Memory Prime by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Memory Prime by Judith Reeves-Stevens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Memory Prime is a novel that draws upon the events from the original series episode "The Lights of Zetar" where Lieutenant Mira Romaine is taken over by an alien life form after Memory Alpha is wiped clean and it's personnel killed. The budding romance between her and Scotty is also built upon in the novel and these elements are the cornerstones of Memory Prime.
In this novel the Federation has created a number of "memory planets" which provide redundancy while also specialising in certain areas but the entire network is still dependent upon a central nexus which is Memory Prime which is also the home for sentient AI's who have legal status in the Federation. As the Enterprise ferries nominees and attendees of the Nobel and Z-Magnees prize ceremonies to Memory Prime a threat is uncovered and while the details are vague the very existence and viability of the Federation is at stake. Sabotage aboard the Enterprise throws suspicion on Spock and Starfleet puts more military personnel into positions of power curtailing the normal operations of Memory Prime. The state of affairs become more confusing when subspace jamming prevents communication between the starbase and the Starfleet command and Kirk and his crew equally suspect after certain events occur are forced to solve the mystery themselves despite it putting them all on the wrong side of regulations...
Memory Prime is a very entertaining novel full of interesting characters and events for them to handle, the introduction of the sentient AI's was excellent, I really liked the idea that over the course of the Federation (and even before) a few computer systems had become self aware and eventually were recognised as sentient beings in their own right. The "people" who then became part of the interface team also added an interesting aspect to the story and by extension the conflict inherent when groups and individuals make decisions based on what's good for them rather than the whole. Memory Prime is an excellent story set within the original series environment but adds a level of complexity and depth the tv show could not often provide and I can recommend to any fan of Kirk and crew.

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STARGATE SG-1: Hall of the Two Truths by Susannah Parker Sinard

STARGATE SG-1: Hall of the Two Truths by Susannah Parker Sinard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a fan of the Stargate tv franchise but only dipped into the novels recently, I've read more of Atlantis than SG1 so it was time I jumped into the significant library of titles released since the shows went of the air.
In this case I picked up Hall Of The Two Truths by first time Stargate author Susannah Parker Sinard and with the usual trepidation always present when reading another's viewpoint of favoured characters shared the journey of SG1 as described in the novel. The story is set during the fifth season of SG1 so the Goa'uld are still in a free for all after the demise of Apophis and the team are still in turmoil over "their" failure to save the inhabitants of K'tau (Red Sky). This allows the author to mix things up a little and read more into the chemistry of the team than was always the case on the television show. So let's dip into the story a little but without any significant spoilers, after being approached by the Tok'ra the team are investigating ruins on a previously unknown world. Jack thinks it's all a waste of time but allows Daniel and Sam to keep investigating and they do indeed find some alien technology which seems to only activate when Jack touches is (yes the reader is well ahead of the team at this point). Soon after their location is attacked and the team plus the Tok'ra representative are captured and soon after they awake in a sealed cavern only accessible by rings. They are then joined by two women named NebtHet a'Eshe and Aset a'Teneb who welcome them to "Duat" and after describing personal details of each member of SG1 proceed to zat them twice and so far away from home SG1 die.
Ok there you go, go buy the novel and get reading because this is just the beginning of an adventure that's pretty much not like any other as the mythology of the ancient Egyptians gods and walking through the underworld facing tasks and obstacles for the soul to overcome before being judged are revealed to us through the eyes of our favoured explorers.
Hall Of The Two Truths was an enjoyable read, the concept was very interesting and the story complex enough to really hold my attention with the characters (regular and recurring from the show) all written well and believable in context. I quite liked the scenes with General Hammond dealing with the Tok'ra especially Anise but it was the exploration of the psyche and character of SG1 where the novel really hits its mark.





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Spock's World by Diane Duane

Spock's World by Diane Duane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spock's World is easily one of my top five Star Trek novels, I own a rather battered hardback copy of the novel and read it more than I probably should. In this novel we get the main storyline which deals with the Vulcan population considering pulling out of the Federation, a global debate is imminent and people from all walks are invited to debate the proposition in front of the Vulcan people. As you would expect all our favourite characters get their time under the spotlight and we get many secondary characters playing major roles as the story unfolds. In addition to this main story we get a number of secondary elements dealing with aspects of Vulcan from the birth of their star system, their evolution into sentience, Surak, Sarek and many other aspects which add so much more to the Vulcan that we knew so little about from the tv series.
Personally I simply love reading about the birth of the first Vulcan language and the experience of wonder as the world is opened to a single vulcan who looks beyond what he can see and is determined to face the unknown. The "Forge" a huge desert where life is forever lived on the edge provides the backdrop to a chilling story of passion and anger and underlines how known Vulcan physical traits played their part in the history of it's people. The story of the political/economic and eugenic aspects of the vulcan society seen through the interaction of two of the main "houses" on the verge of a major space exploitation project is beautiful and sorrowful to read but reveals so much of what Vulcan was before Surak. As for Surak his story is wondrous and inspiring and his revelation after seeing an antimatter weapon used on Vulcan's sister planet shows how near the edge these people were before Surak brought sanity to his people. Finally Sarek a master of computer tech posted to the Vulcan embassy on Earth and his rise as an attache finally as ambassador and his meeting to one Amanda Grayson. There is a lot more in the novel, some of which has been expanded upon in other works by Diane but overall the structure of this book is perfection giving you a great core story with to coin a phrase "fascinating" looks into Vulcan society. Spock's World is a must read for any original series Star Trek fan.

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Scott and Ramona

I picked up a couple of pop vinyls, well they were pre-ordered a while back and arrived this week. I'm always amazed how Funko can take some basic elements and create figures which capture the core look/feel of characters from television and the movies.

Scott Pilgrim & Ramona Flowers

Three Minute Universe by Barbara Paul

Three Minute Universe by Barbara Paul
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A threat to the entire universe reveals itself and the Enterprise is sent to investigate, they determine a huge energy source is expanding into our reality and already the Zirgosian system has been wiped out but perhaps for once they are hoping it was engineered because it was then there may be a way to stop it. Enterprise visits the only colony world of the Zirgosian people and finds a strange and powerful starship in orbit, could these be the people responsible for the energy wave or are they too victims...
The Three Minute Universe offers up a pretty epic concept, the death of our universe as it's suborned by another but the introduction of the "Sacker" species and everything they bring to life in the Milky Way is the high point of the novel. The interaction between them and select crew of Enterprise also adds a lot to the overall positive feel of the novel and certainly fits into the ethos of what Star Trek was always meant to be about. That said I don't think the main plot really served to underpin the character based elements that were spun off but I did like the references to non-canon characters from other novels so worth a read if you get the chance.

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Star Trek Music

A few goodies arrived from Amazon in the form of the soundtrack to Star Trek Beyond and a tin box of Trek albums.

Time for Yesterday by A.C. Crispin

Time for Yesterday by A.C. Crispin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book, easily a five star novel and improves on every aspect of Ann's first tale about Zar.
Throughout the galaxy stars are dying long before their time, the cause is traced back to Gateway the world where the Guardian of Forever exists. Thanks to their success with dealing with this time portal the crew of the Enterprise are sent to find out why time waves emanating from this world are tearing the fabric of space apart. On the long dead world they discover the portal is unresponsive but telepathic contact is made and basic operating functions are restored which allows Kirk, Spock and McCoy to venture back into Sarpeidon's past and to find Spock's son Zar who they believe will have the mental shielding and power to contact the guardian safely having done so previously.
Time For Yesterday is the direct sequel to Yesterday's Son and we get a far more complex and entertaining story with Zar no longer the unsure young man but a leader of his people. We get the best of original series character interaction combined within a medieval background scenario in terms of technology, politics and combat. The description of Sarpeidon 5000 years ago is painstakingly beautiful, it was so very easy to picture the city state of New Araen and all the associated elements of the period thanks to it mirroring our own. We also get some wonderful dialogue between the classic trifecta but also between Spock and Zar who are no longer estranged and there is also a wide and encompassing support group of characters. Ann provides some great action, humour and drama which makes the most of the possibility of time travel to allow some out of the box plot points to work and are both satisfying and entertaining.
I can not recommend this novel highly enough.

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Timetrap by David Dvorkin

Timetrap by David Dvorkin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A distress call from the vicinity of Tholian space has the Enterprise warping to the rescue, they find a Klingon cruiser caught in a spatial storm which is ripping the ship apart and they refuse the offer of assistance from the Starfleet vessel. Kirk and a security party beam over equipped with some state of the art transponders but once on the bridge of the Klingon warship the storm intensifies and when Kirk awakes his is in the future in a galaxy where the Federation and Klingon Empire are at peace...
Timetrap is certainly an interesting read and well a century or so after TOS and the Organian prophecy as we've seen in TNG the two galactic powers are indeed co-operating on many fronts so is Kirk experiencing the future or is there more going on than meets the eye? I really enjoyed Spock more than anyone else in this novel, the pressure on his mental well being caused by the decision to abandon Kirk and the need to argue his decisions with Starfleet as well as the negative view of the crew for his choice to leave the area all come together to give us a view of Spock we rarely see. McCoy is written well as you would expect as so often being critical to how we view Spock, strangely enough Kirk as a character is less interesting despite his adventures away from his command.

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The IDIC Epidemic by Jean Lorrah

The IDIC Epidemic by Jean Lorrah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nisus is a science colony grown well beyond its academic roots being a home to a viable multi species community from within the Federation sphere and some from beyond. The most notable is the Klingon scientist Korsal who is the former husband of a Starfleet officer who together had two sons. However a disease breaks out and mutates striking species from across the range of blood types, few seem to be immune and exposure to one strain is no guarantee of immunity to a previous one. However Korsal and his sons do not contract the disease which gives the medical staff of Nisus and the Enterprise something to work from but even more surprises are in store for the world's population as the disease continues to spread and gets aboard the starship while an Orion seeks to sell the virus as a bio-weapon.
The IDIC Epidemic is a direct sequel to The Vulcan Academy Murders so we once again get to enjoy the characters that Jean introduced in the first novel but with the addition of a new people via Nisus the community she created for this novel. There was some nice scenes in this story and I liked all the characters but the novel is a little light weight, you don't really get a sense of dread and perhaps the story needed to be written a lot more ominous and darker to really make the most of the plot. That said T'Pina and Beau were a great double act and overall I really do like the way Jean writes Vulcans and if you want some pleasant Trek with a little bite then this is ideal.


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Final Frontier by Diane Carey

Final Frontier by Diane Carey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Final Frontier was one of the "giant" Star Trek novels of the time and for me it went alongside Diane Duane's work in shaping my view of Starfleet and the Kirk family, I believe the term is head canon and for the most part superior to anything seen on tv or the moves:)
The novel tells the story of the very first mission of the very first Constitution class Starship, a new cutting edge design making use of the latest computer tech often spoken of within the tv series which would have been set a few years after these events. Captain Robert April who oversaw the building of the ship shanghai's George Kirk and his fellow security officer Francis Drake Reed to fill spots on the ship as it attempts a high priority but clandestine rescue mission. Captain April is worried that the ship and it's power will be seen as being overly aggressive by both the Federation members and the many enemies looking in, an epic rescue mission as an introduction for the ship will ease her into the spotlight. Almost immediately there are issues with the ship's tech but the skeleton crew pull together and warp towards the huge ion storm which has trapped a colony ship which is adrift without power, the families on board doomed to die with the media spotlight listening to every transmission. The ship ventures into the storm using it's vastly improved navigation and shield systems but the gravity system malfunctions and incapacitates the crew, they awake much later adrift in an unknown part of the galaxy and not far away an alien starship is looking on prepared to defend her space from the "invaders".
Yeah I love this novel, this is how I picture George Kirk even though JJ did the character proud in his first big screen adventure but I still like this idea better. The introduction of the Enterprise also suits my own view that the Constitution design was a quantum leap in starship design not just a small advance on a design which seems to be everywhere in the canon franchise. Once again I love how the aliens are described both the overall culture and the individual character traits and no question the combat sequences are very well written. There is plenty of humour as well and I do get a little tingle when Pike is describing the sort of Captain who will eventually take this ship and venture into the void, a combination of the courage and tenacity of George Kirk and the intellect and compassion of Pike. The novel is so far from canon yet for me it is Star Trek or at least what came before the Star Trek we got to know, highly recommended.

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Bloodthirst by J.M. Dillard

Bloodthirst by J.M. Dillard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A distress call from an uninhabited world is received by the Enterprise, on arrival they discover a secret bio lab with Starfleet level security and equipment, of the three people only one survives and he claims the other two were a murder/suicide. Investigation indicates that the lab could have been involved in bio-warfare research which is illegal within the Federation but then the Enterprise is ordered to abandon the investigation and ordered to deliver the survivor to Starfleet, an unusual request. Kirk slowly realises that there is a lot more to the lab on Tanis than he is being allowed to know and a conspiracy could exist at the highest level of Starfleet but who can he trust..
Right there you go, for the in and outs of the story and the mystery you are going to have to read the novel which is an interesting spin on the "horror" theme within a franchise not really known for such a thing. As in many cases the story makes good use of characters first seen in other novels which for me really is a good thing and the author provides depth and complexity to their interactions, you never feel short changed as people weave in and out of the plot.
Well worth a read and if want something a little different then this would be it.

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How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford

How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok where to start..
How Much for Just the Planet? is an out and out comedic novel which is quite rare for Star Trek publishing and maybe one of the reasons the reviews for the novel are pretty much all over the place, you'll love or hate it there is no middle ground. So that said hand on heart I love this novel, I laugh myself silly on so many occasions and I've read the book many many times.
The story itself takes place on and around the planet Direidi which is covered by the Organian Peace Treaty which basically prevents the Empire and Federation from direct military conflict so when a huge dilithium source is discovered on the planet intense diplomatic negotiations will be forthcoming. The planet had been colonised by what seems to be a mainly human population and they knew that when they were discovered they could not prevent anyone from exploiting the resources and thus "Plan C" was implemented, the Federation and Klingon representatives would never know what hit them....
As with most of my reviews I'm not going into any great detail, just take my word for it that the crews of the Enterprise, Klingon Cruiser Fire Blossom, Jefferson Randolph Smith and various diplomats have a very hectic and bizarre few days on what looks like a tranquil world and is anything but:)

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The novel also contains many characters that have been shaped on real individuals most notably Star Trek authors, see the wiki.



Popular opinion in the Federation concerning the Organian Treaty may be summarized as follows: 

• 4% The deepest wisdom of the Galaxy 
• 4% Treaty? What treaty? 
• 11% Not a bad idea, glad I voted for it 
• 81% Who do they think they are, anyway? 

Popular opinion in the Klingon Empire concerning the Treaty, while perhaps less important than in the more politically liberal Federation, may be summa- rized in similar fashion: 

• 4% If the Emperor says it's okay, it's fine with me 
• 4% This is a trick question, fight? 
• 11%The Federation made the whole thing up 
• 81% Who do they think they are, anyway?

Highlander 30th Anniversary

I finally pre-ordered the Highlander 30th Anniversary Blu-ray brought off the back of a 4k remastering a couple of weeks ago. It was priced rather high but when it hit £14.99 I was willing to double dip on the movie without feeling ripped off. Having watched the movie this weekend it did indeed look great but it was ridiculous that they didn't spend the money to digitally paint out the wire rigging on the final fight scene.
Sometime waiting for the release and review makes sense, probably wouldn't have bought this version given I only have need for a 1080p source and my existing steelbook blu provides that.

Star Trek Goodies

I got a quite a few pre-orders delivered this week, not sure when I will have the time to watch/read given my ongoing Trek paperback journey but I will no worries :)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by Vonda N. McIntyre
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spock has been taken back to Vulcan to have his Katra returned to where it belongs and Kirk and the crew are preparing to return to Earth in their captured Bird of Prey to face charges. During the return trip subspace is flooded with numerous signals and noise, do not return to Earth save yourselves. Of course Kirk is not going to sit back and watch the fireworks and when Spock identifies the mysterious signal being aimed at Earth from a huge construct in orbit Kirk grasps at the slim chance that time travel could provide a solution to saving the planet one more time. They slingshot around the sun and find themselves in San Fransico of 1996 and surprisingly they don't look totally out of place:) We then get a clean action/drama which fully exploits the comedic opportunities for the fish out of water as well as the ongoing dynamic between the crew with spice added thanks to Spock (and McCoy) slowly recovering themselves. The novel of course as with many novelisations builds upon the theatrical narrative added more detail to scenes and characters. We didn't really need to know so much about the refuse collector and the writing of his novel but it added so much to the basic premise. I also preferred the novel clearly stating that the inventor of transparent aluminium was the character who got access to the formula rather than Scotty being more vague when arguing for the transaction with McCoy.
The Voyage Home is in many ways the most popular Star Trek movie due to it's more encompassing nature, the movie brought people to the cinema who were never before that interested in Trek or scifi in general. That said for the same reason the movie does split the hardcore fanbase so the novelisation will probably do the same yet I think the added content moves the story more into scifi then environmental and maybe hits the target more often for those who prefer Trek to be made in a certain way.


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Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Imagine an Earth still recovering from the Third World War and Eugenic wars looking into the vastness of space and its first contact with an alien life form is through the eyes of the mass media itself peering through a lens obstructed by political and military cover ups. A blood on the walls scenario in every definition, this is the memory/dream which plagues Captain Kirk after reading a scholarly work from a human with access to information long held within Vulcan archives. Many consider it a work of fiction but when Spock returns from a training cruise of the Enterprise and shares many of the same dreams perhaps there is more to it than an interesting look into an alternate reality.
Strangers from the Sky is a very good Star Trek novel dealing with a more vulnerable Earth and humanity and using the crew of the Enterprise as seen in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" so the dynamic is shifted from the established "trio" which makes this story work. The whole premise deals with how humanity can learn and demonstrate the maturity and understanding required to be part of a galactic family and the principle that nobody can do it alone.
I did like many of the call backs to other novels and characters which is only going to pay off if you are reading novels from the same author or following the published licensed Trek books, if not then it doesn't harm the story which is a bonus. It was also interesting to see an Earth still hurting and dealing with the social, political and economic fall out before she raised herself to meet the challenge of being a major power in the galaxy. This of course is being told through the eyes of the human characters who deal hands on with the alien visitors and they too are certainly not of a single mind which gives the scifi story the personal touch that adds so much.
I've got to highly recommend this novel for anyone looking for a story offering a different first contact, in fact the book has two first contact situations neither of which line up with the TNG movie presentation so enjoy and wonder what the tv series and movies could have done.

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Dreams of the Raven by Carmen Carter

Dreams of the Raven by Carmen Carter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dreams of the Raven is a well written classic style story of the original series, some action and humour with one of the central characters having an issue they have to deal with. In this story it's McCoy who is feeling a little sorry for himself and thanks to his mood and a little alcohol gets himself injured and suffers some memory loss. Not the best time for McCoy but made even worse as the Enterprise has to battle an unknown alien species who it seems are capable of gaining control of vessels and crews with extreme ease. As the Enterprise limps from each encounter the crew have to understand this very aggressive species while dealing with a chief of medicine who is certainly not himself.
This was a enjoyable read, I would have liked to have seen it expanded a little more since there was certainly scope to do so but never the less a good story told well and loved the new Spock/McCoy dynamic that emerged after the doc was injured.

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Deep Domain by Howard Weinstein

Deep Domain by Howard Weinstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Akkalla is a water world and Federation member however it's internal politics seem to be clashing with the Science outpost located on the world which is studying the more unusual ecology of the planet. The government which has total control of media and all communications has been making life difficult for the Federation scientists after they made a discovery, the long awaited audit by the Enterprise will be the first opportunity they get to reveal their findings. Spock and Chekov are sent ahead in a shuttle with submersible capabilities but it's disabled when they encounter a "harvest" ship from a nearby world and they are then captured by an Akkalla "resistance" group.
So here we are as Kirk and company have to make sense of the conflicting stories and search for their missing people while dealing with a government teetering on the edge of martial law and yet constrained by what they can do in accordance with the Federation charter.
Right from the beginning of the novel Deep Domain has that feel of weight to it, the introduction is solid in setting up a new world and circumstances for the Trek aspect to work within. We have the water world of Akkalla with it's unique development which is at the heart of the story with the conflict of a select few attempting to hold onto power by white washing their own histories. The pressure on the Enterprise is high as the crew have to deal with the situation on the ground and how their own rules have to be applied, without documented proof any action could mean dire consequences for Kirk and his people. The internal conflict adds more spice to the story as some of the Akkallans who know the secret are forced to speak out and then attempt to evade the expected "for the good of Akkalla" crackdown by the military and throw in the fishing treaty with the neighboring world who now simply raid the oceans.
I don't think I can really do justice to how good their novel is, it has a great deal of depth to the world of Akkalla and her people combined with issues which the reader can easily recognise as aspects of tradition, science, greed, political and commerce clash.
Highly recommended.

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Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese

Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Enterprise equipped with some new sensors designed to detect the disturbances in the fabric of space caused by some recently discovered anomalies runs straight into one which was undetected. The ship and her crew are flung half way across the Universe into a region of space where every world has been scoured of life dating from a few hundred years to tens of thousands. As the Enterprise explores the region looking for anything that could lead them back to an anomaly they encounter a small warp capable ship and are attacked, they encounter more ships and observe an almost senseless desire to destroy. They manage to capture one of the crew and slowly but surely they convince the alien that they are not an enemy bent on destroying their homeworld and together then also make contact with a second alien species and learn of the terrible events that have been ongoing for longer than both these species have had space flight.
Chain of Attack always felt like a straight forward story with a huge amount of potential which wasn't going to get exploited in a single Star Trek paperback. In many ways this could have been an epic if the individual worlds and commanders had been explored rather than wrapping the events up in a single book. It's by no means a poor story and the alien species and events are compelling but it's not the unique to stand out from the crowd so to speak.

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Battlestations! by Diane Carey

Battlestations! by Diane Carey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Battlestations! by Diane is the sequel to her novel Dreadnought! and makes full use of the same main characters along with the usual crew of the Enterprise. In this story Lt Commander Piper fresh from her promotion is living the command track by working on Kirk's ocean going sail boat when Starfleet security beam onboard to "escort" Kirk and any of his command crew to headquarters. He doesn't reveal that Piper is aboard and when he is beamed away she evades capture and meets up with her new command (arranged by Kirk).
It turns out the Sarda the young Vulcan weapons specialist is believed to be associated with the theft of classified cutting edge transwarp technology during the chaos of the Starfleet investigation into the treason and corruption within the ranks. Piper once again teamed up with her friends warps towards the planet Argelius intent on finding out the truth but find more than they bargained for when the technology is put to use and a mad scramble by numerous galactic powers leads to a shooting war to possess the technology.
Battlestations! is a fun read but not quite upto the standard of the first novel although I have to admit the scene painted by Diane of Kirk at the helm of his ketch named "Edith Keeler" is something I would have so loved to have seen on screen.

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