THE LOST FLEET - DAUNTLESS

An ACE Book/published by arrangement with the author

Written by John G. Hemry writing as Jack Campbell

Copyright 2006 by John G. Hemry writing as Jack Campbell

Cover art by Pat Turner
Cover design by Annette Fiore
Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario

In Jack Campbell's Dauntless, the first book of The Lost Fleet series - John "Black Jack" Geary is a space navy hero who, after being rescued from suspended animation in an escape pod for a hundred years after being in an historical battle in which he was made into a hero, is reluctantly given command of an Alliance space fleet after a peace accord betrayal with the Syndicate Worlds - and goes on the run from the Syndics in the middle of enemy Syndic territory.

After a supposedly "last stand" against a Syndic fleet in the early days of the war and his disappearance, Captain John "Black Jack" Geary feels very uncomfortable with the reverence that the Alliance fleet has for him since he was revived after being discovered in suspended animation in his escape pod. With the Alliance being at war for so long, Geary discovers the officers do not have the experience or honor that the Alliance had at the beginning of the hundred years war with the Syndics at the time of Geary's disappearance. Geary conducts naval maneuvers and codes of conduct against the Syndics that alienates some of the officers of the fleet - which goes against all that they believed from "Black Jack's" exploits. As the fleet try to make their roundabout way back home to the Alliance with a Syndic "hypernet key" - which will allow them to attack the Syndic homeworld - the Syndics send all their military might to search for them.

What is sad is that Geary's grandnephew is very upset with him and his reputation as Geary's grandnephew had to grow up in the shadow of Geary's reputation, and had to live up to those high standards while his grandfather - Geary's brother - lived in the glow of "Black Jack" Geary. Geary, of course, is just a man and does not feel that his grand flawless reputation is deserved.

The scientific realities of space battles are very believable as they deal with the the various intricacies of how far light travels and tracking the positions of various ships from their light signatures. As the fleet raids Syndic worlds for supplies.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

DOCTOR WHO - VENGEANCE ON VAROS

A Target Book

Written by Philip Martin

Novelization copyright Philip Martin 1988
Original script copyright Philip Martin 1985
'Doctor Who' series copyright British Broadcasting Corporation 1985,1988

The role of the Doctor was played by Colin Baker

In Vengeance on Varos, when the TARDIS engine gets stalled in time and space, the Doctor and Peri land on the planet Varos which is the only source for the ore he needs to fix the TARDIS.

When the Doctor saves a rebel leader,the Doctor earns the wrath of the representative of the Galatron Mining Corporation. Concerned that his Corporation's business operations will be compromised - Sil, the representative, orders the Doctor's death. Soon, the breaking news of the Doctor and Peri's escape attempts are broadcast across the planet as the guards search for them as part of the population's entertainment. As a by-product of the broadcasts - the life of the leader of Varos depends on the popularity of his decisions, with the population voting like or dislike from the comfort of their own homes. This was demonstrated by an old married couple constantly bickering to each other about the consequences of each decision. So you wonder in which direction the leadcr of Varos will decide the Doctor's fate - despite the pressure of Sil's threats of withdrawing his Corporation's operations from the planet, thus threatening the planet's economy.

Media popularity has been a major factor in modern-day politics. You wonder how our President would fair under similar media popularity polls the Varos leader underwent.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - AVENGER

POCKET BOOKS

WILLIAM SHATNER with Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Copyright 1997 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In Avenger, a deadly virus is endangering the Federation. James T. Kirk, long believed dead, leaves his home and goes on a quest in Federation space to find a cure. Meanwhile, Spock must deal with his father's mysterious death.

With Kirk and Spock on the scene, it was inevitable that they would eventually find each other - along with new associates similar to their old crew. Working together, Kirk and Spock seek to fight against common old foes. And being in the 24th century, they would eventually meet up with Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, also looking for the cure to the virus. Spock becomes more emotional after his father Sarek's death. While there is a logical explanation for this, it is quite disconcerting to see our beloved Spock act in this manner. Although on the same side, Kirk and Picard have different agendas and go into conflict with each other. Vulcan officials are not exactly crazy about Kirk and his actions either.

While it is nice to see Sarek earlier in his career during the flashbacks, it also shows that there is more to Sarek than you ever suspected. You also see a young Kirk struggling to survive while he was at Tarsus IV - which also suffered from an exotic fungus.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - ENTERPRISE LOGS

POCKET BOOKS

Edited by Carol Greenburg
Introduction and Concept by Robert Greenberger

Copyright 2000 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Enterprise Logs is a Star Trek anthology of ten stories about all of the Captains of the Enterprise throughout a legacy of six centuries of history for as far back as the Revolutionary War.

It is great to get a sense of history through the genealogy of all the ships named Enterprise. While the stories on the American Sloop-of-War Enterprise during the Revolutionary War and the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise during World War II with a Japanese captive were good, you almost expected more of a science fiction/supernatural element connecting the stories to the rest of the Enterprise history as their Captains had their stories told - although there is more of a supernatural element on the Revolutionary War story.

Once the stories got into the stories of Starfleet as we know it, you could relate much better to the stories. The Enterprise goes out into space defending the Federation, starting with Captain Robert April - all the way up to Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The captains also include little-known woman Captain Rachel Garrett, as well as Captain Will Decker - who spent most of his captaincy of the Enterprise in dry dock. It is a shame the book was published before the TV series Enterprise aired, as I am sure a Jonathan Archer story would have been included as well.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

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.