We like stars.

I was thinking about how many books in the EU use the word "star" in the title: The Crystal Star, Star by Star, etc.

And it got me to thinking (and I'm sure this is pretty obvious but meh):

Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica, The Red Star (comics), Stargate... what other sci-fi property am I missing that uses the word "star"?

Why the urge to incorporate "star" into sci-fi titles? Is it necessary; do writers doom themselves to failure if the title does NOT include the word "star"? Perhaps cliche at this point? Can we not come up with better titles?

I often wonder -- and I say this with the utmost of seriousness -- if Firefly/Serenity or Chronicles of Riddick would be more successful if they were called "Star Fire" or "Star Chronicles".

Why do fanboys flock to the word "star" like moths to a flame?

 

It just gives a very brief description of where the story is set and what its going to about, I guess. If you knew nothing about Firefly/Serenity or Chronicles of Riddick, would you have any idea where its set or what genre its going to be? I'm not saying that every show set in space should have "Star" or "Space" in it, but I can see why they do title things that way.

 

Does this mean 'Dark Star' is the most Star Wars-y title of all time? Besides, you know, 'Star Wars'.

 

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Books 1 - 9
Star Wars: New Jedi Order, Book 1 - 19
Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn Duology, Books 1 & 2
Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Books 1 - 3
Star Wars: The Crystal Star (That ones got 2!)


The list goes on..

 

I wouldn't say that Sci-Fi can only be successful if it has the word "star" in its title... It's obviously a common title element that helps in describing the sci-fi setup, but the most prominent examples are also quite old, and therefore should be seen in their context.

Both SW and Trek are kind of pioneers, bringing back SF when it was virtually non-existent - Trek on TV, SW in cinemas. So of course these are quite famous today. You could also say that their titles influenced producers later on; I guess the original Stargate movie at least thought of remaining memorable because of the title similarity to Trek and SW. As for Battlestar Galactica, that name comes from a time when SW was king, so I guess the whole idea of classifying a ship as a "Battlestar" comes from the Death Star and/or the Star Destroyer. And while the title helped to establish the new reincarnations of these series (making people curious for the new BSG and the sequel to the Stargate movie), I doubt that people would watch a series more just because it's called something with "star".

Want successful SF without a star? Take Babylon 5. Which actually started off with the title "Spacecenter Babylon 5" here in Germany... Luckily, they dropped that instantly. But hey, we're living in the country where TV executives essentially thought "Star Trek Voyager" needed to be called "Star Trek: Raumschiff (=Spaceship) Voyager"... I guess people would have been confused otherwise...

 

This makes me think of when "Star Trek: Enterprise" originally premiered, the show was originally titled simply "Enterprise" -- recieving a load of backlash from Trek fans from which it never truly recovered. Of course, the series had other issues that drove away much of the fanbase, but it is interesting that one of the big, first complaints had to do with there being no "Star" in the title!

 

From now on, the movie titles shall be as follows:

Star Star: Episode Star: A New Star
Star Star: Episode Star: The Star Stars Back
Star Star: Episode Star: The Return of the Star
Star Star: Epistar Star: The Phantom Star
Star Star: Epistar Star: Attack of the Stars
Star Star: Epistar Star: Revenge of the Star

Catchy, ain't it?

 

Can't wait for the starquels

 

You mean Star to the Starpire, Dark Star Starring, and the Star Starmand?

 

Fact: it's a spiffy word.

Tag it onto anything and said word pairing automatically looks appealing.

--HW

 

Ah yes...SSS

 

"Jedi ... with a STAR?"

 

Will the Star Wars change everything?

 

Star stars, stars star star star stars. STARS! Star stars star star star.

STAR, STAR, STAR

Star stars.

 

Right then, let's go for alternatives shall we?

Flaming Balls of Gas Wars?
- No, sounds like a flatulence contest.

Stellar Wars?
- No, some people may not know what 'stellar' even means, rule 1 if you want a successful franchise: Assume the public's thick.

Twinkling Thingy Wars?
- No, just sounds...crap.

 

Just think how awesome fantasy would be if they started doing this.

The Lord of the Stars
A Star of Ice and Fire
The Wheel of Stars

And so on...

 

I don't know. Let me try.

Universe Wars!..Planet Trek. Battlemoon Galactica!

Nope seems that sometime in the fifties sci-fi writers started using the word star to imply outer space. It's a cool word and it works. Try making a non science fiction story with the word 'star' in it. I bet it would suck.

 

Definitely Star by Star, since it hits upon the magic word not once but twice.

 

Pumba, to you, everything's gas.

 

Is Star the new Moff?

 

I wonder if they watched 'Battlemoon Galactica' on the Death STAR.

 

And besides, stars aren't balls of gas, they're balls of plasma.

--HW

 

Actually, I always thought Star Wars: Darksaber was the most vividly "STAR WARS" book title ever.

even Jedi isn't as good a buzz word as "saber".

 

Can we get Stover to write Star Wars: Luke Skywalker and the Dark Starsaber as a sequal to SoM? It'll sell like hotcakes.

 

Starference?