I finished my No Time Like the Past reread. Sometimes, you just want to spend time with the crew of the Enterprise being awesome, and that's what you get here. There's also some potential explanations for things like the exploding rocks in "The Apple" to increase reader enjoyment.
So What Are you Reading?: Generations
- Thread starter captcalhoun
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Almost 2/3 of the way through A Stitch in Time.
And I'm in full agreement with CLB on the matter of KS's Vulcan! Although "I am not Herbert" does have a point about it being a credible 5th season TOS episode. If the "Freiberger Decline" of TOS had been allowed to continue to a 4th and 5th season without somebody putting him out of everybody else's misery, then typical 5th season episodes would probably be at least that bad. Or worse. Maybe even as bad as M&C's "Phoenix" novels.
Although I still insist that KS's Death's Angel is still a fun read.
And I'm in full agreement with CLB on the matter of KS's Vulcan! Although "I am not Herbert" does have a point about it being a credible 5th season TOS episode. If the "Freiberger Decline" of TOS had been allowed to continue to a 4th and 5th season without somebody putting him out of everybody else's misery, then typical 5th season episodes would probably be at least that bad. Or worse. Maybe even as bad as M&C's "Phoenix" novels.
Although I still insist that KS's Death's Angel is still a fun read.
I know that sort of thing shows up in so-called 'mary sue' ST books (or just bad ST books in general), but I didn't mind it here. Tremaine (female protagonist) is not a superhuman figure who outshines our heroes by being effortlessly great at everything; rather, she bests Spock at assessing the creatures on Arachne IV (that name--- ugh) because xenobiology is her specialty. And I did not view Spock insisting on the sentience of the creatures as his having an irrational attachment to a theory as much as his having selectively perceived facts to support his theory. It's not good science, but Spock would hardly be the first accomplished, otherwise rational scientist to act in this way. (There are also shades of Galileo Seven in Spock prematurely hardening his hypotheses while leading an away team during a planet-based crisis). Just like any other characters, Vulcans are more interesting when flawed, and intellectual vanity seems an entirely plausible, and narratively fruitful, Vulcan flaw. And it was a nice touch to note that Spock knew that Sarek had already reached the opposite conclusion, suggesting another subconscious motivation for Spock. Alas, these lateral two points were not fully developed in the book (despite there being an awful lot of psychoanalytic speculation elsewhere). But for me, that's what kept it out of so-called mary sue territory.
That's exactly the point, though. Spock is not just any other scientist. But the book paints him as a bad scientist to make Tremayne look superior. I mean, Tremayne is viciously bigoted against Vulcans, yet we're supposed to believe she's the more objective and rational one? That's distasteful in ways that go beyond mere Mary Sue issues.
Not to mention how McCoy and the other characters just shrug off her overt racism as an unfortunate quirk in an otherwise fine and admirable person. I guess that sort of thinking wasn't uncommon when the book was written -- In the Heat of the Night and all that, the trope of the protagonist whose racism is a character flaw that they can learn to outgrow -- and yes, it does turn out that her bigotry is a symptom of a past trauma she overcomes, but still, the other characters' ready acceptance of someone so hateful toward their friend and colleague Spock is hard to swallow.
Finished the non-fiction book on the history of "Arsenic and Old Lace." A slim volume, but very interesting: full of lots of backstage info about the development of the play and the movie.
And a Trek connection: the author, Charles Dennis, apparently guest-starred on TNG and VOY (according to his author bio).
Next on deck: SCARLET by Genevieve Cogman. The Scarlet Pimpernel . . . with vampires.
And a Trek connection: the author, Charles Dennis, apparently guest-starred on TNG and VOY (according to his author bio).
Next on deck: SCARLET by Genevieve Cogman. The Scarlet Pimpernel . . . with vampires.
Yes, this is the worst aspect of the book. There was a subtle, interesting way to do this, exploring the lengths to which a society will overlook violations of its principles to accommodate 'genius' (or simply to get something it sorely needs and might not otherwise get-- here, xenobiology expertise as to a planet about to fall under the Romulan shroud). But the author was not interested in subtlety, and the Tremaine character comes across as unhinged and unfit for duty.
TNG (Transfigurations) and Enterprise (Desert Crossing) according to Wikipedia and Memory Alpha. Also in the 2013 video game.
I tried my library for the "Arsenic and Old Lace" book but they, alas, didn't have a copy. A pity because it sounds interesting.
Read (in the case of the novel, finished reading) the following three Star Trek books this week:
Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War (novel) by John Jackson Miller (Gallery Books, 2019). (Read Kindle ebook version purchased during one of the regular monthly $0.99 Star Trek ebooks sales.)
Star Trek: Resurgence (comics collected edition) written by Andrew Grant and Dan Martin, art by Josh Hood (IDW, 2023). Reprints Star Trek: Resurgence #1-5 (November 2022-March 2023). (Checked out from Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds—The Illyrian Enigma (comics collected edition) written by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, art by Megan Levins (IDW, 2023). Reprints Star Trek: Strange New Worlds—The Illyrian Enigma #1-4 (December 2022-March 2023). (Checked out from Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.)
Assessment: All three are good.
—David Young
Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War (novel) by John Jackson Miller (Gallery Books, 2019). (Read Kindle ebook version purchased during one of the regular monthly $0.99 Star Trek ebooks sales.)
Star Trek: Resurgence (comics collected edition) written by Andrew Grant and Dan Martin, art by Josh Hood (IDW, 2023). Reprints Star Trek: Resurgence #1-5 (November 2022-March 2023). (Checked out from Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds—The Illyrian Enigma (comics collected edition) written by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, art by Megan Levins (IDW, 2023). Reprints Star Trek: Strange New Worlds—The Illyrian Enigma #1-4 (December 2022-March 2023). (Checked out from Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.)
Assessment: All three are good.
—David Young
100 pages into Enigma Tales. Again, a case of "reading it again for the first time."
I am reading the Dark Matters trilogy of Star Trek: Voyager books by Christie Golden for the first time. For as much discussion of her four post-series books as there has been on this site, I am surprised that these books have not been discussed very much. Fans of "Eye of the Needle" and "Scientific Method" will definitely find some things to enjoy in the first book. She even makes one of Chakotay's vision quests pretty cool.
Just finished Mississauga Confidential by Bryan Ho and Nicole Mair. It's about true historical crimes that happened in Mississauga, my hometown.
Gotta love the old-style cover.
Gotta love the old-style cover.
I can't help myself: every time I see a cover like that, I immediately think of Charles Burns' Hard-boiled Defective Stories. I never owned a copy, but I remember standing around Waldenbooks, reading one or two of the stories, billed as "genuine hard-boiled pulp fiction, yet somehow defective."
I'm also reminded of Bill Speidel's books on Seattle history: Sons of the Profits, and Doc Maynard: the Man Who Invented Seattle.
Meanwhile, I'm now over 200 pages into Enigma Tales.
I'm also reminded of Bill Speidel's books on Seattle history: Sons of the Profits, and Doc Maynard: the Man Who Invented Seattle.
Meanwhile, I'm now over 200 pages into Enigma Tales.
Meanwhile, a couple hours down the highway from you, my hometown was apparently "the serial killer capital of Canada" for about a quarter of a century a while ago. (Strangely, we don't put that one on the tourist brochures...)
Full disclosure, I haven't read the book, because true crime isn't really my jam. But if you're interested in that kind of thing, it might make an interesting read for you!
Finished re-reading Enigma Tales. (Or "Reading it again for the first time".)
I see that I originally gave it an "Outstanding" in the review thread. If I had it to do again, it would have barely gotten an "Above Average," because of the two flaws I cited in that thread less than an hour ago.
Having the Vulcans sound decidedly un-Vulcan is perhaps not such a big deal, but pulling the culprit out of left field (or out of a bodily orifice), and then leaving that culprit essentially nameless and faceless, violates several of the traditional rules of writing a whodunit. (Not to mention the traditional rules of writing a Cardassian enigma tale.) Rather an unsatisfying ending, in terms of the mystery of Lang being framed and her aide murdered. (Of course, finding out why Garak didn't want Lang running the University, and seeing a slight lessening of Bashir's catatonia, were very satisfying.)
*****
Now a few chapters into the Sisko "Autobiography." I'm impressed. With a real-world author I'd never heard of, I was expecting a repeat of the Kirk "Autobiography" and its utterly pointless contradictions of other works. But this works, and it capture's Sisko's voice quite well.
I see that I originally gave it an "Outstanding" in the review thread. If I had it to do again, it would have barely gotten an "Above Average," because of the two flaws I cited in that thread less than an hour ago.
Having the Vulcans sound decidedly un-Vulcan is perhaps not such a big deal, but pulling the culprit out of left field (or out of a bodily orifice), and then leaving that culprit essentially nameless and faceless, violates several of the traditional rules of writing a whodunit. (Not to mention the traditional rules of writing a Cardassian enigma tale.) Rather an unsatisfying ending, in terms of the mystery of Lang being framed and her aide murdered. (Of course, finding out why Garak didn't want Lang running the University, and seeing a slight lessening of Bashir's catatonia, were very satisfying.)
*****
Now a few chapters into the Sisko "Autobiography." I'm impressed. With a real-world author I'd never heard of, I was expecting a repeat of the Kirk "Autobiography" and its utterly pointless contradictions of other works. But this works, and it capture's Sisko's voice quite well.
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HORROR UNMASKED: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope, by Brad Weismann.
A nice history of horror movies from the silent era to the modern-day, with specific chapters on topics like "Val Lewton movies" or "Hammer Films" or "Italian Horror Movies" and so on.
A nice history of horror movies from the silent era to the modern-day, with specific chapters on topics like "Val Lewton movies" or "Hammer Films" or "Italian Horror Movies" and so on.
Finished reading tonight, Superman Archives Volume 3 (1991). Reprinting Superman #9-12 (March-April 1941 to September-October 1941).
Four Superman stories per bi-monthly issue, Superman gave buyers the most Superman for their $0.10. (But they could also read one twelve-page Superman story every month in Action Comics, and another quarterly in the newly launched World’s Finest Comics.)
With an introduction by the great golden age artist Superman Jack Burnley (1911-2006).
The stories, while very repetitive in style, are still fun. Superman faces crooks, evil scientists (including his one reoccurring foe at this point, Luthor), and foreign parties out to sabotage the United States (even though these issues actually came out from January to July 1941, still ahead of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which brought the United States officially into World War II).
The stories in this volume were officially credited to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster at the time. And this third volume of Superman Archives came out still very early in the DC Archives run, before they started adding more in depth creator credits (or even a table of contents page).
According to the Grand Comics Database, the art in these stories was actually the work of artists in the Joe Shuster art shop: Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Wayne Boring, and John Sikela, and original front covers by Fred Ray.
The stories in this volume are also available in the newer collected editions Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Volume 2 (2016), and Superman: The Golden Age (trade paperbacks) Volume 3 (2017) and Volume 4 (2018).
Reading these in the DC Archives, as I am (regularly buying them from the start in 1989), you will also want to have Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 2 (1998) and Volume 3 (2001), and Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives Volume 1 (2004) to jump back and forth between. (Plus, optionally, as I am, the Superman newspaper strips that were coming out simultaneously with these issues, reprinted in Superman: The Dailies Vol. 3: 1941-1942 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1999) and Superman: The Sunday Classics 1939-1943 (1999).)
Jumping back and forth between these various Superman volumes (plus spaced out by my other reading), it looks like I’m only going to finish this Superman Archives Volume 3 and Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 2 (which I finished back in March), and Superman: The Dailies [Vol. 2] 1940-1941 in 2023.
As for the others, I’m only 27% into Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 3, 31% into Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives Volume 1, 48% into Superman: The Dailies [Vol. 3] 1941-1942, and 45% into Superman: The Sunday Classics 1939-1943.
— David Young
Four Superman stories per bi-monthly issue, Superman gave buyers the most Superman for their $0.10. (But they could also read one twelve-page Superman story every month in Action Comics, and another quarterly in the newly launched World’s Finest Comics.)
With an introduction by the great golden age artist Superman Jack Burnley (1911-2006).
The stories, while very repetitive in style, are still fun. Superman faces crooks, evil scientists (including his one reoccurring foe at this point, Luthor), and foreign parties out to sabotage the United States (even though these issues actually came out from January to July 1941, still ahead of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which brought the United States officially into World War II).
The stories in this volume were officially credited to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster at the time. And this third volume of Superman Archives came out still very early in the DC Archives run, before they started adding more in depth creator credits (or even a table of contents page).
According to the Grand Comics Database, the art in these stories was actually the work of artists in the Joe Shuster art shop: Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Wayne Boring, and John Sikela, and original front covers by Fred Ray.
The stories in this volume are also available in the newer collected editions Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Volume 2 (2016), and Superman: The Golden Age (trade paperbacks) Volume 3 (2017) and Volume 4 (2018).
Reading these in the DC Archives, as I am (regularly buying them from the start in 1989), you will also want to have Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 2 (1998) and Volume 3 (2001), and Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives Volume 1 (2004) to jump back and forth between. (Plus, optionally, as I am, the Superman newspaper strips that were coming out simultaneously with these issues, reprinted in Superman: The Dailies Vol. 3: 1941-1942 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1999) and Superman: The Sunday Classics 1939-1943 (1999).)
Jumping back and forth between these various Superman volumes (plus spaced out by my other reading), it looks like I’m only going to finish this Superman Archives Volume 3 and Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 2 (which I finished back in March), and Superman: The Dailies [Vol. 2] 1940-1941 in 2023.
As for the others, I’m only 27% into Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 3, 31% into Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives Volume 1, 48% into Superman: The Dailies [Vol. 3] 1941-1942, and 45% into Superman: The Sunday Classics 1939-1943.
— David Young
Does it mention any horror comedies?
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