Fantasy/SF Book Reviews
Page Two of TwoThe Definitive Star Trek Trivia Book by Jill Sherwin
Pocket Books, April, 2000.Trade paperback, 242 pages.
ISBN: 0671041827.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
How many tribbles did Spock calculate had
bred aboard Deep Space Station K-7? What new type
of circuitry does Voyager use? For Star Trek fans,
these are fascinating questions -- and this is the book
which answers them. Thirty-four years of Star Trek history,
from the original series to the motion pictures and the
current voyages of Captain Janeway and her crew in the
Delta Quadrant, are distilled into this thorough
compendium of trivia questions and memory testers.
The questions are separated into categories:
The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space
Nine, The Films, New Life and Civilizations,
Starfleet, Personnel Files, Abstract Knowledge,
and Answers. Writers hoping to write in the Star Trek
genre, Star Trek fans who want to relive
their favorite episodes or those who just want to stump their
friends with their impressive knowledge of
Star Trek minutiae will surely want to add this book
to their collection.
Star Trek: New Worlds New Civilizations by Michael Jan Friedman
Pocket Book, 1999.Hardcover, 185 pages.
ISBN: 0671881035.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Star Trek fans can rejoice with the publication of this
well-researched and beautifully illustrated atlas of
over two dozen of the worlds, life forms and galactic
phenomena from the Star Trek universe. Visit the
Ferengi homeworld, home of the Rules of Acquisition
and the rabid pursuit of profit in "A Dry Day On Ferenginar"
or the hot dry desert sands and stark beauty of Vulcan in
"Tempered by the Force," or listen to a reporter interview the
Guardian of Forever in "An Enigma Wrapped in a Puzzle."
Each section tells a story
about one of the worlds -- xenobiologists tell of their
work studying the tribbles, and Captain Catherine Janeway
of the U.S.S. Voyager tells us about her visit to the
Q continuum. With vivid illustrations and maps, this volume
is a must-have for Star Trek fans who want to experience
the various worlds of the known universe for themselves.
Waiting by Frank M. Robinson
Tor, Feb., 2000.Paperback, 430 pages.
ISBN: 0812541642.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Artie Banks, a television
news reporter, is a member of a
group of friends called the
"Suicide Club". At each meeting
a member of the group speaks about
a subject of interest to them. Larry Shea, a doctor,
never made it to the latest meeting; he was killed
in an alley near the restaurant where they were
to meet. As Artie begins
to investigate the strange death,
he finds that someone or something
does not want him to find who murdered
Dr. Shea and why. When he is at home
something starts controlling his mind while he is
climbing a ladder, nearly convincing
him to jump to his death. Luckily, his
son comes to his rescue and he regains control
of his mind. Somehow, his friend was killed
for something he was going to
discuss at the meeting. When he uncovers
a research paper of Shea's from
a computer disk, he realizes that his
friend was about to discuss and publish
a feature about an autopsy he performed,
in which the subject had features that were
not human. When another close friend is
killed he begins to wonder who to trust --
and who are really Homo sapiens. Artie has to determine
who is after him, what this other species
of humans wants and which members of
the "Suicide Club" are on his side, if any.
Armed with such a fantastic premise the author could have delivered better characters and a more interesting plot. Instead, the characters are unappealing and the story is often awkward and slow-moving. However, the novel idea of another species of humans living among us and the well-researched anthropology and paleontology topics, make Waiting worth reading, despite these drawbacks.
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