Star Trek New Voyages : World Enough And Time : CRASH AND BURN! August 28, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in babylon5, Books, darth who, fan films, george takei, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, Star Trek, star trek new voyages, star wars comics, startrek, starwars, upsps.4 comments
Like many, we were eagerly looking forward to the latest Star Trek fan flick from the New Voyages people. Episode three which was officialy set for release last week had George Takei in it no less.
We got halfway through the Episode – which by far is the slickest yet and could stand in for nearly any classic era show – and then the download stream stopped and it hasn’t started back again.
Apparently the show was so popular that it crashed the servers!
Here’s hoping they get the technical and Financial support they need – from top to bottom, from script to soundtrack to special effect this is a top notch production that is second to none.
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon July 18, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Books, Michael Chabon, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, serentiy, Star Trek Games, star trek tng, starwars, wikipedia, Yiddish Policemens Union.2 comments
What’s a review for The Yiddish Policemen’s Union doing on ShowMeSciFi? Easy – it’s a speculative piece of literary science fiction in that it occurs in a fictional timeline that doesn’t exist.
Similiar but not nearly as dark as Philip K. Dick’s The Man In The HIgh Castle – Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union deals with a US that is different than the one we know in that the State of Israel never survives and as such a seperate temporary homeland for the Jews is carved out of a desolate place of Alaska.
This is their story on the eve of ‘reversion’ the event which will force the Jews out of Alaska as the State of Alaska retakes the land.
It’s an interesting concept and one that drew me in on the speculative – what if – side.
The actual story is another matter. Essentially it’s a murder whodunnit against the speculative history backdrop which is o.k except for the fact that Chabon does a very very very poor job of building a case against the murder. It’s as if he wrote 300 pages and realized he had to pin the crime on someone so he just threw a dart.
The lead character Meyer Landsman is the only one with any real depth the others are sad caricatures that are poorly draw. I would have given up on this book well before reading to the end were it not for Chabon’s easy style. It’s unfortunate that his plot was so utterly lacking.
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Exile – Review March 15, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Books, exile, han solo, hansolo, jacen solo, jedi, legacy of the force, scifi, sith, skywalker, star war legacy of the force, Star Wars, star wars legacy of the force, starwars.6 comments
I had been waiting for this book for months and bought it the day it hit the shelves . It was worth the wait.
Another awesome chapter in the Star Wars saga but then again what else should any of us expect?
At this point these books are written to a formula:
• crisis,
• escape from crisis,
• move to next crisis from multiple points
• escape from final crisis while leaving breadcrumbs for the next crisis to open the next book.
The best part of this book for me was likely, Exile’s first escape from crisis which occurs as Han, Leia, Corrran , Wedge and family escape from Correlia as Wedge resigns from the Correlian military.
Overall this installment in the Star Wars Legacy of the Force moreso than any other yet is all about plot progression as opposed to any sort of deeper character development. Not that there is anything wrong with that. This book is all about action and plenty of it.
With Correlia and its allies in an all out war against the Alliance one could hardly expect the book to just be about a bunch of diplomats talking.
Only in the final pages of the final chapter do we see some deeper character development in Jacen as he continues his decent into the dark side. Lumiya tells him that he must choose his Sith name and his sacrifice. Not coincidentally Sacrifice is the name of the next installment in this series. The Darth Who contest should also be wrapped up then so we’ll definitely know Jacen’s Sith name too and I’d expect Lucas to go all out on promotions.
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Exile is a raucous page turning, swashbuckling adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend. If you haven’t yet indulged in the Legacy of the Force Series you should, the previous books (Betrayal 
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Exile- OUT TODAY!!! February 27, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Books, han solo, hansolo, jedi, legacy of the force, scifi, sith, skywalker, star war legacy of the force, Star Wars, Star Wars Expanded Universe Books, star wars legacy of the force, starwars legacy.add a comment
Today is the day. Star Wars Legacy of the Force Exile hits the shelves TODAY.
I’ve written about t
his book before, it’s one i’ve been waiting for…It’s the fourth book in the series (So far there have been three previous Star Wars Legacy of the Force books (Betrayal
We won’t however likely find out Jacen Solo’s Sith name. The contest for that was not wrapped up prior to publication so i don’t see anyway how Jacen could take his Sith name in this book.
It might happen in the next one though which is titled, “Sacrifice” which is expected to be released in June of this year.
I’ll start reading this tonight and will post a full review in a week or so when i’m done.
Star Trek New Frontier : Missing in Action (review) February 6, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Books, scifi, Star Trek, Star Trek Books, star trek new frontier, startrek.add a comment
Can a new reader jump into an existing series and not get lost?
That’s the question I asked before picking up Star Trek New Frontier : Missing in Action. Though i’ve read my share of other Star Trek books I have not yet read any of the New Frontier books. I thought (somewhat naively) that i could jump in with this one, get up to speed and then maybe pick up the predeccesor books later.
I WAS WRONG.
It is not possible to read Star Trek New Frontier : Missing in Action on its own. I tried and it became so frustrating that I had to give up after reading for an hour and feeling completely lost.
Is it the author’s fault or mine?
The author, Peter David is an excellent author for sure. Heck I’ve read a bookcase full of works by him (most recently Battlestar Galactica: Sagittarius is Bleeding) . Usually he builds in enough back story so even if you read a series out of order, you’re still o.k. Not so with Missing in Action.
The plot even without understanding the characters and the ‘inside’ story since this was my first New Frontier book, (in the bit was able to read before getting lost myself) is pathetically repetitive to what dozens of other Trek books have done with better success.
Save your time and money. Avoid Missing in Action.
Following the dramatic events of After the Fall, Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur find themselves catapulted headlong into another universe, far from the New Thallonian Protectorate and Sector 221-G…a place where an ancient war rages between two powerful alien races. But Calhoun has no intention of staying here for very long and, adopting the time-honored philosophy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” takes it upon himself to somehow (and by any means necessary) persuade one side or the other to help him and his crew get back home.
Battlestar Galactica : Sagittarius is Bleeding (review) January 27, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Battlestar Galactica, battlestargalactica, Books, scifi.1 comment so far
The new Battlestar Galactica diverges from the original in a very long list of ways. Among them is the fact that the original included the boy Boxey and his robot dog the Dagit. The original pilot of the new Battlestar Galactica actually had Boxey in it ..but we have seen him since.
Thank the Lords of Cobol for books.
In Sagittarius is bleeding Boxey is back.
The book in an excellent read and actually a MUST READ for all Battlestar Galactica fans. The show rocks, and so does this book. It expands an area of the show that wasn’t done on the TV show and it adds an incredible chapter to the BG saga.
Beyond just Boxey, President Roslyn actaully can see Baltar’s hallucination of Six in this book..which is really cool. I mean what the frak is up with those hallucinations anyways? is she real? a chip?
Oh and Boxey – bad news he may be a cylon. Too bad we’ll likely never see him again on the TV show itself but for now the book is a solid subsititue.
Star Wars Legacy of the Force : Exile – I can hardly wait January 17, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Books, han solo, hansolo, scifi, star war legacy of the force, Star Wars, Star Wars Expanded Universe Books, starwars.2 comments
The Star Wars Legacy of the Force series is shaping up to be one of the best (if not THE BEST) Star Wars series ever.
So far there have been three previous Star Wars Legacy of the Force books (Betrayal
Exile is written by Aaron Allston who is the same author that wrote the first Star Wars Legacy of the Force book, Betrayal. What a wild ride it’s been since that first book.
At the end of Tempest Han and Leia Solo were on the run from ..of all people..their son Jacen Solo who is the second coming of Darth Vader, flying his own Galactic Alliance Star Destroyer named the Anakin Solo (who was a son of Han and Leia but now deceased).
The cover of Star War Legacy of the Force : Exile kinda gives it away, Han and Leia are on the run…the book isn’t out on the shelves (or by pre-order from amazon) until February 28th. I can hardly wait!! (but once i get it and finish it, check back here for my review).
Hunters of Dune November 22, 2006
Posted by showmescifi in Books, Dune.1 comment so far
The last Dune book written by the now deceased Frank Herbert was Chapterhouse Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 6)
In the process Herbert (the son) and Anderson weave a tale that is perhaps the best Dune novel (with the exclusion of the original Dune) yet. It brings together the entire canon of Dune stories from pre-prequel, to prequel to mainline Dune stories.
My only complaint is that the sequel to Hunters of Dune won’t be available until August of 2007.
Welcome to Show Me Sci Fi blog August 25, 2006
Posted by showmescifi in Books, Movies, Star Trek, Star Trek Books, Star Wars, Star Wars Comic Books, Star Wars Expanded Universe Books.1 comment so far
I read and watch alot of Sci Fi stuff. Mostly just on a whim and almost never from a review. I haven’t actually found good review sources that ‘work’ for me.
That’s where this blog comes in.
It’s my take on what’s good, what’s bad, what sucks and what’s aweseome.
Hopefully it’ll help someone else out to figure out what they want to watch or read.
Show Me SciFi 