In an ultra-religious agrarian community known as Cypress Corners, young Devon has become an outcast not only for questioning authority, but also for falling in love with Rachel, a farmer's daughter who has been betrothed to Garth, the local blacksmith. Garth and Devon had been friends since childhood, and since Rachel and Garth do not love one another, the blacksmith is all too happy to turn a blind eye toward the "secret"—and forbidden—romance.

While living out his temporary exile in the hills beyond the town, Devon survives on care packages brought by Rachel, who sneaks away from town after evening prayers. When his penance is complete, the town elders escort Devon back to Cypress Corners, expecting him to repent. Yet Devon remains recalcitrant and soon discovers that the Creator's Machine, from which the Elders receive their instructions for leading the community, is broken. The Elders have since learned how to record their own orders into the machine and play them back at will.

After attacking the Elders and stealing the recording device, Devon tries to reason with Rachel and her parents, but they do not believe him. Knowing he will soon be arrested, Devon flees for the hills. While there, he discovers a portal that leads to a strange and wondrous place. Devon soon learns that he, and everyone in Cypress Corners, is aboard an ancient interstellar Earth vessel known as the Ark.

Upon finding a library computer, Devon learns that the Ark's purpose was to transport millions of humans from a dying Earth to a new home across the galaxy—until an accident diverted the ship from its course and sent it on a path directly toward a star. If the Ark cannot be repaired and its course corrected, the ship and everyone aboard will be dead in five years.

This mysterious catastrophe, having occurred 400 years ago, also terminated communications between the thousands of communities aboard. As a result, no one in Cypress Corners is even aware of the other societies, or the truth about their very existence.

Can Devon convince the Elders of this new information and enlist their help in repairing the ship, or will they sentence him to a brutal end for his blasphemy?

Edward Bryant did an admirable job of adapting Harlan Ellison's screenplay for The Starlost into the novelization. The chapters are brief, averaging about 5 pages, and the pacing is solid.

It would not be a Harlan Ellison book without an introduction as interesting as the story itself. This time, Harlan describes the debacle that ensued from the time he pitched The Starlost all the way through the ineptitude of the producers in marketing it, and their ignorance in utterly misinterpreting the series bible that they had pressed him into writing on an impossible deadline.

As a result of his experiences, and his dissatisfaction with the quality of the production, Harlan removed himself from the television project and demanded that his nom de plume, Cordwainer Bird, be used in the credits. Harlan was known to employ this pseudonym as a symbol of his objection to the mistreatment of his work by others. ( )

I wanted to like this. But it's just...not good. Not bad, but not good either. ( )

by Edward Bryant & Harlan Ellison

Ads for the Syfy miniseries Ascension, about a generation ship launched into space in the early 1960s, reminded me of this book, the novelization of the pilot for the series The Starlost. Actually, it's a novelization with a rather lengthy introduction by Mr. Ellison who explains why the series sucked even though he had created it. Upon rereading it, I'd have to say that the introduction is the more entertaining part.

The main story is about a generation ship, the Ark, that had been sent from Earth to save a remnant of the human race from the destruction of Earth. The Ark is a collection of biospheres, separated from each other in an attempt to preserve Earth's cultural as well as genetic diversity. Unfortunately there was an accident that killed off the crew and the multitude of communities are now drifted blissfully unaware that anything is wrong, the earth pretty much forgotten. The hero of the tale is Devon, a young man from an Amish-like community. He's a bit of a rebel, and by accident discovers an access port out of his biosphere into the ship at large. It's an interesting set up for an ongoing series, but Devon's own community is somewhat two-dimensional. 'Tis all strictness and punishment, a trope that I've come to find a bit tired.
--J. ( )

Fans of Ellison will no doubt have run across his essay "Somehow I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto," his recounting of how slimy, incompetent tv executives did everything in their power to screw him and ruin his concept for the series Starlost. This was a battle from which Ellison ultimately emerged vindicated when his original teleplay was honored as best of the year (after the mangled script the network had ultimately ended up shooting produced a show that quickly sank into obscurity).

Phoenix from the Ashes is Ed Bryant’s novelization of the pilot script for Starlost. It is easy to see how this would have made for compelling television, but it comes off somewhat one dimensional as a novel, with barely developed characters who move from set scene to set scene. Still, it is successful in building tension and achieving an emotional climax. Like you would expect in a pilot, there are many threads left hanging at the end. I would certainly recommend this quick read to Ellison fans. ( )

At the end of the first Lord of the Rings movie, a lady a few rows in front of me stood up and said (and I am not making this up), “It’s almost like they are planning on making a sequel.” And so it is with this book. If you don’t know what’s going on you’ll think, “They wrote this just so they could write some more.” Well, yes they did.

You see, “The Starlost” has quite a history. If you’ve been around long enough, you may remember the television abomination that hit the television screens in the 70’s. Eighteen and out. Not even as long a run as Space 1999 or the original Battlestar Galactica (and we all know how bad those were.) And it wasn’t until I read the essay “Somehow, I don’t think we’re in Kansas, Toto” by Harlan Ellison that I knew he was the one behind the Starlost. Well, at least he was the one behind the original idea – not the one behind the final product. (The one that wound up using Ellison’s alter-ego/give ‘em the bird/legitimate Writers Guild name in the credits – “Created by Cordwainer Bird.”)

Therefore, this book is the result of an interesting situation. Ellison won the Writers Guild award for Most Outstanding Film/Screenplay for the original script (not the one used for the final television product.) Then, Edward Bryant wrote this novel based on that (original) screenplay. And so, we have a book that feels like the start of the journey, because it is the start of a journey. And all of this is to say…

So, what about the book? For me, it has two drawbacks. First is that I am not particularly fond of “Amish in the future” stories. The impetus for what happens is the heroes need to get out of this rigid society, so it is integral. But I have trouble warming to this type of concept. Second, as Ellison notes in his essay, the premise – an ark to save the world - is not particular original, so it is not overly compelling. And third (our two weapons – our THREE weapons – I’ll come in again), it is only the start. About the time we get interested in these people and what they are about to face, Th-th-th-th-that’s all folks. But, I guess I’ve beat that dead horse. Ultimately, Bryant tells a good story and has truly fleshed out a script to make a novel. And, this edition includes the previously mentioned “Kansas” essay – a final coda to the story. So, it becomes obvious there would have been a great story to tell after this one, but I guess we all just have to accept a beginning with no end. ( )