Apropos New Year’s note

[Patricia Sokol]

Well, Mr Administrator, what can we say but:

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.

:kiss:

[Scott Lindvall]

Happy New Year to all of my Powysverse and Space: 1999 friends. Bill, I guess your announcement is not too surprising, but the promise that the series will be completed this year is very welcome news indeed. I have spent many happy hours reading each new installment and many months (and years) anticipating the next book to arrive. I have truly enjoyed your and Mateo’s interpretation of Moonbase Alpha’s saga.

Space: 1999 is unique in the annals of science fiction — preposterous premise but strangely compelling. I was a huge fan back in the day, collecting everything I could get my hands on and attending the very first Space: 1999 convention in Columbus, Ohio. But I eventually drifted on to other things as adulthood, career and fatherhood took over my life. I never completely forgot about Space: 1999, however, and would pick up videotapes and Starlog magazines along the way, but I honestly thought I was just about the only person who remembered it with any sort of fondness.

Lo and behold, the internet came along (thanks, Al Gore, for inventing that by the way) and I was able to dig into many of my old passions, including, of course, Space: 1999. Fast forward a few years, and I discovered a tiny little publisher that was putting out new adventures of my favorite moonbase crew. At one time, I had owned the novelations that came out in the 70s, but they were long since lost. But these were new stories that not only promised to continue the series, but also bridge the gap between the disparate seasons of the show. The earliest of the new novels were already out of print, but thanks to eBay I was able to get caught up. I was even able to track down all of the original books.

Powys Media helped bring me back to being a serious Space: 1999 fan. I have since gotten Andrew E.C. Gaska’s very excellent graphic novels, DVD and Blu-ray sets, Fanderson’s recent three-CD set of Year One music, a Moonbase Alpha model kit, Project Enterprise Eagles, and so much more. But of all the things Powys Media has helped bring back to me, the very best is discovering all of the other people who also love the original series. Through this forum and many of the Facebook groups out there, I have made many new friends.

My very favorite memory of being a Space: 1999 and Powysverse fan, however, came on a June day in a pub on 35th Street in Manhattan a few years ago. Going to the first (and apparently last) Powysverse convention allowed me to meet and spend a few hours with three of the nicest people I’ve ever known: Bill Latham, Pat Sokol and Ken Scott. Being the only non-Powys contributor in the group was a thrill and it sort of felt like the whole shebang was done just for me. I have unfortunately not been back to New York since then, but maybe next time I am we can get together and have a pint or two.

That is ultimately the best part of being a Space: 1999 and Powys Media fan — the people. Not the fictional characters stuck on the runaway moon, but the real folks here on Terra Firma who are just as passionate as me (some quite a bit more so, actually) that I never knew were out there until I happened upon a small publishing house that had a dream of completing Moonbase Alpha’s odyssey.

Many, many thanks to Bill, Mateo and everyone else who had a hand in making this happen. And to all of the other friends I have met along the way. May the New Year be wonderful for all of you.

[Kerry]

I’d like to second the comments here. I appreciate the work Bill and Mateo (and everyone else involved) have put in over the years. I enjoyed being able to step back into my childhood with every new Powys release. Twas fun while it lasted!

Thanks again.

(I do think you should find a way to publish the books for eReaders. That way they could be kept alive indefinitely.)

[William Latham]

Quick shout out to John Muir, as well, who has done much behind the scenes as well.

I’d love it if we could do electronic versions of our novels, but we’re prohibited by contract from doing it. My own little “Scary Stories of Stamford” (what? you don’t have a copy? address that at once!) is the only eBook we currently have. But if my energy level is up this weekend, Chasing the Cyclops may join it.

Good to see the old faces stopping by to help us enjoy our own wake — but there’s still so much to happen between now and then…

[Clayton]

I’m hoping the final projects for this year will include a Lulu version of Eternity Unbound. I’m still missing that one!

[Kerry]

[quote]I’d love it if we could do electronic versions of our novels, but we’re prohibited by contract from doing it. [/quote]

I think that is a strange prohibition, considering the contract with ITV (or whoever owns the TV rights) was doubtless written before anyone even knew what an eBook was. I mean, unless you’re renewing contracts with them constantly…? It just seems weird to tell a publishing house in today’s day and age that they can’t sell eBooks of their own work. I wonder if that prohibition was really meant to guard against something else?? Might be worth asking.

[Anonymous]

I wrote a longish response several days ago and thought I posted it, but I don’t see it.

So, Bill and Mateo et al:

It’s too bad about the ebooks; I think being able to sell those, especially through Amazon, Kobo, etc, would have brought a lot more readers to the Powysverse. Hell, I’d like to have ebook versions myself, as well as the print versions.

On the broader subject… there are times that I think Powys bit off more than it could chew, because the books have come in fits and starts and the Prisoner series never really got going… but no one else was doing it, so at the very least we have a bunch of books in our collections that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

There have also been a few decisions I didn’t care for. I’d rather have had more new novels than revised versions of old ones; I also thought it hurt the momentum of the series to make the fourth book an expansion of the first book. I can see the appeal of adding the prequel and adaptation material but it might have worked better if it had come after a few more books. I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the revelation of the MUF played out, either.

But… yeah, they helped me get more into Space: 1999 than I’d been for a long time. When I read that first novel I barely remembered anything about Balor because I probably hadn’t seen that episode since 1976 or so. Now I’ve got the whole series on DVD. And it’s fun to kick back on the couch with a soundtrack on the stereo as I read a new novel. So I hope you guys get to wrap things up the way you want.

(I don’t really care about the Year One Omnibus, though. I haven’t read the Y2 omnibus yet because I’ve read the original editions and I have the episodes on DVD and the presence of occasional connections to the Powysverse isn’t enough to make it urgent reading.)

I’d rather you focus on the new stuff that only you guys can give us. If time’s limited, I’d prefer you spend it on your own corner of the Space: 1999 universe as much as possible. Anyway, thanks and good luck.

[Steve Foster]

I have written to Bill privately today to thank him for his wonderful and imaginative work on the Powysverse range of [b]SPACE: 1999[/b] novels.

Although greatly saddened by the news that the publishing arm is to close down, I am very grateful for all the new and original [b]SPACE: 1999[/b] novels that have been published by Powys over the last 16 years.

I am of course, hopeful, that the last four novels “Prodigal Moon” (with new short stories by John Kenneth Muir in it I hope), “Black Doves”, “The Final Revolution” and “Odysseus Wept” as well as the Year One Omnibus and a fully updated, luxury hardback version of Pat Sokol’s extraordinary “Powysverse Compendium” get released. I intend to buy all of them if and when they do.

I’ll close this Post by sharing with all of you what I said at the end of my private e-mail to Mr Latham earlier this evening:

“…I didn’t want you to think that just because I hadn’t Posted anything in response to the announcement on the Forum, that I wasn’t interested. I think I’ve been in mourning as a result of it quite frankly. But now that I have absorbed the news, my only desire is that the Powysverse range of [b]SPACE: 1999[/b] novels do indeed “go out with a bang” and that at least 4 new, original and exciting novels will be published this year, finally completing the Alphans literary odyssey. Any help I can give you in this endeavor, you only have to ask for.”

Thank you Bill, Mateo, Pat, Ken Scott, John Kenneth Muir and everyone else involved in this adventure. I’m looking forward to you and our favourite Alphans reaching the finishing line.

“To everything that might have been… to everything that was…” – Victor Bergman, “Black Sun”

“To Everything that might yet be!” – Barry Morse in his Afterword to “Destination: Moonbase Alpha” by Robert E Wood

[Patrick Zimmerman]

I feel like my wish for new books from Powys this year was accidentally made on a Monkey’s Paw…

The news is both good and bad, but either way, I want to say thanks to all of the Powys team, for what has been created and published in the past decade. Mateo set out with lofty goals and a bold vision for Powys, and I feel he’s achieved most all of what he set out to do – which is quite a fantastic accomplishment. Powys not only continued the adventures, but strove to tackle the impossible of attempting to bridge Year 1 and Year 2, as well as pushing forward to Year 3 and beyond. No easy feat.

I’m eagerly looking forward to being able to place the Year 1 Omni on the shelf next to the Year 2 Omni (I’m still thrilled that I was able to help out in a small way with the publishing of that book!) I truly hope the stars align for that project.

thanks again – and here’s to 2015!

[Anonymous]

Re Y1:

“Just a note on the Space 1999 Year One novelizations. Having waited over ten years for this to happen and then finding that [b]Tubb and Ball withdrew their rights from Powys Media back in 2005[/b] due to lack of progress on the book, I was not a happy bunny, to say the least, and completely misled (this flavoured the decision to withdraw my own novel from them and also the rights to Rankine’s novelizations). So, [b]Year One will no longer be published by Powys.[/b]”

(http://www.goldenapple.u-net.com/ga/news.htm)

That suggests it’s been known for ten years that Y1 wouldn’t happen. Even if John Mason is mistaken about Tubb and Ball, pulling his father’s material is a pretty serious blow to the project.

[Patrick Zimmerman]

[quote=”Steve Roby” post=3147]Re Y1:
That suggests it’s been known for ten years that Y1 wouldn’t happen. Even if John Mason is mistaken about Tubb and Ball, pulling his father’s material is a pretty serious blow to the project.[/quote]
yes, I read that entry in Mason’s blog several months ago, and it was some seriously disconcerting news.

But, I still remain optimistic regarding the Year 1 omnibus announcement that Bill Latham hopes to be able to relay to everyone at some point soon – as he stated on the home page.

[Anonymous]

Bill’s taking on a lot of work, from the sound of it, and personally I’d prefer him to prioritize new and original Powysverse Space: 1999 material over a collection of material we probably all have already, more or less, especially if the latter has some big roadblocks.

I want Powys to give us the books that only Powys can give us and take the series out with a bang. If they can do more, wonderful, but I don’t see everything he hopes to get done as equally important. YMMV.

[Steve Foster]

So, here we are. Heading towards the end of Feb. I just re-read the interview that was conducted with Bill Latham about his forthcoming novel [b]SPACE: 1999[/b] “The Final Revolution” and I have to admit, I’m getting ever so slightly desperate to read it!

So, what’s new in Powys Media-land Bill..? 🙂

[William Latham]

Hey, folks — been all over the place of late. Still trying to get Final Revolution finished — it’s been a very challenging book to write! I think Resurrection played with some interesting concepts in physiology and this book is playing with some interesting concepts in cosmology. So every time I go through the plot lines it’s like a Rubik’s cube — I have to rearrange pieces and make sure they still line up correctly.

Still trying to nail down a project plan for the Year One Omnibus — it’s such a major undertaking, and the rights-holders have been very patient with me — there’s a small team of people trying to make sure it CAN be done before we actually commit to doing it.

Prodigal Moon is just waiting for some last minute entries and then we’ll announce what’s going to be in the final version.

Black Doves is still in kind of a limbo state — nothing to report on it definitively, yet.

I think I have all the pieces I need for The Prisoner book — just need the time to put it together. And still no decision on Eternity Unbound/Eternity Unleashed. It pains me to see people charging $75 to $150 dollars for the existing book (and I certainly hope nobody’s paying that amount).

Anyway, making little steps forward on all of these fronts (but it’s hard when you’re a one-man-band). Bill the novelist needs to finish his work — then Bill the publisher can really get busy on everything else.

Lastly, shoutout to our friend Mr. Nimoy, and wish him well on his final frontier. I’ll never forget (spoiler alert!) back in the 1970s, the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, when Spock turned out to be working for the pod people, man, did it feel like there was just no hope. Bitter dregs indeed!

Hey, Blomkamp, do right with Ellen — take the grand lady out in style, could you? Somebody wake up Hicks…

BL

[Clayton]

Ah! Powys is back after several days’ absence! With news of the Final Revolution, Year One Omnibus, Miss Freedom, and more right around the corner! :whistle:

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