John M. Ford's brilliant and powerful writing style was always awe-inspiring. The characters are fascinating. the dialogue is splendid. The quality of Ford's Klingons is superior to that of TNG's Klingons.

Not only it awed many people including me but also it influenced Ronald Moore's work on Klingon culture. Mr. Moore admitted he liked reading the book Final Reflection in Star Trek Magazine review.

However, this book may be contradicted and is not regarded as canon but the author's definitions of Klingon culture and Klingon sense of honor is never questioned.

Whereas a Klingon captain named Krenn tries to struggle to understand Human culture, a Human named Tagore attempts to comprehend Klingon culture.

The quote about naked stars in this book is inspirational.

May the Black Fleet salute John M. Ford for his incredible legacy to the world. He deserves to be remembered with no less honor than Kahless the Unforgettable.

"The Final Reflection" is an extremely interesting addition to your Star Trek collection. I had originally picked this one up more as a completist/collector's item. It's one of "The Original Series" books I planned on getting to sooner or later. At the advice of another fan/reviewer I pulled this one off the shelf. To no surprise at all, this was extremely sage advice. This is an excellent "TOS" novel that I would suggest, if you've not read it yet, do so immediately.

The premise: the "Enterprise" is at Starbase 12 for shore leave and several of the crew members have started reading a recently released book called "The Final Reflection." Dr. McCoy gives a copy to Captain Kirk. After getting settled back into his quarters, he begins to read it. What follows is a tale covering the time period of approximately twenty years past the federation's "first contact" with the Klingons and later. The primary character being a young Klingon named Vrenn, whom shall later become Krenn. We are afforded the opportunity to see him go from being a lineless orphan to the Captain of a warship. His honorable actions put him in place to carry out the mission which inspires this novel. He truly becomes, in the end, a "Thought Admiral."

In this aging, yet very well written Star Trek novel, we see a very well thought out and structured idea of the Klingon culture. Of course, Star Trek novels being non canonical, much of the author's perceptions on Klingon culture were later disproved by the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek The Next Generation. This is not to say though that the Klingon culture wasn't like this at the supposed time this "novel" was written that Captain Kirk is reading. As Commander Worf stated in "Trials and Tribbleations, when asked by Chief O'brien about the difference between twenty third century and twenty fourth century Klingons, "We don't like to talk about it." Once again, an excellent, well thought out, well written novel. I would recommend "The Final Reflection: to any and all Star Trek fans. Many thanks to Chapulina R for the reading suggestion.

I have read it so many times I can't remember how many i have done it. John M. ford's book probably is the first book that doesn't portrays Klingons as villains. Most of the Star trek authors prior to TNG's debut used Klingons as stereotypes. Worse, some of the authors including Blish and Goldin discredited the klingons as dishonorable and deceitful.

John M. Ford is the genius. he not only did NOT used Klingons as stereotypes but also his book can help anyone understand the Klingon concept of honor

This richly illustrated and clearly written book is a pleasure to read. Its author, David Levy, (discoverer of many comets, including Shoemaker-Levy which impacted Jupiter in 1994)is one of the great amauteur astronmers, and communicates his love of the heavens well. The star charts are done by Wil Tirion, the foremost celestial cartographer and author of many important sky atlases.

The book itself starts with a valuable historical perspective, discussing ancient astronomy and classical and modern astronomers. It progresses through a presentation of our place in the solar system and the universe, and discussons of planetary and deep sky objects. Various types of instruments for observing are also discussed. Finally, there is a section on each of the constellations, and the objects within them, enriched by historical information and even a guide to pronouncing some of the Arabic and Latin tongue-twisters one encounters.

The quality of the publication is first-rate. The illustrations range from ancient Chinese star charts through medievil earth-centric maps to images from the Hubble space telescope.

This is a book that will capture your interest, and supply many hours of pleasurable perusing on cloudy nights. The only drawback it that its hardcover, fairly thick format makes it less that ideal for the field.

I just bought this book and found it very easy to read, as well as helpful with using my brand new telescope.
It starts off by giving a very entertaing general history of astronomy, with plenty of illustrations.
It then covers astronomy concepts, such as star types, azimuth, etc. Also included is a section on telescopes.
Then it has 12 or so full scale maps of the sky, for every time of the year in both southern and northern hemispheres.
The best section is the constellation section. It has at least one page for each constellation, with a map showing a detalied view of it and surrounding stars/clusters/galaxies. It gives the history of the constellation, other interesting objects to look for nearby, and a photograph showing what the constellation really looks like (without the lines connecting the stars). Very helpful.

This glossy covered handbook is a treasure trove of information aimed at the beginner and amatuer astronomer. The quality of the production is what impressives me most. Wonderful diagrams and photographs throughout compliment informative text. The sky charts are easily accessible and make for a ready reference when identifying constellations. The other chapters include "Skywatching through the ages", "Stars and Galaxies", "Skywatching tools and techniques", "Understanding the changing sky", "A tour of the solar system" and "Probing the universe". This book would make an ideal gift for persons just starting out in astronomy, as well as the more experienced. Highly recommended and a bargain price to boot.

I had planned to read this book for a while, and I was looking forward to it a lot, since the kids' one was way to short and boring even when I was ten years old. So, as you can probably guess my expectations were rather high, too high perhaps, but even so I was not disapointed. George Lucas has proved himself not only an excellent filmmaker, but also a great author as well. This book, while a bit dry at times, illustrates the movie in a spectacular fashion, and breathes new life into it, so that it seems interesting all over again. I read it one day when I was stuck in a hotel room, but this book was so interesting I litterally could not put it down. Every true Star Wars fan should read this, since it completly tells the story with a bunch of added stuff, that truly flesh out the story and that were completly missing from the movie. One thing that surprised me was the occasional small details that were changed. Such as Threepio being described as bronze instead of gold, and Luke being Blue 5 instead of Red 5. Another thing that struck me as odd was the slight differences in characters, Luke and Ben most noticably. Ben is less wise, more mischevious, and at times even funny, a previously unheard of thing! Luke also is slightly different. He seems, well, less innocent, more stupid, and even acts like somewhat of a jerk at times, and is all around more heroic and self centered, and generaly less cute. This was both interesting and annoying, since Luke was always my favorite character and to be honest I liked him better the other way. Leia is also noticably different, she being somewhat less strong, which annoyed me somewhat. Anyway, this was an excellent book, that deserved an honest four stars.

We're all familiar with the story, why read the book? That's what a lot of people ask, and I must say there's really not that many reasons to. Everything presented here is in the film, except for a few exceptions. We meet Luke a little earlier into the story, and he has a talk with his friend, Biggs Darklighter. Other than that, there's not a whole lot here that you can't see in the films.

However, as a book, it is most excellently written. The writing style is easy to get into and understand, and characters are written believably. A must-have for the Star Wars book collecter, a good choice of a library loan for anyone else.

I LOVE this book. I have always been a reader, but it usually takes me a long time. This book was easily finished in 2 days, just about a record. The detail just engulfs the reader. You can see everything. It's about 20 times better than the movie. Even if you are not a Star Wars fan, this book can easily make you one. The only downfall is that the famous "Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" speech by Princess Leia has been altered. Even though, this book is an absolute must for any age. (I know, being only 16.) What else can I say? AMAZING!!!!

If you like Star wars you will like this book to be added to all your Star wars things! This is a great book to start with. I think the other books are better though. But you should always start with the first book ( if it's avalble). It still is good though. It's about a girl named Tash, and a boy named Zak. There parents died when Alderan was blown up by the Empire. The Empire does lots of other weird things, but, you'll have to read the book to find those secrets out! I reconmend this highly!

This is a great book, and I see few star wars books that have a girl as the main character. It tells you to trust your instints, and anything is possible. Its got me wanting to read the whole series, which I forsee to be very, very great.

John Whitman did a great job on this book. It kept me interested so much, I read it in about 2 hours. I would recommend this to any Star Wars Fan

It's hard to rate an anthology. My approach is to rate each individual story. I came out with a ranking of 3.4705882352941176470588235294118. But I find humans have trouble with too much precision, so I'll round it to 3.

Some of the stories are less than equal, as you find in any anthology. I'm not quite sure why Ribbon for Rosie, the story of 7 of 9's trip to the past, won the grand prize. It doesn't seem as we well written, but perhaps because it suffers from now being outside of canon because of STV episodes after '99, when the book was written. Similarly, the DS9 episodes are both pretty thick and difficult to get into- which is a shame, since DS9 has a lot of promise, such as stories about the completely unexplored Gamma quadrant, that was never explored in the series. And while it was nice to see Dr. Taylor again from TVH, the TOS episodes start the book off a bit slow. And Calculated Risk reminds me why Dr. Pulaski left the series, and why there aren't more stories about her.

But on the very positive side, I Am Klingon finally provides a possible answer to that nagging question- where did those foreheads come from? Rand even does am amazing job of tying in all the various episodes that have skirted around this issue, in TOS, TNG, and DS9, as well as providing one answer to what actually happened between Deanna and Worf. One story finally gets to that nagging question- if Wesley was studying with the Traveler in a Native American colony under the Cardassians, doesn't he then become a technical member of the Dominion, and if so, why isn't he helping in the war against the Dominion? And two excellent time travel stories get to some of those questions of, if there is a Department of Temporal Investigations, fixing temporal incursions, how come there are still temporal incursions that have never been fixed? Though the book as a whole isn't as highly rated, I'd definitely recommend it for these hints at possible paradoxi with Star Trek.

And then there are the stories that touched me emotionally. I Am Become Death is a haunting look at Data's life, pre-STN- one with that added twist that can make you cry. I personally very appreciated two STV stories: Touched, for it's etic anthropological look from the perspective of the other, and The Healing Arts, for stressing the importance of empathy, and interpathy, in healing. Reciprocity is TNG story about *very* long wormholes, that is filled with poignancy and a feeling that, truly, All Good Things...

Strange New Worlds II impressed me very much with the quality of the short stories written by Star Trek fans. Some stories continue plots from prior series; a Voyager story is a follow-up to an original series show, while another follows one from The Next Generation. Dr. McCoy makes an appearance in a Next Gen story and a Voyager story, while Chakotay and the EMH both appear in Next Gen stories. Fans of Deep Space Nine will be disappointed, as neither of the stories ostensibly from that series really deals with any of the characters. Only Sisko & Odo are even mentioned. Reg Barclay makes two appearances; so do the Time Cops Dulmer & Lucsly. Lt. Saavik, Dr. Pulaski, & Carol Marcus also appear. To me the best story was Triptych, the second prize winner. A Ribbon for Rosie & I Am Klingon (first & third respectively) are also outstanding. I would recommend this book for any Star Trek fan. It is much more fun to read than Dyson Sphere!

Strange New Worlds II is the second book of fan written Star Trek short stories and there is something for every fan in this one. I found all the stories to be entertaining . One of my favorites was 'Triptych' which concerns the episode "City on the Edge of Forever" The story 'Doctors Three' was a wonderful tale that was appreciated by me as an honor to the late Deforest Kelly. Klingon fans will love 'I am Klingon'. Deep Space Nine only had two entries both being somewhat unusual in presentation. Hopefully there will be more Deep Space Nine stories next year. Though 'A Ribbon of Rosie' was one of my least favorite stories it is a must read if you are a 7 of 9 fan. It provides insight into a young Anika Hansen. I found the style of the story made it a bit difficult to follow so I recommend re-reading 'Rosie' . Strange New Worlds II is a must read for any Star Trek fan.

The two Gemworld novels must be the most visual Star Trek novels I've ever read.

Think of a planet that is so old it has to be artificially maintainned by growing magnificent chrystal formations to keep the hollow planet from deteriorating to extinction. Due to the low mass of the "planet", there is virtually no gravity, and the six very different species that inhabit it are constasntly "flying" through the chrystal formations.

Sounds like a fairy-tale?

Well, it is. But the childishness is an acceptable side-effect considering the ideal setting that produces it.

Unfortunately the story doesn't guite live up to the setting. We get the usual sabotage/murder mystery we have seen so many times we cannot remember. Unfortunately, the story is just as childish as the setting, and has nothing to back it off.

Fortunately the story is structured well, and the exellent use of Lt. Reginald Barclay and Commander Deanna Troi, who isn't usually portrayed in the way she deserves, not to mention the DS9 guest character Melora Pazlar, who, by the way, was originally created as the regular doctor of the series, and the exellent characterization of all of the three good characters makes this book, that takes place in the year 2376, one of the most entertaining ones in a long time. It's nice to see some more rarely used characters from time to time, instead the old and recycled TNG characters, that ,at this point, have absolutely nothing new to deliver.

But the writing.

The first few chapters of the book cause pain for the reader, because the writing of John Vornholt, who has proven himself to be quite a good writer, is absolutely unprofessional.

But in the end, I recommend this unique, and entertaining book, that offers the best mental wievs possible.

Gemworld was an excellent series of 2 books by John Vornholt. Vornholt has a definite grasp of how the characters form Star Trek TNG would behave, making the story seem feasible. I enjoyed reading about the unusual world that Gemworld is (almost zero gravity, so the inhabitants float whenever in their planet's atmosphere). Naturally, this would cause the people from Gemworld to have very little muscle to fight gravity with, so when put in Earth normal gravity, they collapse. This fact was utilized greatly throughout the novel. Another thing that is enjoyable is Barclay. For anyone who watched Star Trek TNG on tv, Barclay is a familiar character. He was always inept socially, so his forming a relationship with Melora Pazlar, a Gemworld native, is very surprising. Definitely read this book and the second in the series if you are at all familiar with the Star Trek characters, or are simply looking for a good story.

In my opinion John Vornholt captured each of the characters very well. It was nice to see Reg Barclay play a major role in this two part book series. As I was reading I could just imagine being there directly in the story playing a part in helping the crew of the Enterprise-E try to save the Gemworld planet. It was also intersting for me to visualize the Alpusta, the Frills and the other inhabitants of Gemworld besides the Elaysians. It was in my opinion a book that I could not put down, to me it moved at a nice pace. I would recommend this book to any Star Trek and any fan of Reg Barclay or Melora.

This book captures the events in the premier episode of the television series, "Star Trek: Voyager" quite well, yet one never has the feeling that one is reading a recap. The story flows quite well, the characterizations are excellent, and I can't think of any scenes from the episode that are left out of the book, yet there are many instances in which the book adds to the story, and none of them seem out of place.

The only objection I have is the treatment of the holographic doctor; he is portrayed much too mechanically. I realize that he IS mechanical, but the series never failed to present him as having a personality, even in this premier episode. I feel that his mechanical aspect was overplayed in this book. Otherwise, this is an excellent telling of an excellent story, and necessary background for anyone planning on reading other "Voyager" novels.

This novelization of the first episode of Voyager is really well done. It's not just a rehash of the episode, rather, it's a story that can stand on its own. It's nice hearing what characters are thinking, and it's very descriptive. The photos in the middle were a nice touch. I really enjoyed all the interweaving storylines and the introduction of all the characters. Excellent!

A must for any Voyager fan, even if you've seen the first episode, you will still enjoy the book. Robert Picardo (The Doctor on Voyager), reads the story and does a magnificent job. This explains how Voyager got lost in the Delta quadrant, and gives some insite into the characters. I highly recommend this book.

This audiobook is from the Alien Voices series, but unlike their other titles, it is an original script, featuring two of Trek's most popular characters. If you miss either or both characters on the screen, this is the closest to hearing something new from them. It is recorded live, and in a way I wished it had been a videotape, so I could have seen the expressions on the actors' faces while they performed the text. Judging by the audience reaction, they must have been priceless. It is a very funny script, full of jokes, and a lot of verve. Spock was perhaps a bit more jocular than I remembered him, but Q was spot on. There were many great lines that, despite what I said earlier, really made me forget it was just an audiobook, because I could visualize the character in my mind very clearly. 'You've been manipulating me!' Q clamors at one point, and just the tone of De Lancie's chamaleonic voice brings the character to life right in front of your eyes. I'll be listening to this audiobook again and again!

Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie reprise their roles of Spock and Q in this very well written and comical audio performance that has been presented to appreciative fans at Star Trek Conventions around the world.

Did you like the Spock VS Bones spats in Classic Star Trek, then you will love Spock VS Q on Audio! What an outlandishly funny take off of the odd couple. Spock is at the logical end of the continuum and Q is at the emotional end. Who will win the battle of the minds? The survival of the puny humans on Earth lies in the balance as the asteroid nears Earth.

It made me laugh so hard I couldn't see straight. You will love it! Verbal insults fly profusely. Will Spock out-maneuver the clever and devilish Q in a verbal joust? Spock is really good at games, remember 3D Chess. Will he be able to outwit the all powerful Q? Will Q get an autograph from Spock for his collection, or will he have to stand in a long line like the rest of us? Will Q learn the Vulcan mind meld technique from Spock? Will the asteroids destroy the puny humans on Earth? Well buy the tape or CD and find out. Buy it and play it over and over. I hear new stuff every time I play mine. Don't delay buy your own copy of "Spock VS Q" on audio tape or CD today!

I have just bought this tape and have listened to it about three(3x)times already, and think it is wonderful to quote "Q" or is that Mr.Q?. This is very good and very funny well worth having, I have seen the Alien Voices crew on The SciFi Ch. and would love to see this battle of wits on SciFi, just to see John DeLance's performance as Q as jousts with Spock. This program having been recorded before a Live Audiance helps to make this performance hilarious to say the least ,Both actors are in rare form as thier respective caracters as the engage in a verbal battle of wits (Intelectual vs."Nitwit,Nimcompoop" as in you are). If like Spock and Q get this book in either form(Tape or CD)it's worth it to listen to Spock run rings around Q so to speak. This text refers to the Audio Cassette version.

When NPR's audio adaptation of the first Star Wars film hit the airwaves two decades ago, it was as big a landmark in the history of the Star Wars "universe" as any of the subsequent movies. By stripping the story down to the essentials of character, it proved that the appeal of Star Wars is not merely visual flash, but something more enduring, characters you care about, villains you love to hate and (that oldest of rivalries) good against evil. The writing was excellent and the cast equally good, including as it did Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels as Luke and C3P0 respectively. When NPR produced a radio version of The Empire Strikes Back a few years later, Billy Dee Williams came on board to recreate the role of Lando Calrissian and the producers' winning streak continued.

It would be over a decade before the production team got the chance to complete the trilogy with Return of the Jedi. Sadly, just as Return of the Jedi was the weakest of the original movie trilogy, it is also the weakest of the three radio versions. That is not to say it isn't enjoyable, because it is. Rather it can't quite match the exceptional standards set by the previous two series.

Part of the problem is the casting. Although Anthony Daniels returned to play C3PO, Mark Hamill does not reprise the role of Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately the actor who took the role, Joshua Fardon, does not convey the increased maturity of the character in this part of the story. Fardon's performance has a quality of over-eagerness that seems more suited to the naive farmboy that Luke was when we first encountered him rather than the fully trained Jedi-to-be he is here. Good as the other performances are, especially Brock Peters as Darth Vader and Ann Sachs as Leia, this misguided interpretation of Luke leaves a large hole in the story.

Part of that hole can also be attributed to the writing. Like the previous adapatations, Return of the Jedi was scripted by the late Brian Daley. Daley did a good job of translating what was perhaps the most visual of the three original Star Wars films into the audio medium, but he doesn't open up the story the way the previous two series did. Whereas the radio versions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back took the time to show us more about the characters, Return of the Jedi is, for the most part, just what we saw on the movie screen with a handful of extra scenes thrown into the mix.

Those criticisms aside, anyone who is a fan of radio drama in general or Star Wars specifically will enjoy these programs. In the final analysis the producers understood the ways in which sound alone can fire the imagination. Using that knowledge, they have crafted yet another fine way to enjoy the magical world that George Lucas has given us.

Thanks to the many requests of Star Wars fans and radio enthusiasts alike, the team that brought us the radio adaptations of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, reunited to conclude the original saga. Made exclusively by Highbridge, Return Of The Jedi, once again uses the film's score by John Williams and sound effects by Ben Burtt, to make for a top notch production. By using the actual soundtrack from the film, it gives the audio production crediability, as opposed to being made without it.

Once again, directed by John Madden, Jedi reunites most of the actors from the previous adaptions, with a couple of notable exceptions. Mark Hamill, who reprised his role as Luke Skywalker, for the first 2 productions, is replaced by Joshua Fardon. While, Billy Dee Williams, as rogue Lando Calrissian, is replaced by Arye Gross. As hard as these gentlemen try, because of the original actors previous involvment with the other two radio dramas, its difficult to imagine anyone else in those parts. Fardon's portrayal lacks the maturity of Hamill's character in the film version, Gross comes off, not quite as smooth, in playing Lando. The rest of the main radio cast, from the other two adaptations is thankfully intact. Actors Anthony Daniels, once again as C-3PO, (who has appeard in all 3 radio dramas as well as all of the films in the series) Brock Peters as Vader, Perry King, as Han Solo, Anne Sachs as Princess Leia, all complete their character arcs in the seies with style. Actor Edward Asner as the gangster Jabba The Hutt and John Lithgow as Master Yoda, (as he did in the Empire radio drama) use vocal talent, like no others, to bring these 2 unique characters to life.

Sci-fi author, Brian Daley, once again. wrote the radioplay for Jedi. As before, there are a few additional "scenes" presented, not in the film version. The end result is very good, but thanks to its shorter length, and the casting changes, I mentioned, Jedi doesn't seem quite as epic, as the other radio dramas in the series. Sadly, Daley passed away soon after the dialogue was recorded, and the production is dedicated to his memory. His script is very faithful to the film and the added scenes remain true to the characters and story.

If you own the other two radio dramas in the series, Jedi is a must have, minor problems and all. The story has six episodes, presented on three compact discs with a total running time of nearly 3 hours. Recommended

Return of the Jedi has always been my favorite Star Wars movie, both because I like how all the characters matured, (especially Luke) and because it finally delt face to face with the dark side, possibly the best force of evil ever thought of in the realms of fiction. This book exheeded not only my expectations for the book itself (which were very high) but even surpassed the movie in some ways. The author has a deep, highly emotional writing syle which apealed to me greatly, and was so profound that all through the book I truly felt as if was there, a part of the story. Every Star Wars fan should read this at some point, especially those who didn't like Return of the Jedi because they thought it was weaker than the others. I could almost garantee this book would change their minds. Also, the author did a tremendous job on the characters. Just they way they were presented made me truly feel for them, even characters who were previously not my favorites. At times this book had me sitting on the edge of my seat actually wondering if maybe this time it would turn out differently, and the part where Anakin Skywalker dies almost had me in tears. Anyway, I don't think think this book belongs in any particular age range, though probably some of it (in fact a lot of it) would most likely go over the heads of people younger then twelve or so.

This book has occasionally been called the sequel to "The Final Reflection". Actually, it is no such thing. But it is the book which *could have been* the sequel, had Paramount granted John M. Ford free rein to write another about the Klingon culture he had so meticulously developed in his first Trek novel. Instead, Paramount had begun to exercise tighter control over pro-novelists' creativity, and this book was Ford's response to such stiflement. And by Kahless' Hand, did he have fun with it! "How Much For Just the Planet" is not just a spoof of Star Trek, but a spoof of Paramount itself: "...Scott's eye was caught by an unusual constellation: a ring of stars haloing a distant peak. 'Look at that, now. Doesn't it awe you a little? To think there might be a higher power than us, arranging matters?'..." (To fully appreciate that passage, envision the Paramount icon.) So we get Kirk and the Klingons in a riotous quasi-musical Busby Berkely-type comedy production culminating in the intergalactic pie-fight. Trek purists tend to hate this novel as much as Paramount and Pocket do, but Ford's fans laugh along with him. Vengeance is a dish best served cold, and this one tastes sweet as a pink n'gaan milkshake!

This has to be the funniest Star Trek book I have ever read ... probably one of the funniest books as well. While some books have a few mildly comic scenes, this one made me laugh do hard that I was a mess. Totally incoherent with tears, the works!

The Vulcan, T'Vey is priceless and I've always liked the Vulcans more after reading this delightful book.

The book has 3 different back stories going on, which all come together at the end. Kirk and the Enterprise arrive on the planet of Deiriedi and their interactions with the local inhabitants form the first part of the story. Then there is the story of T'Vey and the crew of the freighter and their mishap that lands them on the planet. Lastly there are the Klingons who come to defend their rights to the dilithium ore and want to beat Kirk et al to the punch. The locals have their own ideas and play one group against the other. Over it all, in the background, both Kirk and the Klingons try very hard to behave so that the Organians don't zap them for their bad behavior.

It's beautifully written and a joy to read even if you've read it before. Thank you John Ford for a real treat.

This book was sadly out-of-print for many years, but was brought back just recently. That's good, because quite honestly Star Trek books tend to follow a specific formula: crew arrives on planet, encounters problem, fixes problem, lives happily ever after. This book takes a weirder outlook... it's more what people would write for fanfiction than an actual novel, which is a darn shame!

Dilithium is valuable--you find that out within a short amount of time. And when amazing deposits of it are found on the relatively-advanced planet Direidi (Dee-RYE-dee) both a Klingon cruiser and the USS Enterprise are sent there to stake a claim. But the inhabitants of the planet are apparently going to have some fun with our heroes...

Frankly the summary sounds a bit dry, but this book is anything but. Combine a neurotic Vulcan, a crazy computer, an inflatable starship, a princess in love, peppermint Vulcan milkshakes, Kirk fending off a Klingon with soda-water, blue grits, and a lot of weird songs. And the climax is to DIE for. It's goofy, but it's fun.

If you insist on the characters rigidly adhering to what you see on the show, then you will hate this book. If you're willing to see them loosen up, dance and sing, and get involved in madcap adventures, then you will love this book!