Just Finished Reading: So Say We All – An Unauthorised Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica edited by Richard Hatch

Slightly different from my previous book on BSG (the philosophical side of things) this collection of articles was more interested in the television history aspects, the cultural impact, as well as delving into the religious background of one of the best SF shows ever….. Unless that is you read the article by Bill Gordon called GINO – Galactica In Name Only. As you might be able to tell from the less than subtle title he really, and I do mean really, didn’t like the re-imaged show. Whilst personally I thought the original show was…… well, unprintably bad. I loved the new show with a passion – though I did struggle with the last half of the last season.

This was a very engaging (and not just for the few philosophical bits) collection of articles covering the first two seasons only. There was, for example, a very interesting speculation regarding the fact that Baltar had a version of Caprica Six in his head whilst she had a version of Gaius in hers. Many of the authors made reference to the impact of 9/11 on the show, both to account for its bleakness and in the way it could tackle deep and dark aspects of war, torture, resistance and guilt – in ways unimaginable only a few years before. How the characters coped (or failed to cope) with the destruction of their civilisation mirrored the shock many American’s felt and contrasted starkly with the apparent lack of effect it had on the cast in the original series.

Of course much was made of the gender bending aspects of the series with the idea of Starbuck especially being a woman. I actually loved this feature of the show and Kara Thrace was, for me, a huge selling point in making this show so watchable. Despite many aspects of BSG being so controversial – especially for the fans of the original – all but one of the articles is either positive or positively ecstatic about the re-imaged version. Personally I was blown away by the whole thing especially as I thought the original was honestly pathetic. This is a book written by fans and for fans. If you liked the show half as much as I do and miss it half as much as I do then this is definitely the book for you. Recommended.