BOOK REVIEW: SCI-FI
BABY NAMES
The
Book: Sci-Fi Baby Names
The Author: Robert
Schnakenberg
Publication
Info: Published September, 2007, by Quirk Books, Philadelphia
Author’s
Track Record: Author of several books, including The
Encyclopedia Shatnerica, the world's first A-to-Z guide to
the life and career of William Shatner.
What You Get:
I waited all summer for this book
to be published, and I was not disappointed. It's one of
the most refreshing entries into the baby names book market
in recent years -- original, clever, and sure to provide
some great new names for upcoming parents to mull over. Author
Robert Schnakenberg, a Brooklyn native, is obviously a sci-fi
buff across many genres.
He knows his
subject matter inside-out, pulling names from movies and
books dating as far back as the 1930s (and perhaps earlier,
if I missed an entry). Indeed, some of the more memorable
names hail
from sources that will pleasantly surprise the reader --
Kilgore, from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (1953),
or Helmholtz, from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932),
to name but two.
Naturally, the towering classics like Star Trek, Star
Wars, and Planet of the Apes are well-represented
throughout
the book, but they don't overpower it. Schnakenberg has tapped
his knowledge reservoir to create a balanced, funny, and
informative work. Drawing from literature,
television, comic books, and film, he breaks the book
into seven chapters, starting with Traditional Sci-Fi Names
(my least favorite), progressing through a wide list of masculine
and feminine names, followed by Power Names, Intellectual
Names, and the best of all, in my opinion, Exotic Names.
This is what those new parents who are looking for unique
names will salivate over! How about Akton, from
the 1979
movie Starcrash? Or Amadala, from Star
Wars? Then there's Buckaroo, from the Buckaroo Banzai series;
Jor-El, from the 1938 Action Comics; Klaatu, from the 1951
movie The Day the Earth Stood Still; Moonpie,
from 1975's
Rollerball, and many, many more. (I
recall that
Nicholas Cage named his son Kal-El, after Superman).
Each entry in Sci-Fi Baby Names includes
the origin and source of the name (the origin of the
name Worf is The Klingon Empire, and the source is Star-Trek, The Next
Generation), along with a frequently fascinating
anecdote about the name, and either a snippet of trivia
or a quote from each character. One of my favorite quotes: "I
can't change the laws of physics! I've got to have thirty minutes!" --
Scotty, Starship
Enterprise.
Should You Buy It:
Absolutely! Beam one down from Amazon right
now. It's $12.95 for the paperback, and worth every penny.
There's plenty here for Sci-Fi buffs, movie and t.v. fans,
and of course, expectant parents. Where else are you going
to come up with a name like Slartibartfast?
Suggested Reading:
Be sure to check out our list of sci-fi
baby names,
and a very
funny interview with author Robert Schnakenberg.
To re-publish this page you must link to www.babynamesgarden.com
in this format: Baby Names
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