My Favorite Television Science Fiction Characters

Over the years, a surprising number of excellent science fiction characters have appeared on television. A memorable character requires good writing, superb acting and a little charisma. Usually, several memorable characters may be found on a good television series, one that meets the test of time. Often it takes several years to really buy into a character, because great characters are complex, developing or revealing themselves over several seasons. A critical mass of good writers is also essential; one good writer can’t carry a show year after year.

In any case, I’d like to describe a few characters that stand out in my mind. I enjoyed them when I first saw them, and I still enjoy them in reruns. Let me add that many fine characters, such as Captains Kirk and Picard, G’Kar, Boomer, Mal, Tasha, Crichton, Scotty and others didn’t make the list. They’re good, but I had to cut somewhere. My favorites are listed below as I thought about them; it’s not a ranking.

Admiral William Adama of Battlestar Galactica is a tough, honorable, natural leader. Capable of making mistakes, big ones, but also brilliant at times. A rough exterior hides his need to give and receive love, compassion and tenderness. Just looking at the man, you know he’s SOMEBODY. When he speaks in that low, rumbling voice, everyone pays attention. He’s the kind of guy I would follow into battle.

Well, maybe not battle.

Wouldn’t you like having Star Trek’s Dr. Leonard McCoy as your doctor? I know I would. This guy knows his stuff, he’s decent and loyal, and he has a great sense of humor. The friendly name calling between McCoy and Spock made the show both unique and realistic. I’ve always enjoyed mocking out my friends … although I haven’t seen any of them for a while. Sometimes McCoy’s conversation got into a rut (“He’s/she’s dead, Jim.”), but things would pick up as soon as he spotted pointy ears.

Then there’s Cylon Number Six, also from Battlestar Galactica. Blonde, slender but shapely, and legs that don’t quit. I’m beginning to drool already. Talk about an electric presence! When any version of Six turns up, you know there’s going to be plenty of action. Doesn’t matter if she’s making love or beating the stuffing out of someone, you can’t leave the room, even when your wife is shouting that dinner’s getting cold.

Is there anyone who doesn’t know the pointy-eared, super logical Vulcan named Spock? He was unique, complex and fascinating when he was introduced four decades ago, and guess what, he’s still interesting. An old friend, someone who doesn’t disappoint. There is still that struggle between human emotions and Vulcan logic, that sharp wit and that strong loyalty to friends. I understand that he will be in the Star Trek movie coming out next year. What an amazing career.

Battlestar’s Gaius Baltar is one of the most complex characters ever to appear in science fiction. He’s basically a villain, but you get the feeling he’s a pretty decent, if weak, character down deep. A genius, a womanizer, a leader, a manipulator --- they all apply to Baltar. He’s almost always on the wrong side of an issue, but you can’t help rooting for his good side to emerge. And those scenes with Six will melt your socks!

If Baltar were an all-powerful alien, he’d be Q. Star Trek TNG’s favorite villain, Q always presents Picard and the other Star Trek leaders with a fascinating problem to investigate. He’s self-centered, mischievous, and arrogant, but always amusing. You just have to smile when Q makes an appearance.

Captain Elizabeth Lockley was only on Babylon 5 for a year, but she really made an impression. Tough, smart, vulnerable, and very hot, she quickly established herself as the leader of B5. The woman dominates her scenes, too. Somehow, no matter who is talking, my eyes are on her.

And finally, there is Lando Molari, the Ambassador to B5 from the Centauri. Lando began the series as a lightweight villain, but gradually evolved into an honorable, brave man willing to sacrifice his happiness for the survival of his people. His relationship with G’Kar, the Narn Ambassador, gradually grew over the life of the series from mutual contempt to respect to a tragic friendship.

Okay, that’s my list. I have noticed that these great sci-fi characters become almost like friends over the years. That’s when you know a character was something special.

Check out SFSIGNAL to see the characters others have selected.

SF Characters

If you are a serious reader of science fiction, you have probably noticed the smugness of so-called mainline or literary readers. You know the type --- they don’t consider SF real literature. Among many deficiencies, they think SF is peopled with cardboard characters. This attitude irritated me until I realized there are differences.

Literary fiction is character driven. The characters resemble real people in realistic places. Literary fiction reveals character or develops character through a cumulative awareness that builds over the story or through a sudden personal awakening, usually near the conclusion of the novel. Literary fiction explores human complexity and strives to develop a deep understanding of the uniqueness of one or more main characters.

Much of science fiction, on the other hand is idea driven, let’s call it the big idea. For example the big idea in Unholy Domain is to explore what it means to be human. The main characters serve the big idea. They may be well-rounded, but they must fit into the idea of the story. While the literary character may spend pages dwelling on the relationship with his father, the SF character will spend little if any time dissecting that relationship. The focus is on the big idea and the plot must keep moving along.

Science fiction come in many subgenres --- cyberpunk, romance, post-apocalyptic, space opera, near future, soft and hard --- to name a few. All SF is a mix of setting, plot and character, but SF places more emphasis on setting and plot than does traditional literary fiction. The SF writer has more to deal with than the traditional writer, and can’t put all her marbles in the character basket.

That doesn’t mean that SF characters aren’t well-developed. They can be, but within and supporting the framework of the story. David Louis Edelman has an excellent article on Building Character(s) in DeepGenre and provides a useful list of factors to consider. Read the comments, too.

Midwest Book Review: Unholy Domain is a "gripping thriller all the way through."

Technology has been both the savior and destroyer of millions of lives. "Unholy Domain" is the tale of a computer virus that was the destroyer, and its aftermath. David Brown is the son of the virus' supposed creator; as the world begins to fall apart, he tries to clear his father's name, thinking that the virus was not as responsible as it was pointed out. Faced with threats from religious fanatics as well as those trying to restore the world to its technological state, "Unholy Domain" is a gripping thriller all the way through. Highly recommended for community library thriller collections.

Note from DR: This is the second reviewer from Midwest Book Review to write about Unholy Domain.

Spectacular Unholy Domain Video

Unholy Domain reviewed by TCM Reviews

Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

Ray Brown was the world’s most infamous person. To the world, he was the monster that created PeaceMaker, a lethal virus like none before. To those who worked with him, Ray was a genius who shifted between extreme brilliance and intense darkness. To his family, he was simply an absentee father.

But who was the real Ray Brown? Ray’s son David has lived his life paying for his father’s inheritance. David receives a mysterious email about the true creator of PeaceMaker, supposed sent from his father years before. Not really knowing if he believes his father’s innocence, he seeks to find out more about this man. However, while David is opening doors to the past, someone is closely watching his actions, making sure that he doesn’t stumble upon the truth.

It took a few chapters for me to really get into Unholy Domain. First, I had to figure out who was who in a somewhat large and complex cast of characters. It was once I started to zero in on David’s portion of the story that I began to settle into reading. Then, the rest fell into place.

BooksAreMyOnly Friends.blogspot.com:Unholy Domain is a "fast paced techno-thriller."

Hey, you got your AI in my dogma . . .

Should you wish to grapple with the interplay between science and religion, in the words of Tony Soprano, "you got options." You could TiVo "Faith and Reason" on PBS, ponder some Betrand Russell and G.K. Chesterton (which – like duct tape and a universal remote – no home should be without), or crack open Dan Ronco's Unholy Domain. I've gone with door number three, and I've gotta say, it ain't half bad.

Unholy Domain opens in a dystopian, not-so-distant future, in which the world's political and economic systems are gimping along in the wake of the PeaceMaker, a mess-you-up-like-bad-chicken computer virus. It appears that this piece of sunshine was unleashed, for reasons unknown, by the ubertalented and correspondingly erratic programmer Ray Brown, essentially taking down Teh Interweb. As a result of the devastation wrought by PeaceMaker, the federal government has banned all but the most miniscule advances in technology and devolved into corruption and incompetence. *cough, cough *

Against this backdrop we find the Church of the Natural Humans, a sect of anti-technology nuts whose vestments include shoulder-holstered gats and whose theology puts the Luddites to shame, locked in a clandestine war with The Domain, a cabal of black market tech peddlers (imagine the Illuminati recruiting at MIT and bringing on some temps from Blackwater) to be Lords of All We Survey.

Cut to college student David Brown, whom we accompany on his quest to discover the truth about his father Ray and the PeaceMaker virus. What follows is a fast paced techno-thriller that would fit well between a beach chair and cooler of Red Stripe. Some of the prose is somewhat clunky, but Ronco does a great job of drawing out relationships between his characters that seem more fully developed than most genre authors tend to produce. Moreover, the fundamental questions raised by Ronco about the roles of science and religion in the arc of human development are ones worth considering, even if it's while sitting on the beach with a bronson. Perhaps especially then.

If Dan Simmons' Endymion got you all freaky and hot in the ass, what with its time travellin' spikey robot, the AI TechnoCore and the Galactic Catholics, then Unholy Domain will be right up your alley. On the other hand, if you like your discourse to be more elevated, then go get a Mother Jones. And put the beer away.

ReviewYourBook.com: "Unholy Domain is written with much Intelligence and Finesse."

Unholy Domain
A world where religious terrorists and visionaries of technology fight for supreme power.

Dan Ronco
KUNATI, 2008
ISBN: 9781601640215
5 stars

Can technology go too far…
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com

Unholy Domain is written with much intelligence and finesse. Dan Ronco presents a world where technology is out of control. In 2012, a computer virus called the Peacemaker was released, and over a million humans died. The economy spiraled down into a depression. People question whether technology is good or evil. There are two factions, Technos (scientists) verses Church of Natural Humans (theologians), fighting to control the world. Both sides have their own agenda. One man stands alone in the quest for truth and to clear his father’s name.

Dan Ronco’s Unholy Domain is a realistic thriller. Ronco does go overboard in describing the females, and he comes across as a bit sexist. The plot is imaginative and pulls the reader into the story. I could not put this one down. The characters are brilliant, the pace is non-stop action, and the premise is chilling. This is a must read for fans of science fiction.


http://www.danronco.com/

Suburban Fiction Ranks Unholy Domain in Top Four Books

I was thrilled to learn that Unholy Domain was placed in the top four books reviewed by Alex Hutchinson for Suburban Fiction. Here is the complete review:

Daring, innovative, and predictive of ethical quandaries yet to arrive, Unholy Domain is a novel to be reckoned with. Author Dan Ronco utilizes his vast understanding of engineering and technology to give us a vision of the future well within the realm of possibility. This could be one of those rare occasions when we as a people could learn the lessons for mistakes we have yet to make. The drama that defines these lessons is not bad either.

Unholy Domain sets the stage for a future where the internet has been integrated into nearly every business, streetlight and punch clock. A collection of scientists have gathered to create an organization known as the Domain. Their purpose is to allow Artificial intelligence to reach the point where it can assume human traits and be used to enhance physical beings. This bold approach produces a counterculture movement driven by a militant religious sect known as the Army of God. A subversive war rages between these factions worsening the already diminished strength of the world economy. Inevitably, David Brown finds himself in the center of it all.

It is one thing to be the man who almost destroyed society but it is quite another to be his son. David grew up under the dark shadow of his father's horrific misdeeds. His father, Raymond, had a brilliant mind for computers that somehow got out of control when he launched a virus that delivered chaos amongst the masses. Young David has the same gifts as his father and was always a little skeptical of the official story of his Dad's guilt and subsequent death. After receiving a time lapse e-mail insistent upon his innocence David sets off on a journey back into the blackened hallways of his father's past.

Here we are given a world where techology rules not only the economic stability but also the sustainability of humanity. It is in this vortex where ethical walls are breached. Should so much power ever be controlled by the specific knowledge of so few? How can a society be maintained if it is constantly split between those who can afford the ultimate software and those who cannot?

I found myself captivated by the fast-paced action and multiple storylines. As the dueling ideologies espouse their vision, I was struck by the persuasivness of their arguments. Often I wasn't sure who to root for. Each side contains well rounded characters driven by both personal ambition and organizational responsibility. A tug of will between any two produces an explosion of emotional conflict and each of these battles edges their convictions closer to the apex of the government's power center. The author presses forth with curvy heroines and breakneck urgency until a rather abrupt ending stops the reader and forces them into waiting for the next book. While the ending could be considered a cruel teaser, it's still very easy to fall into fandom over this type of writing.


www.danronco.com

AllFictionBooks.com: Unholy Domain is "very much a mix between George Orwell’s 1984 and Philip Dick’s Minority Report."

Unholy Domain: Where Science and Religion Go to War

Reviewd by Stuart Nachbar

Dan Ronco’s Unholy Domain is a science fiction story that is very much a mix between George Orwell’s 1984 and Philip Dick’s Minority Report.

This is a story where an innovative technology has supposedly gone haywire, killing a million people and plunging the world or at least American into economic collapse. Domain’s main character, David Brown, is the son of the developer of PeaceMaker, the technology that started the downward spiral and created a nation (or world—I was not sure from the story) divided between factions for religious leadership—the Natural Humans--and technology. Both have their political capital, and both have their terrorists--or freedom fighters—depending on which side you are on. Members of both factions are about to form an even more powerful order known only as the Domain.

I loved the movie Minority Report, so I was anxious to read Domain, and it did not disappoint. While the author is a technologist himself, he doesn’t get the reader lost in technical and computer jargon; that is often a distraction with similar “intelligent” science fiction novels that assume the reader already knows most of the science before he opens the book. His descriptions of robots and PeaceMaker, the killer app were quick and to the point and made me want to continue reading the story. Domain is quite similar to Minority Report in that Brown has become a fugitive, in this case, a brilliant software developer, whose life has become a mission to avenge the loss of his father, a man he hardly knew in his youth. And, as in Minority Report, the main character unveils a major cover-up; unmasked, it means death to Brown and all who help him. Ronco has also done an excellent job of presenting the all-powerful evil cast of characters who lead the Domain. In the end, we learn that distinctions between good and evil technology rest in the hands of a very small number of deceptive, greedy and powerful individuals.

Novels such as Domain, which are set in a not-too-distant future, are often meant to present warnings about our present. In this story there is more about the deceptions of religious leaders, how they manipulate society at large and, what can potentially happen if such manipulation is unchecked and taken to extremes. We have powerful spiritual leaders in America today, though none ask ordinary citizens to take up arms and become holy warriors; however, religious uprisings have been an important part of world history. Ronco’s fictional Army of God is no less formidable than the military leaders in the Crusades, for example, or the Nazis. There are the same blind loyalties to a charismatic leader that drive the movement to the point where it oversteps its bounds and becomes more like the entities it had set out to destroy.

Domain is more of a political science fiction thriller than a techno-thriller. If you are a sci-fi buff anxious to know the potential and power of computing, you may prefer a more scientific story. But if you want a fresh new story that shows how fear can dominate the direction of a society, and how fear can bend technology to its means, then Domain is a worthy read.

Contact Stuart Nachbar at http://www.EducatedQuest.com , a blog on education politics, policy and technology or read about his first book, The Sex Ed Chronicle, a novel on education and politics in 1980 New Jersey, at http://www.SexEdChronicles.com .

Where does the Darkness come from?

I’m a nice guy. Really. All that conflict, torture, and mayhem that you read in my novels, well, that’s not really me. At least I don’t think so.

Let me explain, since you may not have heard of me. I write novels about the near-future, the next two or three decades. My first novel, PeaceMaker, published in 2004, looked at the destruction caused by a lethal computer virus augmented with artificial intelligence. Definitely not a namby-pamby virus that you catch with a standard anti-virus program. Nope, the PeaceMaker virus shut down computers across the globe, millions died from lack of power, water, health care, but I’m not writing a synopsis. You get the picture.

Unholy Domain, published April, 2008, examines the growing conflict between religion and science. You think things are hot between the pro-choice and pro-life activists, well that’s a weekend picnic compared to issues we will face when artificial intelligence and genetic engineering hit full stride.

My latest novel under development, Tomorrow’s Children, continues where Unholy Domain left off and then evaluates the integration of human and machine intelligence. My view of the future isn’t StarTrek. (I blogged about StarTrek a few months earlier.) It’s dark and complex, but not without hope.

Each of my novels starts with an assumption regarding the direction and pace of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, robotics and the like. Then I look at the major social issues and evaluate their direction and intensity. Overlay the technical and the cultural and you can pick out the hot spots. My novels grow in those spots.

Okay, so I start with an issue, one with at least two strong, conflicting beliefs. Actually, at this point the novel could be considered hard science fiction. Hard means based in reality, no magic, no pipe dreams. If I starting writing with this outline, I would create a novel that will make you think, but not cringe.

But the devil is in the details. Or maybe I have a bit of the devil in me, because as I lay out an outline, the conflict of ideas turns to violence. And not just any violence --- creative, gut-wrenching violence. Hand to hand conflict, rape, robots, torture, you name it. More thriller than scifi now.

I don’t know where this stuff comes from. I lead a normal life: married to a wonderful woman, three great kids, long-term friendships, satisfying career. I try and balance the darkness with a quirky sense of humor.

The reviews for Unholy Domain have been great (check Amazon), but they see the darkness of the story. Phrases like nightmare, damn scary book, alarming, frightening vision, dark and dangerous, bloody, threatening, and horrific pepper the reviews.

Who knows the source of all this darkness? Yeah, it’s from me, but it comes from some walled-off section of my mind that doesn’t connect to my real life. And never will.

Well, that’s about it. My wife Linda and I are going out to dinner tonight, a nice Italian place where the people know us by name. Should be a good time.

www.danronco.com

Top Fifty Amazon Reviewer: An action-packed, page turning read

Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme"

This futuristic story pits technology against religion in an all-out bloody war, ostensibly to save the human race. The thing is, both sides have dark secrets that they'd rather stay hidden from the world, and now one uniquely talented young man is threatening to expose them all to clear his father's name.


It's 2012 - A year of great scientific progress Except of course for the virus Which cripples computers ALL the computers ALL OF THEM! Killing more than a million people Who couldn't get food, Water, Gas, Heat Or e-mail


It's 2022 - A year of economic depression Some believe that the answer Lies in Artificial Intelligence Human-like robots THAT CAN THINK And spectacles that are voice-activated to give you the news on the go


It's 2022 A year of the Church of Natural Humans Who believe that technology Is the tool of Lucifer And are prepared TO KILL EVERYONE Who dares to support Artificial Intelligence As they have no right To play GOD


In between, there's David Brown, son of the man who has been vilified for creating the virus, but after receiving a delayed transmission e-mail from his late father, David now thinks otherwise.


David has a unique talent when it comes to AI, and once he sets his mind to proving his father's innocence, he stirs up the vipers on both sides, and the result is an action-packed, page-turning read.


The dialogue doesn't always flow smoothly and the female characters are sometimes (ahem) overly developed, but these are minor hiccups in an otherwise well crafted story that may yet prove to be prophetic.


Amanda Richards, June 7, 2008

Unholy Domain Praised by Roundtable Reviews

Reviewed By Jeff Cook

Aside from social media, Wikis, the opportunity to juke out and conquer fellow online bidders and loads and loads of videos of funny monkeys, the internet has opened the doors to new opportunities for science fiction writers. With so much of our personal information and lives intertwined with computers and the World Wide Web, a panoply of what-if scenarios have been posited and explored by a new generation of authors that pick up where Asimov and Dick left off.

Dan Ronco is one of them. In his new novel, UNHOLY DOMAIN, Ronco picks up a decade after a compuer virus named Peacemaker has wiped out computers world-wide; the economies of the greatest nations on earth lie in ruins, people face starvation and desperation on a scale unimaged. Yet humanity is finding its way, propelled by those two engines that have moved progess through the ages since the dawn of time: science, and religion.

On one side is the Church of Natural Humans, a religious faction exalting "natural humanity", those people untainted by technological enhacements or dependency on a computerized world. Led by a charismatic leader, a beautiful and deadly assassin and an army of zealots, the Church seeks to wipe out those who would promote the artificial over the natural.

On the other side lies the Domain, a group of technocrats bent on achieving world domination through the sale of artificial humans and the restoration of global communications that will give them total control of the people and major economies that are in tatters.

In the middle is David Brown, the son of the man accused of creating Peacemaker and a man determined to prove his father was a pawn in the most dangerous game ever played - a game in which the ultimate prize is the world itself.

UNHOLY DOMAIN is a damn scary book filled with fascinating ideas and questions that wrestle with notions of family, security, betrayal, and our dependency on a way of life that can be stripped of us at any whim of a capricious technogod. Ronco writes with a tight, fast-paced style that draws the reader into his world and keeps their pulse-rate high throughout the book. While it is a sequel to his first novel, Peacemaker, new readers are able to fully enjoy the follow-up without the nagging feeling that they're missing something. A terrific new voice in the world of techno-thrillers, Dan Ronco is an author to keep track of.

Book Review by Blogcritics Magazine

Written by Alex HutchinsonPublished May 29, 2008

Daring, innovative, and predictive of ethical quandaries yet to arrive, Unholy Domain is a novel to be reckoned with. Author Dan Ronco utilizes his vast understanding of engineering and technology to give us a vision of the future well within the realm of possibility. This could be one of those rare occasions when we as a people could learn the lessons for mistakes we have yet to make. The drama that defines these lessons is not bad either.

Unholy Domain sets the stage for a future where the internet has been integrated into nearly every business, streetlight and punch clock. A collection of scientists have gathered to create an organization known as the Domain. Their purpose is to allow Artificial intelligence to reach the point where it can assume human traits and be used to enhance physical beings. This bold approach produces a counterculture movement driven by a militant religious sect known as the Army of God. A subversive war rages between these factions worsening the already diminished strength of the world economy. Inevitably, David Brown finds himself in the center of it all.

It is one thing to be the man who almost destroyed society but it is quite another to be his son. David grew up under the dark shadow of his father’s horrific misdeeds. His father, Raymond, had a brilliant mind for computers that somehow got out of control when he launched a virus that delivered chaos amongst the masses. Young David has the same gifts as his father and was always a little skeptical of the official story of his Dad’s guilt and subsequent death. After receiving a time lapse e-mail insistent upon his innocence David sets off on a journey back into the blackened hallways of his father’s past.

Here we are given a world where techology rules not only the economic stability but also the sustainability of humanity. It is in this vortex where ethical walls are breached. Should so much power ever be controlled by the specific knowledge of so few? How can a society be maintained if it is constantly split between those who can afford the ultimate software and those who cannot?

I found myself captivated by the fast-paced action and multiple storylines. As the dueling ideologies espouse their vision, I was struck by the persuasivness of their arguments. Often I wasn't sure who to root for. Each side contains well rounded characters driven by both personal ambition and organizational responsibility. A tug of will between any two produces an explosion of emotional conflict and each of these battles edges their convictions closer to the apex of the government's power center. The author presses forth with curvy heroines and breakneck urgency until a rather abrupt ending stops the reader and forces them into waiting for the next book. While the ending could be considered a cruel teaser, it’s still very easy to fall into fandom over this type of writing.

Excellent Review of Unholy Domain in BookHuntersBlog

Review: “Unholy Domain” by Dan Ronco - Thought-provoking What If

May 13th, 2008 Posted in Book Reviews, Sci-Fi, Thriller No Comments

By Mary Menzel: “Unholy Domain” is a very entertaining yet very thought-provoking novel. Many times during the course of history technological advances have made those in power feel threatened. Galileo and Copernicus were commanded to renounce their discoveries and modern scientists are challenged as they work with genetics and theories relating to the creation of the universes simply because their facts and experiments do not adhere to the church’s religious doctrine. Dan Ronco has challenged us to look ahead and imagine the conflict between scientists and theologians in our future. “Unholy Domain” details a power struggle between the religious leaders who denounce the use of robotics as unnatural and the scientist, who through their technological knowledge, want to be in complete control. With clear, concise details and strong characterization of each participant in the novel, Dan Ronco has given us a plausible if not probable look into our future.

BattleStar Galactica is More than Science Fiction

In my opinion, three science fiction television series stand head and shoulders above all the rest: StarTrek (the original and all its derivatives), Babylon 5, and BattleStar Galactica. Firefly had potential to join this elite group, but was much too short-lived. Since the final season of BattleStar begins shortly, I decided to focus there.

The current Battlestar Galactica is a superb science fiction series. No, that’s too weak a statement, let me amend it. Battlestar Galactica may be the best dramatic show on the tube, regardless of genre. In 2006, BG won the Peabody Award, a first for the SciFi Channel. Time Magazine called it one of the top shows on television and described it as “a ripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with religious fundamentalists, sleeper cells, civil liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner torture scandal.”

The current BG premiered in 2003 as a miniseries, loosely based on a show of the same name that ran on television in the late seventies. While the original was a popcorn series, the current BG deals with real issues in times of war. This article introduces the show to those who are not regular viewers, and then describes the difficult issues the series addresses.

The story begins with a devastating attack by intelligent androids (Cylons) that wipes out almost the entire human race except for a few hundred humans who escape on Battlestar Galactica, an aging but still powerful military spaceship, and somewhat fewer than fifty thousand civilians in a rag tag collection of ships. BG protects the civilians from the Cylons, who are determined to complete the elimination of humanity. The objective of the humans is to evade the Ceylons and find the mythical planet Earth, which has great religious significance to them. To review the series year by year, check out this article.

The primary characters are Commander William Adama (Edward James Almos), the disciplined, unrelenting military leader; President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the pragmatic, newly elected civilian who becomes increasingly devout and charismatic during the journey; and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff), a loud, immature but expert Viper pilot who may have a “special destiny” in the search for Earth. The most interesting character is Gaius Baltar, brilliantly portrayed by James Callis, a scientist with a genius level intellect, but also arrogant, untrustworthy and sexually promiscuous.

I’d like to explore the way torture of the enemy was depicted on the show, and how that relates to our war with the forces of terror. Is it permissible to torture under certain circumstances, but not others? And what is torture, anyway?

The episode which really sticks in my mind is “Flesh and Bone,” where the humans have captured Leoben, a Cylon who has planted a nuclear bomb somewhere in the fleet, which he claims will explode in nine hours. Starbuck has responsibility for the interrogation, and she is told to do whatever she needs to do to locate the bomb. After all, the Cylons aren’t human.

Starbuck is brutal; the guards beat and waterboard Leoben, but he doesn’t crack. Roselin joins the interrogation and stops the harsh treatment. Apparently trusting Roselin, Leoben admits that the bomb was a hoax, a bad move. With nothing to fear, Roselin has him flushed out an airlock into space. He was too dangerous, in her opinion, to keep alive. Starbuck has misgivings about their actions, and she prays for the Cylon.

This episode reminds me of the war between the western nations and the Islamic fundamentalists. Consider this situation: we have captured an Al Qaeda leader and searched his computer, where we found a plan to explode a bomb (not nuclear) in an American city, but the plan does not name the specific city or the time the bomb is set to go off. You are asked to interrogate him, but you fail to obtain the necessary information. Then you’re told that the President has authorized waterboarding, even though legally it is a form of torture. Would you do it?

The prisoner says he knows nothing about a bomb, except for what is described in the plan. He claims the computer was just delivered to him yesterday. Is it permissible to torture a prisoner when you don’t know for sure if he has the information? On the other hand, when will you ever know for sure? If you torture him, are you any better than your enemies? But do you allow a bomb to kill hundreds of people rather than torture the truth from your prisoner? And anyway, is waterboarding really torture? It doesn’t cause any permanent damage, right?

I know where I stand on this; the bastard is going to get wet! Where do you stand?

For additional science fiction articles, videos and book reviews, visit my website.

The Future is not Star Trek

I have always loved Star Trek, from the original series beginning in 1969 to the ever present reruns on television just about any day. Admirable characters, a stern but humane Starfleet code to live by, lots of action (but no gore) and the wonder of new frontiers. Traveling in glistening starships several hundred years in the future, facing all types of dangers. Great television, but the reality we are spiraling into will be very different.

First consider the Enterprise crew; basically, they are no different than you or me. Okay, Mr. Data is the exception, but all the others are plain old biological humans, even if wearing Vulcan ears. It's as if technology hadn't progressed over the next centuries. Sure, the hardware is more sophisticated — phasors instead of pistols — but everything seems very familiar.

Consider Captain Picard, the leader of the Enterprise. First of all, he looks like your old high school math teacher. Medium build, medium height, hair just about gone. Nice guy, pretty smart, but no exceptional or unusual powers. Not directly linked to computer intelligence, no implants to enhance his senses, no nanobots in the bloodstream regulating biological processes. Bor-ing!

By the way, how old is Picard? I always wondered about that. With the wrinkles and the hair, he looks late forties, but it's hard to tell. Actually, nobody in the crew seems very old. Hey, they all act age appropriate, and from their conversations, it seems everyone is in the twenty to forty range. It appears they experience about the same aging process as we do here in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Now that's just ridiculous. In 1900, the average lifespan was about forty-nine years, while now it's pushing eighty. As science continues to learn more about human biological processes, we will develop cures for many of the diseases that cut our lives short. In addition, we will develop a much better understanding of the aging process, enabling us to tune up our bodies and stretch out normal lifespans. Tiny nanobots in our cells will monitor, report and regulate many of our biological processes. By the middle of this century, the average lifespan in the developed nations should be well over one hundred years.

Our bodies will change dramatically during the next few decades. Hell, it's already happening. Look at all the mechanical replacements now available. Hip, shoulder, elbow, tooth, artery and knee replacements are commonplace. Contact lenses and hearing aids enhance our senses. Mechanical legs allow the severely injure to walk, even run, again. I've seen a paralyzed man control his personal computer through thoughts that interface with a network.

How much will we accomplish during the next few decades? Well, for one thing, we will be able to replace virtually any part of our skeleton system. Bone broken, joints wearing out? Replace them. Want to think faster, move with more agility? The nanobots in our cells can become a computer network that responds hundreds of times faster than our neurons. Need more and better information at your fingertips? Forget about fingertips. A wireless interface between nanobots in your brain and computer databanks will allow you pull down whatever processed information you need. How about a second heart? A mechanical heart could reduce the pumping load on your biological heart, maybe take over during a heart attack. Better yet, eliminate the need for a heart with blood cells that power their own mobility.

But that's just the start. Artificial intelligence will eventually dominate biological intelligence. And let me cue you in, it's a short eventually. Here's what I mean. You brain processes information relatively slowly. Computer hardware is already much faster and the difference is growing year by year. On a pure horsepower basis, AI beats the brain's processing. Of course, you need much more than fast computer hardware, the software has to be in place, too.

Let's separate AI into two classes, weak AI and strong AI. Strong AI is general purpose intelligence, the ability to handle a wide variety of tasks at the same or higher level than a human. Weak AI is designed to process a very limited number of tasks, for instance, playing chess or walking. Strong AI is still some years away, maybe decades, but weak AI is available in many areas. Most of us know that IBM's Big Blue computer can defeat the best human chess players. Robots can hit a baseball or dance (check out my videos), although not at the level of the best humans. Not yet, anyway.

However, it's clear that we are only a few decades from seeing very intelligent computers approach and then exceed human intelligence. Humans will need to link into networked AI just to stay competitive with our computers. But that's just delaying the inevitable. In the end, our biological brains won't cut it. Blood and flesh is just too slow and inflexible. In the second half of this century, we will be able to download our personal intelligence into robots. Mr. Data isn't too bad an example of what humanity will become.

But the story doesn't end there. Mr. Data's brain, while much faster than a human brain, is still constrained by limited size. A networked intelligence will outperform a single Mr. Data, so that's the direction science will drive us. Maybe Star Trek has a pretty good example, after all. It's called the Borg.

Please realize a networked intelligence need not be evil. The Borg could very easily be a beneficial superintelligence, with all units working toward a good purpose. Or many good purposes. Each individual would very likely retain his or her unique personality, rather than being stamped out of one mold. A diverse set of androids networked together would seem to have greater survival capabilities than one individual repeated over and over.

And it would be a lot more fun. Imagine how close you would become to the people you love. In addition to the physical intimacy we now enjoy with our flesh and blood bodies, think about the emotional intimacy of joining your lover's mind through the net. Step aside, Vulcan mind-meld! Misunderstandings would be cleared up, feelings and thoughts immediately transmitted and received. I could describe the sex, but it's not that kind of article.

Maybe the future is Star Trek after all.

Preorder Unholy Domain from Amazon to win a free signed copy of PeaceMaker, my first novel. Email me your Amazon receipt (danron@danronco.com) and you may be one of ten lucky winners selected randomly. Preorder Unholy Domain now on Amazon and earn a 34% discount.