Ann Leckie delivers an interesting space opera read that uses the feminine pronoun she throughout, as a part of its language, not as a descriptor of the people themselves, who are predominantly genderless. It’s a great touch, and really plays nicely with the casting of characters in the mind’s eye. We are introduced to Breq,…
Category: The Book Shelf
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Strike Zone (1989) – Peter David
Peter David delivered his first Star Trek novel with Stroke Zone. Originally planned to be a novel in The Original Series catalogue, it was changed and updated to take place near the beginning of season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beverly Crusher is at Starfleet Medical, Dr. Pulaski has taken over as the…
Doubleshot (2000) – Raymond Benson
The next Raymond Benson 007 novel, takes place a few short months after High Time to Kill. Ian Fleming’s creation, James Bond, is on medical leave and isn’t doing so well. There may be a lesion in his brain causing blackouts, and his medication seems to be exacerbating things. Even dealing with these issues, Bond…
Star Trek: Vulcan’s Forge (1997) – Susan Shwartz and Josepha Sherman
James Kirk is dead. But Spock, Uhura, McCoy and the rest go on in the next Star Trek book from Pocketbooks/Simon & Schuster, Vulcan’s Forge. While Chekov has gone off to serve as Sulu’s first officer aboard the Excelsior, and Spock has taken a captaincy aboard the Intrepid II, he is joined by McCoy, and…
Easy Go (1968) – Micheal Crichton
Easy Go should have been my favourite of Micheal Crichton’s early novels. Written under his John Lange pseudonym while Crichton was still in med-school, the book includes some archaeology, some Egyptology, and the idea of a heist. Barnaby has discovered the possibility of a lost tomb, an undiscovered cache of wealth and a forgotten king….
Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Art and Visual Effects (2020) – Jeff Bond and Gene Kozicki
I have loved Star Trek: The Motion Picture since the first time I saw it in 1979. I remember the theatre I was in, I remember being swept up by the music and imagery, it blew my young little mind, and just made me love the characters, especially the Enterprise all the more. My fascination…
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Survivors (1989) – Jean Lorrah
The fourth novel in The Next Generation series from Pocket Books is set between the events Arsenal of Freedom and Skin of Evil and gives Tasha Yar more story time than she received in her only season on the show. It also fills out some of her backstory, and while nothing contradicts the established canon,…
The World is Not Enough (1999) Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson’s next Bond story was the adaptation of the Pierce Brosnan film, The World is Not Enough. It doesn’t differ too much from what ended up onscreen, but because it’s the written word, it allows one to recast the film, and I happily eject Denise Richards as Christmas Jones from the movie in my…
Star Trek: Mind Meld (1997) – John Vornholt
Set shortly after the events of The Undiscovered Country, John Vornholt’s novel shoves Spock into the limelight on an adventure that pairs him with a young Vulcan girl named Teska, and is a precursor to his work in reunifying Vulcans and Romulans. Through a weird series of familial relations, Teska refers to Spock as her…
Live at Five (1999) – Raymond Benson
007 is back. Raymond Benson wrote a short story, just in time for the premiere of The World is Not Enough. It was published in TV Guide and gives a brief glimpse of a Cold War defection that James Bond was involved in. Set in the United States following a botched attempt in London, Bond…
The Mind Reels 