If that looks like Data in Dr. Soong’s body on the cover of the book, that’s because it is. And Lal too?! What is this? I’ll tell you what it is. It’s Star Trek storytelling at its finest. If you’re looking for Easter eggs, callbacks, and fan favorite characters, look no further! It’s The Light Fantastic, where even the holographic tea smells amazing and the light is oh so fantastic!
In an effort to expand my reading to incorporate black voices, I decided I’d start off Black History Month 2024 with Toni Morrison’s first novel. I knew almost nothing about it going into it. But I did know that Toni Morrison is prolific author. I wonder how this book will stack up for me…
Long after the end of the series Star Trek: Enterprise, Admiral Jonathan Archer is working to bring in new members to the newest gang this side of the Galactic Center, the United Federation of Planets. We heard about various planets in the Rigel system and we’ve even seen different variations of them on-screen. But how are they all related? Will they become a member at this time? And what is Trip up to these days?
Looking for a book about space, but you don’t have “space” in your schedule to sit down and read a huge friggin’ textbook? Let Neil deGrasse Tyson, this generation’s Carl Sagan, be your guide through the cosmos. Want something even better? Have the author read it right to you! In more of a hurry than even the audiobook can handle? Speed that bad boy up to 2x and listen to this in under 2 hours!
We covered this book on the podcast, Literary Treks. It’s part of the “Lost Era” series (mini-series?) and takes place between the apparent death of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Generations) and the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Who is that on the cover, you ask? Could that be Worf? Could it? I mean, it sure as heck look like him, but can it really be him? Read on and find out.
The fact that the novel’s author, William Peter Blatty, also wrote the screenplay for the adaptation didn’t hurt anything. He obviously knew the characters the best and also the beats that would move the story along.
This is one of those books that, when you finish it, you wonder if the good guys actually won. I had seen the film version a couple times before reading this book, but it had been years. So I really felt like I was going in fresh. Let’s just say that the title is a little misleading given that the eponymous character doesn’t really show up until the last couple chapters (his appearance in the prologue notwithstanding). A more appropriate title might be “666 Reasons Why Children Are Creepy as Hell” or something of that nature. I guess history will have to be the judge of which title is better…
After reading the book, I didn’t think there was a possible way to adapt this into a movie. But of course they were going to.
I was supposed to read this in school. Years later, I finally got around to it. Originally published in 2005, this third edition was updated and expanded for the ever-increasing amount of technology in the world. What was timely when this was published is now a matter of history. Which, I suppose, is what the title alludes to. But does this book hold up as a reference for technological historians?
In 2024, the year that I’m writing this and, incidentally, the year that I read this book, I turn 42 years old. Anyone who knows me probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I would love to explore the galaxy. Since I’m not an astronaut and because humans haven’t really found a way to get around the galaxy in person within said person’s lifetime, I’m relegated to learning about our galaxy through the wondrous world of photographs. This book, I found, has little in the way of photographs. None, to be precise. So I must rely on this Guide, a towel, and the prose of its author to be my… well… guide.
