David Hughes is a master at describing the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” that is the Hollywood movie mill. It takes a certain amount of skill to discuss a blockbuster that might have been in a way that leaves you wanting to find a way to buy the rights, get funding and shoot the damned thing yourself. The reality is people with a lot more experience, money and even enthusiasm have tried… and, in some cases, are still trying. Hughes, who also wrote Tales From Development Hell: Movie Making The Hard Way, does a masterful job of getting you right in the middle of all the fuss in his recently updated and re-released book The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made from Titan Books.

What science fiction fan doesn’t know the name Arthur C. Clarke? If you count yourself among that group, then it’s time to bash your head in with a rock, because you don’t deserve to call yourself a sci-fi fan. Unfortunately there is bad news from the world of sci-fi books, as Arthur C. Clarke, author of many classics including “Childhood’s End” in 1953, “The City and The Stars” in 1956, “The Nine Billion Names of God” in 1967, “Rendezvous with Rama” in 1973, “Imperial Earth” in 1975, and “The Songs of Distant Earth” in 1986. His genius wasn’t just limited to books; he also co-wrote the 1968 screenplay for “2001: A Space Odyssey” with director with Stanley Kubrick.

I have a soft spot for Kenneth Johnson’s original “V” mini-series, aka “V: The Original Miniseries”. In fact, I have a soft spot for Ken himself. Once, a while back, after viewing the “V” DVD, I emailed Ken and, to my astonishment, actually got a response. Now, Ken returns with “V: The Second Generation”, a novel that picks up 20 years after the events of the first “V” mini-series, but not “V: The Final Battle” mini-series, which Ken was not involved in. And oh yeah, forget the crappy TV show; it has nothing to do with “Second Generation”, either.