A Claymation Werewolf Digital Digest Exclusive!
Lately everyone has been all a twitter about the new Toy Story film, and Disney has done everything short of carpet bombing all of us with promotional merchandise. While all of this advertising sends most people to the local movie house, it sends me back in time, to a happier and simpler place, the world of Mira Nova. But wait, before I begin to reminisce I feel duty bound to remind you of something from long ago. Something that has since become hated, and then forgotten by our culture. They called books. In short books were something that people “read” in the days before anybody had anything that was at all fulfilling to do. The hours wasted on this meaningless hobby represent a painful time in our countries history, and almost single-handedly brought down western civilization.
Now that I have the unpleasantness out of the way I would like to highlight something that was, although briefly, a bright spot in the world of books…The “Stars Command” series from Karol H. Laminton and her character Mira Nova, who together took the world by storm.
In the early nineties the “house of mouse” had just come away from some major box office hits, and had re asserted itself as the dominate force in animated films. However, the creative well that had produced such hits as The Little Mermaid, The Lion king and Aladdin had begun to run dry. Like many movie studios, the folks at Disney decided that rather than simply trying harder or being more creative…they would buy other people‘s ideas. Disney had major success bringing the Roger Rabbit books to life even though the original book “Who Censored Roger Rabbit” had a distinctly “adult” focus. Hoping for a box office repeat they focused there sights on The Mira Nova book series by Karol H. Laminton. In an effort to develop a vehicle for the two dimensional character Buzz Lightyear they set their writers with the task of adapting the Violent and sexually charged supernatural series.
The story began simply enough, a slightly cheesy but action packed first novel called, of course, “Stars Command.” It contained all of the elements of a good space, action, romance, supernatural cop drama that anyone could ever want. Some of the plot points happen, by coincidence (and nothing more!) to appear in many other famous books and movies. In an even stranger coincidense most (all) of them were actually written before Carol Laminton even began writing.
Her first book gave us what looked to be a very promising foundation for a long running series A galactic federation with a large bustling headquarters on the brink of a major peace treaty, and a new senate leader, elected but shadowed in controversy. Governor Zurg of the C-Crit Lheavily star system, rose to power through the mysterious disappearance of everyone who opposed him. The rise of Zurg as an Evil Emperor was so obviously telegraphed by the author, he might as well have ran under the slogan “Vote for Zurg: Fools! I will Destroy You All!”
We are also finally introduced to Mira Nova, whose family is killed in a coup during an official visit to the federation headquarters. She is rescued by a young captain of the guard named Ty Parsec and his cyborg pilot who were leaving on a transport mission to a prison planet. The ship is shot down and falls back into the heart of the war, and the four soon find themselves working together in a fight to escape the madness of the civil war.
It turned out that Mira was a princess from the planet Tangea and trained in the ancient ways of the tangea nobles. She has lived a life of luxury but also seclusion, and now all of that has come to an end. Without a family or a home planet to return to Mira stays with her new found allies and begins to train night and day in the ways of combat. Soon Ty Parsec and the surviving members of the federation that were not among the traitors, form an alliance of there own. Mira is named an official officer in the new Stars Command and we get to know a little more about her unique team. Mira who possesses the power to not only phase through objects or, “ghost,” but also to read minds by “Phasing” her fingers into her victims’ skull. Her second in command and closest comrade is former guard captain Ty Parsec, a brooding and pale student of the dark arts. Bustre Sinclair a stone “elemental” of enormous size and strength who had been court-martialed and was actually the prisoner on Ty’s ship at the time of the coup. Bustre is a loyal soldier but also possesses an almost uncontrollable rage which led to the death of two of his training officers. And finally X-R, a monstrous creation of Stars command, a part alien part machine cyborg, who in addition to high tech weaponry possesses nearly unlimited flight tech knowledge.
Stars Command soon joined with the remaining planets to form a strong resistance against the Zurg and his empire. Some normality of life began to return to the people of Stars Command allowing more character development. While Mira Nova formed a strong team bond with her squad, the life that she lived and the loss that she suffered had made her a very distance person. She lives with the single minded purpose of bring down Zurg and all who stand with him.
The story ends as Ty and Mira are sitting on the hood of a starship looking into the vastness of space. Mira actually begins to talk about her life, telling stories about her childhood and the pressures of growing up as royalty but withdrawls before revealing to much. For his part, Ty discovers a purpose of his own, to break down the walls that surroud Mira and to truly get to know the mysterious woman that has come into his life.
While panned by some critics, “Stars Command” Became an almost instant cult favorite and a hardcore fan base soon started demanding a sequal. Luckily one was following very close behind. In april of 1997 “Stars Obey” hit the shelves. The story follows a couple of years after the close of the first book ended, and Mira and Ty have become romantically involved. Mira has developed more of a personality and the team has grown into an amazing military unit. Ty’s magic training has continued and he has become increasingly focused on developing more power. As the love between the two grows, they are constantly trying to save each other from there obsessions.
Zurg has been kept isolated by the rest of the galaxy and there has been an erie absence of communication. Little activity has taken place for over a year aside from small border skirmishes. It soon becomes clear that the empire is planning something terrible. The Ranger Squad led by Mira Nova is sent into the heart of the Empire to find out why. Using there specialized skill they infiltrate the inner circle of Zurg who now in book two has completed his transformation from evil intimidating cruel murderer to evil helmet and cape wearing weirdo. The focus of the rest of the novel revolves around what the team discovers. Through magic and science Zurg had awoken an evil far greater than himself, the character NOS 4-A2 was to become one of the most chilling characters in science fiction history. At once a emotionless robot and a ruthless vampiric killing machine needing not only blood but constant sources of electricity and computer information to survive NOS 4-A2 destroys everything in it’s path. Upon it’s “birth” the vampire violently kills several of Zurg’s own guards including the scientists that brought the creature to life. Zurg himself is barely able to seal off the room before being attacked, unfortunately the rangers were still trapped inside. The combined power of the team was not nearly enough to defeat the incredible evil that Zurg unleashed and the Rangers barely escape. X-R is left a bloody and mangled mess by the creature and is kept alive just long enough to get back to a Stars Command Hospital. As the story comes to a close, all of Stars Command is reeling with the most recent developments and are scrambling to decide what to do about the monster. X-R is pulled back from deaths door at the last minute and has began to recover though it soon becomes apparent that everything is not allright with the cyborg warrior.
Before the book ends Mira and Ty take there relationship to the next level and “Phase” by putting her fingertips into the mind of Ty they are able to share ever memory and experience they have ever had with each other, because of the nature of the tangean people and the power that Ty has been able to amass this “Phasing” does not go according to tradition and both of them experience an incredible “power up” and are bathed in a blue light and swirling winds. Just what the fan-girl ordered.
...Continued in the Next Exiting Issue!
