Star Trek The Doomsday Machine Book

[Sarcophagus Galacticus]

Hello all,
I just noticed a book for sale on Amazon.com entitled "Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine a berserker in our galaxy." It is 174 pages, the description and look inside seems interesting. Their are currently no reviews, it is a bit pricey. Does any one have this book? If not, I will order it and review it in a future post. Thank you.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I hadn't seen this, either. I'd be interested to see your review if you do buy it. Also, welcome to the board.

 

[Samuel]

That's my favorite episode. I can't wait to get this. But I'll probably wait for the price to come down somewhat.

 

[Tosk]

Be prepared for a rambling opinion-based mess of bad spelling and odd tangents.

I haven't read it, but if you go into a one-person release* like this with that in mind you're less likely to be disappointed.

*I'd like to call it self-published, but I'm not sure that term works properly for this age of "Write any old shit and sell it on Amazon" we are in now.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Be prepared for a rambling opinion-based mess of bad spelling and odd tangents.

I haven't read it, but if you go into a one-person release* like this with that in mind you're less likely to be disappointed.

*I'd like to call it self-published, but I'm not sure that term works properly for this age of "Write any old shit and sell it on Amazon" we are in now.

To be fair, we don't know if the book is bad or good yet.

 

[Samuel]

I hope it shows some of the various different ideas about the Planet Killer designs such as the original concept by Norman Spinrad and ideas that have cropped up online over the years.

And it would be foolish to leave out comment about Peter Davids novel "Vendetta" which was basically "return of the Doomsday Machine, it was built to fight the Borg" or the FASA RPG adventure "A Doomsday Like Any Other" where a Starfleet frigate encounters another Planet Killer and must struggle to keep it out of the hands of the Romulans. Plus, IIRC there was a fan made TV episode that involved a war between the Federation and large numbers of Planet Killers.

 

[Daddy Todd]

More than $30?

Uh, no thanks.

 

[Maurice]

As I've related before, Sprirad's memory is faulty. What he says he imaged the machine looking like doesn't jibe with what's in the script, which is.

From scene 31:

DECKER​

A hundred times the size of a
starship... a mile long, with
a maw big enough to swallow a
dozen ships... it destroys
planets... cuts them to rubble...
​

And from scene 41:

On the screen, looming large and seen head-on, we see

the Planet-Killer; a great funnel extended before its
huge metallic body as if it were to devour the Enterprise.

SPOCK'S VOICE​

An immense body... a large funnel-
mouth... It looks very much like
Commodore Decker's Planet-killer...
And it is pursuing us!
​

No other details in the script. Spinrad had some a slightly more detailed descriptions in his first draft* story outline (http://www.missionlogpodcast.com/discovereddocuments/035)...

...the Constellation was attacked by a huge metallic creature, which Decker refers to as the "Eater" -- a kind of cylindrical "living atomic rocket" at least ten times the size of the Constellation, apparently from beyond the Galaxy, with a posterior rocket and a great anterior funnel-mouth big enough to swallow a ship with a cluster of atomic blaster beams and tractor beams around the funnel, not a machine, but a living organism with a nuclear metabolism.​

...but the crew works from the script, not the outlines.

 

[Indysolo]

Link here.

Neil

 

[Maurice]

Link here.

Neil

Yah, let's sell a piece of fan fiction for property we don't own. That always ends well.

 

[Indysolo]

If someones going to start a thread, "I just noticed a book for sale on Amazon.com..." the least they can do is provide a link to it, regardless of its pedigree.

Neil

 

[plynch]

Norman and cbs are having their intellectual property pirated for profit. This can't end well.

Books like those in the trilogy-of-errors-that-shall-go-unnamed are investigative, reportorial, and educational and usu. get a press-rights and fair-use "pass" even though written for profit. Writing in-universe without a license from CBS . . . dude could have to forfeit his gross if found in violation of IP/copyright.

 

[DrCorby]

If someones going to start a thread, "I just noticed a book for sale on Amazon.com..." the least they can do is provide a link to it, regardless of its pedigree.

Neil

I am dubious that this book was just "found" on Amazon by the OP. By clicking the author's link at that site, you'll discover that he has also written a book called "Extraterrestrial Organology: The study of future wind instruments". The OP also started a thread here on STBBS on "Star Trek Musical Instruments". The one instrument (bassoon) mentioned in the book's blurb is one of the instruments the OP says he plays. Coincidence? Perhaps.

If I am wrong, I will apologize handsomely. But my suspicion is that someone is being disingenuous with the book mention here and the glowing review in the follow-up thread...

 

[alensatemybuick1]

Daaaaaayum, that was a great "outing" in the other, now closed thread. I had my own suspicions from the start, even going so far as to use the TrekBBS search function a few days back and noting that there was already a TrekBBS member named "Ronald Wimmer" with one post to his name. But Kor is the true master. If there's one thing I despise, it's dishonesty, and I applaud all efforts to out it.

 

[Sarcophagus Galacticus]

I had my own suspicions as well, the book was to good to be true. But I admire Gaul!

 

[alensatemybuick1]

Hey, this is fun:

from https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/cycling-in-the-star-trek-universe.291188

Hello all,
Just a general interest question I have been pondering, I am an avid cyclist who enjoys riding vintage racing bicycles and belongs to a local cycling club.

 

[1001001]

Okay, dude.

This is the worst attempt at self-promotion in the history of the internet.

Be a better person.

Infraction for spamming. Comments to PM