Phoenix Without Ashes

The late Harlan Ellison spent several years writing for television. The shows he wrote for ranged from the first Twilight Zone revival to The Flying Nun. However, his work for the SF genre is inarguably the best remembered. His Outer Limits episodes "Soldier" and "Demon With a Glass Hand" as well as the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (albeit heavily rewritten) are classics of the genre.

In the early 70s, Ellison was approached to create a SF series for television. Using the generation ship concept that was new to TV but not SF, he created "The Starlost". The show took place hundreds of years after the destruction of the Earth, in which a giant ship housing the last of humanity has become adrift in space. Earth has become a legend and the inhabitants of the ship have forgotten that they are on a ship. In the rigid, dystopic community of Cypress Corners, a young man named Devon discovers the truth only to face execution for heresy.

This volume is an adaptation of the pilot episode, "Phoenix Without Ashes". Renowed SF author Edward Bryant adapted the original script by Ellison and the result is a fine, enjoyable tale. However, the fact that it was intended as a pilot means that it is mostly setup, with an open ending that is somewhat frustrating.

Ellison introduces the book with a hilarious essay in which he delves into the history of "The Starlost" and how executive meddling, production problems, bad luck and incompetence sank a promising series.

Also recommended is "The Starcrossed" by Ben Bova, in which the writer, hired as a science editor for the show (he quit after the first episode) dramatizes the mishap that the show became.

"The Starlost" is mostly forgotten these days. This book is a testament to the promise that the show held and the frustration that such promise was so badly squandered.