Non-star Trek books for Star Trek fans

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

when I hear the name Cordelia, I think of

Anne Shirley (from the Anne of Green Gables series). It's the name she once dreamed of having, and her best friend Diana names one of her daughters "Anne Cordelia" after her.

 

[Greg Cox]

And I was indeed saying that I'd heard of neither the series nor the author.

Keep in mind that I'm 2 books into reading Potter. For the first time. Without having seen more than a few clips of any of the movies.

And I'm considering reading Doctor Dolittle. For the first time.

And I gave up on post-Baum Oz novels after the first RPT volume. And have no intention of reading, or seeing any movie or Broadway adaptation of, any of the Maguire Oz books.

On the other hand, I've now read two different English translations of Dante's Divine Comedy.

Oh, and this may be an Orange County, California thing, but when I hear the name Cordelia, I think of Walter Knott's wife.


Huh?

Lear carries his adult daughter Cordelia in his arms during the last act of King Lear. Thus, the famous advice from one venerable Shakespearean actor to another: Get a small (lightweight) actress to play Cordelia!

Meanwhile, I confess I have no idea who Walter Knott is.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Meanwhile, I confess I have no idea who Walter Knott is.

Founder of Knott's Berry Farm. Which was originally a working farm specializing in (guess what?) berries. Knott was showing a new hybrid plant to somebody, who promptly asked what it was, and he named it after his neighbor, Rudolph Boysen, whom he credited with breeding it. Hence the Boysenberry. During the depression, the Knott family supplemented their income by opening their home to travelers as a restaurant, serving Cordelia Knott's fried chicken. And the idea of a theme park on the farm property originated as a way to entertain the people waiting for the next seating.

Oh, and I didn't read Anne of Green Gables until after I'd visited Prince Edward Island. (I've been to all 10 Canadian Provinces [and one Territory, namely Yukon], within 20 feet of the ground, just as I've been within 20 feet of the ground in all 50 States. 20 feet means passing through on a train counts, even if I'm in an upper level sleeping car accommodation, and never bothered to get out of bed, but flying overhead doesn't count.)

 

[Steve Roby]

Watership Down. Particularly the incident at Cowslip's warren. All seems like Eden until its horrifying secret is revealed.

Spoiler: Twist

The wild rabbits are being trapped and killed by a farmer and it's the price they pay for safety from wild animals and disease.

Kind of struggling here to see what about that reminded you of Star Trek in some way, as the OP mentioned, but moving right along...

Yes, considering that Star Wolf was basically Gerrold's take on "how I would've done TNG given free rein" and incorporated ideas he'd developed for TNG during his stint as its uncredited co-creator. And it was a reboot of characters and concepts from Gerrold's earlier novel Yesterday's Children, which was loosely based on Gerrold's unsold pitch for a 2-part TOS episode. Which is why the title has nothing to do with the novel's plot, since it's left over from the original version of the pitch, which eventually became Gerrold's Bantam Trek novel The Galactic Whirlpool -- so he essentially turned this one unsold pitch into three different novels, or six if you count the expanded Yesterday's Children aka Starhunt and the Star Wolf sequels.

The problem for me with Star Wolf is how self-indulgent it is, and that it's almost autofanwank at times. Sure, his bad feelings about Roddenberry and Maizlish are entirely understandable, but he really, really makes sure anyone who knows the least bit about TNG behind the scenes will understand how much he hates them. Not in a foreword or introduction, but in the novel. There's also not just a lot of recycling of his unproduced material, there's recycling of his already produced material, and frequent references to his own other fiction. But I guess writing the same story for the third time is one way to avoid finishing a series that he left hanging in 1993. (GRRM fans, google The War Against the Chtorr and you may feel a bit better. I'm glad I didn't start reading either, personally....)

 

[Greg Cox]

Founder of Knott's Berry Farm. Which was originally a working farm specializing in (guess what?) berries. Knott was showing a new hybrid plant to somebody, who promptly asked what it was, and he named it after his neighbor, Rudolph Boysen, whom he credited with breeding it. Hence the Boysenberry. During the depression, the Knott family supplemented their income by opening their home to travelers as a restaurant, serving Cordelia Knott's fried chicken. And the idea of a theme park on the farm property originated as a way to entertain the people waiting for the next seating.

True story: Back in the seventies, when my family was vacationing in CA, I chose the Universal Studios Tour (and the Hollywood Wax Museum) over Knott's Berry Farm, which I have still never visited.

Meanwhile, BUFFY fans surely think of another "Cordelia" first.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Kind of struggling here to see what about that reminded you of Star Trek in some way

Our rabbit heroes are traveling when they find a strange, idyllic settlement that seems too good to be true...and it is, horrifyingly so. The price of Eden and all that.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

True story: Back in the seventies, when my family was vacationing in CA, I chose the Universal Studios Tour (and the Hollywood Wax Museum) over Knott's Berry Farm, which I have still never visited.

I've been to Universal 2 or 3 times. The first time when the primary attraction was an actual tour of a working studio.

More recently, I took the Paramount tour. Which still is an actual tour of a working studio.

 

[Christopher]

Lear carries his adult daughter Cordelia in his arms during the last act of King Lear. Thus, the famous advice from one venerable Shakespearean actor to another: Get a small (lightweight) actress to play Cordelia!

Many sources claim that was Sir John Gielgud’s advice to either Michael Hordern or Ian McKellen, but apparently it goes back to an early 20th-century actor, Donald Wolfit.

 

[Greg Cox]

Many sources claim that was Sir John Gielgud’s advice to either Michael Hordern or Ian McKellen, but apparently it goes back to an early 20th-century actor, Donald Wolfit.

Who I know best as the mad scientist in Blood of the Vampire (1958), where he was made up to resemble Bela Lugosi!

I believe Wolfit was also the real-life inspiration for the fading, somewhat dotty Shakespearean actor in the play and movie, The Dresser.

 

[E-DUB]

As it happens and false modesty aside, I'm somewhat of an expert on the topic of astronaut bios. The best place to start would be Michael Collins' "Carrying the Fire".

 

[Miami Vice Admiral]

Thinking of Shakespeare I suppose The Henriad (Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V) could have particular appeal to Star Trek fans with the friendships vs duty angle in Henry V