44/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As with the first, there are lots of giggles as Monroe takes ridiculous questions far, far, far too seriously.
Books
I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.
📚 Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov
43/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1983 Hugo Best Novel
I didn’t find this one to be a strong as the original trilogy, and Asimov’s writing style doesn’t seem to work for me in the context of other Hugo winners published around this time as much as it does with his earlier works. He’s still a very good SF writer, but more obviously one of an earlier era, in both style and in his fumbling around with female characters.
📚 The Shocks of Adversity by William Leisner
42/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kirk finds that new allies have some hidden secrets. Another entirely acceptable Trek adventure.
📚 The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs
41/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Actually more entertaining than I expected. While it certainly has a number of flaws by modern standards, it wasn’t as bad as I feared. The women, while often very damsel-in-distress being rescued by the heroic men, actually had a bit more agency and capabilities than I expected. The worst aspect, of course, is that the “evolution” from race to race is based in long-outdated theories with a lot of racist underpinnings (darker skin and African features are less evolved than lighter skin and European features). Still, it’s a fast-paced and consistently entertaining adventure in an improbable but enjoyably imagined land. Burroughs definitely had a knack for adventure stories!
📚 Devil’s Bargain by Tony Daniel
40/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A decent Trek adventure, with some interesting explorations of the Horta. However, yet another instance of Kirk immediately falling in love with a pretty woman from the planet of the week. I know it’s Trek cliche, but I wish more authors would just let Kirk interact with women as people, instead of so predictably and pointlessly as romantic interests.
📚 Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
39/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1982 Hugo Best Novel
High concept interstellar politics and space battles that just never really got me invested. Though I’ll admit, I may have been slightly put off by this particular edition having a lot of typos (usually punctuation, but at least once a misnamed character that made things quite confusing for a bit). Good space opera, but doesn’t rank highly for me among Hugo winners.
📚 No Time Like the Past by Greg Cox
38/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cox again indulges in an adventure heavily reliant on references to past canon, but it works better here due to focusing primarily on three distinct TOS episodes, rather than peppering “remember when…” moments throughout.
📚 Savage Trade by Tony Daniel
37/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another encounter with the Excalbians — those rock creatures who masqueraded as Abraham Lincoln and other historical characters. They’re back (as a new set of historical personages) and looking for asylum. A perfectly acceptable Trek adventure revisiting and re-exploring old adventures.
📚 The Rings of Time by Greg Cox
36/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An entertaining adventure across two time periods, but sometimes I think Cox gets a little too clever with the constant references to other Trek adventures. Sometimes it’s fun fan service, but sometimes it’s nice just to read a story without a wink-and-a-nudge on every other page.
📚 The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge
35/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1981 Hugo Best Novel
Science fiction that somehow reads like fantasy (that’s not a complaint, to be clear). At times almost feels like a alternative take on Asimov’s Foundation universe, with a galaxy-spanning empire crumbling, and a repository of knowledge meant to rebuild civilization, only going in a somewhat different direction.
