The Book Report #112
Episode #111
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds II
Edited by Dean Wesley Smith, John J. Ordover and Paula M Brock
The Book
In 1999, this book was published through Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.
Star Trek is a trademark of Paramount Pictures and has issued an exclusive licence to Simon & Schuster.
This book was only released as a paperback, and I am lucky to own a first-edition copy. The book has 342 pages and includes an afterword, contest rules, and information about the contributors.
What Did I Think?
This book is a series of stories from each of the TV shows before 1999. So no Kurtzman shows or films and no Enterprise.
Every story comes from a fan of the show who entered a competition, and the winners and runners-up have their work published. This is the second book in what will become ten volumes, ending in 2017.
The winners, I can understand why they became so and wonder why they couldn’t have become canon. But the stories are just outside of the realms of the original stories, where it could have been possible.
We start with the original series.
Confused
I was a little confused with the first story. Why was this written? This won second prize. As far as I can remember, this is just a novelisation of an original episode starring Joan Collins involving time travel and McCoy having his heart broken. Although it was nicely written, I couldn’t understand how this was allowed in.
The star of this run was about how the ladies of Kirk are living with his “passing”. Set after the film Generations. Focusing on the main ladies of the two films: The Wrath of Karn and The Voyage Home.
We also include Captain Uhura leading the charge. The women have to work out how to deal with the weird tension and intimidation of living with the repetition of ‘What is a lady of Kirk supposed to do?’ They slowly work this out while searching for a lost whale and preparing for another Genesis project test. Realising that everything that we feel is nonsense.
The next generation’s story.
The third prize winner.
Worf is testing a holodeck program that will teach officers to prepare for situations and devise ways to survive a possible ship invasion. Even though Worf acknowledges that most of the officers aren’t ready, he has to understand that there may be other elements he is missing as well, with the arrival of a Klingon in cryostasis.
Again, it is a good story, but I would have placed another TNG story higher up. The one I would have chosen involves Data and the perils he has had to live after two millennia without life and only other androids. He has had enough and wants to die. But finds a way to go back and continue on a different course. The ending and release make this story much better than “Deserter Kilngon”.
Deep Space Nine.
The second story I couldn’t get my head around. The first story is in the form of a letter, claiming that all Star Trek is real and is from the perspective of a person from the future who came back, telling the story of the Dominion War. It was okay. The DS9 stories weren’t great.
Voyager
The grand prize winner deserved the winning spot.
This was an Annika story. This is set when Seven was a little girl. And also an event when Seven could speak with her parents. The understanding from the point of view of a little girl. This is from an alternative timeline, as the story does not match the canon storyline of how Seven’s parents travelled to the Delta quadrant.
There are several stories from the Department of Temporal Investigations. Featuring Dulmer and Lucsly, who featured in the anniversary episode of DS9. When the crew travelled to the era of Kirk and his crew.
I am surprised there isn’t a series involving these two. Or there is, and I don’t know about it. But their adventures are a fun addition to the collection. Trying to fix problems with the timeline. I am glad I read this book, as I got to read other people’s ideas of how the show could have gone. Good job, everyone!
Would I recommend?
Yes, I do. It was a nice alternative to what could have been, and Wesley getting an earful by the Department of Temporal Investigations is always a nice touch.
Please give this book a go.
Would you like to purchase your very own copy?
You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA and Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/USA, Barnes & Noble, or eBay UK/USA.
Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.
