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Fictional Universes and Writing (Science Fiction / Alt History Booklists, analyses of movies, etc) |
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Fictional Universes and Writing (Science Fiction / Alt History Booklists, analyses of movies, etc) |
Alien II 46-page treatment dated 21 September 1983 by James Cameron (1.5 MB PDF) – This treatment was written by James Cameron in September 1983. It expanded the earlier 6 to 10 page David Giler/Walter Hill script ploticle he was handed into a much more complete 46-page treatment, which eventually became a 118-page first draft (28 May 1985) and a 106-page final draft (23 September 1985). The story is substantially the same as the later Aliens scripts by Cameron; but some characters and scenes are missing or swapped around. There are technical details stated in this treatment which aren't in later drafts. (Added 2 August 2022).
Aliens, First Draft dated 26 February 1985 by James Cameron (5.8 MB PDF) – 118 pages long.
Aliens, Final Draft dated 23 September 1985 by James Cameron (2.6 MB PDF) – 106 pages long.
Creating a Cohesive Alien(s) Timeline – This is my attempt at creating a somewhat cohesive unified Alien(s) timeline that tries to retain plausibility and incorporate as much of the “expanded universe” as I can while not breaking suspension of disbelief.
Weyland-Yutani May Not Be Evil – This is a little essay I wrote up back in July 2018 based off some thoughts I had at the time.
This page currently holds large amounts of transcripts of important “plot/background” conversations for easy reference, along with analysis of the ME universe. It's linked because there's a LOT of it.
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series – Or how to separate the gems from a lot of dross in the 79 episodes of the first Star Trek.
Estimating Starfleet's Size in Star Trek and Hull Number Meanings – I sat down and tried to use the German Tank Problem to estimate Starfleet's size. I ended up looking deeper into hull numbers (NCC) and tried to make a logical scheme for them post-TOS.
The Scale of Star Wars – A Collection of References – I collected a lot of this circa 2012 before Disney bought out Lucasfilm and decanonized the old Expanded Universe (EU).
Thelea's Imperial Navy Calculations – A very old (c.2000) calculation from a long dead internet newsgroup by “Commander Thelea”.
Cost and Economics of the TIE Fighter – Some examination of why TIE Fighters appear to be so cheap “in universe” with little shielding or hyperdrives.
Analyzing Imperial Ranks in ANH and ESB – This is my attempt at trying to make a coherent Imperial Rank system, rather than the “lets make stuff up as we go” that we got from the propmasters.
Estimating the Size of the Imperial Fleet – This is my attempt at estimating the size of the Imperial Starfleet based off the sketchy information we got.
The Death Star(s) – How Big? How Wasteful? – Analyzing the size and economic impact of the Death Stars on the Imperial fleet.
RoboCop, Fourth Draft (10 June 1984) (1.6 MB PDF) – This draft has a slightly different ending; it ends on an “in universe TV segment”.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) Bible (2.7 MB PDF) – This bible formed a lot of the background for the nu-BSG (nBSG) reboot that ran from 2003 to 2009 in various forms. It's kind of funny to read it knowing how the show ended; but they did try to keep to the bible as much as they could, at least for the first season of the show.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Bible (1.9 MB PDF) – This bible, dated 23 March 1987, shows some of the early ideas they had for the show:
Geordi LaForge is an away team lieutenant, not the Chief Engineer.
They estimated that in Kirk's time, about 4% of the galaxy had been charted (they specifically note charted, and not explored). By the time of TNG, about 19% has been charted.
The stardate format is somewhat explained – for stardate 41254.7: the first two digits (41) are primary dating – 4 for the 24th century, and 1 for the first season. The digit after the decimal point is generally considered a “day” counter.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Bible (1.2 MB PDF) – Dated 12 June 1992.
Star Trek: Voyager Bible (1.5 MB PDF)
Star Trek: Enterprise Bible (500~ kb PDF) – Some notable points from this series bible:
At Warp 2, there are 18 inhabited planets within a year's travel from Earth. At Warp 5, this increases to 10,000 planets).
The Temporal Cold War is vaguely introduced in this.
Figuring out the Saint of Killer's Age from Preacher – Just what it says; figuring out how old he was at various points in the Preacher-verse based upon clues given in the comics' run.
Analyzing Problems with Harry Turtledove's Timeline-191 – Starting in 1997, Turtledove wrote the first of ten plus books set in this universe until 2007, spanning the 1880s to 1945, giving us an alternate WWI and WWII in which the Confederacy was around. It was pretty neat to my teenaged self, but now that I've had time to think about it, I can see some problems.
Analyzing Problems with The Abyss – The Abyss is one of Cameron's most atmospheric movies, but there's a ton of plot issues that niggle at the back of my mind now that I've thought about it for a bit.
The Problems with Zombiepocalypses – Or once you start thinking about it for a moment, “traditional” zombies really aren't that much a threat to a modern nation.
The Problems with Vampires – Or how even the most sympathetic vampire is a mass murder at the minimum, before the invention of blood banks in the 1940s.
The Military Science Fiction Booklist (Mass Published) – To be included on the list, Military Operations must be one of the primary objectives the book revolves around, rather than being a mere fifteen page section in the middle of a 400 page magnum opus. I haven't gone back to it since about 2010; so it's badly out of date.
The Alternate History List – This also includes comics and boardgames. I haven't gone back to it since 2010; so it's badly out of date.
The Space Fiction Booklist – The idea behind this page is not to list every single possible manned mission in science fiction; but those based on realistic technologies. Many of them could be termed “alternate history”. I haven't gone back to it since about 2010; so it's badly out of date.
