📚 thirty-one of 2020: The Children of Hamlin by Carmen Carter ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tos

Decent for early TNG, though more than a bit on-the-nose with the Pied Piper connections (children abducted from a place called Hamlin by aliens whose language is music). 🖖

My nieces’ grandparents (on their dad’s side) found an old park bench for their family, and my nieces decorated it. I think this is wonderful, and am sharing with permission from their mom.

📚 thirty of 2020: Die Standing by John Jackson Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #dis

A thoroughly entertaining romp with Emperor Georgiou between seasons one and two of DIS, as she adjusts to her new universe and gets recruited by Section 31. Plus ties to TOS and DS9. Fun! 🖖

📚 twenty-nine of 2020: The Peacekeepers, by Gene DeWeese ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek 🖖

A bit of early TNG taking on the Prime Directive. A marked improvement from the last (first) novel, but still obviously at a point where the characters were still being developed.

Book twenty-eight of 2020: Ghost Ship by Diane Carey ⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng 🖖

Painfully obviously early in the TNG novels (it is the first not adapted from an episode). Characterizations are wildly off base (Riker’s distrust of Data is basically overt racism). Just…oof.

📚 twenty-six of 2020: Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A smart aleck demon and its long-suffering keeper, quirky locals in a tourist town, and a touch of Lovecraft on the California coast. Entertaining and amusing, if not “laugh out loud” funny.

📚 twenty-five of 2020: Star Trek S.C.E.: Foundations by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dillmore ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Trek “expanded universe” novel; three short stories and a framing story, all of Scotty’s interactions with the early S.C.E. and tying into TOS episodes.

📚 twenty-four of 2020: E.T. the Extraterrestrial by William Kotzwinkle ⭐️⭐️⭐️

An odd adaptation, likely done from an earlier draft of the script. I never realized E.T. was quite so romantically enamored with Elliott’s mom! That got kinda weird a few times.