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.