2014 and Beyond Books

It is hard to do a good novelisation of a movie or TV episode, but Carey pulls it off.   Crew members taking on new life challenges, loose ends woven together to resolve outstanding plot points and putting into place the foundations for new novels grounded in the people, concepts and places of the series are here.  Lots of space opera action and personal reflections of key people from the series.   

Both a police procedural and a spy novel, this was a rare book I had to read in one long sitting.   Kate Rees, a widow whose husband and daughter were killed due to a German air raid, is sent to Paris to assassinate Hitler.  She kills an admiral instead.   For Rees, everything both falls apart and eventually is reassembled.  For Gunter Hoffman, a German police officer assigned to solve the crime, everything comes together and then is shattered.    There are glimpses into the life of the early days of German occupied Paris and the early formation of the French resistance and more substantive looks at the way the British continued the war against Germany in a covert and not always noble way.    One becomes empathetic with Hoffman in his effort to be a good cop working in a world dominated by Nazis.    I’m definitely going to read more by Black.

Anthropomorphic animals such as Heathcliff, the star of this collection of strips from the early 1980s, do make the absurdities of normal life easier to bear.   From a co-operative beaver to struggles with animal control to boring cat food, Heathcliff usually finds ways of coming out on top despite the many obstacles daily life brings his way.   Situational and not topical humour abounds.

A rather complex plot, involving indigenous folk, Federation separatists, Klingon advisors and the Enterprise crew together and in conflict on the water covered world of Okeanos.  It comes to a rapid conclusion - but one that makes sense looking back at the way the story unfolds.  The novel contains one of the most annoying characters (caricature?) I’ve come across in the Star Trek universe - Moriah Wayne, the official Federation representative responding to the crisis on Okeanos.  Milan is an engaging writer, somewhat in the spirit and tone of Heinlein.   An enjoyable read.   

This is one of the best books I’ve read in recent years.    It is detailed and well-researched, yet written in an accessible manner that treats readers as sharing in the delights of learning more on a matter of common interest.   Well worth tracking down a copy and reading a time or two.

The pacing of the latest in the Eve Dallas slightly futuristic police procedural series is more in keeping in the spirit of the novels of Dashiell Hammett or an episode of Johnny Staccato.  This is a departure in some ways from the usual style of Robb, but works very well.  We are pulled through the story rather than offered an overview of a crime and the process of solving it.   The main villain is identified early on, but tracking him down is a difficult process.   Some gaps in the back story of Roarke are filled in, details key to tracking down the killer.   Far more enjoyable than most police procedurals or mysteries, due primarily to the interesting permanent cast that share the pages of these novels with the central character.   

My favourite part of this novel is the holographic reenactment of a minor naval battle during the American revolution.   Alexander, Warf’s son, and Captan Picard explore the concept of honour in a place of conflict and uncertainty.  At the same time, Warf is under cover trying to help uncover evidence of government corruption.  He faces a crisis when a lie from him could change the course of the investigation and prevent the arrest, torture and execution of a friend.   Both crisis of honour are resolved but a statement of what honour means to Klingons and within the Federation is left unmade.   One of Carey’s better efforts.

A new illness on Bajor threatens to become a pandemic, and deadly across species.  At the same time there is a political crisis that can best be solved by finding a specific child who is the focus of prophecies and is likely near the centre of the new disease.   Both a medical mystery and (in essence) a police procedural, combined in an effective and engaging manner, this is a well crafted addition to world of Star Trek novels.   Not so much a distraction these days, but a good read in troublesome times.

The best Voyager novel I’ve come across so far.  Seven of Nine has to deal with debilitating nightmares while the crew of the Voyager are dealing with a harsh and inward looking empire whose help they need.  Complicating this are a group of survivors of a Borg attack who blame the empire for being abandoned and who have convinced Janeway to be an advocate for them.   Matters are resolved through a combination of reason, luck and (in what seems almost an obligatory on-line) a shoot-out.   Well crafted genre fiction.    

A Gilbert & Sullivan type of novel.  A marriage to bring together two warring factions is threatened by Q’s manipulations and a marriage of Lwaxana Troi and Q is in the offing.   Primarily farcical, with some very serious moments.   Fun and distracting reading.   

A lost colonising ship from the early days of the Federation is found by Kirk’s Enterprise during an expedition to examine a dangerous anomaly on the fringes of the galaxy.   Complicating this is a Klingon vessel hovering just at the edge of tracking range.   Those on the lost vessel are engaged in a civil war and bringing both sides together is essential to save the ship.  While the various crisis are resolved by the end, there is enough uncertainty along the way that a good or bad ending would be equally believable.  Reads more like an extended movie treatment than a novel,   

If you find an edition of this work with an introduction by Philip Weinstein skip the introduction and go directly to the novel - the introduction is quite off-putting.   Franzen’s work, however, is excellent.   An slightly futuristic St. Louis is dealing with nasty civic politics, racial tensions, urban renewal, invasive surveillance technology and a most unusual chief of police.  A thriller from decades ago that seems far more relevant in the waning months of 2020.  Very hard hitting and engaging.   

While there is a central crisis around time travel, the core of this story is the first contact with Vulcans and Humans.  A Merlin like eternal both causes and helps resolve the crisis caused by the accidental bringing Kirk and others from the Enterprise back in time.   The interwoven stories are well crafted and brought together to a logical conclusion.   The most fascinating threat is that of Spock and his relationship with his pacifist human ancestor.   One of the best Star Trek novels I’ve come across.

Very enjoyable to read and the essays provide some interesting material to ponder.    

Set immediately after Star Trek IV:  THE VOYAGE HOME, The mysterious probe that almost destroyed Earth continues to create chaos in other parts of the galaxy and most immediately the Klingon empire.   Efforts to find common ground with the Klingons are seen as bearing fruit at this time - there is an exchange of musicians and a joint archaeological project - and there is hope that both the Federation and the Klingons could work together to solve the mystery of the probe.   Ultimately things work out but more through good luck and coincidences than the wisdom and skills of either side.   Not an original work---those familiar with Star Trek novels will find little that is innovative or unique---but not just a formulaic offering.   

This is a really funny, and occasionally still politically relevant, collection of Wizard of Id strips from the early 1970s.   From inflation to strikes to general unsatisfaction with relationships to dealing with an out-of-touch ruler, we are provided with many reasons to laugh at the world we live in, even if we are looking through the eyes of an odd cast of characters in a somewhat idealised medieval world.    

A mysterious plague threatens Bajor and DSN.   Internal political struggles in the new ruling council on Bajor and the complexity of relationships on DSN between Star Fleet and others with a vested interest in DSN don’t make solving the problem easy.   Seperate investigations by diverse forces lead to Orions and back again.   Oddly enough, it is a memory of the Trill Dax that saves the day.   More of a triller set in DSN than the usual fare.    A better than average Star Trek novel.