Tuesday, April 30, 2002

Preserver

by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

SIGH.... This was the final book of "The Mirror Universe Saga". It wasn't really bad, just disappointing. I think they probably could have pared this down to a single volume by jettisoning some of the subplots and ended up with a much better novel. I'm glad that Kirk wins the battle (which one, I won't reveal) but after being kicked about for three novels, it seems a bit forced. I'll rate this as waiting room material, but I'd much prefer an issue National Geographic.

LibraryThing link

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Saturday, April 20, 2002

Dark Victory

by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Part two of "The Mirror Universe Saga". I didn't mention that part one of the series, Spectre, ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, hence my reading this so quickly on the heels of the first. I've noticed that the middle part of a trilogy seems to be the weakest, and this one didn't break tradition. The main subplot of this is the appearance of Captain Kirk's mirror universe counterpart. He had became emperor in his own universe, was deposed and now wants to wreak havoc in the "real" one. Captain Kirk is pretty much ineffectual against him in a typical underdog versus the unstoppable foe tale. But some of the mysteries of Spectre are furthur unraveled, there's an amusing wedding scene, and one of my favorite supporting characters from Deep Space Nine plays a small role, so I continued reading to the end. This one is waiting room material I could leave behind.

LibraryThing link

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Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Spectre

by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Whenever I go to the Friends of the Library semi-annual book sale in Seattle, I have to pick up the obligatory science fiction novel. I don't know why I have this habit, but I do. Anyway, this spring I was a bit rushed, and I ended up picking up William Shatner's Preserver. So why aren't I reviewing that? Well, Preserver is the third book of a Star Trek trilogy, Spectre is the first. Anyway, as I've said before, Shatner and the Reeves-Stevenses write pretty good stuff... for Star Trek novels, anyway. This tale deals with the resurrected Captain Kirk, who is trying to settle down with the love of his life. Normally the resurrection angle would turn me off to the book, but this trilogy ties in with the Star Trek episode, "Mirror, Mirror." And I love alternate universe tales... even alternate imaginary universe tales. Anyway, it's an engaging tale, even if everybody treats Captain Kirk like a demi-god. There's a running tension over whom is real and whom is a "mirror universe counterpart" that gets a bit tired. But I suppose that it's an inevitable consequence of the whole parallel universe schtick. I guess I'll rate this as waiting room material, though I'd hate to start reading this and have to leave it behind after my appointment.

LibraryThing link

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