STAR TREK _ DEPARTMENT OF TEMPORAL INVESTIGATIONS - WATCHING THE CLOCK

Pocket Books

Written by Christopher L. Bennett

Copyright © 2011 by CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.



In Watching the Clock, written by Christopher L. Bennett - the first book of the Department of Temporal Investigations series - a series of temporal incursions threatens to open up a new front line from the Temporal Cold War. This has DTI agents Lucsly and Dulmur using their unimaginative government discipline in stopping the war.

This book makes reference to every time travel story that were ever written for Star Trek - from the books, the movies and all of the TV series, including stories from the animated TV series. You get to know DTI agents Lucsly and Dulmur, who were originally just minor characters from the Deep Space Nine TV episode Trials and Tribble-ations. Lucsly and Dulmur are now the major characters in both the book, and as well as in the Department of Temporal Investigations.

In the book you get to see the origin story of Dulmur, whose home life turns into ruins and eventually joins the Department of Temporal Investigations, that has it's origins on Earth, to effect temporal justice when Dulmur's efforts to catch a thief is thwarted by a temporal experiment which affected all of space by Dr. Paul Manheim.

As a fan of time travel stories, I happened to enjoy this book. While some of the science behind all the time travel theories may be over my head, I like the fact that Bennett involved all of the time travel stories - including the animated TV series which a lot of people do not really consider as really part of the Trek universe. While I find agent Lucsly rather rigid, his devotion to maintain a stable timeline is important in the temporal scheme of things. The villain at the very end of the book did not seem as strong as a villain as I would have expected the villain to be, but he seemed logical. The villain is definitely evil enough, especially when he targets a DTI agent.

Pancho 
All people smile in the same language.
 

YELLOW EYES

A Bean Books Original

Written by John Ringo & Tom Kratman

Copyright © 2007 by John Ringo & Tom Kratman



In Yellow Eyes, written by John Ringo & Tom Kratman - which is part of the Posleen War series/Legacy of the Aldenata - the Panama Canal is the target of the alien race Posleen. Without access to the Canal, the U.S. is doomed to defeat and starvation. With the U.S. already stretched to the limits in defending itself from the alien race Posleen, they can only afford to send some soldiers in advanced Armoured Combat Suits, some old rejuvenated U.S. Veterans and three old naval warships - and one of the warships is haunted.

It was great to see that the U.S. military worked with the local forces in defending Panama. I have never really understood or liked the fact that in the book there were traitors amongst the people of Central America to the human race and worked with the Posleen. And having an American soldier being forced to become a dictator to a country was rather disturbing to me, but at least the American was still fighting the Posleen.

The battle scenes are intense - and sadly there are consequences with the war amongst the spouses and girlfriends when several of the characters get killed. Rejuvenating old worn-out seniors from Panama into young combat ready veterans and having them leading the people of Panama is an awesome idea that I have rarely seen. The closest idea to this that I have seen was from the TV show Stargate SG-1. I liked the fact that one of the warships, the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Des Moines developed a personality when it was accidentally outfitted with an insane Posleen AI after it was refitted and the Des Moines eventually fell in love with her captain. The images the Des Moines AI created was very hot and the Des Moines eventually cared deeply for her crew, similar to how Rommie acted and felt in the TV show Andromeda.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - DEEP SPACE NINE - MISSION GAMMA - THIS GRAY SPIRIT

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Heather Jarman

Copyright 2002 by Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.



In This Gray Spirit by Heather Jarman, Cardassian ambassador Natima Lang arrives at the Bajoran space station Deep Space Nine for a hopeful diplomatic mission between the enstranged planets Cardassia and Bajor. While continuing it's exploration mission in the Gamma Quadrant, the starship Defiant has been damaged and is getting repaired by an unusual species - whose biological differences have created a civil war.

It was interesting to see the juxtaposition of the genocidal civil war of the Yrythny, as well as the aftermath of the Cardassian occupation of the world of Bajor. Colonel Kira struggles with trying to help the Cardassian people who had occupied her planet. Having Shar's bond mates pining away for Shar, who is of course stationed on Deep Space Nine as a StarFleet officer, to come back home to them was rather annoying to me. Perhaps I do not really understand Andorian bonding, but I would be able to understand the bonding more if the bonding was more of a physical medical necessity, like the Vulcan Pon-Far, instead of the Andorian bonding being a racial necessity. While I understand Shar wanting to be independent, his not wanting to confront his bond mates - which is basically his family - was both immature and disconcerting to me, with tragic consequences. Shar's developing a relationship with a Yrythny girl in order to search for a cure for both of their peoples was almost infidelity to his family.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

DOCTOR WHO - THE KING'S DEMONS

A TARGET BOOK

Written by Terence Dudley

Novelization copyright Terence Dudley, 1986
Original script copyright Terence Dudley, 1983
'Doctor Who' series copyright British Broadcasting Corporation 1983, 1986




In The King's Demons, written by Terence Dudley, the Doctor and his companions Tegan and Turlough land in England in the middle of a joust on March 4, 1215 - the date where history records that King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a Crusader. The problem is that King John is not in London where he is supposed to be, but at the country castle where the Doctor and his companions have landed and is demanding funds from his subjects for the Crusade.

The Doctor is quite curious about this King John, who is surprisingly here is the countryside. King John, who is not surprised by the Doctor and his companions arrival, is also quite curious and welcomes the Demons - the Doctor and his companions. The king soon makes the Doctor his new champion over the king's previous champion Sir Giles. The Doctor soon discovers that the real reason for the historical discrepancy - is that an old enemy wants to change world history into which the magna carta does not exist.

This story introduced Kamelion as a companion. I have always felt rather sad for Kamelion. He was never truly respected by the Doctor and his companions. Even when Kamelion was freed, they never really respected him. He was just there and never really became a part of them - and as a result, he had no characterization at all. The lack of respect and characterization for Kamelion was rather sad for me, especially with considering how compassionate the Doctor usually is.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Real Vampires Have Curves

BERKLEY BOOKS

Written by Gerry Bartlett

Copyright 2007 by Gerry Bartlett

 



In Real Vampires Have Curves by Gerry Bartlett, Glory St. Clair is a centuries-old vampire who is eternally full-figured. Glory stops traveling and starts an after dark antique clothing store in Austin, Texas. After all, she loves clothes and she is an antique - the trouble is that there is a billionaire vampire hunter with high tech weaponry who is after Glory and her fellow vampires.

The first book in the Real Vampires series, this book concentrates more on the present day in the middle of Texas rather than on any European vampire history that took place centuries ago. While this is an erotic vampire story, the book is not as sexually graphic as I would have thought for a romance novel. Although, I do think Glory is hot and busty - even if she does wish for some weight loss. Just thinking of Glory's cleavage being stuffed into a Kevlar bra was very hot to me. I thought it was funny that the book takes place in Austin, Texas - cowboy vampires! There are also a couple of ghosts in the book and Glory's talking demon dog, who was given to Glory as her protector by her old boyfriend and vampire sire Jeremy Blade.

I was quite surprised that Glory had several sales to actual humans during her graveyard shift hours for her boutique. Enough sales that she can hire someone to assist with the sales. I guess no one else caters to that group of people of the graveyard shift, aside from the late night convenient stores. Glory is determined to make a go of her business despite Blade wanting to just take care of her and protect her. Although I do not recall Glory vamping out with fangs, having her learning about how to be a real vampire was interesting.

The vampire hunter going after all of them gives the sense of danger to these vampires, as well as adding suspicion amongst themselves.

 Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
 

STARFIST: FORCE RECON - BOOK I - BACKSHOT

DEL REY

Written by David Sherman & Dan Cragg

Copyright 2005 by David Sherman and Dan Cragg

All rights reserved.



Backshot, written by David Sherman and Dan Cragg, is the first book about the men and women of Marine Force Recon who carry out the intelligence-gathering and small-unit raids behind enemy lines.

On the agricultural planet Atlas, the charismatic leader, as well as father, Jorge Lavager zealously guards an agricultural research facility. Fourth Force Recon's second platoon of Marines are dispatched to Atlas to find out what is really at the research facility.

What is scary is that a sniper team was also dispatched to Atlas with specific orders - depending on the news of what is found at the research facility, if the research facility is an agriculture facility or a military facility. I liked the fact that the sniper team's immediate superior tried to find out what their mission was because the sniper team were his people - but of course he could not find out about their mission because of operational security of the highest order. Having the "Queen of Killers" holed up with her male spotter in one of the planet's hotels was interesting. Too bad that everything concerning world of Atlas was politically motivated on Earth, instead of wanting to secure the safety of the Confederation. The Marines special forces, of course, are not aware of the politics - the Marines were just following the orders they were given. Of course, the Marines would follow their orders as the orders were lawfully given. They had no reason or suspicion as to question the morality of their orders. Although it was sad that the Marines had to kill an innocent to prevent the knowledge of their secret arrival on Atlas. This is a shame that they had to do that to the innocent by-stander - since Lavager as a leader was a pretty decent guy - but that is the fortunes of war for the innocent. My favorite scenes of Lavager were of him and his motherless daughter at home.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR WARS - CLONE WARS GAMBIT - STEALTH

DEL REY

Written by Karen Miller

Copyright 2010 by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Registered or Trademarked where indicated. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpt by Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast copyright 2009 by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Registered or Trademarked where indicated. All Rights Reserved.



In the first of the two-part series, Stealth - written by Karen Miller, and based on the animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are sent to the planet Lanteeb, a backwater planet which has suddenly drawn the attention of the Separatists during the Clone Wars.

After an investigation, Senator Padme Amidala, Kenobi, and Skywalker are convinced that the Separatists are developing a deadly bio weapon on Lanteeb. On Lanteeb, Separatist General Lok Durd is forcing Dr. Bent'ena Fhernan to develop this bio weapon for the Separatists - or he will kill all of her friends and family.

While the virus was decidedly vile and deadly, the fact that Fherman is being blackmailed into creating this virus was horrible for me to consider. The fact that Obi-Wan was willing to sacrifice Fherman's family for the big picture of saving the Galactic Republic made me feel for both Fhernan and Anakin. Anakin only wants to protect Fhernan and her family and made me feel as if Obi-Wan did not care about anybody. I felt for Fhernan in that, why should she sacrifice her family and friends - the people that she loves - for an entire galaxy that she does not know and of whom the galaxy does not know of or care of for Fhernan? What makes the galaxy more important than Fhernan's family and friends?

Back home, I liked that Ashoka - while undergoing medical treatment to get back to health after being injured from a mission - still cared for her clone troopers who were also injured with her under her command, especially after their communication systems were sabotaged during that mission.

Since the book was based on the cartoon series, instead of the movie, I kept picturing the characters from the cartoon series and their cartoon character voices instead of the real-life actors like Natalie Portman.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR WARS - THE FORCE UNLEASHED

DEL REY

Written by Sean Williams
Based on a story by Haden Blackman

Copyright 2008 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & Registered or Trademarked where indicated. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpt from Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber copyright 2009 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & Registered or Trademarked where indicated. All Rights Reserved.



In The Force Unleashed - written by Sean Williams - based on the video game from LucasArts for xbox 360, wii, ps3, Nintendo DS, and pc, based on a story by Haden Blackman - Darth Vader has a Sith apprentice and sends him to dispatch Vader's master's enemies.

With female pilot Juno Eclipse becoming the apprentice's pilot to fly them through Empire space, you would think that Juno would automatically relate to the apprentice named Starkiller since she was an empire subject herself and was against the rebellion. With the orphaned apprentice so mysterious, Juno was leery of him initially and even spied on the apprentice - and discovered that Starkiller is actually the apprentice of Darth Vader. Vader is secretly grooming his apprentice to help him overthrow the Emperor. With the apprentice sent by Darth Vader to search out and hunt down the Jedi who had escaped Order 66, it was hard for me to like Starkiller initially as he did so.

I felt the apprentice's journey from evil to good was not quite believable. It did not help in that I could never get into his character. There was no real characterization in the beginning of the book of the apprentice for me to relate to him in any way. In one sense, Starkiller's transformation was too abrupt, as for the most part he was pretending that he was good in order to get to his assigned victims. Although with Vader trying to kill his apprentice, it was quite appropriate that Starkiller starts to change. While Vader faked the apprentice's death to fool the Emperor at the cost of several clone troopers, there is still the weight of Starkiller being Vader's apprentice - with the stigma of The Sith always betraying each other. Having Starkiller's droid Proxy being his sparring partner and programmed to become holographic well-known enemies such as Jedi, was both quite appropriate and unpredictable as Proxy was secretly programmed to kill the apprentice. Juno was quite the obvious romantic partner for Starkiller, despite her fear and Starkiller's dismissal of Juno as his pilot.

While I have never played the game, I could never really relate as much to the characters as much as I wanted to, except for the Jedi. Probably because I knew of the Jedi characters that were used in the book from other books and media like The Clone Wars and not from the game. There is not as much initial characterization of the game characters as I would have liked - and by the time Williams really tried to start to develop the characters in the book, it was too late for me.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - THE NEXT GENERATION - LOSING THE PEACE

POCKET BOOKS

Written by William Leisner

Copyright 2009 by Paramount Pictures Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.

TM, Registered and copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.



In Losing the Peace, Captain Picard and the Enterprise are on disaster relief duties after the Borg War.

After the events of the Destiny trilogy, Picard is reluctantly put on disaster relief duties close to home space by the President of the Federation after the Borg war has devastated most of the Federation - as well as devastating the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Chief of Security Jasminder Choudhury has survivor's guilt from surviving the Borg war and wonders about the fate of her family after her home world of Deneva has been devastated by the Borg. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher goes on a mission for refugees to the planet Pacifica.

Because the Federation has not known want, the government of Pacifica can not deal with the pressure of the semi-permanent refugee population from throughout the Federation being sent to Pacifica. The government of Pacifica then threatens basically to build a concentration camp for the refugees, instead of a real refugee camp - while an outbreak of contaminated water breaks out amongst the refugees. A pregnant Dr. Beverly Crusher arrives on Pacifica on a runabout and gets the outbreak under control with help from the resident doctors and a refugee who is on Pacifica. Meanwhile, Alpha Centauri considers withdrawing from the Federation because of Alpha Centauri's selfishness - until Picard kidnaps the Alpha Centaurus president and forces the president to confront the beleaguered planet of Pacifica.

It is interesting that half-Vulcan T'Ryssa Chen is contacted by her long-estrained Vulcan father when learning about her human mother's death during the Borg invasion. After meeting T'Ryssa's apparently uncaring father, I can understand now why half-Vulcan T'Ryssa embraces her human side instead of her non-emotional Vulcan side. Since she felt her mother was safe, I felt for T'Ryssa when she learns of the unexpected loss of her mother.

This book leads into Federation President Bacco announcing that the Federation enemies are forming the Typhon Pact.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

IRON MAN 2

GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING

A Novel by Alexander Irvine

Based on the Screenplay by Justin Theroux

Copyright 2010 Marvel Entertainment, Inc., and its subsidiaries. Iron Man2, the Movie copyright 2010 MVL Film Finance LLC. Marvel, Iron Man, all character names and their distinctive likeness: TM & copyright 2010 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

All rights reserved.

Book design by Giorgetta Bell McRee







In Iron Man 2, written by Alexander Irvine, is a novelization of the movie Iron Man 2. Now that Tony Stark has revealed his identity as Iron Man, the U.S. government and military wants control of Stark's weapons system - the Iron Man suit. Meanwhile, Stark is hunted by a Russian criminal  getting revenge for his father against Tony Stark's father because of the technology powering the Iron Man suit.

With Stark's best friend Rhodey being in the military, Rhodey's loyalties are painfully divided between the military and Stark. With Stark going into a drunken depression from all of the fame and pressure of the government, and of Stark's impending death from his fatal wound during the war, Rhodey's decision is forced upon him - although Rhodey is unaware of Stark's medical condition. Rhodey soon falls in bed with Stark's weapons system influential rival Justin Hammer. With the military's help, Hammer soon reverse engineer's the Iron Man suit and creates Rhodey's powerful new War Machine suit design.

I liked Ivan Vanko's determined motivation on getting his revenge against Stark, with having Vanko's father dying as a poor man - while Stark's father gets all of the fame for their technology after Vanko's father and Stark's father worked together to invent the arc technology. With Vanko being a Russian prisoner, Vanko had more characterization to me than of a typical Russian character. Of course, there is more focus on internal characterization in a novel than there is in a movie - so Vanko was more relatable to me in the book than he was in the movie, and Vanko was relatable to me in the movie with Mickey Rourke's acting as the evil villain character Whiplash.

It was great to see Pepper Potts being made into the CEO of Stark Enterprises, of which Pepper is quite capable of handling - especially as Stark becomes more and more drunk. As a replacement for Pepper, Stark gets a new beautiful assistant Natalie Rushman - who has a mysterious agenda.

Nick Fury and SHIELD make an appearance in this story, along with SHIELD's new agent - the Black Widow. SHIELD further links the Marvel comic books and movies into one shared universe.

Click here for the review of the movie Iron Man 2.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - ENTERPRISE - THE ROMULAN WAR - BENEATH THE RAPTOR'S WING

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Michael A. Martin

Copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc.
STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc.
All Rights Reserved.




In Beneath the Raptor's Wing, the first novel of The Romulan War series written by Michael A. Martin, the Earth-Romulan War is in full swing. With the Romulan Star Empire's ability to remotely take control of other alien race's starships, the other races of the Coalition slowly pull out of their commitment to the Coalition of Planets - leaving Starfleet alone to deal with the Romulans as it turns out that the Starfleet ships resists the Romulan takeover programming better than the others ships in the Coalition. Captain Jonathan Archer was very upset at being abandoned by the Coalition, while the news media escalates both sides of the story.

I was disappointed that the Vulcans had refused to have an active part of the war. While I understand the Vulcans non-involvement in the war, especially with their racial connection to the Romulans, it was very disconcerting to me to watch the Vulcans just stand by and let Earth handle the war mostly by themselves and the Andorians. The Vulcans offer of a detection grid in Coalition space hardly makes up for the Vulcan's lack of support - especially when the detection grid seems to be ineffectual to any type of detection of the Romulan ships as the Romulans continue to get through the grid and launch sneak attacks on the various planets.

I was sad that Travis Mayweather was so pissed off with Archer over what had happened with the freighter the Kobayashi Maru - that Mayweather packs up and leaves the Enterprise. I can understand how Mayweather would feel - in that Archer would have treated his family's freighter the same way under the same circumstances, and that he can not work with Archer anymore. With Archer trying to form an alliance with the Klingon Empire in order to have the Klingons to join Starfleet against the Romulans - it shows how the reader of how desperate the situation is becoming for Earth in this first year of the Romulan war.

Having the Romulans undergoing a Machiavellian power struggle amongst themselves in the middle of the war was interesting. It was like a comeuppance to the Romulans for me. Meeting Captain Dunsel for the first time in the Star Trek series was anti-climatic for me as I expected a more incompetent person to be the infamous Captain Dunsel, and I did not feel that Dunsel had deserved his infamous reputation that he had amongst the midshipmen at Starfleet Academy.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING TREKKIES

QUIRK BOOKS

Written by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall

Copyright 2010 by Kevin David Anderson

Designed by Doogie Horner
Production management by John J. McGurk
Cover illustration by Glen Orbik



In Night of the Living Trekkies, written by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall, a Star Trek convention is held in a hotel in Houston, Texas - and gets invaded by zombies.

It should be duly noted that on both the front and back covers of the book, as well as a blurb on an inside page, are disclaimers that Night of the Living Trekkies is not officially sponsored or affiliated with the Star Trek brand and that this book is a parody.

A combination of Star Trek and Night of the Living Dead, this humorous book was actually much more fun to read than I thought it would be. Anderson and Stall are obvious science fiction fans and have captured the Star Trek fan experience with zombie lore and have made a very entertaining zombie fiction book. The chapter titles are actually titles from the Star Trek series episodes and I felt that the titles that were used for the chapters were quite appropriate for the subject of that particular chapter - with most of the chapter titles coming from the episode titles of Star Trek - The Original Series. The other chapter titles I had to look up as I am not as familiar with the other Star Trek series episode titles as I am with The Original Series.

Military Afghanistan veteran, and former Star Trek fan, Jim Pike is an assistant manager of a small hotel in Houston that is hosting a Star Trek convention. When mysterious prisoners escape from a secret military facility, the prisoners wind up at the convention - and start eating the Trekkies, turning the Trekkies into zombies. Now Jim must lead a group of fanboys and fangirls who have survived the zombies to get out of the hotel - to escape the Wrath of Con.

I liked the scientific explanations of how the zombies actually functioned, incorporating most - if not all - of the tropes of zombies to be explained scientifically with the zombie virus coming from space. As the city of Houston falls victim to the zombies, I get the claustrophobic feeling that this was a story of the apocalypse as the zombies gather around the hotel. I have always felt that there is a certain amount of bestiality about zombies. Having the Trekkies becoming zombies seemed like an appropriate comeuppance to most of these Trekkies who have gone overboard on the fandom. The Trekkies in the book have become graphic victims to the determined zombies, so the book would be rated at least a PG-13 book. So, as much as I like Star Trek, I am glad that I have not gone as overboard into the Trek fandom as these Trekkies have. Although I once was a Gopher at one of the first Star Trek conventions that was held, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, mainly so I could get a discount on the convention. Actually I think it was the first Star Trek convention at the LA Convention Center way back then since I was 17 at the time, but I am not sure if that convention was actually the first Trekkie convention. So I know the scenes written of the convention were fairly similar to what I had experienced at the Convention Center.

I would have liked to have seen an introduction from authors Anderson and Stall as to how the two of them came up with the idea of Night of the Living Trekkies, to make the book a little more personal. There was only just a little two sentence blurb on the back cover of the book about authors Anderson and Stall.


Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - STRANGE NEW WORLDS

POCKET BOOKS

Edited by Dean Wesley Smith with John J. Ordover and Paula M. Block

Copyright 1998 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.



In Star Trek - Strange New Worlds, a competition of new Star Trek short stories that were written by Star Trek fans is collected in this anthology of eighteen stories. These fan stories are set during the series Star Trek, Star Trek - The Next Generation, Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek - Voyager.

This is the first of the annual Strange New Worlds anthologies composed of the best of the Star Trek contest fan written short stories that was conducted every year for ten years by Pocket Books, of which the anthology included the prize winners. Included in this anthology is a Because We Can section, where editors John J. Ordover and Paula M. Block added their own stories - which broke the contest rules, hence the title of the section: Because We Can. The anthology at the end of the book has the contest rules for the Trek fan written short stories that were to be submitted for the next volume of the Strange New Worlds anthologies. The anthology also at the end of the book has a biographical list of the fan fiction contributors.

I happened to have enjoyed these fan written stories created for this anthology, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the anthologies. Although, Paula Block's story definitely does not follow the contest rules. Block's story "The Girl Who Controlled Gene Kelly's Feet" actually could just have been set in any other space adventure - especially since it does not have any of the regular Star Trek characters in the story, but the story was rather cute.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE

BALLANTINE BOOKS

A NOVEL BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM

Copyright 2004 by John Birmingham
Excerpt from Designated Targets by John Birmingham copyright 2005 by John Birmingham

All rights reserved.



In John Birmingham's Weapons of Choice, the first book in the Axis of Time trilogy, a Multinational fleet of warships is escorting a Joint Research Vessel's sea trials in the 21st century. They soon become caught up in a wormhole from the Research Vessel's secret weapons and stealth system project that suddenly went wrong - and get thrown back into the middle of the Pacific Ocean during World War II.


While similar to the movie The Final Countdown, the book has more interaction with the world than The Final Countdown did during World War II. While interacting with the 1940's Allies, the 21st century Multinational force deals with a lot of prejudices from the Allies as well as the technological differences. Some of the prejudices become rather violent, such as a riot from a bar. In fact, most of the story in the book deals with the prejudices between the two time groups rather than with the actual war. It made me upset that the 1940's characters had these prejudices, but it made me realize that these prejudices were real back in those times and we have come a long way since then. Although, there is still quite a way to go with our prejudices here in the present day.

I kept thinking that they should have shown the movie Top Gun to the 1940's commanders as an introduction of the type of aircraft to expect from the Multinationals, even though the movie is set midway between the too eras. It was great that both groups eventually worked together to rescue some POW's in Singapore and Luzon. Having a woman doctor and woman reporter taking part in that military operation of rescuing the POW's was very inspiring. Although there were no more new services like CNN during the 1940's, the women reporters were determined to do their jobs and record these historical military actions with their high-tech media and maybe get jobs for the local news services - even if it means for them coming under fire. I also liked that some of the future military personnel had relatives living and fighting through the war now and became even more dedicated military personnel in order to preserve their relatives lives.

Since there was a fleet of Multinational vessels that were transported, some of the vessels got scattered from the fleet when they all went through the wormhole - with some of the vessels being captured by the Axis powers, like the Japanese. Now, of course, having the Axis powers - including Hitler  - in possession of 21st century technology and determined to change the course of the war after knowing their future history was very disturbing for me to read and disturbing to think about if this would ever happen.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - DESTINY - BOOK III LOST SOULS

s

POCKET BOOKS

Written by David Mack

Copyright 2008 by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Art by Rick Rick Berry; design by Alan Dingman.



Lost Souls written by David Mack, is Book III of the Destiny trilogy. Captains Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, and Ezri Dax must fight the Borg for the sake of the known galaxy.

What I liked about Lost Souls is that you finally get to find out where the Borg came from and who the Borg Queen is. Having Will Riker being forced to leave behind his crew and his wife, Deanna Troi, in order for Will and his ship to escape the Caelier with Captain Erica Hernandez of the Columbia on board made me feel for Will and the responsibilities of command. Having President Bacco of the Federation accepting the responsibility for the fall of the Federation made me really feel for her knowing the Federation is being destroyed as she listens to report after report of the fall of various strategic points in and out of Federation space to the Borg. It really makes me feel for President Bacco because she is really just a regular person from a small town on a small planet, who just happens to be the President of the Federation. The fact that President Bacco gives Captain Picard to take any actions - even if they violate Starfleet or Federation law - made me appreciate how desperate she considers the situation.

With Picard strongly considering using Thaleron radiation to destroy the Borg, of which use was last seen in the movie Star Trek - Nemesis, Geordi LaForge strongly objects to building such a device as it is morally wrong. You can see how obsessed Picard is for ordering Geordi to build such a device. As it is, they use the dangerous Omega molecule - the perfect molecule of which the Borg have been looking for - as bait to lure the Borg into a trap. Now will their plans work in stopping the Borg?

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

THE FROST HAIRED VIXEN

DAW BOOKS, INC.

Written by John Zakour

Copyright 2005 by John Zakour
Cover art by Michael Koelsh.




In The Frost-Haired Vixen written by John Zakour, a Zachary Nixon Johnson book, Zach Nixon - the last private investigator in the world of 2061 - is hired by Santana Clausa, the beautiful CEO of the North Pole Organization. Santana wants Zach because two of her elves up at the North Pole have been murdered.  Now, Zach must find the killer before the Holiday is ruined.

Zach and his A.I. companion HARV - who is painfully hard wired into Zach's brain - are transported to the North Pole to secretly infiltrate a travel tour group that is visiting the "happiest, safest place on Earth." The tour group is composed of an interesting set of character suspects who might have killed the mutant elves.

The series is a funny pulp fiction series set in the future. The humor usually deals with the anachronisms and the politics of the future. The humor also comes with Zach having an off-the-wall crew of associates and an equally group of off-the-wall bad guys who are usually not as smart as Zach's people are. The things that are related to Santa Claus are all satirized in this book, which gives new meaning to "naughty or nice."

Zach always has beautiful, erotic, and powerful superhuman women around him as clients - which upsets his lady, the beautiful, smart, and talented Dr. Electra. Santana Clausa is no exception to his beautiful women clients. While the various women around Zach are sexy, I am very fond of Electra - who I think is hot.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR WARS - THE NEW JEDI ORDER - ENEMY LINES II - REBEL STAND

LUCAS BOOKS

Written by Aaron Allston

Copyright 2002 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.



In Rebel Stand, written by Aaron Allston, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker, and Tahiri Veila, along with Wraith Squadron, find on Coruscant a genetically-engineered force sensitive masquerading as a legendary being called Lord Nyax - who is determined to open a Force nexus beneath the old Jedi Temple. Meanwhile, Han and Leia set up secret resistance cells on planets that are ready to join the alien enemy Yuuzhan Vong in New Republic space - when Han and Leia get captured. On Borleias, Wedge Antilles organizes defenses - with Rogue Squadron Jedi pilot Jaina Solo continuing as the Yuuzhan Vong's Trickster goddess while she is flying missions.

It is sad to see Tahiri still suffering the effects of being held a prisoner of the Yuuzhan Vong. I am hoping that Tahiri will someday come to terms with her captivity, as I missed her enthusiasm, especially when she was with Anakin. It was great to see Wraith Squadron again. Wraith Squadron was used as an intelligence unit in the book instead of as a fighter squadron. With Coruscant becoming terraformed by the Vong, the planet has become more of a city with jungle overgrowth since it's fall, instead of the megalopolis planet that it used to be as Wraith Squadron picks it's way throughout the city. It is interesting to see the fate of the traitorous Galactic Senator Viqi Shesh. I haven't liked her since I first met her, and to see the Yuuzhan Vong treat her like dirt was rather satisfying.

As a videographer, I totally sympathized with the holocam operator Tam Elgrin being an unwilling saboteur for the Yuuzhan Vong. I was wondering how I would react if I were him, and if I would be strong enough to fight off the influence of the Vong. It would devastate me if I were a traitor killing everybody.

I was sad to know the final fate of the Imperial Star Dreadnought Lusankya, considering the powerful mythology that was used behind the Lusankya. I still think of the Lusankya as the powerful mythological prison the Empire's intelligence chief Ysanne Isard used to interrogate and brainwash her prisoners to become sleeper agents.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - THE NEXT GENERATION - FOREIGN FOES

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Dave Galanter and Greg Brodeur

Copyright 1994 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.



In Foreign Foes, written by Dave Galanter and Greg Brodeur, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is mediating a peace treaty between two hostile races - the Klingons and the Hidran race. Things get deadly when the Hidran ambassador dies and kills a Klingon delegate in revenge as he does so.

It was sad for me to see Worf being charged with the murder of the Hidran ambassador. Although under accusation for murder, Worf acted very dignified under the circumstances which I appreciated. Having the civilian doctor in charge of the colony that the negotiations are being held, holding sway over the crew of the Enterprise is frustrating.  I was also very upset that Data was acting differently. I felt, while reading this, that the writers were taking umbrage with his character initially. Even though Data's actions was eventually explained, it was very frustrating to read about what Data was doing in his paranoia of the Klingons - thus jeopardizing the Federation/Klingon alliance as Data takes the U.S.S. Enterprise into Klingon space. While the Klingons were traditionally arrogant against everybody, they were true allies with the Federation when the Klingons finally team up with Picard.

I am not crazy about the cover being white. The white cover makes me think the story is much brighter than the story really is. I was getting schizophrenic about the tone of the story while I was reading it. If the cover was dark, I would have been in the proper mood for the story.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - VOYAGER - UNWORTHY

Pocket Books

Written by Kirsten Beyer

Trademark, Registered, and Copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.



In Unworthy, written by Kirsten Beyer, after spending several years stranded in the Delta Quadrant - the U.S.S. Voyager is returning to the Delta Quadrant from their home space, the Alpha Quadrant, while leading a fleet of Federation starships to find out what truly has happened to the Borg. Voyager and the fleet's other mission is also to explore and establish diplomatic relations amongst Delta Quadrant space.

With the Borg absorbed into the Caeliar gestalt, the Federation really wants to know for sure that the Borg threat is gone. The new slipstream drive engines allows Voyager and the fleet to make traveling to the Delta Quadrant as a reasonable journey feasible. As a result, Starfleet Command created the Project Full Circle fleet. Meanwhile, with the passing of her Aunt Irene on Earth, Seven of Nine is slowly going mad from the recent events of the Star Trek - Destiny trilogy, which includes Seven not being absorbed by the Caeliar along with the Borg - and having a little girl's voice inside of Seven of Nine insisting that Seven is her former self, Annika Hansen. Former Voyager Captain, Chakotay does what he can to help Seven - including getting Seven back aboard Voyager.

I had mixed feelings about Voyager returning to the Delta Quadrant. After spending so many years stranded from home, I would not want to return if I were them. I felt very much for how the crew would feel, and for their families of being separated from their loved ones again. However, Voyager's crew is an invaluable experienced resource in the return to the Delta Quadrant. I almost hated Captain Afsarah Eden for trying to force the Voyager crew to make the journey. The evolution of the characters seems to make them more mature - and what happens to some of the new characters is rather shocking.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

1634: THE BALTIC WAR

A Baen Book

Written by Eric Flint & David Webber

Copyright 2007 by Eric Flint & David Webber

Cover art by Tom Kidd
Maps by Randy Asplund




In 1634: The Baltic War by Eric Flint and David Webber, a book in the alternate history shared universe 1632 series, the book takes place in the year 1634. Gustavus Adolphus, the King of Sweden, and Emperor of the United States of Europe, prepares to counter-attack the countries of France, Spain, England, and Denmark who are threatened by the power of Sweden and the time-lost Americans of West Virginia.

The Baltic War wraps up the story of the captive Grantville diplomatic mission who were being held in the Tower of London while a commando unit is sent in by Mike Sterns to rescue them. While I have heard of the Tower of London, I never knew that the Tower of London was so famous for being a prison before I read this series of books. What is great about the 1632 books is that there is a lot of history and geography for this time period that I am learning from, even if it does deal with an alternate history.

I liked the fact that Admiral Simpson is building the USE Navy's ironclad ships. I appreciated the ironclad ships and their use in the book a lot more than I have ever had in Civil War history books. Often times Eric Flint writes a story based on what the artist has drawn for Flint's cover - and I got the feel of the cover through Flint's writing. It was also fun to see the captured USE naval officer Eddie Cantrell being seduced by the Danish King's teen aged Daughter, while a peasant German soldier wondering if he can develop a relationship with a social worker from the future was very romantic to read about.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - THE LOST ERA - CATALYST OF SORROWS

An Original Publication of POCKET BOOKS

Written by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Based upon STAR TREK and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION created by Gene Roddenberry

STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller

and STAR TREK: VOYAGER created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor

Copyright 2004 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.



In Catalyst of Sorrows by Margaret Wander Bonanno, Romulan Tal-Shiar agent Zetha is sent from the Romulan Star Empire to Federation space by an old and trusted Romulan friend of Admiral Uhura, chief of Starfleet Intelligence. Zetha was to bring news to Uhura of an ancient deadly plague that crosses species - which is spreading throughout the Empire. Uhura's friend hopes of Federation assistance in stopping the plague. Uhura picks a young Lieutenant Benjamn Sisko, Lieutenant Tuvok, Dr. Selar, and Zetha to investigate in the field to try to locate the origin and try to stop it.

I like that the relationships between the young people from the different cultures survive their various governments politics after all these years, like the young Uhura and the young Romulan diplomatic assistant. It was great to see Uhura overcome Dr. McCoy's excuse of wanting to remain in retirement so he can work remotely on finding a cure for this plague. It was also good to see Dr. McCoy working with Beverly Crusher in the lab. When they discover that the disease was actually manufactured, the ground team searches for the creator of the disease with the possibility that he may have created a cure as well. However, other factions also want the creator for their own agenda.

Surprisingly, a minor character from Star Trek: The Search for Spock becomes an important part of the book. How this character got from his position in the movie - to the position he has in the book was a little hard for me to believe, but sufficient time had elapsed that I could accept his career path and his current position. I liked seeing the juxtaposition of the leader of the Tal-Shiar and of a young Luther Sloan, who would soon be in charge of Section 31 - both of which are covert agencies of their respective governments.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR WARS - SPECTER OF THE PAST

A Bantam Spectra Book

Written by Timothy Zahn

Copyright 1997 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cover illustration by Drew Struzan,
copyright 1997 by Lucasfilm Ltd.




Star Wars - Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn, is the first of the The Hand of Thrawn Duology. With the Empire on the brink of collapse, the New Republic is also on the verge of a civil war as various factions want justice for the virtual extermination of the Caamasi race and their planet. However, this pales in comparison to the shocking news - the Empire's Grand Admiral Thrawn is back.

I liked how Thrawn was brought back into the series and how manipulative he and his co-conspirators are in the Empire as they make strategic plans for their agenda in creating their own power. I also liked how honorable Admiral Pellaeon tries to broker a peace between the Empire and the New Republic. Pellaeon was never really the Empire to me, but just a guy caught up in the political aspect of the galaxy. I was not crazy about the various political factions capitalizing on revenge for the Caamasi for their own agendas. Only the Caamasi should have the right to proclaim justice, and the Caamasi refuse to do so - but the other factions within the New Republic refuse to do what the Caamasi say, zealously enraging their own biases.

Luke teams up with Mara Jade to search for rogue pirate ships in deep space, which apparently contain clones, as well as sesarching for the appearance of a mysterious ship which appears to be related to Thrawn. You can see Luke and Mara's relationship growing as Luke teaches Mara more about the Force, and Mara teaches Luke more about himself as they search for the Hand of Thrawn.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

The Sorceress of Karres

A Baen Books Original

Written by Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Copyright 2010 by Eric Flint and Dave Freer



In The Sorceress of Karres by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, a sequel to James H. Schmitz's 1966 novel The Witches of Karres, a straight-laced Captain Pausert is given a new mision to investigate a series of unknown ships attacking other ships in the Chaladoor region of space. While the young witch The Leewit will be joining him, her sister Goth - who insists she will marry Pausert when Goth is older - will be sent on a special mission by going back in time to Pausert's home planet - to a time when Pausert was just a teenager.

Pausert has fond memories of a girl he had met when he was a teenager, unbeknowest to him - that the girl he had met was in reality Goth, who had traveled back in time to prevent some event from happening. When you consider that the adult Pausert feels a little uncomfortable with the young Goth, the relationship with teenaged Pausert and with the Goth in his past seems much more natural as she partners with Pausart and basically brings out the best of this young misfit.

Being pursued by a mysterious hairless woman in both the past and in the future shows that Pausert has something important in his possession - and the mysterious hairless woman turns out to be even more sinister than you may think.

I liked young Pausert's relationship with Goth when she travels back into his past as they work together to save Pausert's past. Goth is more mature at this point than in Schmitz's original story. She is more of a peer with the young Pausert, rather than of a young girl pining for a mature Pausert. You can see young Pausert's growing interest in Goth's confounding antics. The Leewit is also more mature in the story and taking on more responsibility in the novel.

Pancho
All people smile in the same langauge.

STAR WARS - REVENGE OF THE SITH

Del Rey Books Mass Market Edition

Written by Mathew Stover

Copyright 2005 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.



Revenge of the Sith by Mathew Stover is the novelization of the movie Revenge of the Sith. In the midst of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Council sends Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on a mission to get the cyborg Separatist leader General Grievous. Meanwhile, Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic Palpatine strips away the citizens personal liberties throughout the Republic in the name of security to establish the Galactic Empire. Palpatine also turns the public against the Jedi - including Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, of which the Jedi Council denies Anakin from becoming a Jedi Master. Anakin also has visions and fears that his secret wife, Senator Padme Amidala, will die in childbirth. Palpatine manipulations, and Anakin's fear, leads to an unspeakable new Sith Lord - Darth Vader.

While many of the politics of the book may seem like they came out of today's headlines - George Lucas actually based the politics from the Vietnam War era, since that is the time when George Lucas started writing Star Wars. This is perhaps the darkest story of all of the stories in the Star Wars series as the story of Revenge of the Sith leads into the dark times and the Galactic Empire - and the darkness of the various characters as the Dark Side reaches them.

While I have never believed Hayden Christensen as Anakin in the movie, in the book the characterization of Anakin was much more believable. Having Anakin defeat Count Dooku in the way that he did was rather graphic for the Chosen One - a preview of Anakin's path towards the Dark Side. Chancellor Palpatine seems more like a reasonable regular politician throughout most of the book - although Palpatine does give the infamous Order 66 for the clone troopers to exterminate the Jedi. It is hard for me to believe that the young Darth Vader had no remorse or not having any type of emotion for his deeds, except for his anger toward Obi-Wan at the climax and of what Vader's deeds has ultimately cost him. Having tiny little Yoda do battle with Darth Sidious is great to see, even though Yoda will grow weak by the time of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. I liked how the end of the book set everything in motion for the next series of books, starting with Star Wars: A New Hope.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.