Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Dominion War Books 1 and 3, John Vornholt

"Behind Enemy Lines" and "Tunnel Through the Stars" recounts some of the activities of Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise E during the Dominion War. In this duo of books, Riker takes command of the Enterprise while Picard and LaForge go undercover with Ro Laren to take out a verteron collidor being built by the Dominion to generate a stable wormhole. It also features "Lower Decks" character Taurik and Sam Lavelle; who, having been prisoners of the Dominion, are sent to mine a rare element needed in the collidor and escape to Ro's ship.
These books have a great story line; and the events on Ro's ship read like a well played game of Clue (Someone on this ship is a killer!) However, Vornholt's characterizations fall flat- he writes all the characters as if they're being impersonated by a founder. I also found his obvious shipping a bit annoying.

Monday, July 14, 2008

VOY: String Theory part 1: Fusion

An enjoyable book by Kirsten Beyer- the first book in the "String Theory" trilogy. Of course I read the last book first, somewhat spoiling it for me, but I didn't let that detract from my enjoyment. Great characterization, and an engaging plot. Digs deeper into the history of the race from whence The Caretaker and Suspiria came.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Episode: VOY: Real Life

This is, bar none, my favorite Voyager episode. Not many Star Trek episodes or movies move me to real tears, but this one does in spades. When the holographic Doctor decides to create a family, he first plans for no random elements (and wouldn't we all like that?). When Kes and B'elanna convince him that to really experience a family there must be random factors, he discovers that real life can be exceedingly painful. When he tries to do what none of us get to do- turn off the program when things get too hard- Tom convinces him to do the painful but growth inducing thing.

Eugenics Wars Book 1 by Greg Cox

This first book chronicles the beginnings of Khan Noonien Singh. We first meet him as a precocious 4 year old living in the Chrysalis project compund under the Indian Desert, and follow him to the age of 16.
Cox's well written book has many of my favorite elements in a Star Trek book-it tells us what happens to characters both before ( Khan) and after ( Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln) we meet them in the series. It reads as something of a history lesson for Khan's early life ( which also happens to be my lifetime), placing the forces that shape the fictional superman into a real historical context. And it still manages to keep it's sense of humor.