STAR TREK - DEEP SPACE NINE - FEARFUL SYMMETRY

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Olivia Woods

Copyright 2008 by CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In Fearful Symmetry, the Jem'Hadar Taran'atar, sent by Odo, has attacked Captain Kira Nerys and has fled Deep Space Nine. Apparently he was being controlled by Iliana Ghemor from the Mirror universe. Of course Kira and the Deep Space Nine crew does not trust our universe's Iliana who wants to help Kira. After establishing contact with their counterparts in the Mirror universe, Commander Elias Vaughn and a recently healed Kira travel to the Mirror universe to stop Iliana.

This book actually has two stories. This is what I like to call for this publication branding a media flip-book - where you read the first half of the book, then flip the book over and read the second half of the book, which contains a different story. This is why there is a double cover with the back cover upside-down for the Marketing. Writer Olivia Woods replaced writer Leanna Morrow, hence the different writers on the covers. Actually I was expecting the second half of the book to be the same story told from a different point of view, but that is not the case.

The second half of the book does contain a different story still set in the Deep Space Nine universe. Iliana Ghemor is a Cardassian non-clone look-alike artist-turned-spy for Kira Nerys, so she has become a major character targeting Kira in the books set after the TV series. As a result of her prestigious parents, artist Iliana Ghemor is pursued to be recruited by the covert Cardassian intelligent agency - the Obsidian Order. After her fiance, who served in the military to sustain order as the Cardassians occupy Bajor, gets killed by Bajoran terrorists - Iliana joins the Obsidian Order. After undergoing surgery to make her look even more Bajoran, Iliana's character in the Mirror universe has been made insane by Gul Dukat manipulations and the Iliana in our home universe wants to stop her.

With two universes and several Kira/Ilianas in the stories, I get a little confused as to which universe and characters I am keeping track of, especially in the other books concerning this story.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

DRAGONHEART

DEL REY

Written by Todd McCaffrey

Copyright 2008 by Todd McCaffrey and Anne McCaffrey

In Anne McCaffrey's  Dragonheart, a plague-like sickness is spreading amongst the fire lizards and the dragons of Pern. With the flying fire-breathing dragons the only defense of Pern against the ravishing Thread from space, Fiona - former Lady, who is now the young dragonrider of golden queen dragon Talenth - joins a desperate expedition to heal the dragons wounded from fighting Thread before the surviving dragons get overwhelmed and die or suicide from the disease.

While the book starts out with harper Kindan, who was a major character in the last few books, this is mostly the story of Fiona as she basically becomes a Weyrwoman. While it is nice to see Fiona accept the responsibility of becoming a Weyrwoman as she organizes a new Weyr, the relationships that you think of do not turn out the way you thought it would be - especially as she is basically one of only two women on the expedition. You would expect some kind of resolution at the end of the book, which you would think is more than just the expedition coming home, but that is not the case.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - THE LONG WAY HOME

Dark Horse Books

Script JOSS WHEDON

Pencils GEORGES JEANTY

Copyright 1998, 2007

In The Long Way Home, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 begins in graphic novel form written by Joss Whedon and pencils by Georges Jeanty. The graphic novels of Season 8 are the official continuation of the Buffy series and has Buffy leading and training several squads of new Slayers to fight the supernatural. In The Long Way Home,  the Military consider Buffy and her army of Slayers too dangerous, since she destroyed her home town, and brings back an old enemy to take down Buffy and her Slayer force.

In a continuation from the TV series, the graphic novels of Season 8 begins with The Long Way Home. Not constrained by a television budget, a more epic and graphic scale can be depicted in the visual story telling. The Slayers are more of an army now than they were in the last season of the TV series. Dawn has turned into a giant, Willow returns, and Xander is in command of Slayer Central. The closest to a normal life Buffy has is dealing with her sister-turned-giant. The graphic novel does mention other Buffys who were created to protect the original Buffy from being a target, including the Buffy in Italy running around with The Immortal, mentioned in the last season of Angel and in the book Queen of the Slayers. The last issue in the graphic novel begins a new story, in which Giles appears, that obviously continues in the next novel.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES

LUCAS Books
A Del Rey Book

Written by R. A. Salvatore

Copyright 2002 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker is an older Padawan learner who becomes reunited with Senator Padme Amidala on the galactic capitol world of Coruscant. With an attempt on her life, Anakin is assigned to protect Padme as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi goes on a quest through the Jedi Archives database to try to discover why on a hidden planet in space called Kamino, an army of clones is being created.

A lot has changed since The Phantom Menace. Padme has gone from being Queen of Naboo to being a Senator in the Galactic Republic. Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi is now a Jedi Knight and Anakin is now Kenobi's Padawan. You see more of Anakin's mother Shmi, and her new husband and adopted son Owen. While it was great to see Anakin returning home to the desert world of Tatooine to meet his step-brother Owen, you feel their pain when Shmi gets kidnapped by the Tuskin Raiders. With Anakin protecting Padme from Trade Federation assassins as the conflict with the Separatist movement increases, their relationship grows until Anakin and Padme finally wed in secret. Meanwhile, the Clone Wars begin....

Pancho
All people smile in the same langauge.

JAILBAIT ZOMBIE

EOS
An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Written by Mario Acevedo

Copyright 2009 by Mario Acevedo

In Jailbait Zombie, a Felix Gomez novel, a crow delivers a message from the Araneum to vampire private investigator Felix Gomez. Vampire Gomez is sent on a mission by the Araneum to search for who is creating an army of zombies before the zombies reveal the existence of the supernatural to humans. Along the way, Felix is forced to be accompanied by a clairvoyant teenage girl who demands that Felix make her a vampire.

Due to their decomposition, it is easier than one might think to locate zombies because of their smell - which turns off undead vampires like Felix. Since teenager Phaedra is related to organized gangsters, it is funny that Felix gets some reluctant help from the gangsters as part of their business - as the gangsters become unwitting victims of the zombies. Phaedra's terminal condition is rather sad and makes you understand why she wants Felix to make her a vampire. Felix is reluctant to turn her into a vampire, and all the curse that goes with it, but Phaedra's psychic clairvoyant powers make it hard to resist.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

A World of Difference

Del Rey Mass Market Edition

Written by Harry Turtledove

Copyright 1990 by Harry Turtledove

In A World of Difference, a Viking lander is destroyed on the planet Minerva just as it sends pictures of it's destroyer - an alien life form. The United States and the Soviet Union then launch a manned space mission to Minerva.

This novel takes place in an alternate universe where a life-bearing planet, Minerva, takes the place of the red planet Mars in our universe. Despite Minerva being a near neighbor of Earth, the aliens and humans have never met before. The aliens have two domains that are at war with each other but they are separated by a vast chasm. With the human's technology, one domain is able to cross the chasm and the deadly ice floes to invade the other domain - and the Americans and Soviets wind up on opposite sides of an alien war.

One of the major differences with the aliens, aside from the extra arms, are the fact that the females bleed to death when giving birth so the females are very child-like because they do not live long enough to mature.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - STARGAZER: OBLIVION

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Michael Jan Friedman

Copyright 2003 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In Stargazer: Oblivion, USS Stargazer Captain Jean-Luc Picard is on an undercover operation to meet with a defector on a planet in Ubarrak space - when the meeting goes wrong and Picard is accused of terrorism. While in jail, Picard meets someone who will help him - Guinan.

This is the first time Picard meets Guinan. Picard appreciates her talents, like freeing them from jail, while Guinan keeps the secret of them meeting before - as well as holding in the pain she has from being released from the Nexus. The chief of security takes it personally when Picard and Guinan escape from jail and leads the manhunt for them. With the Cardassians searching for Picard and the defector, their running from the law leads them on quite a hunt.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.



















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