Tag / Star Trek

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Autographed Books – Imzadi

imzadiConsidered one of the best Star Trek novels, Imazadi, by Peter David, is next up in our look at the hardcover books I’ve gotten autographed over the years.  Released in 1992, the book tells the tale of William Riker’s first meeting with Deanna Troi and a future where a broken Admiral Riker tries to save the love of his life, who died 40 years earlier.

Given the number of big comic conventions I’ve attended over the years, it is somewhat surprising that Peter David’s autograph was acquired at a small show in a hotel in Rosemont sometime in the early 2000s.

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Book 21 (of 52) – The Persistence Of Memory

The Persistence of Memory - David Mack

The Persistence of Memory – David Mack

As the Star Trek franchise celebrates its 50th anniversary, another trilogy of novels from David Mack was available on the cheap from the Kindle store on Amazon, so I picked them up.  The first of the trilogy, The Persistence of Memory, follows the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and, after a mystery about the whereabouts of some stolen androids, brings Data back to life.

Had the powers that be known that Nemesis would end up being the final film with the Next Generation cast, the impetus to kill off Data, Brent Spiner’s advancing age, would have disappeared.  But, thanks to some retconning to the end of the fourth season episode Brothers, Mack finds a creative way to bring back the fan favorite character.  Unfortunately, the entire middle section of this book was merely set-up for that return.

We’ll see if any of that set-up comes back into play in the next 2 installments of the trilogy.  If they do, then that may change my opinion of this outing.  As it is, there was a lot of seemingly wasted time.

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Book 20 (of 52) – Lost Souls

Lost Souls - David Mack

Lost Souls – David Mack

The final chapter of the Destiny trilogy brings a Borg invasion deep in to the Federation as the Enterprise, Titan, and Aventine, with the help of the now 800-year old Captain Erika Hernandez, try to find a way to save the universe.  While attempting to stop them from attacking the Federation’s core planets, Captain Hernandez learns the shocking truth of the Borg’s origins, and the avenue to shut them down for good.

David Mack uses the fact that Paramount is mostly finished with the original Star Trek timeline to his advantage, giving him free reign to both define the origin of the Borg and then remove them as threats in the future.  He does so by building off of the worlds he has built in the previous outings in the series.  I must say that I enjoyed this three book trip back in to the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  If I ever come across another Kindle sale on these types of books, I may just pick up a few more.

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Book 5 (of 52) – Mere Mortals

Mere Mortals - David Mack

Mere Mortals – David Mack

In the second part of the Destiny trilogy, the Enterprise and the Aventine work on discovering the wormhole that the Borg are using to invade the Alpha quadrant while the crew of the Titan tries to deal with the Caeliar and their decision to trap them on their world, just as they did hundreds of years ago with the crew of the NX Columbia.

Mack spends most of this middle portion of the trilogy on Erika Hernandez, captain of the Columbia, as she first tries to escape from the Caeliar and then works to assimilate with them, which enables her to live for hundreds of years and encounter Riker and the crew of the Titan.  As a standalone book, this doesn’t have much to offer.  Very little actually happens, as it is mostly setup for the finale.  Hopefully, it all pays off.

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52 Books in 52 Weeks – 2014 Edition

bookshelfA new year is upon us, and it is time to start year five of the goal to read a book a week for the entire year, totaling 52 books in 52 weeks.  In year one, I only made it to 8 books.  Year two doubled that total.  Year three used graphic novels to improve once again, finishing with 24.  Last year was the first where I dropped from the year before, only finishing 18 books, which was well short of the ultimate goal.

I’m going to give it another go this year.  I’ve got a few new books loaded in the Kindle app on my iPad, so I’ve got a good pile to start with.  As a reminder, the rules I am using are:

  • You can count a book as read as long as you have completed the book in 2014 and at least 50% of that reading takes place in 2014
  • Any book counts as long as you’re not embarrassed to count it.
  • Poetry collections do indeed count.
  • Re-reading a book is okay as long as it isn’t done this year. (Reading Twilight twice in 2010 only counts as 1 read)
  • Audiobooks also count.

My first book of the year will likely be The Big Nowhere, the last of the L.A. Quartet from James Ellroy which I am about 100 pages into.  There is also the rest of the Star Trek trilogy that I started last year and a new Greg Rucka novel coming out in June that I have already pre-ordered.

 

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Book 18 (of 52) – Gods Of Night

Gods Of Night - David Mack

Gods Of Night – David Mack

It has been at least 13 years since I’ve dipped my toe in to the expanded universe that are Star Trek novels.  Recently, the Kindle store had the Destiny trilogy on sale for a good price, so I figured I would try and jump back in and see how things were going.  This trilogy takes place after the events of Star Trek: Insurrection and the end of Star Trek: Voyager.  The Borg have declared war on the Federation, and its up to the Captains Picard, Riker, and Dax to figure out a way to stop them.

Author David Mack (no, not that David Mack) has put together a tale that covers 4 ships over hundreds of years and the mystery of how the NX Columbia, thought lost in the 22nd century, was found marooned on a planet well beyond its reach in the 24th century.  While Erzai Dax and the crew of the USS Aventine try to discover the secrets held within the old craft, William Riker leads the USS Titan to a mysterious world that may just tie in to that mystery.  Meanwhile, the Enterprise tries to keep ahead of the latest Borg invasion while trying to find out how they are getting to Federation space without being discovered.

One of the benefits of the Star Trek reboot is that the novels covering the Next Generation timeline are able to make permanent changes without worrying about the latest film and without hitting the giant reset button at the end of the novel.  So, Riker has his own command, Worf is back on the Enterprise as first officer, Data has been destroyed, and Picard and Dr. Crusher are married.  Similar to the Buffy novels I’ve read over the past few years, it is nice to slip back in to a universe that I enjoyed during my younger days.  This was a good re-introduction and I’m certainly looking forward to the rest of the trilogy to see where things go.

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Prolific Authors 2013

bookshelfWay back in December of 2011, I took our first look back at the authors I have read the most dating back to high school.  Since that time, I’ve read 34 books from 31 different authors.  I don’t think there is going to be much movement since then, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time.  Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 47 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2011 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0

No change to these two, who owe their totals mostly to Buffy and Angel tie-in novels.

Greg Rucka 12 11 1
Stephen King 10 9 1

Both of these long time favorites increased their total by one book.  Rucka’s newest is due out next summer and is already pre-ordered.

Michael Jan Friedman 8 8 0
Brad Meltzer 8 7 1

Brad Meltzer pulls into a tie for the top 5 with another author of tie-in novels, mostly Star Trek: TNG and Lois & Clark. Continue reading →

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Mix Tape Monday – Workout

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended. That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

In addition to the occasional series of CDs I had burned in order to keep abreast of new music, I had created a bunch of genre-specific mixes that could be used both in the car and at the gym. This week we will take a look at the first disc created specifically for working out.  The selection is mostly European dance music which has a good beat intended to keep me moving.  Sadly, I can’t say how well it worked.  So, without further ado, I bring you Workout, volume 1.

The SKLF – 3 AM Eternal

Numerous versions of the song were released as singles between 1989 and 1992, with the January 1991 acid house pop version of the song becoming an international top ten hit single, reaching #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 3/30/2011

Information Society – What’s On Your Mind

The dance/freestyle/synthpop hit, which went straight to No. 1 on the dance chart and spent 39 weeks on the chart and would peak at #3 on the Hot 100 pop chart, included vocal samples of Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy from the Star Trek episodes Errand of Mercy and I, Mudd, respectively.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 1/27/2009

2 Unlimited – Get Ready For This

The single from the Dutch Eurodance group worked its way up to #38 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart only three after its original release.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 1/4/2011

Snap! – Rhythm Is A Dancer

The single from the German Eurodance project shot to #1 in Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and peaked at #5 in the US.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 7/16/2012

Real McCoy – Another Night

The German Eurodance group found worldwide fame when this single shot to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1994.

iTunes stats: 3 plays, most recently on 10/16/2012

Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone

The Dutch Eurodance group launched their career in July 1999 with this single, reaching #3 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play and #27 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 8/22/2012

Garbage – Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go) (Howie B Remix)

This remix of the hit song was included on the Japanese single.

iTunes stats: Never played

Cathy Dennis featuring D-Mob – C’mon And Get My Love

The sing is regarded as an underground classic in the dance music field.

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 9/7/2011

Continue reading →

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Mix Tape Monday – August 2001

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

I obviously didn’t know it at the time, but this CD would be the last I would make before the world changed on that early September morning.  This edition featured new music from Nelly Furtado, Weezer, Smash Mouth, and Eve.

Nelly Furtado – I’m Like A Bird

Prior to her current incarnation as a pop music princess, Furtado hit it big with this soulful hit that relied more on her voice than a producer’s computer.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 7/30/2012

Mazzy Star – Hallah

After Fade Into You went huge, radio programmers looked to their previous album and found this gem.

iTunes stats: 8 plays, most recently on 2/7/2011

Bif Naked – Lucky

One of the highlights of the Buffy soundtrack that led to me buying her debut CD.

iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 8/10/2011

Joey Scarbury – Believe It Or Not

The theme song from The Greatest American Hero became far more successful than the show from which it was spawned.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 5/1/2012

John Sebastian – Welcome Back

Another theme song, this one from Welcome Back, Kotter.  This MP3 was ripped from the album, which you can tell from a little skip towards the end.

iTunes stats: 9 plays, most recently on 11/19/2012

Liz Phair & Material Issue – The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)

Yet another television theme song, covered for a compilation of cartoon hits.  I apparently never imported this CD into iTunes, a mistake I have now rectified.

iTunes stats: Never played

Material Issue – Kim The Waitress

The one big hit for the local band that seemed to be going places before singer Jim Ellison committed suicide in 1996.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 9/19/2012

Weezer – Islands In The Sun

The latest single from Weezer’s comeback album.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 3/28/2012

Foo Fighters – Learning To Fly

One of my least favorite Foo Fighter songs.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 12/1/2010

Continue reading →