|
|
|
Transformers 2 vs. Terminator 4
Essential sci-fi reading list?
Brandon Routh no longer under contarct to play SUPERMAN
Megan Fox v. Michael Bay on the quality of Transformers
Jul 03 | Leading sci-fi website, Totalscifionline.com has teamed up with Star Trek Magazine to find out who is the best villain in Star Trek. Together, they want to know the diabolical masterminds who have sent a shiver down your spine and set your heart pounding and the evil geniuses who make it seem good to e bad. The top Star Trek villain will appear on a special commemorative Star Trek
Magazine cover, to be revealed later this year. Your vote could also win you year's subscription to Star Trek Magazine.For information on how to cast your vote, go here
Jul 02 | Doug Drexler's Drex Files blog psoted a couple of making-of for two images in Pocket Books 2010 Ships of the Line calendar. You can see Greg Stewart's "Operation Return", and "We Come In Peace For All Mankind" by Robert Wilde.
Jul 02 | Company of Angels (CoA), which was co-founded in 1959 by actor Leonard Nimoy, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary as Los Angeles' oldest non profit professional theater now headquartered at the historic Alexandria Hotel in downtown LA. CoA is readying to celebrate this milestone in the history of Los Angeles Theater - with a prestigious Charity Awards Gala slated for October 17, 2009 which will honor actor Leonard Nimoy for his role as a founding member as well as veteran actor Robert Ellenstein. "I'm looking forward to celebrating Company of Angels' 50th Anniversary Award Ceremony and Gala." Nimoy says of this special event in which he is proud to be a part of Check out the official website to learn more about The Company of Angels
Jul 01 | There may be no new Boston Legal episodes, but William Shatner is keeping very busy these days. In addition to his new talk show, Raw Nerve, he took time out to film a new TV spot for Priceline, titled Lighten Up. The clip is viewable on the Priceline Travel Blog
Jun 28 | Eight weeks in, Star Trek still drew audiences in eighth ($3.6 million this weekend, $246.2 million overall).
:
By BWilliams / 16:55, 7 February 2005 / Reviews - Books
Synopsis: As James T. Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy attempt to cope with the personal fallout of the V’Ger incident, a chapter from their mutual past is reopened, raising troubling new questions. Now echoes of the V’Ger encounter reverberate among the Enterprise officers…
Review: Christopher L. Bennett is a new face to the STAR TREK novel group, yet he's no stranger to the STAR TREK universe overall, having made prior contributions to the S.C.E. series and the DS9 anthology PROPHECY AND CHANGE, as well as being an active presence on the PsiPhi BBS board. Now, Bennett has graduated to the big leagues with his first novel EX MACHINA, a wonderful tale that puts the crew of the Enterprise at the heart of their most introspective battle yet.
EX MACHINA picks up two weeks after the events of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, with everyone on Earth and on the Enterprise feeling the effects of the V'Ger incident. But Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are not content with sitting around feeling melancholy. After all, this is STAR TREK we're talking about here, and one of the tenets of a successful tale is finding adventure, and that's exactly what Bennett does in EX MACHINA by picking up the threads of one of the Original Series episodes and expanding upon it. The Fabrini home world, last seen in the third season episode 'For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", is experiencing significant change at its very cultural and political heart. When the Fabrini home world undergoes a major political movement that threatens its very religion to the core, it's up to Kirk and company to set things right while coming to terms with what's been eating away at their souls for the past three years.
Bennett has an extremely strong insight into the STAR TREK universe, and his tale is ripe with references from all of the television series and the various comics and novels. Keeping a watchful eye on continuity, Bennett successfully manages to blend the various references throughout EX MACHINA while at the same time crafting a well-developed story in the process. Attention to scientific detail is at the forefront of Bennett's tome, as he carefully integrates scientific reality into the framework of the tale. I haven't seen such attention to detail since the works of Diane Duane!
Another strong quality Bennett brings to EX MACHINA is a deep exploration of the many alien cultures that populate the Enterprise. Referenced only in passing in promotional materials from TMP, Bennett gives life to the many aliens and cultures devised by Robert Fletcher for the film. No alien culture escapes Bennett's careful eye, especially Ensign Zaand, the bug-eyed alien 'boy" from TMP who took offense to Kirk's command of the Enterprise. Bennett brings him front and center as a key player in the tale's events, coming to terms with his professional bias towards Kirk. Bennett also further fleshes out the main cast's personal struggles "" Kirk with his decisions about command, Spock with the post-Kohlinahr training on Vulcan, McCoy with returning to active starship duty, Sulu pursuing the command track, and Chekov being taken seriously in his work "" making TMP all the more understandable when viewed in context with this novel. He's got a solid grasp on characterization all the way throughout EX MACHINA, and no one escapes his watchful eye or is considered insignificant. That's the mark of a great writer, one who makes you care about all of the people in a story, and this is one of Bennett's many strengths.
And yet, Bennett writes this tale with an awareness of modern-day events influencing the tale in the process, with allusions to the recent Iraqi elections, the constant military conflicts in Iraq, and the ongoing debates of teaching creation or evolution to young people in schools. At its best, STAR TREK shows us what our world is like through futuristic eyes, and Bennett succeeds in showing us what our world is like and what we need to do to make it better while at the same time improving upon our own individual conditions.
EX MACHINA is an excellent debut outing for Christopher Bennett, one that you cannot help but enjoy. My only recommendation: cue up the Jerry Goldsmith score to TMP, sit back, and absorb yourself in a first-class adventure!
| TrekWeb's Rating Scale | |
 |
A Must Read |
 |
Recommended |
 |
Average |
 |
Mediocre |
 |
Don't Bother |
| 
