FACTUAL AND FICTIONAL RESOURCES

Books

The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Space Technology
ISBN 0-86101-075-2
When Chris Boucher mentioned this book in interview I had to have it.
This is a very well written and informative book following man's unsteady progress into space. The book continues into theorising the future and it is in these sections the information relating to Star Cops can be found. In fact if you want to see what the big ring in the series would probably have been based on buy this book!

Frontiers Of Space
ISBN 0-7137-3504-X
This book is wholly about the possibilities that the future hold. It's a shame that this starts from 1969 and it reflects it's origins. It does covers certain areas in a greater depth than the illustrated encyclopedia but loses it's readability. I don't want to appear to knock it too much as it's still not bad and much better than Mr. Stine's efforts.

Living In Space
G. Harry Stine
ISBN 0-87131-841-5
Lacking in specific information. Written in a half hearted way as a handbook for those going out there at some point in the future. Very poor.

Third Industrial Revolution
G. Harry Stine
A very dated book. It reads like a very bloated promotional brochure. Alas, like so much in life it sounded so good when you didn't have it but when you have it you think why did I bother!

From what I had read about Stine books I thought Chris Boucher was being bashful by not mentioning them as inspiration. Now, even if he had read them before, I wouldn't blame him for not mentioning them. I'm not wasting any more money getting any of Stine's other published works.

Film & TV

Outland
Peter Hyams vision of corporate thinking on Io's mining colony is quite bleak. Sean Connery plays a marshall investigating the strange deaths amongst the miners. It is recommended to any Star Cops fan.

Red Planet
Earthis ecology is failing. A small crew go in a large space vessel to Mars. Due to a various mishaps many of them die on Mars but the Earth is saved. An interesting mix of Hollywood realism and Hollywood fantasy. A good watch.

Moonbase 3
A series of 6 episodes shown in the UK in 1973. This show shares many similarities with Star Cops, but follows the base commander and other crew around. Imagine a show following Alexander Krivenko around and you'll probably guess what this turned out like. My advice would be to borrow it, not buy it.

Space Fury
LOW budget near future sci-fi fare with the American space program in disarray they pay to go to the Russian station. It's a shame one of them suffers from mental problems and starts bumping the others off. A promising start leads to a disappointing middle section and even worse ending.

Any suggestions? Please place them on the guestbook. More to come!