Doctor Who: Shakedown by Terrance Dicks

Doctor Who:

Shakedown

by Terrance Dicks

***Some Reviews may Contain Spoilers***

Virgin Publishing / BBC Books:  1995, 1999, 2014

ISBN:  9781849907668

This is an okay novel for what it is actually is.  This is based mostly on the story written and produced by Doctor Who fans, and since they had no access to the property rights, the movie was loosely based in the Doctor Who Universe and initially did not feature the doctor.

The story in this book had some additions made, including some doctor scenes intertwined in the original story.  It is basically a focus on the Rutan-Sontaran War where the Sontarans are attempting to stop the Rutans from using a space yacht to carry out a deadly plan of destruction.  It is not a bad story idea but with such a minimal Doctor presence, it feels like a general science fiction novel.  A good attempt, and it honors some great fan efforts to add to a favorite universe., so it is a good addition to a die hard fan's library.  This book was also written by not only a regular author of Doctor Who but one of the original / classic show writers.  Having basically no legal access to the original movie, this is most likely the only way some fans can access this Doctor Who Unofficial yet popular story.

A must read for all die hard fans.  For those not so into Doctor Who, a good one to read a summary about.

Rating:  1 out of 5 stars

"Star Trek: A Child of Two Worlds" by Greg Cox

Star Trek:

Child of Two Worlds

by Greg Cox

***Some Reviews may Contain Spoilers***

Pocket Books:  December 2015

ISBN:  9781476783253

Being a fan of Greg Cox makes it hard to find problems with the novel's that this author produces. "Star Trek:  Child of Two Worlds" makes it worse as it is also a story that contains one of the better Captain's, Christopher Pike, of the prime universe.

The book is very well written and fast paced in it's delivery.  We find Spock, young and early in his career, having to start to deal much more deeply with his two ancestral backgrounds of human and Vulcan on an inner emotional level.  A similar conflict plays outward in an alien whom was taken at a young age to be Klingon.

The story will pull in the reader, as at the very least it is up in the air on how it ends with what choice will a couple of the characters make.  Spock's character is explored much in the way you expect, with the highlight being his inner emotional conflict.  His actions being governed by such make for some interesting suspenseful moments.

In the subplot, which tied nicely into the main story, the crew was struggling with the fever plaguing the ship.  It was good to see Captain Pike struggle with maintaining his composure when all he wanted to do was pass out from his high fever.  In addition, we learned just a tiny bit more about the mysterious character of Number One.

All in all a great adventure.  While expansion of the inner conflict around Spock could have been much more improved, it was a great read especially for this time of year.  It was a welcome change to see the crew of the Enterprise from Pike's era and a smart move to show us what could be the introduction to the inner turmoil that develops from Spock trying to be Vulcan in a human environment while being half human himself.

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars.

Star Trek Seekers: All That's Left

Star Trek Seekers:

All That's Left

by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

***Some Reviews may Contain Spoilers***

Pocket Books:  November 2015

ISBN:  9781476798608

This month's Star Trek novel brings us the fourth installment in the newly minted Star Trek Seekers series.  This is a 'spinoff' of the popular Star Trek Vanguard book series.  Overall, the book is a fast read and has a faster paced plot.  At times, it reads as a space action novel but has enough dramatic twists and turns to interest the more intellectual Star Trek fan.

My largest complaint about all of these original and only book based creations is that there is a large lack of familiarity with the characters.  It is also a bit challenging to keep them all straight, especially so when there have only been four books, released about a year apart.  Only two of them, including this novel, involve the crew of the USS Endeavor while the other two focus on the crew of the USS Sagittarius.  Both ships and their respective crews are on separate missions and are not crossing over at this time.

The upside is that we get to see new adventures and are not tied down to the classic format with both character and story.  This is a chance to explore some new areas of Star Trek without having to 'reset' some of the characters or universe around them.

So essentially, this is a trade off.

As far as this book, it does turn into your basic fire full phasers at the aliens with the twist that our crew are being controlled by the aliens so they can't harm the aliens without harming the crew.  It's a nice crisis to have, although we have seen something like this before.  Despite this being a repeat idea, the authors of this outing do manage to keep your interest as the reader.  The ending is much better than a classic we defeated the enemy aliens and showed them humans are boss.  It was nice to see the story work out with a bit of an opening where we could come back and revisit this planet and the two alien species, or even, visit the home planet of a single species in a couple of decades.

Rating:  3 out of 5 stars