Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Stargazer: Three

Posted on July 12, 2010 by smellincoffee

Stargazer: Three© 2003 Michael Jan Friedman247 pages In addition to beginning the TNG relaunch this year, I also intend to pick up on loose threads in Trek literature that I have either left undone or never examined in the first … Continue reading →

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The Andromeda Strain

Posted on July 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Andromeda Strain© 1969 Michael Crichton295 pages Hours after an American space probe crash-landed in the Nevada desert, the entire populace of a small town nearby deserted their homes to die in the streets, where they were noticed by a … Continue reading →

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A Walk Across America

Posted on July 8, 2010 by smellincoffee

A Walk Across America© 1979 Peter Jenkins288 pages We walked straight west. I had everything I needed in the world resting comfortably on my shoulders, and the entire country waiting to be discovered.  (p.55) In the late spring of 1973, … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (7/7)

Posted on July 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

I never intended to make this last week “Science Fiction Week”, but it emerged that way following a series of coincidences. I finished Carl Sagan’s Contact a few days later than anticipated: his book, which portrays humanity’s first contact with an … Continue reading →

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Greater than the Sum

Posted on July 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

Greater than the Sum© Christopher L. Bennett 2008368 pages Fresh from his honeymoon with Dr. Beverly Crusher, Jean-Luc Picard has returned to the Enterprise-E to assemble a new command staff in the wake of recent losses in battle. Finding the … Continue reading →

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Quotable Star Trek

Posted on July 5, 2010 by smellincoffee

Quotable Star Trek© 1999 ed. Jill Sherwin374 pages “…good words. That’s where ideas begin.” – David Marcus, The Wrath of Khan. With over seven hundred television episodes and eleven movies constituting its ‘canon’, Star Trek has a lot to say … Continue reading →

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The Complete Robot

Posted on July 4, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Complete Robot© 1982 Isaac Asimov688 pages A boom in electronic engineering followed World War 2, one that led to consumer televisions, the first computers, and a wide variety of other electricity-using gadgets. As people looked more toward the future, … Continue reading →

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Jurassic Park

Posted on July 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

Jurassic Park© 1990 Michael Crichton399 pages To the south, rising above the palm trees, Grant saw a single trunk with no leaves at all, just a big curving stump. Then the stump moved, and twisted around to meet the new … Continue reading →

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American Nerd

Posted on July 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

American Nerd: the Story of my People© 2008 Benjamin Nugent224 pages First in my class here at M.I.T / Got skills, I’m a champion at D&D M.C. Escher, that’s my favorite  MC Keep your forty, I’ll just have an Earl … Continue reading →

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Contact

Posted on July 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

Contact© 1985 Carl Sagan432 pages “We could be in the middle of an intergalactic conversation — and we wouldn’t even know.” – Michio Kaku, “Our Place in the Universe“. Dr. Eleanor Arroway, known as “Ellie” to her few intimates, is … Continue reading →

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