I can not recommend this book for its story – it is several degrees shallower than your average Saturday Morning Cartoon – but I can say holy effing crap on just how cool the artwork and design is.
The surreal creations by P. Craig Russell can launch a thousand Yes album covers and then some. Fractals and inter-dimensional freakouts and little green bubbly guys squirting up and making jokes. It takes a lot for me to go “whooooa, that’s awesome” but, whooooah, that’s awesome. Solid fun and well worth the two or three bucks it cost me.
Yeah, that’s right, muthafuckas! 500+ pages of painstaking details explaining how a young Indian boy (born just a few years before I) could wind up sending the world into genetically enhanced chaos. The title is a little misleading, inasmuch as the “wars” spoken of don’t actually happen in this novel. Instead, though, we learn of the rogue non-governmental Chrysalis Project that begat Khan and his people. And we learn about it through Kirk’s eyes as he reads the Library Computer en route and on Sycorax, a small colony of non-UFP Terrans who want in with the Federation – the only problem is that they are genetically enhanced, violating the law.
The files in question are the reports of one Roberta Lincoln and one Gary Seven. How awesome is that?
This romp through recent history (Bhopal, Reijkavik) is vastly entertaining, even if it dips its toes into the facile. With Lincoln as the oftentimes narrator, author Greg Cox does himself a disservice by a) going out of his way to make cultural references and b) punning. There shall be no puns in Trek, even Neelix knows this.
Still, a fun as all shit read and I can’t wait for the remainder of the trilogy.
Just when you thought it was cool to totally hate a species – turns out the Jem’Hadar have feelings, too? Is there nothing on DS9 that is simply black and white?
Bashir and the Chief crash on a planet where there happen to be a rogue platoon of Jem’Hadar trying to break their addiction to “white” and free themselves from the shackles of the Vorta. They are still warlike animals that’ll probably kill our friends in a moment, but Bashir is kept alive in the hopes that he will help create some sort of Dominion methadone. He is unable to complete his mission because O’Brien does what, like, Kirk woulda done and finds a way to blast his way home. A few dead Jem’Hadar later and back on the shuttle, O’Brien basically looks at Bashir like he’s a chump and a pussy. Bashir contemplates bringing O’Brien up on charges for disobeying his orders. And awesomely, that’s how the episode ends…with the two best buds hating one another. Awesome.
Spock’s death scene in Wrath of Khan usually chokes me up (as does the earlier scene of the death of Scotty’s nephew) but never before has Trek induced rivers of tears down my face. Best was that I watched this on my laptop on a plane.
The Visitor is continually ranked as one of the best episodes of DS9 by the fans and the cast. Avery Brooks calls it a landmark in American culture in how it depicts an African American family. I never thought of it that way, inasmuch as all racism is gone by the time this show takes place – but certainly not when this show was shot and shown.
The premise – that an accident has evaporated Sisko into a white void outside of time, only to pop out of it every few decades for a minute or so – is heartbreaking. Bad enough to have one’s father die, but to have the hope of seeing him again dangled in front of you your whole life totally ruins young Jake. He essentially wastes his life trying to brink him back – but is this not what a good son must do? To never give up hope?
The Visitor is, essentially, a treatise on the importance of acceptance in the grieving process….and a complete violation of the sci-fi heroics code. The ending just effs with your head more – I’ll let you draw your own conclusion. Just pack a few kleenex.
You’d think any episode that involves Neelix and Tom Paris having a food fight would be a disaster – but, actually, it isn’t the end of the world.
This is hardly a great episode, but I didn’t want to claw my eyes out. Neelix confronts Tom about his mooning over Kes and, indeed, he admits that he has the hots for some of that two year old Ocampa action. But duty demands they go down to a planet and search for spinach and when they hatch a baby Delta Quadrant equivalent of a Gorn, a friendship emerges.
Summarized thusly, I’m surprised I didn’t claw out my eyes after all.
Holy Flurking Shizznzot!
With just a wink of Genreal Martok’s eye the legacy of the Khitomer Conference and the decades of amity between the Federation and Klingon Empires are gone. Gone!
We need reinforcements! Season Four of DS9 needs Worf!
Worf returns to enter in a whole new aura of kick-ass. Huzzah for Worf!
And huzzah for this feature-length episode breaking all known previous rules and staying both dramatic and action packed. This is sterling material. And it totally fucked with my head. I couldn’t concentrate on conversations for hours after watching this. I mean – has Gowron completely lost his mind? Doesn’t he understand that he wouldn’t even be ruler of Qu’onos if not for the Federation? He’s still be sweeping out the stables of the House of Duras, for Kahless’ sake!! Can’t he see that this division is precisely what the Dominion wants?!?!?
For months I’ve had this DVD on the coffee table. Is tonight the night I watch the movie about blinky guy? Uh…no. Something else, anything, please.
We finally turned it on last night and I warned Ann. “Listen, this is going to make you cry, so I don’t want to hear about it afterwards.”
Yes, it is every bit as emotional as you’d expect, but the big draw here is the way Schnabel and Janusz Kaminski visualize this story. Using old school effects (double exposures, crazy lenses, unique camera placement) we “see” this man’s story from the inside out. It is, as advertised, a wonderful cinematic achievement and if you focus on that aspect (and not the unjust and cruel world we inhabit) this is a must-see.
Julian Schnabel, gigantic douche bag though he be (see the Charlie Rose interview bundled on the DVD wherein he declares a viewing of this film will conquer all mortal fears) is now 3 for 3 with his film resume. I now officially anticipate his work as he is one of the most innovative folks out there. Cruel world indeed.
The big shock at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con was footage of Tron 2 (or TR2N if you swing that way.) I didn’t see it, but my pal downstairs texted me the minute he saw it (and then texts flew in from other nerds around the country.)
I now know that there is definitely something I can obsess about for summer 2010 once Star Trek comes out in 2009.
I came home from San Diego to watch Tron again – I’ve reminisced about it a few times here on this blog.
This time around, I really can’t deny it any longer: The fucking movie just makes no sense. No sense at all. I honestly can’t explain WHY any of the things happening on the screen are happening. And as computers become more and more integrated into our lives, Tron becomes more divorced from reality.
Will TR2N touch on this? Will it even care?
Click here for Tron 2 spoilers.
Oy. A smooshy-wooshy special effect is causing havoc. Like, no one can find the bathroom. In the midst of chaos, they keep the Holodeck program running. Then, instead of fighting for their lives, they give up and are saved. Or something. I dunno. This episode is a disaster and it ends with Neelix shouting, “Who wants cake?!?” I wish I was joking.
Ever since TOS Season 2 and Mirror, Mirror, the Trek writers have known they can always score big with an alternate universe.
This time, Harry Kim (for reasons too complicated to explain here) winds up back at Starfleet HQ in San Francisco. He never made it to Voyager (and, as a result, neither did Tom Paris, which makes sense) and instead he’s back with his sexy yet impossibly bad actress girlfriend. He’s a respected engineer and his apartment has a view of the Transamerica Tower. Why on earth would he fight to get back to the Delta Quadrant?
Because that’s his destiny, dammit!
Chase ensues. Good shit.
Kes the Ocampa is certainly one of the more curious aspects of Voyager. She’s only 1? So, like, do she and Neelix get it on? What’s the story there?
When the ship floats through a big cloud of space sperm Kes goes through her own icky version of Pon Faar. But….a few years too soon!!! She sits around and sweats and no one thinks to get her a towel and Neelix must decide if he wants to be a father.
Everything winds up okay, but Janeway must contemplate Voyager becoming a generation ship. If that means making out with Chakotay, I say No.
As if the consciousness of The Doctor weren’t enough of a “what if” philosophical bone to chew on, this episode drops us off in full on Philip K. Dick territory.
The Doctor “is activated” only to be told that he is really Dr. Zimmerman, the man who created the EMH program. Wheels within wheels within wheels (plus a little flashback to the pilot episode) leave us unsure of exactly who to trust. This is one of those awesome episodes when you are seeing it through the eyes of the character and don’t know what to believe (Maj. Kira waking up as a Cardassian, for example.) Lots of fun.
1/2
The Voyager producers didn’t do themselves any favors by creating the Kazon race. After such wonderfully fleshed-out and nuanced races as the Klingon and Cardassian and Ferengi and the foes of the Dominion, it is hard to match up. I don’t quite know if the Kazon (Kazon-Ogla in this case) are just warlike honor-mongers like the Klingon or fighting beasts like the Jem’Hadar. And weren’t they presented at first as traders?
Anyway, Nog appears in new make-up as a Kazon-Ogla ready to take on his rite of passage – killing Chakotay. Alas, he fails.
There are some shocking things about this episode. One is that Captain Janeway calls for a Blue Alert (BLUE Alert?!?) when she orders to land the ship (LAND the SHIP?!?) on a planet’s surface.
The other big surprise is that it isn’t as awful as it originally presents itself. A rusted ford floating in space is the dopiest visual since Abe Lincoln in Savage Curtain and the discovery of Amelia Earhardt (abducted by aliens, in cryogenics) is a close second.
Surprisingly, the acting is really good, and Janeway presenting herself as a “hey, just what if…” logician in pretty cool. The twist at the end (Terran descendants have created a near paradise) is unexpected. A nice opening to Season Two
When I read and reviewed IDW’s Klingons: Blood Will Tell I said it was the greatest graphic novel I’d ever read. I, therefore, had very high hopes with the Alien Spotlight, an omnibus detailing a different race and its relationship to the Federation.
Alas, some of the stories in Alien Spotlight don’t do the reverse point of view thing, for better or for worse. The chapter on The Gorn takes place after Arena but well before The Gorn Crisis, just before the events of Wrath of Khan and stars Captian Terrell with Chekov at his side. Vulcans is a Pike-era tale of the new Science Officer (Mr. Spock) and his attitude causing tremors aboard the Enterprise. Andorians, perhaps the best thing here, takes place post-All Good Things…/pre-Nemesis and details internal struggles on Andoria. (Who knew that was going on?) Orions (which is as much about Tellarites as Orions) takes place on Babel, a pre-Menagerie/post-Where No One Has Gone Before Pike story. The Borg is, I think, a post-Voyager story about Borg being Borg (timequakes and all…) And Romulans details the events leading up to Balance of Terror.
All the art is terrific and I can not deny I read this book really slowly so I could savor every bit of it. It’s not Blood Will Tell but what is? This is an essential purchase for a Trek fan.
We ended Book Two with the Bajoran independence movement about to pick up steam. Now there is full-on conflagration. Young Kira Nerys is a major player here, as is Terok Nor’s new constable, the mysterious shapeshifter pictured above.
There are battle scenes, descriptions of sabotage and the eventual downfall of Guk Dukat. By the time of Liberation Day we realize that this trilogy has weaved a tapestry from Cardassian first contact to events just shy of “The Emissary.” My only complaint is that the canvas is so wide that some characters and conflicts just seemed to disappear, or weren’t as important as they originally seemed. But this is common in serialized television, too, so, in a way, these books are being true to form. Last minute appearances from major characters in Book One though come off a little forced.
Either way – any DS9 fan must read these books. They are your Clone Wars.
