Customer Reviews

Strange New Worlds II: Bk. 2 (Star Trek Strange New Worlds)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Taken as a whole this anthology; second in the Strange New Worlds series stands out miles ahead of its predecessor of a year earlier. The majority of the stories by these non professional authors are extremely captivating and a few of them are quite compelling Star Trek short stories. If you had misgivings or second thoughts about reading these particular anthologies, I recommend you rethink that as each and every story is worth your time. The only downside to this and its predecessor in my opinion is that both contain only two Deep Space Nine stories. This is an oversight as DS9 is a very rich environment that could be explored more thoroughly!

Star Trek

Triptych [Second Prize] by Melissa Dickinson**** - This is an interesting tale about the many outcomes from the TOS episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," in which the question is asked, what if this happened or didn't happened.

The Quick and the Dead by Kathy Oltion ***** - This is a great tale about Kirk and crew taking a landing party down on a planet where everything on the planet is seemingly moving at light speed.

The First Law of Metaphysics by Michael S. Poteet **** - This is a surprisingly well written story about Spock and Saavik's first meeting several years after what happened on the Genesis planet.

The Hero of My Own Life by Peg Robinson ***** - This is an extremely well written tale about a meeting through scientific research of Gillian Taylor from Star Trek IV and Dr. Carol Marcus from Star Trek II.

Doctors Three by Charles Skaggs ***** - This is a beautiful and quite poignant story about Admiral Leonard McCoy circa the 24th century and his desire to meet with Dr. Zimmerman as he's in the process of creating and perfecting the Emergency Medical Hologram program of Star Trek Voyager fame.

Star Trek The Next Generation

I Am Klingon [Third Prize] by Ken Rand ***** - This particular fan fictionist knows his Klingons well and in this story he has written a very plausible explanation of the difference between Klingons of the TOS era and that of the TNG era.

Reciprocity by Brad Curry ***** - This by far is the best story of this particular anthology. The author fluidly takes us to a time some four billion years in the past and tells a short story about the firstborn ones.

Calculated Risk by Christina F. York **** - This is a somewhat interesting tale about the rarely used character of Dr. Pulaski of STNG second season fame.

Gods, Fate, and Fractals by William Liesner ***** - This is another of the better stories of this anthology. The author reintroduces us to agents Dulmer and Lucsley from Starfleet's Department of Temporal Investigations. Presented here is an extremely interesting story about the creation or lack of creation of the Maquis.

I Am Become Death by Franklin Thatcher ***** - This author created here an especially intriguing tale of Data in the far distant future and his altered perspective on how things should come about.

Deep Space Nine

Research by J. R. Rasmussen *** - This is extraordinarily short, short tale is intriguing at best, from the humor standpoint.

Change of Heart by Steven Scott Ripley ***** - This is another of the extraordinarily well written stories of this anthology. The author here has perfectly captured the perceived personality of a "Changeling" who's found her self in a particular situation she doesn't care to be in.

Star Trek Voyager

A Ribbon for Rosie [Grand Prize] by Ilsa J. Bick ***** - It is of wonder that this author won the Grand Prize based on this outstanding tale about Seven of Nine making an unheard of trip into the past.

Touched by Kim Shear **** - This is an interesting tale about two Voyager crew members forced to land on the planet of a non warp species and their chance meeting with one of its inhabitants.

Almost...But Not Quite by Dayton Ward ***** - This is another of the finest stories of this anthology. This author has a fluid and deft style of writing that is captivating and compelling. Capitalizing on Starfleet's Department of Temporal Investigations and agents Lucsley and Dulmer, the author deftly integrates them into the fold when Voyager ended up in orbit of Earth in the year 1996. It is no small wonder why this author has moved on to writing professionally!

The Healing Arts by E. Cristy Ruteshouser & Lynda Martinez Foley ***** - These two fine authors present here an exceptional story of a medical crisis and the Doctor's solution.

Seventh Heaven by Dustan Moon ***** - This is a beautiful story about Seven of Nine and a surprise visit by another well known Borg who had earlier regained his individuality. The author captured Seven of Nine's personality perfectly! {ssintrepid}

Definitely worth purchasing.

Comparison to SNW I: Well, I have to admit - the stories aren't quite as good. But SNW I had 35 years of Trek scribblings to draw from. And II still has excellent stories, they just aren't *quite* as excellent as I. Make any sense?

Downside: Once again, DS9 gets shafted! The other series get 5 stories, DS9 gets a measly 2, and one was so short it hardly counted! The other was pretty imaginative, but (Vortaphiles, hang onto your hats), hinged on the plot point that Vortas would conspire to murder a Founder! Speaking for Vortaphiles everywhere, I am scandalized beyond belief! Augh!

Upside: Unlike last year, this year's grand prize winner really was the best story in the book.

Strange New Worlds II is the second book of fan written Star Trek short stories and there is something for every fan in this one. I found all the stories to be entertaining . One of my favorites was 'Triptych' which concerns the episode "City on the Edge of Forever" The story 'Doctors Three' was a wonderful tale that was appreciated by me as an honor to the late Deforest Kelly. Klingon fans will love 'I am Klingon'. Deep Space Nine only had two entries both being somewhat unusual in presentation. Hopefully there will be more Deep Space Nine stories next year. Though 'A Ribbon of Rosie' was one of my least favorite stories it is a must read if you are a 7 of 9 fan. It provides insight into a young Anika Hansen. I found the style of the story made it a bit difficult to follow so I recommend re-reading 'Rosie' . Strange New Worlds II is a must read for any Star Trek fan.

I've always been a fan of all the Star Trek TV series. But I've never gotten into the books. This collection of fan written stories may have changed my mind! I can't believe one of the other reviews said this one wasn't "quite" as good as the first one! This one was so awesome that now I can't wait to order the first one, the third and I can hardly wait for the fourth. I wish they were in hardcover so I could keep them for my future children to read...

Top prize winner Ilsa BIck's story is FABULOUS. I also loved the one about the "researcher" who went to the future to get ideas for the star trek tv series. This book is a kick.

Strange New Worlds II impressed me very much with the quality of the short stories written by Star Trek fans. Some stories continue plots from prior series; a Voyager story is a follow-up to an original series show, while another follows one from The Next Generation. Dr. McCoy makes an appearance in a Next Gen story and a Voyager story, while Chakotay and the EMH both appear in Next Gen stories. Fans of Deep Space Nine will be disappointed, as neither of the stories ostensibly from that series really deals with any of the characters. Only Sisko & Odo are even mentioned. Reg Barclay makes two appearances; so do the Time Cops Dulmer & Lucsly. Lt. Saavik, Dr. Pulaski, & Carol Marcus also appear. To me the best story was Triptych, the second prize winner. A Ribbon for Rosie & I Am Klingon (first & third respectively) are also outstanding. I would recommend this book for any Star Trek fan. It is much more fun to read than Dyson Sphere!

After winning 2nd place in the first volume of Strange New Worlds, Thatcher is back with another story about an artificial intelligence. Different in every way from "Of Cabbages and Kings", Thatcher's volume 2 story, "I Am Become Death" is about Data, one of the popular artificial beings in all of science fiction.

This is a very short story, and to say too much about the plot would give things away and lessen the impact of a very original, stunning story. The story contains prominent references to much of Data's family tree, including Data' creator Soong, his brother Lore, "daughter" Lal, his wife, and other "descendants." For the most part, these characters are referred to in the past tense, as most of them have long since died or been destroyed. Some of these relations will be unfamiliar to even the most ardent Star Trek fan, because they haven't happened yet: This story takes place thousands of year in the future.

One of the highlights of this story, in fact, is glimpses it offers into what life may be like for this never-aging android who seeks to become human as he continues to live for many centuries. Thatcher masterfully conveys Data's soulfull moodiness, borne of his own exhaustive experience with the inevitable death of beloved mortal friends, and even of whole races. The galaxy we briefly see thousands of years in the future is in some ways dark, but believable, and very fascinating. But what is most memorable about "I Am Become Death" are the actions Data takes to change things and atone for the far-reaching legacy of himself and his "family."

The publication of "I Am Become Death" disqualifies Thatcher from future competition in the "Strange New Worlds" contest, but Thatcher is said to be working now on a novel and I'm eager to read whatever he writes next.

Billed as "Stories by the fans, for the fans," I expected work far below that of "paid professionals." That said, the caliber of the stories in this collection is so high that it blew all of my preconceptions out the window. In fact, it makes some of the recent fiction put out under the Star Trek name pale by comparison. The two Seven of Nine stories in the "Voyager" section are excellent, as are "I, Klingon" and a number of the other stories. Unfortunately, Deep Space Nine has been treated like an ugly stepchild, with a mere 30-some pages and two stories (one of which is so amateurish it should have been thrown in the rubbish bin). Then, again, maybe the quality and quantity of the entries in this category was so small, these were the only two worthy of publication. At any rate, this is a great book. Buy it and you won't be disappointed.

I bought this book, I admit, because I'm a writer and was thinking of entering the contest. The stories were good enough to let me know winning would not be easy, but not quite good enough to keep me from thinking I had no chance. Of course, I'm a ST fan too (mainly the original series), and these were the stories I enjoyed the most. Good but not great. Kind of like Writers of the Future, although a writer's odds of getting published in Strange New Worlds are probably easier due to less entries. Recommended for Trek fans.

This book contains 17 great stories, and "change of heart" The only problm is that the winner should have been "I am klingon".