Star Trek: From History's Shadow

From History's Shadow. Dayton Ward. Based on the concept created by Gene Roddenberry. (Star Trek: The Original Series).  2013. Pocket Books. Pages: 427. [Source: Bought]

He heard breathing and the rustling of clothing. Muscles tensing in anticipation of a confrontation if not a full-blown firefight, Kirk stepped around the stacked containers and levelled his phaser at the figure standing in the open. It was the Vulcan, who appeared flush and disheveled. At his feet lay what could only be the particle weapon detected by Spock's tricorder.

"That is my only weapon," he said, standing in place and holding his hands away from his body. "I am not a threat. It is my counterpart who should concern you."

~~~

I've had this pocket book sitting in the data-banks of my iPad for 6 months to a year. I can't quite remember when I bought it, I just remember that I wanted to read it very badly since it sounded like it was quite exciting. And I wasn't disappointed. Did I love From History's Shadow? Yes, yes I did.

From History's Shadow starts out with the crew of the Enterprise just having returned to the 23rd Century after the whole incident with Gary Seven in the Original Series episode "Assignment: Earth". They've barely been in their century a day before a disturbance in a cargo bay has them slamming on the brakes so they can go investigate.

What exactly is causing all that fuss in the cargo bay, anyway? Turns out, Enterprise somehow gained a couple of stow-aways when it was in the 20th Century.

One of the reasons why I grabbed this book was because Mestral was in it. Mestral is a Vulcan character from the only Star Trek: Enterprise episode I've ever watched - "Carbon Creek". The reason why I like him so much is because he decided to stay on Earth after kind of falling in love with a Carbon Creek resident named Maggie. The thought that Mestral, a Vulcan, decided to stay and live amongst the human race, which at the time was extremely interested in the concept of alien invaders, is an interesting concept.

I liked the action and the cohesiveness of the plot of this story. Despite the fact that there were at least four points of view at any given time, I understood what was happening at each point and the only times I felt lost were when I returned to the story after stopping in the middle of a scene. Each and every character read like they were supposed to. Sometimes I felt that the situations weren't described as much as they could have but in every scene my imagination took over and compensated because there was enough information!

At the end of the novel, when one of the characters, a James Wainwright, is retired and old and slowly succumbing to Alzheimer's Disease, a breaking news TV spot pops up on his TV, showing a picture of a very familiar UFO. After several encounters with a similar-shaped ship which was under the command of Captain Kirk when he was in his prime, Captain Janeway's starship pulls the memories of his times chasing aliens and seeing things out-of-this-world from the depths of his mind where they had long since been buried.

What I would have liked to have seen at the end was Mestral visiting James after he saw the image of Voyager on the TV, since they had a bit of a working relationship halfway through the novel. You know, just to see how he was doing since Mestral would have hardly have changed at all. But it didn't happen. Oh well.

Note: The reader of this novel would have to be extremely well-versed in the Star Trek universe to get a lot of what happened in this novel. I just squeezed in thanks to my curiosity and due to the fact that I'm finally watching Star Trek: Voyager from the beginning.

This novel takes elements from:

• Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Assignment: Earth".
• Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday" with a cameo by Captain John Christopher.
• Star Trek: Voyager episodes "Future's End & Future's End, Part II"
• Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Carbon Creek"

Star Trek - Green Lantern: The Spectrum War

Star Trek - Green Lantern: The Spectrum War (Star Trek reboot movies; Green Lantern comics). Mike Johnson; Angel Hernandez; Alejandro Sanchez. Based on the movies directed by J.J. Abrams; based on the comics published by DC Comics. 2016. IDW/DC Comics. Pages: 140. [Source: Bought]

The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise meets the Green Lantern Corps for the first time in an all-new adventure that spans the cosmos! Kirk and Spock make a most unusual discovery on a lost world... igniting events that will change the fate of empires!

- back cover

~~~~

There is something about crossovers that tickles me pink (for a lack of better turn of phrase). Ever since my mom and dad introduced me to the Star Trek reboot movie in 2013 (shortly before its sequel, Into Darkness, came out in theaters), I've been an avid fan - despite the fact that this version of Kirk sleeps with a different girl whenever he has a chance to have shore leave. Which I can. Not. Stand.

Anyway, I waited patiently for the day where they would collect and bind all six issues of this story arc into one book so I could go and buy it. I find that it's just too pricey for me to go and buy every issue digitally. I almost have to pay the same amount for a digital copy as I would to get a physical one! And this omnibus edition (wow, new word for me), is gorgeous. And sleek. And sports that awesome new comic and/or book smell every time I open it.

And yes, I got it yesterday when I went to the city.

This is new for me, reviewing a comic book. I've never reviewed one before.

What really caught my eye about this crossover series was the fact that I'm both a Star Trek and a Green Lantern fan, so much so that I created a half Romulan, half human fan character and a human Green Lantern (her superhero name at the moment is "Girl Lantern"). I've drawn pictures of them both, but the images are lost on my flash drive somewhere.

But to get to the review - I just need to explain one more thing...

In the Green Lantern universe, emotions are personified. Someone at DC took the idea and ran with it I guess. And each emotion has a colour.

Green - will

Violet - love

Blue - hope

Indigo - compassion

Red - hate

Orange - greed

Yellow - fear

But in this comic, it incorporates two more colours...

Black - death

White - life

Life and death aren't exactly emotions, though, but I haven't followed the comics at all, so I have really no idea what's going on with those. The only Green Lantern "experiance" I've got is through Green Lantern: The Animated Series. 

The art that makes up this comic is exquisite - the characters look like the actors who portrayed them. They look realistic, to the point that if they stepped off the page and into my bedroom, they would look like real people and not cartoons. I enjoyed it immensely, and the colours were so bright and wonderful. The fluidity of the characters on the page looked realistic and not goofy (like a certain other Star Trek series I know... *cough*Star Trek: The Next Generation - Doctor Who crossover*cough**cough*watercolour comic?!?!*cough*)

The only qualms I have with the comic is that Lt. Uhura uses the Lord's name in vain when she is presented with her pink ring. There also may be a few uses of h***, and maybe even d**n. And the pink lantern/Star Sapphire's suit was so tight, and the pale star on the chest of her suit made me think for a moment that she was on the verge of baring it all - until I compared the colour of the suit to her face's skin tone. Then it was a false alarm. Oh, and if any of you don't like seeing reanimated corpses, well, this may not be the comic for you...

Other than that, it's a pretty good afternoon read. I don't want to say anything more, lest I spoil it for you if you haven't had the chance to read it. Right now you can purchase it from Indigo.ca for $22.76 Canadian. And it's obviously cheaper on the IDW or comixology app.

Now, I will leave you. But before I go, here is my favourite art that can be found at the back of the comic:

Doctor Who: Apollo 23

Apollo 23. (Doctor Who). Justin Richards. Based on the TV series created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, and Donald Wilson. 2010. BBC Books. Pages: 248. [Source: Bought]

"Houston - we have a problem."

An astronaut in full spacesuit appears out of thin air in a busy shopping center. Maybe it's a publicity stunt.

A photo shows a well-dressed woman in a red coat lying dead at the edge of a crater on the dark side of the moon - beside her beloved dog 'Poochie'. Maybe it's a hoax.

But as the Doctor and Amy find out, these are just minor events in a sinister plan to take over every being on Earth. The plot centers on a secret military base on the moon - that's where Amy and the TARDIS are. - back cover.

Did I love Apollo 23? Not really, but I did like it. The characterization was beautifully done, whenever the Doctor spoke I could practically hear his voice speaking the words in my mind's ear. It was enjoyable and well thought out.

But there's a problem. I found the story to be quite slow at first. It wasn't until Chapter 10 that the action really began to pick up, while the first 9 chapters were focused on setting the scene. I've been studying how to set up the first few chapters of a novel when you are writing it, and I've found that the best way to catch a reader's attention is to ask questions, make them feel as if there's something not right with the situation, which would make them want to read more so that they can have their questions answered.

Yes, I had questions - but not enough questions. I often felt that the only reason why I kept reading was because I knew the characters and I wanted to read/see the 11th Doctor again (he's since regenerated into the 12th Doctor). I guess Doctor Who novels are not to my taste.

But the science-fiction-y, suspense, and boarder-line jump-scare was!

[This novel counts towards what I've read/watched for the 2016 Sci-Fi Experience that runs until the end of the month :) ] Geronimo! 

Star Trek: The Rings of Time by Greg Cox

The Rings of Time. (Star Trek: The Original Series). Greg Cox. Based on the TV series created by Gene Roddenberry. 2012. Pocket Books. Pages: 304. [Source: Bought.]

 

This was rather interesting. I liked it, and I got to learn about some of Star Trek history.

 

In this adventure, you're introduced to a crew of four original characters - Colonel Shaun Christopher, son of US Force Captain John Christopher (which we've met in the The Original Series episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday"), Alice Fontana, Dr. Marcus O'Herlihy, and Zoe Querez . Throughout the novel, you switch back and forth between Shaun's point of view and Kirk's.

 

It was an engaging read, and it had quite a few laugh-worthy moments. But there are a few things I didn't like about it.

 

In the 23rd Century, it seems the need to swear has disappeared almost entirely. There's only a few times where words that have been said have ever jumped to the PG-13 level (such as in the movies, and books). In The Rings of Time, because it jumps between the 23rd and 21st Centuries, you go from having calm waters (in terms of expletives), to an almost raging river in 2020. Fontana is definitely the most vocal in that respect, but thankfully she never uttered (or the author never revealed) anything that would have made me flinch if I was watching it on TV.

 

The second thing that got me was the fact that Kirk gave into temptation when he was locked in an airlock with Zoe. As you can suspect, they got a little handsy, so I skipped the scene. Thankfully, it wasn't very long. Really, Greg?! We didn't need to see that!

 

In the end, all I could do was facepalm with a sigh, because its Kirk we're talking about. The most notorious ladies man of the Star Trek franchise. This is why I prefer Picard over Kirk.

 

I enjoyed the novel because of the suspense most of all. I love a good tense adventure. There was certainly a lot of Spock in the novel, which I liked because, you know, I'm a big Spock fangirl. Again, I wished it was a little longer, but it can't be helped - I didn't write it! lol.

 

The Rings of Time gives a brief peek into the life of Earthlings and how the societies of Earth were functioning before the Vulcans arrived on the scene. Oh, and before World War III decimated most of the planet.