A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Kathy Tyers pens the first stand alone novel in the Expanded Universe, following on the tail of Timothy Zahn’s trilogy. The events in this story take place right after the events depicted in The Return of the Jedi, Han Solo and Leia Organa know they…
Category: The Book Shelf
Brokenclaw (1990) – John Gardner
James Bond is back in action this week in John Gardner’s tenth 007 book, and probably my least favourite of the series at the moment. This one took me too long to get into, and then I felt not a lot really happened in the story to begin with until the climax. Bond is in…
Star Trek: The Better Man (1995) – Howard Weinstein
Space, the final frontier… Don’t be fooled by the cover art, this story takes place a couple of years after the events of The Motion Picture, and apparently the burgundy uniform jackets are in place. The story itself, however, if entertaining, well-crafted, and very much a true Trek tale, and it puts Dr. McCoy front…
Poirot Investigates (1924) – Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie’s first collection of short stories, first published in 1924, sets forth a number of mysteries before her Belgian creation, Hercule Poirot, his little grey cells and his good friend Captain Hastings. While still capturing some of the humour of her novels, the short form of the stories doesn’t allow for a lot of…
Star Wars: The Last Command (1993) – Timothy Zahn
Five years after the events of The Return of the Jedi, the battle against the Empire continues, as the blossoming New Republic gears up for a final encounter with Grand Admiral Thrawn in the third volume of Timothy Zahn’s trilogy that truly launched the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. While Thrawn plans to cripple the…
Licence to Kill (1989) – John Gardner
James Bond returns this week in John Gardner’s adaptation of the 1989 film, Licence to Kill. This is probably the most disjointed of his novels as he tries to marry his version of the literary 007 to the big screen version, and it doesn’t always work. In fact, throughout the book Bond thinks he must…
Star Trek: Federation (1994) – Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
This week’s journey where no one has gone before is an epic novel that combines adventures with the crew of James T. Kirk’s Enterprise, with those of Jean-Luc Picard’s tying it in with the life of Zefram Cochrane, and the efforts of one of Colonel Green’s cadre, Colonel Thorsen. With a wrap-around story that takes…
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) – Agatha Christie
This week’s Agatha Christie isn’t quite the romp of the previous entry, but like all her tales, is wonderfully engaging and entertaining as she weaves a tale of murder, secret marriages, servants, doctors, drugs, wayward sons, and hidden secrets and truths. And in the middle of it all, Hercule Poirot. This one is a bit…
Star Wars: Prophets of the Dark Side (1993) – Paul Davids and Hollace Davids
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… The young adult/tween series christened The Jedi Prince comes to a conclusion with its sixth book this week, that sees the culmination of the Alliance’s conflict with Kadaan the Dark Side Prophet who has installed himself as the new Emperor after doing away with the…
Win, Lose or Die (1989) – John Gardner
John Gardner’s eighth 007 novel is on the book shelf this week, and honestly, as much as I have been enjoying his take on James Bond, I think this may be my favourite one so far. Bond finds himself facing off against a terrorist organisation known as BAST who have plans to infiltrate a Russian/American/British…
Star Trek: Crossroad (1994) – Barbara Hambley
Space, the final frontier… As mentioned in previous reviews of Trek books, they can’t all be winners. As much as I wanted to enjoy this one, it was definitely a bit of a slog to get through. Hambley penned a dense story that doesn’t have the flow of a Trek tale, though with some changes,…
The Secret of Chimneys (1925) – Agatha Christie
Christie’s fifth novel is a bit of a romp filled with double identities, a murder, political issues, an empty throne, a renowned criminal, a love story, a missing diamond, and a week away at a manor known as Chimneys. We are introduced to Anthony Cade when he is working as a travel guide in Africa,…
