STAR TREK - LOG TEN

STAR TREK LOG TEN

- Alan Dean Foster -

I found this retro book at the Bibles For Missions thrift store. A classic Star Trek, mint condition, written by Alan Dean Foster, and the best part - it was only 50 cents! See why I couldn't resist buying it. Unfortunately, I have to say the highlight of this book was the buying process.

I've read a bunch of Star Trek books and what I like about them is the action - the phaser shooting, the tension of an intergalactic warship standoff, the no named Redshirt who dies a dramatic/outrageous death. This book had very little of that. The main story was a war of words around a negotiating table...boring.

Also, the twist of this book was that during a transporter malfunction some of the crew switch bodies, ie Kirk is in Uhulas body, Sulu in Spocks body etc. Ok idea, except I kept getting the characters mixed up. It was hard to keep track or enjoy the 'normal' behaviour of my favourite characters.

The writing was also bad. A lot of awkward sentences. Choppy. One of those books where you find yourself trying to decipher a sentence every once in awhile. Perhaps the book was rushed. It felt rushed.

Overall, not good. Keep the cover, frame it, stick it in a scrapbook...throw away the rest.

RATING: Do Not Read

RELICS - Star Trek

RELICS

- Michael Jan Friedman -



Haven't you always wondered what would happen if a member of the original Star Trek series was thrown ahead a century and put into the TNG series? Unless you are a trekkie/trekster who spends hours contemplating time warped Star Trek scenarios, which I'm sure happens more than one thinks, you probably have not taken the time. Luckily Michael Jan Friedman has done it for you - and done it well.

The story general story goes a little something like this. Scotty, the chief engineer from the original Star Trek, is stuck in a time loop for 75 years. He is rescued by the TNG Star Trek Enterprise (Enterprise - D to be precise). He feels a little out of place, useless, and old. The story delves into these themes in a number of ways and eventually Scotty uses some of his 'old' knowledge to save the day and the ship and all of its crew. He feels much better about himself and his situation and we are left with him sailing into the sunset bound for more galactic adventures.

So, your typical Star Trek plot. Happily ever after.

There were lots of high points that I could point out, but, if I did I may ruin the surprises for you. I will say that Friedman makes Scotty out to be this MacGyver type inventor who can make a ship run warp 9 with a cue tip, some gum, and a can of Red Bull!

The really dorky, yet interesting, thing about this book is the contrasting of the old (Original series) and the new (TNG) played out through Scotty and Laforge. There are so many situations were they act completely different because of technology changes. Then there is the non work related behaviour. For eg. Alcohol. Scotty enjoys a nice bottle of scotch quite a bit, while only synthocol (replicated alcohol without the effects) is what is served in TNG times. Scotty also says questionable things to the ladies on the ship...apparently cat calling and constant borderline sexual harassment was acceptable in the original series?

The overall storyline is a classic. Ship runs into a cosmic anomaly. They get sucked into a dangerous situation where the ship is in danger of crashing or blowing to pieces. There is a power outage on the ship and they cannot get away. Someone has to come up with an ingenious idea to save everyone. I don't know how they do it, but, I swear I've seen this scenario played out hundreds of times...it seems like every second episode is like this...but, this one felt fresh and exciting. Another adventure I liked getting transported into.

RATING: READ