TNG – Page 2 – Eclecticism

September 17, 2020August 30, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

📚 thirty-four of 2020: Power Hungry by Howard Weinstein ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng 🖖

Much better than the last one. While the environmental themes are pretty heavy-handed, it’s nice to find a Trek novel where everything isn’t wrapped up neatly with a bow by the end.

September 17, 2020August 29, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

📚 thirty-three of 2020: Strike Zone by Peter David ⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng

Can’t decide if it wants to be comedic or serious, and has wildly out-of-character (or ridiculously exaggerated) moments for nearly every main character. Amusing moments, but not a good Trek novel.

September 17, 2020August 23, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

📚 thirty-two of 2020: Survivors by Jean Lorrah ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng

Explores Tasha Yar’s past, her reconciliation with parts of that past shortly before her death, and her relationship with Data. Despite having some early-novel oddities, this one was a bit above average. 🖖

September 17, 2020August 16, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

📚 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). 🖖

September 17, 2020July 13, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

📚 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.

July 9, 2020July 8, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

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.

January 14, 2020January 11, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

Prepping For ‘Star Trek: Picard’ – A Procrastinators’ Guide: “To help you prep (or at this point, cram), TrekMovie presents a list of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes that showcase Jean-Luc Picard’s exploits with the Borg and Romulans, plus a few essential Captain Picard episodes that reveal his character. We also include a bonus list of a few Seven of Nine-centric episodes of Voyager.”

January 14, 2020January 8, 2020 by Michael Hanscom

Best Star Trek Captain: How Captain Picard beat Captain Kirk: “For The Next Generation era, Picard somehow had the swaggering captain thing going for him, but, because he was a little bit stoic and detached, he also had the Spock thing going for him, too. He was the best of both worlds (those worlds being Earth and Vulcan).”

Linkdump for November 14th through November 29th

December 24, 2019November 29, 2018 by Michael Hanscom

Sometime between November 14th and November 29th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

Neuroscience says listening to this song reduces anxiety by up to 65 percent: “The group that created ‘Weightless’, Marconi Union, did so in collaboration with sound therapists. Its carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms, and bass lines help slow a listener’s heart rate, reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.”
Physicist Wins Ig Noble Prize For Study On Whether Cats Should Be Classified As Liquids Or Solids: "At the center of the definition of a liquid is an action: A material must be able to modify its form to fit within a container," Fardin said. "If we take cats as our example, the fact is that they can adapt their shape to their container if we give them enough time. Cats are thus liquid if we give them the time to become liquid."
Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens: “Where, exactly, the idea of ancient aliens building the pyramids began — and why some academics think racism lies at the heart of many extraterrestrial theories.”
Do you have any advice for someone who is 16?: "Watch Star Trek. // I’m sorry anon. I realized belatedly that I basically just told you 'turn to Jesus!' and walked away without explanation. I’m absolutely not kidding, though: Star Trek. Especially in times of difficulty and change: watch Star Trek."
This is the Greatest Example of Wanton Cruelty in All of the Star Wars Universe: "There’s a lot here that can be considered cruel—torture, enslavement, sadism, and so on—but the really cruel thing isn’t directly happening in the scene, but it does make the scene possible. It’s the fact that droids can feel pain."

December 16, 2019November 14, 2015 by Michael Hanscom

My thanks to whomever put out the table full of books at today’s #nwc39 meeting. Got some great additions to my collection. Particularly fond of the #StarTrek #TOS “choose your own adventure” (“Which Way Books”) book!