Vanguard wins (was leaning that way anyway) - thanks for the pointer !
So what are you reading? Part VI
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Vanguard wins (was leaning that way anyway) - thanks for the pointer !
Finished : Articles of the Federation (review below)
Reading : Forever Odd
Review - 4/5 stars
In terms of quality writing that could stand up against some of the best episodes of West Wing, Articles of the Federation does not disappoint. The author has created a very believable and compelling cast of characters which presides over the Federation and the interaction between the President and her Chief of Staff, and the Chief of Staff and everyone else is especially strong. This story covers pretty much the entire gamut of things that a president (and her staff) would encounter in a year: crisis, brink of war, scandal, conflict, resignations, negotiations and pretty much everything in between. This book achieves a nice balance and despite being very light on typical Sci-Fi type action, and paints a picture of what it would be like behind the scenes if a person of integrity were faced with the decisions that the President has to make.
The dialog is probably the best, most believable and compelling dialog I've read in a Trek book to date and went a long ways to keeping my interested in how the story even when I didn't necessarily care about the situation or the players involved. It's creative in how it frames these conversations sometimes as a news-feed where we're watching the events unfold from a college dorm room, sometimes as historical documents being read from far in the future and often write inside the "oval office" itself. The book also helps one appreciate what it must be like to be a position of power like that and be faced with the tough decisions and even though the situations rarely work out like they had hoped, they push on to achieve the best balance possible.
All in all, it makes for some pretty interesting and compelling story telling most of the time which was more thought provoking than I would have guessed going into it. In fact, I suppose if I were more politically minded and cared about what goes on behind the scenes of a govt., I would have even found this book to be a brilliant novel. However, for a jaded person like myself who thinks very lowly of his own govt. and most of the people in power, it was difficult for me from time to time to stay plugged into the story. So, while I found the writer very good and often compelling, there are times when I wasn't as engaged in the story or the discussions that were going on because I just didn't care at times about the players involved or the outcome. This isn't an indictment of the writing, however, just an indication as to where my own interest lay.
I will say that this story adds a whole new dimension of realism to the Star Trek Universe as it fleshes out an aspect of that universe that was previously occupied by rather 1 dimensional and somewhat pointless figureheads up until now. The author has created a president who is both wise and compassionate and yet tough and knows how to fight her battles well. If only America had anywhere near as good a president in the last 20 years as her............
All in all I found this to be a high quality book that for many people would probably rate 5/5 stars, but for me personally didn't hold my interest all the time, but enough that I enjoyed the book and would gladly read another by the author.
Reading : Forever Odd
Review - 4/5 stars
In terms of quality writing that could stand up against some of the best episodes of West Wing, Articles of the Federation does not disappoint. The author has created a very believable and compelling cast of characters which presides over the Federation and the interaction between the President and her Chief of Staff, and the Chief of Staff and everyone else is especially strong. This story covers pretty much the entire gamut of things that a president (and her staff) would encounter in a year: crisis, brink of war, scandal, conflict, resignations, negotiations and pretty much everything in between. This book achieves a nice balance and despite being very light on typical Sci-Fi type action, and paints a picture of what it would be like behind the scenes if a person of integrity were faced with the decisions that the President has to make.
The dialog is probably the best, most believable and compelling dialog I've read in a Trek book to date and went a long ways to keeping my interested in how the story even when I didn't necessarily care about the situation or the players involved. It's creative in how it frames these conversations sometimes as a news-feed where we're watching the events unfold from a college dorm room, sometimes as historical documents being read from far in the future and often write inside the "oval office" itself. The book also helps one appreciate what it must be like to be a position of power like that and be faced with the tough decisions and even though the situations rarely work out like they had hoped, they push on to achieve the best balance possible.
All in all, it makes for some pretty interesting and compelling story telling most of the time which was more thought provoking than I would have guessed going into it. In fact, I suppose if I were more politically minded and cared about what goes on behind the scenes of a govt., I would have even found this book to be a brilliant novel. However, for a jaded person like myself who thinks very lowly of his own govt. and most of the people in power, it was difficult for me from time to time to stay plugged into the story. So, while I found the writer very good and often compelling, there are times when I wasn't as engaged in the story or the discussions that were going on because I just didn't care at times about the players involved or the outcome. This isn't an indictment of the writing, however, just an indication as to where my own interest lay.
I will say that this story adds a whole new dimension of realism to the Star Trek Universe as it fleshes out an aspect of that universe that was previously occupied by rather 1 dimensional and somewhat pointless figureheads up until now. The author has created a president who is both wise and compassionate and yet tough and knows how to fight her battles well. If only America had anywhere near as good a president in the last 20 years as her............
All in all I found this to be a high quality book that for many people would probably rate 5/5 stars, but for me personally didn't hold my interest all the time, but enough that I enjoyed the book and would gladly read another by the author.
I finished Double Helix #1: Infection ages ago. It was.... insubstantial. I'm now halfway through Indistinguishable From Magic and am loving it. I loved Rasmussen's disappointment in discovering that the interior of a 26th century time pod is pretty much the same as that of a van.
I havent had alot of time to read lately, stupid life stuff getting in the way grrr
Im reading Timothy Zahn's Choices of One right now, at the risk of getting lynched by a mob of trekkies by talking about a star wars book (lol) this installment of Zahn's with Mara Jade is actually a cool insight into the characters in Star Wars we love.
Fresh off blowing up the Death Star in A New Hope but before Empire Strikes Back, the Rebellion is not sure what to do with Han, he isnt trusted by many because he is a mercenary and well, Han is a self proclaimed loner so he more or less brings the grief on himself, but its neat to see that transition period where we pick up with Han on Hoth in Episode 5 and his acceptance from the Rebels (at least there lol)
Also, its easy to forget what it was like for Luke back then, he is more or less a Padawan working towards becoming a Knight almost solely on his own.
My son has reached the age where he is starting to get interested in different things, so we've started watching my seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which times nicely because I notice the next Buffy book in my pile to read is about the Master, the villain from season 1.
I fear the Richard/Kahlen novel on my dresser will one night rise up and riddle my body with papercuts for ignoring it, but for anyone who reads the series might agree, Soul of Fire is a difficult installment to get into, I put it down around page 110 and havent gone back to it yet.
I did start the next short story in No Limits about Soleta, I liked that it picks up with her aboard the ship she served with Worf, but Im only about 2 pages into that, as I got called away to do something silly like help my son with his homework or get him to his soccer practice, yeesh where are the priorities people (lol)
Book 3 & 4 of Mission Gamma are en route in the mail, Im about 84 pages into book 1 but decided to wait until I have the whole set to dive head first into it. I was enjoying about 85 % of DRGIII's first installment in Part 1, Im holding my opinion to see the finished book as a whole but it was a little distracting to me how he seems to diverge from the story with filler material, like I said though, that might not be what he is doing at all lol
Im reading Timothy Zahn's Choices of One right now, at the risk of getting lynched by a mob of trekkies by talking about a star wars book (lol) this installment of Zahn's with Mara Jade is actually a cool insight into the characters in Star Wars we love.
Fresh off blowing up the Death Star in A New Hope but before Empire Strikes Back, the Rebellion is not sure what to do with Han, he isnt trusted by many because he is a mercenary and well, Han is a self proclaimed loner so he more or less brings the grief on himself, but its neat to see that transition period where we pick up with Han on Hoth in Episode 5 and his acceptance from the Rebels (at least there lol)
Also, its easy to forget what it was like for Luke back then, he is more or less a Padawan working towards becoming a Knight almost solely on his own.
My son has reached the age where he is starting to get interested in different things, so we've started watching my seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which times nicely because I notice the next Buffy book in my pile to read is about the Master, the villain from season 1.
I fear the Richard/Kahlen novel on my dresser will one night rise up and riddle my body with papercuts for ignoring it, but for anyone who reads the series might agree, Soul of Fire is a difficult installment to get into, I put it down around page 110 and havent gone back to it yet.
I did start the next short story in No Limits about Soleta, I liked that it picks up with her aboard the ship she served with Worf, but Im only about 2 pages into that, as I got called away to do something silly like help my son with his homework or get him to his soccer practice, yeesh where are the priorities people (lol)
Book 3 & 4 of Mission Gamma are en route in the mail, Im about 84 pages into book 1 but decided to wait until I have the whole set to dive head first into it. I was enjoying about 85 % of DRGIII's first installment in Part 1, Im holding my opinion to see the finished book as a whole but it was a little distracting to me how he seems to diverge from the story with filler material, like I said though, that might not be what he is doing at all lol
If you liked AoTF and want to read more stuff by KRAD, I can't recommend The Art of the Impossible highly enough.
Thanks for the recommendation, that looks really good. I love Klingon and Cardassian stories and I certainly enjoyed Keith's writing quite a bit, just not necessarily the subject matter at times in AoTF.
From the description that looks like a book I can read at any point in my Trek reading schedule so I may bump that to be read before I hit Q & A........
Getting caught up on writing reviews from my summer reading! Just posted my review of David Mack's Vanguard: Precipice. Spoiler: loved it! Link in my sig.
Currently finishing up A Choice of Catastrophes, and wanting to start reading either What Judgments Come or The Struggle Within.
Currently finishing up A Choice of Catastrophes, and wanting to start reading either What Judgments Come or The Struggle Within.
I finished Turning Point, review in my blog, and I think I will go back to Singularity by Kathryn Casey next.
I finished SCE: The Riddled Post a few days ago, then read SCE: Here There Be Monsters. I'm now about half way through Halo: The Flood.
I finished read a ST novel by Mr. James Swallow called "Cast No Shadow". It was a Valeris/ Vaughn book. Nice read. Title was in the TNG movie font on the cover which was odd, sorta thought it should have been in the lost era block letting, but whatever, not the main issue. No real complaints, lots of neat stuff going on here that I liked, only thing I was confused about was how the Starship excelllsior didn't blow up when i big bomb exploded near them, but other than that a fun read. Don't want to ruin the ending but i am shocked that something was allowed to happen. Its like come on! But more good that bad. 3 and half popcorns I couldnt put this book down!
Now I am read reading Mr. Jeffrey Langs Star Trek : The NExt Generation #64 IMMORTAL COIL . Its only numbered in the list at the end, some reason they stopped numbering the books back n 2002. I read this on when i was in college back then and enjoyed it, and happened to find it mint clover condition at Yukozoo Pre-Owned Book Emporium in Towson MD and love the way it takes place in the Movie era TNG world. It shows Data with his emotions, goes into his character very deeply, explains a few of the WTD things about him that bugged me, his not getting moric jokes and such....it also weaves some dorky in jokes into the book which are fun, and plays on the Star Trek history using Dr. Soong, the Daystrom Instude, Graves, and androids from TOS in a neat mystery that involves that bumbling turned confident man Barclay, and the despisable blue suited Commander Maddux, the jerk who wanted to take Mister Data himself apart himself. The about that is that well- seems he's been a coma half the book. Karma huh? Anyways all this is laced together in a big large spaced TNR font making this a easy- yet satisfying adverture to escape to before i fall asleep every night.
Currently I am half way thru it and cannot wait to get back to it! Which i might do right now, if i dont konk out!
Now I am read reading Mr. Jeffrey Langs Star Trek : The NExt Generation #64 IMMORTAL COIL . Its only numbered in the list at the end, some reason they stopped numbering the books back n 2002. I read this on when i was in college back then and enjoyed it, and happened to find it mint clover condition at Yukozoo Pre-Owned Book Emporium in Towson MD and love the way it takes place in the Movie era TNG world. It shows Data with his emotions, goes into his character very deeply, explains a few of the WTD things about him that bugged me, his not getting moric jokes and such....it also weaves some dorky in jokes into the book which are fun, and plays on the Star Trek history using Dr. Soong, the Daystrom Instude, Graves, and androids from TOS in a neat mystery that involves that bumbling turned confident man Barclay, and the despisable blue suited Commander Maddux, the jerk who wanted to take Mister Data himself apart himself. The about that is that well- seems he's been a coma half the book. Karma huh? Anyways all this is laced together in a big large spaced TNR font making this a easy- yet satisfying adverture to escape to before i fall asleep every night.
Currently I am half way thru it and cannot wait to get back to it! Which i might do right now, if i dont konk out!
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Yes IFM is a awesome read!!! I read that on the week it appeared back in the summer.
Top of the pops this year for certain indeed! Indeed! Its great best part is the end the Enterprise has 2 captains! No bullshit!
From what I understand, it was to make the books more appealing to new readers. The numbers may have been good for collectors, but they were probably daunting for people who wanted to read Immortal Coil and thought they had to read 63 books to understand it.
Just finished A Choice of Catastrophes (link to the review is in my sig), and starting on Christopher's The Struggle Within.
Just wrote my review of David Mack's The Sorrows of Empire. I truly cannot wait for Rise Like Lions! What a writer. I love all of his stuff!
I just finished The Struggle Within. I think I might start on the latest Romulan War novel tonight. Not sure yet.
I just finished The Struggle Within. I think I might start on the latest Romulan War novel tonight. Not sure yet.
I finished Lost Souls today, the final installment in the Destiny trilogy. Best season of Trek I ever read. 
Truly, having three books in which to really stretch out and lay groundwork, especially for the key guest characters, kept them from becoming the Mary-Sues they so easily could have otherwise been. When the story finally began to gel, I was surprised, and surprised that I was surprised, because it worked so well.
I loved it. Label, hurry up and catch up - I really want to read what you think of Destiny!
For me, next is Losing the Peace. I have 13 books left in my list, and 9 weeks left in the year. Gotta pick up the pace a bit!
On the audio front, I've been back to working thru my Audible collection. I just finished Catch Me If You Can, and am now listening to Howl's Moving Castle, which is just a lot of charming fun. I tried a while back to do Wizard's First Rule, but I ended up royally bored with it. While I consider myself a fantasy fan, for some reason the standard sword and sorcery tales have never really appealed to me.
Truly, having three books in which to really stretch out and lay groundwork, especially for the key guest characters, kept them from becoming the Mary-Sues they so easily could have otherwise been. When the story finally began to gel, I was surprised, and surprised that I was surprised, because it worked so well. I loved it. Label, hurry up and catch up - I really want to read what you think of Destiny!
For me, next is Losing the Peace. I have 13 books left in my list, and 9 weeks left in the year. Gotta pick up the pace a bit!
On the audio front, I've been back to working thru my Audible collection. I just finished Catch Me If You Can, and am now listening to Howl's Moving Castle, which is just a lot of charming fun. I tried a while back to do Wizard's First Rule, but I ended up royally bored with it. While I consider myself a fantasy fan, for some reason the standard sword and sorcery tales have never really appealed to me.
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