It has been a while since I slipped into a Star Trek novel. I’m still back on The Original Series, and the last one I read was 1995’s The Ashes of Eden, the first novel that introduced the Shatner-Verse version of Trek novels. But I was eager to see how the newer novels tied in…
Category: The Book Shelf
Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series (2019) – Aaron Harvey, and Rich Schepis
I remember when I first heard about Star Trek: The Animated Series. It was the early 80s, and I seem to recall having received a Best of Trek book one Xmas or birthday. It was a compilation of some of the most popular articles and stories from Trek magazine, an unofficial Star Trek fanzine. Inside…
The Thirteen Problems (1932) – Agatha Christie
I’ve had so many books on the go, I haven’t been able to continue my exploration of Agatha Christie’s work, and was delighted when I had a chance to dig into one again. Her next published work was a collection of short stories, entitled The Thirteen Problems, which featured her other famous character, Miss Marple….
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) – Ursula K. Le Guin
I had never read the Earthsea books as a youth. I think as previously mentioned, the only fantasy book I read when I was younger was The Lord of the Rings, and I never tackled anything after that, because how do you top that? I’ve found over the past few years, however, that I’ve been…
Communion (1987) – Whitley Strieber
Whitley Stieber experienced something. In fact, according to his writing, he’s been experiencing something all of his life. It’s influenced him, his writing, and the events and those around him. Strieber, like countless others, believes he was abducted. He doesn’t use the word aliens, he uses the word visitors. Because he doesn’t claim to know…
The Three Body Problem (2008) – Liu Cixin
Wang Miao and Ye Wenjie are the central characters in a vast cast in this epic Chinese novel that is the first in a trilogy, also known as The Three Body Problem. Treating its subject matter with intelligence, and pouring on the science, the story takes us through the first steps of contact with an…
Foundation and Empire (1952) – Isaac Asimov
The second book in the foundation series ups the stakes for humanity a bit, as we get a glimpse inside the still crumbling Empire, and the reclusive Foundation and the traders that have sprung from it. We learn that the Foundation is in someways becoming corrupt as well, as some despotism is occuring, and it…
Alien 3: The Unproduced First-Draft Screenplay by William Gibson (2021) – Pat Cadigan
Author Pat Cadigan takes William Gibson’s original script for Alien 3 and transforms it into a white knuckle thriller ride of a novel that gives us a glimpse at what could have been in the Alien film series. Fans know the convoluted story of how Alien 3 came to the screen, and that were countless…
Battlestar Galactica 9: Experiment in Terra (1984) – Ron Goulart and Glen A. Larson
This week, I dive into another Galactica adaptation. Not coming out until 1984, years after the show was cancelled, this novel adapts a pair of episodes, Baltar’s Escape and Experiment in Terra (which on retrospect feels like a trial run for the Bellasario created Quantum Leap). This time out there are no Adama’s Journals or…
Black Order (2006) – James Rollins
Sigma Force is back in their bext adventure from author James Rollins, who once again combines high adventure, with science, technology, and little known corners of history to deliver another rollicking adventure. This time out, both Painter and Gray find themselves out in the field and caught up in the action in a tale that…
The Mind Reels 