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A review by branch_c
The Questor Tapes by D.C. Fontana
3.0
I was inspired to reread this when I heard that Fontana passed away last year. As best as I can estimate, I read this for the first and only time around 1979, when I was 13, and it must have made enough of an impression on me that I’ve kept the same paperback copy all that time, but somehow I never reread it until now, 40 years later.
No doubt this wasn’t the first story of an android trying to understand and find meaning in the world, and of course it’s been done numerous times since; this one is fairly straightforward and nicely done for a screenplay adaptation. I don’t think I realized that the pilot, by Gene Roddenberry, was actually filmed, and I’ve never seen it.
I was struck this time by how much Questor reminds me of ST:TNG’s Commander Data, with his speech, thoughts, idiosyncrasies, and the humor of his interactions with humans, so maybe some of this early thinking led to Data’s character development.
Anyway this is a quick read, simplistic in places but well-written and enjoyable.
No doubt this wasn’t the first story of an android trying to understand and find meaning in the world, and of course it’s been done numerous times since; this one is fairly straightforward and nicely done for a screenplay adaptation. I don’t think I realized that the pilot, by Gene Roddenberry, was actually filmed, and I’ve never seen it.
I was struck this time by how much Questor reminds me of ST:TNG’s Commander Data, with his speech, thoughts, idiosyncrasies, and the humor of his interactions with humans, so maybe some of this early thinking led to Data’s character development.
Anyway this is a quick read, simplistic in places but well-written and enjoyable.