Star Wars - Survivor's Quest

A Del Rey Book

Written by Timothy Zahn

Copyright 2004 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

Excerpt from Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil Copyright 2005 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

In Survivor's Quest, the remains of Outbound Flight, a lost Jedi Expedition from fifty years ago, have been found. Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker join a diplomatic expedition with the Chiss and a new alien species and travel to the remains of Outbound Flight to search for Jedi history - and discover secrets and treachery.

It is great to see Luke and Mara Jade work together as both Jedi and married couple. Mara has matured from being a brash young woman from when she had first appeared in the Star Wars universe, into an experienced mature loving woman with incredible power in the Force. It was hard for me to relate to the new aliens that were depicted in the story, in which the book makes the aliens appear to be a new force in the universe.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Star Trek - Vanguard - Precipice

Pocket Books

Written by David Mack

Copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc. All right reserved.

STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All rights reserved.

In Precipice, while the galaxy learns of the aggressive alien Shedai that Starbase Vanguard has been studying as part of their secret project, everything revolves around a mysterious artifact of the Shedai.

While it is gratifying to see that Commander Reyes is actually alive, to see the relationship between reporter Tim Pennington and the Vulcan woman who had sabotaged his career, T'Prynn, become much better was more interesting to me. Pennington's and T'Prynn's relationship was just as interesting as the relationship between merchant Quinn and Starfleet Officer Bridy Mac - while Quinn and Bridy Mac go undercover amongst the Klingons as the two of them search for the Shedai object. Having a driven Shedai tear through the Starbase into the heart of Vanguard shows how powerful the Shedai really are - and that Starfleet has it's work cut out for them with the Shedai running around the galaxy in future books.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Robotech: The Zentraedi Rebellion

A Del Rey Book

Written by Jack McKinney

Copyright 1994 by Harmony Gold USA, Inc.



The #19 book of the epic Robotech TV series, The Zentraedi Rebellion is set during the Lost Generation - which was never televised - just before the Southern Cross TV series and the Sentinels book series. The Zentraedi Rebellion deals with the aggressive rebellious Zentraedi survivors that have spread throughout North and South America.

It is interesting to see how the characters have developed in between the Macross TV series and the Southern Cross TV series. The Zentraedi Rebellion also explains why some of these main characters were not seen in the Southern Cross TV series because these characters were preparing to go off on a deep space mission. You see the different leadership styles between the Macross characters and the Southern Cross leaders. I was not too crazy about the Southern Cross leaders in the TV series, and the leaders were even more annoying in the book. The book also introduced several new characters that would become major characters in the Southern Cross and Sentinels series. It was sad for me to see Miriya's journey to come to the Zentraedi's aid and to see what happens with Miriya.

Watch the TV series:
Robotech - The Macross Saga
Robotech - The Masters

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Mission to Minerva

 

A Baen Book

Written by James P. Hogan

Copyright 2005 by James P. Hogan

The fifth novel in the "Giants" series - Mission to Minerva, written by James P. Hogan,  is about UNSA scientists, Victor Hunt and Chris Danchekker, as well as the alien giant Ganymeans conducting experiments into open communication - and travel into alternate realities. Their ultimate goal is to go 50,000 years into the past - to prevent the destruction of the planet Minerva, the giant's original home, whose debris is now the asteroid belt in our solar system.

While the scientists try to figure out how to achieve stabilization and connection between the alternate worlds, and how to travel back in time, the scientists never consider the consequences of actually changing history aside from saving Minerva. I felt that not considering the consequences of their actions to history was very irresponsible for the scientists as they try to go back in time. They forget that present day mankind originally came from the planet Minerva, so the Earth as we know it would not exist if the Minervan survivors never came to Earth. They don't even considered if they would even exist after changing the past.

It is only in the last quarter of the book that they actually all travel back in time to Minerva to search for the ancient Terrans who were responsible for the destruction of Minerva, that the adventure begins.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.