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I've said it before, that given that we have had four
decades of Star Trek that this years celebrations are
somewhat muted, a bunch of reissued DVDs and a collection
of average books, so it was a delight to have to review Constellations
- a collection of short stories by some of the best Trek
genre writers around at the moment.
One
of the things which sets this collection apart is its shift
of focus away from the usual hero worship towards using the
format to explore not only the characters in greater depth
but also the realities of their daily lives. In short, the
collection presents the characters as fully realised people
with both their faults and strengths. This is reflected in
the quality of the writing, which remains high throughout
the collection. Whilst all the stories are superior Trek,
most also remain good science fiction.
Constellations,
more than ably edited by Marco Palmieri and with an introduction
by David Gerrold, contains twelve stories all set in the time
of the Original Series. All the major characters get
a look in and although there is a leaning towards the triumvirate
of Kirk, McCoy and Spock, this is not at the expense of the
rest of the bridge crew, who all either get their own stories,
or a significant part to play in the plot.
In
line with DVDs the book comes with an extra in the form Anything
but Alone, a full story from TOKYOPOP's new Star Trek
manga. As a lover and collector of both American comics and
Japanese manga, I thought that the story was interesting but
I was less impressed with the quality of the artwork.
Did I have a favourite? To be honest I thought that all the
stories had their own strengths and apart from the manga there
were no noticeable weaknesses. So, if you're into hero worship,
and the rehashing of well worn themes, then this book is not
for you. However if your interested in seeing the characters
in genuinely interesting and engaging stories then you could
do worse than pick this up at your local book shop. It's Trek
for grown ups.
Charles
Packer
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£7.08
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£7.99
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