Doctor Who Restoration Team used to publish the unproduced story Farewell Great Macedon and the omnibus of the first two issues of Nothing at the End of the Lane. They're thinking of reprinting the first few through Lulu too, I think.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I said "for one thing"... The difficulty with availablity was only the thing that stopped me bothering about not having these. There's a much greater psychological barrier for me to overcome. It's simply that "Space: 1999" is, for me, the most enthralling 24 episodes of sci-fi television I have ever seen. But it's kind of complete, a unit, sealed in time. Attempts to expand it now just don't seem to interest me. (It's different with things that are still ongoing - hence I've got hundreds of Doctor Who books, for instance.) I'm also not especially keen on anything that links series 1 with series 2, treats them as part of the same continuity, as personally I try not to think of them as being the same show.

 

[thumbtack]

plenty of interesting quotes from the cast and (especially) the writers.

Old quotes or new quotes?

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

plenty of interesting quotes from the cast and (especially) the writers.

Old quotes or new quotes?

A mixture, I think. Some I had read the original interviews of before, others were new to me. But the author, Robert, has done a good job of gathering all this material together to tell the story. It's good and useful to have it all gathered in one place.

 

[Flibble]

I wonder how good the availability will be for these books in the UK? I got a set of the last books, from Forbidden Plnaet in London, but they were really expensive.

 

[thumbtack]

I wonder how good the availability will be for these books in the UK? I got a set of the last books, from Forbidden Plnaet in London, but they were really expensive.

Are they OOP now?

 

[Steve Roby]

I wonder how good the availability will be for these books in the UK? I got a set of the last books, from Forbidden Plnaet in London, but they were really expensive.

I wouldn't look for the Powys Media Space: 1999 books in bookstores, though some specialist stores may make an effort to get some if they're aware of them. But Powys is going through Lulu now, which is a print-on-demand outfit; if you want the new Space: 1999 novels, you pretty much have to get them by mail order.

I don't know for certain but I suspect these books are selling a few hundred copies each, not the kind of volume that guarantees good bookstore distribution or low prices.

The nonfiction book by Robert Wood is from another publisher and would probably be a lot easier to find in a store like Forbidden Planet.

Are they OOP now?

Powys is considering reprinting some books, but I'm not sure their first few books are all out of print now.

 

[23skidoo]

The newer ones should be easier to get hold of, thanks to Lulu. That's who the Doctor Who Restoration Team used to publish the unproduced story Farewell Great Macedon and the omnibus of the first two issues of Nothing at the End of the Lane. They're thinking of reprinting the first few through Lulu too, I think.

I had a very unpleasant experience with Lulu, so much so that I will never order from them again. Anyone using Lulu should note that if you are located in Canada they can't ship to you.

Not won't, but can't. Something to do with the fact that Canadian addresses aren't in the UPS database they require. I spent about 2 weeks trying to get them to help me acquire Farewell Great Macedon with the end result being "sucks to be you." So I ended up e-mailing the editor of the book directly and I made arrangements to order a copy of Macedon directly through him and I had it within a couple of weeks.

It's a shame really because Macedon is a beautifully put together book and I was planning on using their "print on demand" service to compile some personal collections of writings, as was an author friend of mine, but until and unless they fix this problem, I see them as being a US-only deal which makes them useless.

As for the Powys books, I honestly lost track of their comings and goings ages ago. I managed to obtain the Lance Parkin "Prisoner's Dilemma" novel but I completely lost track of where they were after that. In fact wasn't there another "Powys back in action" thread about 18 months ago? I admire them for putting out these books, but I really wish they had a bit more distribution, like Telos or even Big Finish. At least those two I can order books from via Amazon.

Alex

 

[WHF]

^I live in Canada and I received a couple books from Lulu last week.

 

[Steve Roby]

Anyone using Lulu should note that if you are located in Canada they can't ship to you.

Not won't, but can't.

Can, will, and do.

Right under my avatar it says Location: Ottawa, ON Canada. Lulu has been sending parcels to my house (including Farewell Great Macedon) since 2006, no problem.

Now, UPS and similar services can't ship to PO boxes. Are you using a PO box as your mailing address?

 

[Steve Roby]

William Latham's novel Omega just landed on my front step today (good timing -- it's my birthday). At 183 pages it's a lot shorter than David McIntee's novel Born for Adversity, so not the best value for money at the price Powys charges (to say nothing of Lulu's shipping charges)... but the last time we had four Space: 1999 books in one year was, what, 1977?

Anyway, I'm going to put Destination Moonbase Alpha aside for now and get started on Omega tonight.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

William Latham's novel Omega just landed on my front step today (good timing -- it's my birthday). At 183 pages it's a lot shorter than David McIntee's novel Born for Adversity, so not the best value for money at the price Powys charges (to say nothing of Lulu's shipping charges)... but the last time we had four Space: 1999 books in one year was, what, 1977?

Anyway, I'm going to put Destination Moonbase Alpha aside for now and get started on Omega tonight.

Happy Birthday Steve.

 

[Steve Roby]

Thanks!

 

[doubleohfive]

If I may, I would like to also point devotees to DarkerProjects.com. They did a podcast "audio drama" miniseries last year set in the Space: 1999 universe that turned out quite well; on top of this, it is my understanding that DP has verified permission to make more.

Definitely worth a listen if one were so inclined.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

^Thanks for the name of the website. I started listening to the first one awhile ago but I lost my bookmark for the site when my computer malfunctioned.

 

[Steve Roby]

Not that many people care, but the sneaky folks at Powys Media just announced that Alpha, the sequel to Omega, is out. They kept it a secret, though there were some clues I missed.

Five new Space: 1999 books in just a few months. Never would have predicted that.