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The first five or six episodes will have their order changed. I don’t want to reveal the order at this point though.
With Year Two, we followed Dr. Russell’s status report dating and inserted the non-dated episodes according to production order and gaps in the dating. We didn’t mention the “X days since leaving Earth’s orbit” because they often didn’t make sense.
We’ve now succeeded in licensing the Space: 1999 Year One Main and End Title themes for use on Spider’s Web. We are now ready to move ahead with this release! It will be released as a traditional Audio CD (not an MP3 disc). If you haven’t already heard the excerpt, go to the Spider’s Web page and check it out!
Mateo
I should add that a lot of people had a hand in creating Powys Media and in the acquisition of the licence, not just me. If it had been just me, believe me, we’d still be dreaming about it.
The Forsaken is full of ethical dilemmas, often conflicting. In the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke, Muir tells us a story where multiple parties are at odds with each other–and all with good reasons for doing what they do. There are no evil characters, just desperate ones, driven on by overwhelming needs. Koenig, Morrow, Hurum, the Alphans, the Cryptodira, the Slath-Zar…with factions and divisions among each of these groups.
JKM structured his novel like a symphony, complementing his creation: the Cryptodira, a race of blind, upright, sea turtle-like intelligent beings who communicate musically. He included examples of their poetry–basing it on the poetry of the Aztecs. Someone mentioned an Old World/New World collision?
The Forsaken presents Koenig as a man unwilling to settle on a planet which, he suspects, may have had its indigenous people decimated to make way for humanity. He struggles with the needs of his people, the uncertainty of the sun’s stability and therefore the planet’s long-term viability, and with humanity being the beneficiary of genocide. Heavy stuff!
Survival is the companion novel. In it, Brian Ball, shows Koenig as a man with grave doubts about his earlier decision in The Forsaken. He is faced with the genocide of his own people and comes to the conclusion, inevitably though somewhat reluctantly, that survival trumps morality. He realizes he has a duty to ensure humanity’s future by any means necessary.
JKM and I met in 1999. Who brought us together? Johnny Byrne, of course. We saw each other again in 2000 in NYC at the Main Mission convention. Johnny Byrne, William Latham, John Kenneth Muir and myself together at the same table for the first (and last) time. The future would turn out better than we could have hoped for. But right then…who knew?
When Gerry Anderson was on tour a few years ago, showing episodes of his various series on the big screen, I met him briefly at The Egyptian Theater. He signed a few copies of Resurrection and I gave him one. Later, in New York City, Gerry Anderson and William Latham did a joint signing at the Virgin Megastore, pictures were on the site at that time.
Mateo
The three seasons of The House Between are (or were when I last checked) available via Google Video at http://www.google.com though they were originally broadcast via VEOH at http://www.veoh.com . I believe some early episodes are no longer at VEOH.
John Kenneth Muir is currently re-editing, remastering the episodes for DVD release. And episode one, Arrived, is available on the Powys site, click on The House Between, for viewing.
And, of course, the soundtrack–a limited edition of 100–is available via this site as well. I say ‘limited’ because the second edition will have much less music and be released on a traditional audio CD (as opposed to the first edition: a 3-hour-long MP3 disc).
Well, thank you, that was a flattering post! Any more of those and my head won’t fit through the door! We’re just glad you’re enjoying the books. We’ve got more on the way. Be patient and your patience will be rewarded. 🙂
Mateo
We are aware of it and are eternally grateful. 🙂
Consider our books akin to Harry Potter, except without the billion dollar paychecks. We’ve been publishing 1999 books for 9 years and have published 9 books and a few other things as well.
Maybe we should incorporate a Hogworts School of Eagle Piloting–it could be a young adult series about how poor, orphaned Alan Carter was invited to join the school and so to become one day a Wizard–scratch that–an Eagle pilot!
He’d soon befriend two other students, Bill and Annette. They’d have adventures, outwitting the Evil Professor Simmonds and his henchman, Gorski…
I am JUST KIDDING folks!
Mateo
Sure, of course you do realize that a Space: 1999 book takes at least a year to go from initial idea to finished novel? That’s why there’s always something in the works. Some take longer than others. It’s all about staggering the commissions. And I made a decision at the start NOT to publish a huge amount of books (ie, forgettable stand-alones that don’t add to the characters or the mythos), but rather concentrate only on the stories I wanted to add to the 1999 universe. In short, I’ve rejected more pitches than I’ve commissioned.
Our thanks to the folks at NDBMedia and to Robert Wood for arranging our
participation on today’s 35th Anniversary Show. And quick shout out to the
Powys Forum regulars we saw on the chat!Just to sum up our announcements today:
1. The Spider’s Web audio book should be available in the very near future.
2. William Latham’s “Chasing the Cyclops” (working title) on the making of
the Powysverse mythology and the writing of Omega and Alpha will be
available in time for Christmas.
3. William Latham will be writing a new novel based on Johnny Byrne’s
unproduced script for “Children of the Gods” to be published in 2011.
4. The Year One Omnibus is still under development but should be available
in 2011.
5. John Kenneth Muir’s “The Whispering Sea” will be available in 2011.As always, we thank Christopher Penfold for his kind words during today’s
broadcast.I watched UFO a couple of years ago for the first time–start to finish. It was very interesting and I was sad there weren’t more episodes. Gary Russell and I talked about the possibility of a series of UFO novels. He was interested in writing them. But that’s as far as it went.
As for Space: 1999 and UFO being in the same universe…well, we’ll just have to accept that we have different opinions on that matter. 🙂 Thanks for looking for us! I’m glad you found us again!
