World of Warcraft (WoW) has the population and GDP of a small country, and yet for all that, it’s just another niche community. Some two billion people all around the globe have access to the internet, and while they may have a few inducible portals in common – google, facebook, Wikipedia – there are countless virtual spaces that are known to most only by name or reputation, if...
The mythology and history shared by many of Alastair Reynolds’ books has been called the Revelation Space Universe (RSU). The world gets its name from the first book to feature it, namely Revelation Space. RSU and space opera: Reynolds writes space opera, which to me means stories that contrast the heroic individuality of the protagonist against the enormity of space. That “enormity...
The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction is a book written by Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr, a professor of English at DePauw University and published in 2008. I wanted to have a bird’s eye view; I ended up in outer space. (Preface) There’s something inexpressible about SF[1]. This inexpressible something, the author suggests, reflects the role of SF in helping us parse and express the role...
Hide and Seek is the third episode of the franchisee show Stargate Atlantis[1]. It first aired in July 2004. Spoilers? Yes. Synopsis: An energy-feeding shadow is freed and a shield stone is found. They get rid of the shadow and can’t use the stone any more. Fin. DVD Commentary Instructions: (1) Print off this commentary. (2) Hire a voice actor – someone with a deep voice and who is well...
The Algebraist is a science fiction novel set in the unfathomably far future and is penned by the established author Iain M. Banks. The plot concerns a star system being attacked by some force, (I would have written “alien force” but by this stage in the universe’s history to define something as an alien is rather provincial). The attack is motivated by a desire to conquer the...
The Eyes of the Beholders is the number thirteen of the TNG books, and is written by A.C. Crispin. The plot begins quite traditionally with the Enterprise ordered to investigate an area of space from which a number of ships have gone missing. Some sort of field soon captures the Enterprise, and draws it towards its source, which is revealed to be an artificial object of unknown purpose. Once in...
Doomsday World is the twelfth numbered TNG novel, written by a whole host of authors: Carmen Carter, Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and Robert Greenberger. Carmen previously wrote The Children of Hamlin, which I quite liked; David has already authored two TNG novels by this time (#5, #10), and his proclivity for (and style of) humour comes through in a notable Monty Python reference early on;...
This is number eleven of the TNG novels and Keith Sharee’s only Star Trek novel. Troi has some dreams, the Enterprise follows a signal from a missing ship, some characters are taken prisoners on the planet, and then it’s explained what the dreams had to do with everything, the end. In short. In long: the Enterprise crew find themselves at a planet called Rampart, where a Federation...
This is the tenth numbered TNG novels, and also Peter David’s second. Riker’s off to inspect some terraforming project, permitting for the plot to quickly bifurcate: on the colony Paradise we follow Riker as he catches up with some old friends from his Alaska days, while on the Enterprise various members of the crew (especially Picard and Troi) come to terms with a Quinton Stone, who...
The ninth numbered TNG novel, A Call to Darkness is one Michael J. Friedman's first works, and his first TNG foray.Detail from "A Call to Darkness" cover
The plot involves the crew in search of a McGuffin (in this case a missing research vessel) when they discover a shielded planet. Attempts to rescue the McGuffin which lies just past the shield results in the disappearance of key personnel.
