Coming Soon: The Science Fiction Universe and Beyond: Syfy Channel Book of Sci-Fi

The science fiction genre has spawned countless feature films and television series over the past several decades. In fact, if you include Georges Méliès's A Trip to the Moon, the genre first began more than a century ago, in 1902, in film. Méliès's A Trip to the Moon, which inspired Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo, is featured in the upcoming book, The Science Fiction Universe and Beyond: Syfy Channel Book of Sci-Fi (Universe), by Michael Mallory, along with numerous other Sci-Fi related projects that have forever changed popular culture. This effort is not a complete history of the genre, but focuses on those movies and television series that helped to shape the medium and have had the largest impact.

For instance, specific series and films are spotlighted at the end of every chapter, including Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Star Wars and The Planet of the Apes, among others. Of course, some of the additions and omissions will be debated passionately by fans of the genre, who have different definitions of science fiction. To the author's credit, he lists an additional 100 films and television series that were not featured in the book, including Space 1999, The Jetsons, Galaxy Quest and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, but are worth noting, nonetheless.

I suspect that any science fiction fan will enjoy The Science Fiction Universe and Beyond: Syfy Channel Book of Sci-Fi. The coffee table book features countless full color photographs from beginning to end, from Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis to the Syfy's channel's current hit series Alphas. While it is difficult to argue with most of the film and television choices included here, I think The X-Files, which is featured, should have been given more attention, considering the impact and ongoing influence of the Emmy winning series on other television shows, such as Fringe and the recently cancelled Alcatraz. On the other hand, I was pleased to see the attention paid to The Planet of the Apes franchise, which continues to be popular, almost a half century after its debut. The success of the recent hit film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and the current ongoing comic book series from Boom!, is proof the franchise is still going strong.

Superheroes are also mentioned throughout the book, which focuses on the television series The Adventures of Superman, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man, more so than the recent glut of incredibly popular films, such as The Avengers and Iron Man. One thing is for sure, the advances in technology and special effects have helped the superhero genre take over the multiplexes, at least during the summer movie season. Of course, they have been a staple on television as well, with The CW's decade long run of Smallville and NBC's Heroes.

One of the most interesting aspects of The Science Fiction Universe and Beyond: Syfy Channel Book of Sci-Fi is that Star Trek seems to receive more attention than Star Wars, which is sure to have fans of both franchises talking. To be honest, I am partial to Star Trek, but certainly appreciate the legacy of Star Wars and its amazing contribution to the film world. While Sci-Fi is still very popular in feature films, the genre thrives on television too, thanks, in part, to the Syfy network, which has produced a number of hit series and made for television films over the past two decades. The latter part of the book places a strong focus on the programs on Syfy, as well as several Star Trek spin-off series.

The Science Fiction Universe and Beyond: Syfy Channel Book of Sci-Fi features over 250 pages of the best in science fiction from the last century of film and the last six decades of television, in chronological order (except for the Spotlight features), and will be available on September 25.