INTO THE LOOKING GLASS

A Baen Book

Written by John Ringo

Copyright 2005 by John Ringo

Cover Art by Kurt Miller

In Into the Looking Glass, when a University experiment blows up with the size of a nuclear explosion - it opens up gateways to other planets. Dr. William Weaver, a doctor in nuclear physics, and Navy SEAL team Command Master Chief Miller must do what they can in their armored mecha suits to stop hostile aliens from invading Earth. Somehow, this was not in their original occupational job descriptions.

The first of the Looking Glass series, this is a fun book with a down to earth physicist just trying to deal with a sudden wacky problem. Instead of travelling through space, aliens are arriving through interstellar gateways. With the gateways popping up all over the planet, it is hard for the general populace to deal with the strange aliens appearing at home in their living rooms. It is nice to see the National Guard having a major role in defense of our country for once and that aliens are not classified by the government as a secret.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

TERMINATOR SALVATION

TITAN BOOKS

Written by Alan Dean Foster

Based on the motion picture written by
John Brancato & Michael  Ferris

Copyright 2009 by T Asset Acquisition Company, LLC.

The novelization of the movie Terminator Salvation tells the story of human resistance leader John Connor and Kyle Reese both in there own ways fighting the Terminators.

With the novelization, I better understand the characters than what I learned from the movie as there is more characterization with the characters than what can be depicted in a movie. Even the new Terminators I can better understand as they are described in the novelization. You can see the development of Kyle Reese as a resistance fighter as he survives in the city ruins of Los Angeles. With Marcus Wright searching for his engineered experimented origins and for his new acquaintance Kyle, who was taken by the Terminators, the novelization is more about Wright than about John Connor. Connor's conflicts with his own chain of command is rather frustrating and you almost cheer for Connor as he defies command and becomes the leader he is supposed to be.

See movie review:

Terminator Salvation


Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - UNSPOKEN TRUTH

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Copyright 2010 by CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc.

Cover art by Doug Drexler

In Unspoken Truth, after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Saavik - Spock's Vulcan/Romulan science officer protege, from the Romulan planetary experiment Hellguard - becomes a science officer aboard the research vessel U.S.S. Chaffee. She is then contacted by an old friend. Someone is killing Hellguard survivors and Saavik is recruited by her childhood colleague survivor from Hellguard to find out why.

We learn more about Saavik and how she grew from a feral discarded genetic experiment to the logical science officer she is now. It is cute how Spock's mother Amanda tries to educate the child Saavik, while on the Chaffee another scientist falls in love with Saavik - especially since they had similar rough childhoods. The womanizing scientist getting his comeuppance trying to get to know the cool Saavik is both rather funny and annoying at the same time. You feel that she deserves better as they catalogue a new planetary system and attend an alien wedding. When Saavik goes undercover to find out who is killing the Hellguard survivors, you feel that she really has gone over to the other side and I felt very disconcerted about that.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - CORPS OF ENGINEERS - GRAND DESIGNS

POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Shuster, Inc.

Written by Dave Galanter, Allyn Gibson, Kevin Killiany, Paul Kupperberg, David Mack, and Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

Based upon Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation created by Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller

Star Trek S.C.E.:Ring Around the Sky copyright 2004 by CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek S.C.E.: Orphans copyright 2004 by CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek S.C.E.: Grand Designs copyright 2004 by CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek S.C.E.: Failsafe copyright 2004 by CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek S.C.E.:Bitter Medicine copyright 2004 by CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek S.C.E.: Sargasso Sector copyright CBS Studios Inc.



Star Trek Corps of Engineers  Grand Designs is an anthology about the Federation Sabre-class Starship U.S.S. da Vinci and their crew of Corps of Engineers, like the Army Corps of Engineers, who go around Federation space solving the engineering problems of the Federation.

Several of the stories continue with the aftermath of the loss of half the crew from a previous story. It shows how the series is evolving rather than just being one shot stories with a new series. Although the stories by themselves are of a good quality, like Captain Gold at odds with his own crew of Corps of Engineers during a weapons inspection - or Commander Sonya Gomez leading an away team mission to extract a Federation probe as they infiltrate behind the lines of a planetary war.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR WARS - CORUSCANT NIGHTS III - PATTERNS OF FORCE

A Del Rey Books Mass Market Original

Written by Michael Reaves

Copyright 2008 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

In the third book of the Star Wars - Coruscant Nights series, Patterns of Force has Jedi Knight, in hiding from the Great Jedi Purge, Jax Pavan find a young man amongst the bowels of the city planet Coruscant with such raw power in the force that he takes him on as his padawan. Pavan also becomes involved in a plot to kill Emperor Palpatine.

I liked the idea of Jax being concerned about young Kaj and that Jax tries to teach Kaj on how to use the Force. Of course Jax is also concerned that Kaj does not fall prey to the Dark Side of the Force as the Inquisitors search for them. Having self-aware droid I-5YQ volunteer to kill Emperor Palpatine since he can not feel the droid in the force is a cute but logical action as I-5's reporter partner goes home. The climax has Darth Vader completing his quest of finding Jedi Knight Jax Pavan.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STARGATE SG-1 - ROSWELL

Fandemonium Books

Written by Sonny Whitelaw & Jennifer Fallon

Copyright 2007 Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. All Rights Reserved.

Stargate SG-1's, Roswell has the Stargate team on a mission gone wrong and a future General Sam Carter sends the rest of SG-1 after them. After various incidents, they wind up back in the past in Roswell, New Mexico 1947 - where the original UFO and aliens crash-landed - as they search for a lost Asgard.

I happen to like time travel stories and considering that the Asgard look like the grey aliens from the Roswell incident, it was only a matter of time that a story would revolve around the Asgard and Roswell. With the ship SG-1 uses considered as a UFO, it was funny how the alien Teal'c is the expert on Roswell trivia as the United States military at the Roswell Army Air Field tries to deal with the Asgard and their technology and not a weather balloon. The book even deals with the alien autopsies. Since dealing with the Stargate, they deal with quantum theory. The book explores the consequences of have the timeline being changed by SG-1's actions as well as exploring predestination events like the Tunguska explosion with the engine of a Goa'uld ship exploding. Having SG-1 meet some famous figures like H.P. Lovecraft is rather fun as well. It is sad that changing the timeline causes Colonel Cameron Mitchell to become a Jaffa First Prime in order for him to survive. This puts the pressure on SG-1 to correct the timeline and go home as the Goa'uld invade New York City from space.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - GATEWAYS - CHAINMAIL

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Diane Carey

Copyright 2001 by Paramount Pictures. All rights Reserved.




The second book of the Star Trek Gateways series is set amongst the Star Trek New Earth series. After encountering a derelict mausoleum ship in Belle Terre space, the U.S.S. Challenger, a hodgepodge of a Federation starship patrolling the Belle Terre colony sector, soon encounters the dangerous decendants of the derelict ship as they appear from one of the ancient Gateways. With the aliens, who were marooned on a metal planet with different physical laws - which gives a new meaning to the word metallica, Commander Nick Keller and the Challenger are hard put to defend themselves against the aliens who were on a quest for home.

The beginning of the book was a little hard to understand and relate to, especially if you are not familiar with Keller and the background of the Challenger crew - which combines Starfleet personel and the alien race the Blood. Once you are back on Challenger, then you are on familiar territory dealing with Star Trek concepts - even with the alliance with the Blood. When Blood first officer Shucorion comes across a missing ancestor, it becomes a very interesting story as to how he got there. Commander Keller becomes very determined to get control of the situation with a Blood strike on his ship because his best friend disobeyed orders and saved Shucorion's life, and the aliens trying to quarentine all the ships and the entire Federation. The book ends with a cliffhanger which leads to the last book, the Gateways anthology What Lay Beyond.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.