So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Christopher]

Star Trek: Picard: Stargazer Trade Paperback (IDW, 2023). Writers: Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson. Artist: Angel Hernandez. Color art by J.D. Mettler. Reprints: Star Trek: Picard: Stargazer #1-3 (August 2022 to November 2022). Read: 08/16/23 to 08/18/23. Opinion: Okay/average. Story takes place (and came out between) seasons two and three of the Paramount+ “Star Trek: Picard” series which this is obviously a tie-in to. Story is basically supposed to be about Seven of Nine, carrying her from where we see her at the end of season two to her being back in Starfleet already at the start of season three. Here, she still has her doubts about joining Starfleet and sticks with being a Fenris Ranger despite Picard’s attempts to lead her likewise. But then a mission to check up on a planet that Picard once visited decades earlier while Captain of *his* U.S.S. Stargazer (traveling there aboard the new version we saw in season two of the show) unexpectedly brings him and Seven back together again in a life or death situation, one that Picard is at least partially responsible for due to his actions the last time he was there (and involving Romulans).

As I recall, this one used Michael Jan Friedman's crew for Picard's Stargazer from the novels, but doesn't quite get it right -- it gets Commander Gilaad ben Zoma's name wrong by calling him Commander Zoma, first name Ben, and makes him black instead of Israeli. Otherwise, I think I found it okay.

And my main “gripe” with this series is, why did they name this story “Stargazer”? Yes, the two versions of the Starfleet ship and their crews both appear, but not nearly enough to make the story about them. Again, while a fun little side adventure for Jean-Luc Picard, this is clearly a Seven of Nine story. I ended up giving it three out of five stars on GoodReads.

Not every title is about the most central thing in a story. For instance, "The City on the Edge of Forever" refers to the ruins containing the Guardian of Forever (which were meant to be a much bigger, more elaborate city rather than just a few Greco-Roman columns), even though that's only a catalyst for the main story. And "The Corbomite Maneuver" is just one scene out of the entire episode. Titles are often about attracting attention, using a hook to draw people into the story. The Stargazer title here seems to me like it's about establishing setting -- "Here's a story about events involving two different Stargazer crews in past and present."

Star Trek: Lower Decks Trade Paperback (IDW, 2023). Writer: Ryan North. Artist: Chris Fenoglio (including the colors, I’m assuming, as no separate color artist credited). Reprints: Star Trek: Lower Decks #1-3 (September 2022 to November 2022). Read: 08/21/23 to 08/30/23. Opinion: Very good. If you like the animated “Star Trek: Lower Decks” Paramount+ series then I think you will like this comic book mini-series.

I like Ryan North's work, but while this was an okay story with some clever ideas, I felt it rode too hard on continuity references, which are my least favorite part of LD. And not all of those references worked. Where did North get the idea that the space hippies from "The Way to Eden" were Catullan? Only Tongo Rad was Catullan; Dr. Sevrin was Tiburonian and his other followers were human. Also, why would the fashions, makeup, and slang of 23rd-century space hippies still be unchanged over 100 years later? That's not how counterculture works! That part was just a misfire on every level. (Although I loved the marginal joke about the space hippies: "Or, as we call them in space, regular hippies.")

Speaking of which, I initially borrowed this collection from Hoopla to read on my computer, but the panel zoom-in function caused me to miss the marginal jokes that are among the funniest parts of North's comics, and once I realized they were there, I found them hard to read on my screen. So I ended up requesting a print copy from the library instead. I strongly recommend reading this one in print, unless you have a better electronic comics reader than Hoopla provides and better vision than I have.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I read a book and posted an obviously subjective review. I guess it’s up to you if you want to lecture and scold me about what I as a reader ought to want and like, but it feels to me like you are fighting old battles rather than engaging in good faith with what I’m actually saying. It makes for an unwelcoming atmosphere.

You are of course entitled to your opinions. And certainly, a constraint, especially a self-imposed one, can aid storytelling, rather than hinder it (consider the Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon shorts, which are collectively a study in self-imposed constraints, and individually a collection of mostly masterpieces). And certainly, too much reliance on non-humanoid characters can be a hindrance. Or a crutch. But Diane Duane handles non-humanoid characters extremely well (far better than Kathleen Sky did in Death's Angel, where they're mainly a source of comic relief, although I actually do like Death's Angel). They've never thrown me out of the story. And I'm not the least bit shy about mentioning things that do throw me out of a story (like reusing an established character or species, but in a way that's irreconcilably inconsistent with precedent).

And speaking of authors reusing established characters in a way inconsistent (but not necessarily irreconcilably so) with precedent,

As I recall, this one used Michael Jan Friedman's crew for Picard's Stargazer from the novels, but doesn't quite get it right -- it gets Commander Gilaad ben Zoma's name wrong by calling him Commander Zoma, first name Ben, and makes him black instead of Israeli.

I'll certainly agree with the name getting screwed up (although I once had minor surgery done by a Dr. Meir Ben-Shoshan, who answered to "Dr. Ben," and "Dr. Meir Ben," and other variations). But as to being black vs. Israeli, well, not all who are of African ancestry are Goyish, and not all Israelis are white; maybe he's a descendant of Ethiopian Jews who made Aliyah in the 20th or 21st centuries.

 

[Christopher]

But as to being black vs. Israeli, well, not all who are of African ancestry are Goyish, and not all Israelis are white; maybe he's a descendant of Ethiopian Jews who made Aliyah in the 20th or 21st centuries.

Granted, the introduction to the character in Reunion describes ben Zoma as "a dark, lanky man with graying temples." But historically, when white authors describe someone as "dark," they often mean a dark-haired, dark-eyed white person like me, or anyone with a skin tone more saturated than someone from Northern Europe. So the description is ambiguous.

Here's how DC Comics depicted him: https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/File:Benzoma1.jpg

The colorist gave him rather dark skin, which is probably what the IDW artists based their design on, but that clashes with the penciled/inked features, which give him more of an Omar Sharif look. (I've often thought Oded Fehr would be a good fit for the role.) I always took it as the way '90s comics coloring tended to exaggerate any attempt at a non-white skin tone, like how DC's TOS Vol. 2 initially colored Sulu bright golden-orange as if he were a Tamaranian.

Anyway, there's no excuse for thinking "Ben" was his first name.

 

[YLu]

Speaking of which, I initially borrowed this collection from Hoopla to read on my computer, but the panel zoom-in function caused me to miss the marginal jokes that are among the funniest parts of North's comics, and once I realized they were there, I found them hard to read on my screen. So I ended up requesting a print copy from the library instead. I strongly recommend reading this one in print, unless you have a better electronic comics reader than Hoopla provides and better vision than I have.

Doesn’t Hoopla allow you to magnify the page as a whole, even when not doing guided view?

 

[Christopher]

Doesn’t Hoopla allow you to magnify the page as a whole, even when not doing guided view?

Yes, it can be done (with the current software, though it couldn't in the previous version), but it's a hassle to hit the "+" button over and over on every page until it's big enough (because it shrinks back when you turn the page) and then drag the page to the part you want. It's easier, faster, and more comfortable to read in print.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

And print is immune to hardware obsolescence.

 

[Christopher]

And print is immune to hardware obsolescence.

Unless the hardware is the reader's eyes. Mine are increasingly in need of upgrades. Although I guess that's wetware.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Yes. My newest reading glasses are bifocals: computer/music desk/Linotype on top, books and close work on the bottom.

And given my well known hypersensitivity to Eye Scream, it should surprise nobody that contacts are a non-starter, or that cataract surgery terrifies me.

 

[Christopher]

And given my well known hypersensitivity to Eye Scream, it should surprise nobody that contacts are a non-starter, or that cataract surgery terrifies me.

I'm told that cataract surgery has become much quicker and less invasive. My father needed his clouded lenses replaced with artificial ones, but apparently now they just zap you with a laser or something. I'll probably find out myself in a few years.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

My dad had his done a few years ago.

It still scares the <impolite word for feces> out of me.

 

[Christopher]

My dad had his done a few years ago.

It still scares the <impolite word for feces> out of me.

When I was in high school, I had a retinal melanoma. I'll spare you the details of what was done to my left eye over the course of the two different experimental treatments I underwent (the second of which was successful), but cataract surgery seems mild in comparison.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I'll spare you the details

I will say, without a trace of sarcasm, that I am forever in your debt for doing so.

I actually like watching my own colonoscopies (and explicitly ask to be kept as conscious and lucid as possible; done right, they're not nearly as painful as some people think), and I survived a prostate biopsy (20-odd cores) and the removal of a cyst under my right sideburn, with only Lidocaine, but having a foreign body removed from the surface of an eye with a greased swab was traumatic enough (I channeled my anxiety into thrashing my legs about, as I recall), and any eye procedure beyond that would likely require full sedation.

But to go back on-topic, I haven't been reading a whole lot at home lately (too busy), but on my lunch breaks, I just finished the July-August 2023 Smithsonian, and I'm about to start on the August 2023 Model Railroader. And riding MetroRail to an average of 1.5 Hollywood Bowl concerts per week this summer, I'm also nearing the end of my backlog of "disposable reading material" (i.e., charity newsletters).

 

[Reanok]

Star Trek Tos A contest of principles by Greg Cox

 

[Timofnine]

Randomly found this for a quid in the local Barnado’s charity shop this morning after a yoga class, is it any good? I’m never usually lucky enough to find Star Trek things, so this was a bit like ‘pulling a pike’ on a fishing trip. I have not read a Star Trek book in a *long* time soooo…. Is this a good place to start again?

 

[USS Firefly]

Randomly found this for a quid in the local Barnado’s charity shop this morning after a yoga class, is it any good? View attachment 36258I’m never usually lucky enough to find Star Trek things, so this was a bit like ‘pulling a pike’ on a fishing trip. I have not read a Star Trek book in a *long* time soooo…. Is this a good place to start again?

In my opinion it is the best Star Trek trilogy written

 

[Timofnine]

In my opinion it is the best Star Trek trilogy written

Oh wow! Then I really *did* find something good this morning then.

 

[The Ghoul Next Door]

Randomly found this for a quid in the local Barnado’s charity shop this morning after a yoga class, is it any good?

Not sure if you're joking or not, but yes, to second @USS Firefly , the Destiny trilogy is amazingly good.

 

[Arpy]

I finished listening to the recent A Stitch in Time audiobook that Andrew J. Robinson performed himself, last week. It was so good. I read the book decades ago and it was just as good as I remember it.

I’m still in a Cardassian mood after it and have started reading Trek author Una McCormack’s early fanfic “Scorched Earth.” It’s something like 175 pages, so there’s plenty to dive into. A little raw, a bit of a different interpretation, but still really good. You can see why she became who she did. It’s a what-if story about Tain’s fleet succeeding at wiping out the Founders.

And her The Never-Ending Sacrifice I think is my second favorite Trek novel after A Stitch in Time. Crazy well done. DS9 the series as told through the perspective of a Cardassian on Cardassia Prime — specifically Rugal, the Cardassian orphan Sisko sent back with his father in the season 2 episode “Cardassians.”

Also her PIC novels Last Best Hope and Second Self were really good. Can’t wait to read whatever she does next for Trek.

 

[John Clark]

Randomly found this for a quid in the local Barnado’s charity shop this morning after a yoga class, is it any good? I’m never usually lucky enough to find Star Trek things, so this was a bit like ‘pulling a pike’ on a fishing trip. I have not read a Star Trek book in a *long* time soooo…. Is this a good place to start again?

As others have said, absolutely, but it's also where I restarted after a while. In my case, it was shortly after the first had been published though

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Re-reading DD's The Wounded Sky. 40 years old. I snapped up an SFBC hardcover at a local (and sadly defunct) used book dealer, when it was only a few years old.

It holds up well, even if a few of the word choices are now a bit dated. I'd forgotten about some of the sentient species DD came up with (and developed far better than most authors have, myself included*).

_____
*In one of my own "First Contact Corps" short stories, I . . .

Spoiler

. . . came up with a species called the Lozadians, named after a classmate in the Short Story Workshop, who were intended specifically to be a recognizable tribute to both Kelvans and Sulamids. Tentacled beings who excelled at clerical work.