The year is 2391, four years after the Romulan star was destroyed, and Simon & Schuster’s next entry in the Star Trek: Picard, is an enjoyable entry that mixes a lot of humor with a very noir detective story that ties back to one of the biggest events of the 23rd century. The longest of…
Tag: backstory
Star Trek: Picard – Last Best Hope (2020) – Una McCormack
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…
GoldenEye (1995) – John Gardner
John Gardner’s penultimate 007 novel is a short, uninspired adaptation of the 1995 film, GoldenEye which saw Pierce Brosnan finally step into the shoes of James Bond. I’m not sure if Gardner was simply tired of writing Bond books at this point, or if he was less than impressed with the film’s script and was…
Star Trek: Shadows on the Shadow (1993) – Michael Jan Friedman
Set shortly after the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Shadows on the Sun explores some of the backstory of Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, a character that has become one of my favourites over the years. It’s interesting, as a child, and teen, Kirk was always the character for me. But as I…
Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966) – Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming’s final James Bond book, the second published posthumously and the fourteenth 007 book overall is a collection of previously published quartet of short stories. And it’s a great collection to go out on, though of course Bond would continue to live on under other authors, and of course, as an ongoing film franchise….
Star Trek: Short Treks (2018/2019) – Runaway, Calypso, The Brightest Star, and The Escape Artist
Captain’s log: 2257 I take on the first season of Short Treks this week which aired between the first and second season of Star Trek: Discovery, Featuring shorter tales, some that will have a direct effect on future episodes and events. The first episode, Runaway, lets Tilly (Mary Wiseman) have a bit of a moment…
Chuck (2009) – Versus the Best Friend, and Versus the Beefcake
Chuck (Zachary Levi) tries to help Morgan (Joshua Gomez) deal with the break-up of he and Anna (Julia Ling) but trouble ensues when Chuck flashes on Anna’s new boyfriend. Chuck Versus the Best Friend was written by Ali Adler and first debuted on 23 February, 2009. And while the team, gets pulled in on the…
Star Wars: Rebels (2014) – Fighter Flight, Rise of the Old Masters, and Breaking Ranks
This week’s instalment of Rebels brings me the next three episodes in the first season and Fighter Flight is probably one of the weakest episodes of the series, while still remaining entertaining. Written by Kevin Hopps, this episode first debuted on 20 October, 2014. We’re still early in the series, and everyone is getting to…
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) – J.M. Dillard
The next novel that I picked up on the Star Trek list, was the adaptation of the fifth film, The Final Frontier. The film was much maligned and slighted, and some of it for good cause, though one could argue that there is a Trek story in there, and it does have some of the…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) – Civilization, and Fortunate Son
Captain’s log: 31 July, 2151 Phyllis Strong and Mike Sussman pen this episode that first aired on 14 November, 2001. When the Enterprise arrives at an Earth-like planet, Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) leads an away mission that allows him to masquerade as one of the planet’s denizens. It seems T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) has discovered that…
Joker (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
One of the most talked about films of last year hits blu-ray today from Warner Brothers, and it’s going to be as divisive at home as it was in the theatre. However you feel about it, you definitely realise that Joaquin Phoenix turns in a stellar performance. From the old-school 70s Warner Brothers introduction to…
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) – Ron Howard
I’m very particular about my holiday specials when it comes to television and movies. My treasured titles are very select, and I get very put out when a new one is thrust upon me. I love A Charlie Brown Christmas, Emmett Otter, John Denver & The Muppets, The Muppet Family Christmas (I like my Muppets),…
The Mind Reels 