James Bond’s adventures this week take him around England, and then over to the States in John Gardner’s seventh 007 novel. This time around Bond finds himself taking on an unusual enemy in a story that seems just as relevant today. James is assigned to investigate a religious cult known as the Meek Ones run…
Category: The Book Shelf
Ready Player Two (2020) – Ernest Cline
Reading like a pop culture infused take on The Bride of Frankenstein, author Ernest Cline takes us back to the virtual realm of the OASIS in his follow-up to the bestselling novel, Ready Player One which delighted geeks planetwide with its quest story wrapped up in movie and culture references that shaped some of our…
Star Trek: Traitor Winds (1994) – L.A. Graf
This week’s Trek novel takes us back to the The Lost Years, those years set between the end of the Enterprise’s original five year mission, and the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. While some of the crew are wandering around in their TOS uniforms, the new uniforms are present as well. This time…
The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) – Agatha Christie
This week’s Agatha Christie entry to the book shelf is another delightful adventure thriller. Sure there’s a murder and suspects, but it’s definitely more akin to an adventure story, with a wonderful female heroine in the form of Anne Beddingfield. Anne finds herself caught up in an adventure that would give the cinema serials she…
Star Wars: Mission From Mount Yoda (1993) – Paul Davids and Hollace Davids
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… The original Expanded Universe ventured into the realm of young reader stories with a six volume series following Ken, known as a jedi prince, though to date, he hasn’t shown any real knowledge of the Force. In this tale, another environmentally themed story, Han Solo,…
No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987) – John Gardner
James Bond is back in this week’s book shelf, as I continue my adventures with 007, and John Gardner’s sixth novel chronicling the missions of the British secret agent. This time, Bond’s adventure takes him from England into Ireland and then to the Far East with a tension-filled ending set in China. M assigns 007…
Star Trek: Sarek (1994) – A.C. Crispin
A.C. Crispin, who delivered the wonderful Yesterday’s Son saga early in the Pocket Books series cranked out a giant Trek novel for 1994 that gave us insight into Spock’s father, Sarek. While also continuing the story of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701A. This adventure takes place shortly after the events of The Undiscovered Country, so despite…
The Murder on the Links (1923) – Agatha Christie
My third foray into Agatha Christie territory brings me another tale featuring Hercule Poirot, and this time as it unspooled, I found myself paying more attention to the things that were said, the clues that were laid out, and much like his friend, Captain Hastings, who tells the tale, I had a portion of it…
Nobody Lives For Ever (1986) – John Gardner
Ian Fleming’s 007 James Bond is back in action in this 1986 thriller penned by John Gardner who carried on the series for the Fleming estate and updated the secret agent by retconning his early adventures into the late 60s and 70s allowing his Bond, slightly older, to prowl and protect the world of the…
Star Wars: Zorba the Hutt’s Revenge (1992) – Paul Davids and Hollace Davids
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… The young adult novels continue, delaying my return to the conclusion of the original Thrawn Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn. This short novella, the third in the series that follows the adventures of a young jedi prince, known as Ken (possibly after Kenobi) as he…
