This week, Shatner Claus delivers us a gift in the form of his first Trek novel. Right as Kirk feels the zest draining from his life, an alluring young woman comes along and brings his pocket rocket back up to maximum warp. But his friends are concerned that his dowsing rod might lead him into some murky waters. Who or what are the Children of Heaven? Is Kirk being used? And has Sulu become a company man? All this and more in The Ashes of Eden, the book where he says the thing!
Tag: corruption in starfleet
This week, while Sulu plays flyboy in the desert, Chekov learns the hard way that real-world experience doesn’t translate to college credits. But when the two men are charged with a host of crimes, Uhura wonders if she may have to have her teacher’s pet put down. Will the boys be home in time for Christmas? Is the Lost Years concept out of gas? And what are some of the more mundane occupational hazards of corporate espionage? All this and more in Traitor Winds, the book that forces us to confront the existence of Klingon anime body pillows.
This week, peace sells, but who’s buying? The Klingons, that’s who. Perpetual war, it turns out, is not economically sustainable, and they’re on the prowl for a better business model. But players on all sides have a vested interested in keeping things the way they are, and a road that was as smooth as CGI Klingon blood suddenly becomes very bumpy. If Kirk wants to make a history omelet, he’ll have to break a few prejudice eggs—but starting a fire in his new digs might be kind of difficult. Where did the Organians skip off to? Why is Valeris so emotional for a Vulcan? And to what extent can a novelization critique the movie it’s about? All this and more in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the book that actually cares about things that happened in Star Trek V!
The last time J.M Dillard tried to mix Star Trek with horror, it didn’t turn out so hot. The idea scored some points for novelty, but the execution was lacking. But if at first you don’t succeed, so the saying try again, and in this case, the second time’s the charm. Now, just in time for Christmas ’87 comes a good old-fashioned Halloween yarn. Though the premise—”what if vampires, but Star Trek”—could have easily succumbed to risible goofiness, Dillard never allowed it to dominate the story and fortified it with some of her best character work yet. This week, we check out Bloodthirst, or, Porphyria and Loathing in Las Tanis.
This week, we meet Lt. Piper, who knocks the socks off the Kobayashi Maru and proves that, while orange may indeed be the new black, black is the new (command) gold. Will Kirk’s confidence in her talents pay off? How many OCs paralleling the main cast is too many? By what percentage does an exclamation point in the title make the book more exciting? We’ll seek the answers to those questions and more as we review Dreadnought!, or, Two Warp Nacelles Is Company, Three’s a War.