Spoilers TOS: Identity Theft by Greg Cox Review Thread
- Thread starter David cgc
- Start date
Oh can I ask more about this? Has Christopher stopped writing trek?
I haven't stopped, I just haven't gotten the opportunity for a few years, what with there being fewer slots available and other behind-the-scenes factors, and I've been using the time to catch up on my original writing. I pitched a Trek proposal last year, but it didn't make the cut. The editors are aware of my interest, though, and I'm hoping it won't be much longer.
I would prefer Christopher get a chance for a TOS novel.
I'll take any CLB ST novel I can get. (Well, maybe not one in which he's constrained to do what Una was constrained to do in her Picard sequel, i.e., an unmitigated tragedy with an utterly hopeless ending.)
And I wouldn't rule out his original stuff, nor GC's original stuff: on the strength of the first few Star Trek Log . . . books, I tracked down a copy of The Tar-Aiym Krang (I believe it's a first edition, as it hadn't yet been reprinted with a different cover; it could not be found in any bookstore, and I found it on a dealer's table in that same shopping mall free convention where I heard Stephen Goldin and Kathleen Sky lecture about their ST books), and immediately became an ADF fan in general, and a HC fan in particular.
I appreciate that. It could use all the attention it can get.
I'm working on it!
For what it's worth, my first original short-story collection, Dubious Pleasures, is coming out from the New England Science Fiction Association in February and my first original novel, Hungry as the Grave, is coming out from Blackstone Publishing at some point, as part of their "Weird Tales Presents" imprint.
This is straying WAAAYYYY off-topic for the thread, but is there any opus in particular that you'd recommend for someone who likes your ST work and GC's ST work, and nearly everything ADF has ever written?
Hmm. Hungry as the Grave. Sounds like it might be a bit gloomier than your ST novels.
Interesting cover painting for Dubious Pleasures. She seems to be speaking into some sort of a cross between a circa 1930 HB1-series mic, and a thaumaturgic triangle, and I'm guessing that's relevant to one of the short stories therein.
Meanwhile, to try and drag myself back on-topic, as soon as I get through Inspired Enterprise, and through my usual year-end financial bind, I'll be seeking out Identity Theft (the ST novel, not the crime). And I haven't forgotten Baldree's latest opus, either.
Last edited:
I don't have that much published original work, but my duology Arachne's Crime and Arachne's Exile is a story of alien contact and exploration, of sorts, and deals with some "Prime Directive"-ish questions. Only Superhuman (which Greg edited) is a hard-SF superhero novel in a Solar-system setting, but it deals with themes and philosophical questions not unlike my Trek work. My story collections Among the Wild Cybers and Aleyara's Descent and Other Stories may also be of interest. You can learn more on my Written Worlds webpage linked in my signature. And my Patreon has some original short fiction as well.
The (gorgeous) cover painting for Dubious Pleasures (by Charles Urbach) should not taken too literally. The stories in the book are all over the place -- fantasy, sf, horror -- past, present, future -- serious, goofy, horrific -- written over the cover of forty or so years, so the idea of the cover is that our glamorous, somewhat retro hostess is introducing a wide variety of acts, elements of which can be glimpsed lurking in the wings behind her.
A bit more context: the book is being published in conjunction of this year's Boskone, where I'm the writer Guest of Honor and Charles Urbach is the artist GoH, hence him doing the cover, which I love.
As for Hungry as the Grave: it's a big Gothic horror tale that is basically a homage to all the creepy stuff I loved as a kid: the Universal Monsters, Hammer Horror, "Dark Shadows," Vincent Price movies, etc.
I call it my "comfort food" book.
"The 'dubious' part is very important. It doesn't mean anything, but it scares people, every time."
Of course it means something. According to the AHD:
1. Fraught with uncertainty or doubt; undecided.
2. Arousing doubt; doubtful: a dubious distinction.
3. Of questionable character: dubious profits.
I'm guessing that senses 2 and 3 are the most applicable.
By the way, you are aware that "gullible" is not to be found in any dictionary, right?
"Dubious Pleasures" is actually the title of a story in the collection, which was first published in Amazing Stories magazine way back in the early eighties. It's a space-opera spoof about a crew of interstellar con artists whose ship is named Dubious Pleasures. (So, yes, definitely sense #3.)
When we were searching for a title for the collection, it leapt out at me as a good title for this book as a whole.
When we were searching for a title for the collection, it leapt out at me as a good title for this book as a whole.
And now I have two more books to add to my to read pile once they come out.I'm working on it!
For what it's worth, my first original short-story collection, Dubious Pleasures, is coming out from the New England Science Fiction Association in February and my first original novel, Hungry as the Grave, is coming out from Blackstone Publishing at some point, as part of their "Weird Tales Presents" imprint.
Where did you find the cover? I looked on Greg's website, Amazon, and the NESFA website and couldn't find it on any of them.
Try the book's kickstarter page.
Which gives me something to think about, in terms of getting my novel into print. Note that I'd be happy to just make it available as a PDF, under some variation of the Creative Commons license, but I'd kind of like to have an actual press run. Even if it means learning how to actually run the offset press that we have Scouts dry-cycle on Merit Badge Days at the Printing Museum. (Have 50-100 first-time users run an offset press with real ink, real fountain-etch, and a real plate that would be instantly ruined if the ink and fountain-etch were out of balance? Good way to end up with 50-100 ruined plates!). I actually wouldn't mind printing it letterpress, either, given that I have plenty of letterpress experience, except that even the cheapest photopolymer would cost more per plate than premium-grade offset plates, and I'm not about to take an already-camera-ready 400+ page book, and spend thousands of hours and a pallet-load of linecasting metal to re-set it on a Linotype.
Last edited:
It was a line from Babylon 5, where Ambassador Mollari is "helping" his protege jazz up a report on his time on an alien planet for his government, recommending he replace the line, "The Minbari put great emphasis on art, literature, and music," with something more like, "They are a decadent people, interested only in the pursuit of dubious pleasures." Special emphasis on the "dubious." So, definitely sense three in that case, too, though Mollari had a point that it was not increasing the net amount of information in the statement.
Of course. Londo wasn't saying the word had no meaning in general, he was saying it didn't have any factual meaning in the context of what Vir's report was describing, but was merely added to make it sound bad.
Hmm. And the pleasures Londo would regard as "non-dubious" would be . . . ?(And I always liked Vir.)
It doesn't matter, because the whole point is that it's not a sincere expression of fact or belief, just a way to finesse the report to please the prejudices of the officials being reported to.
