Treks Not Taken : What If Stephen King, Anne Rice, Kurt Vonnegut and Other Literary Greats Had Written Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Rating:
Summary: Not that great, nor is it all that original
Review: About ten years ago Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones published a parody called _The Beaver Papers_ which was a series of scripts for the show _Leave it to Beaver_ which had supposedly been written by authors such as Yukio Mishima, Raymond Chandler and Rod Serling, to name a few. This book was a completely hilarious, if you can find a copy buy it. _Treks not Taken_ attempts to make the same kind of parody and even has the same setup, a box of rejected Trek scripts submitted by famous authors is found in a back office at one of Paramount's studios. Unfortunately the parodies in this book are uninspired. Parody is a fine art, requiring a keen sense of how an author uses language to describe a situation and tell a story. Reading an author such as Vonnegut, Kesey or Ayn Rand and then attempting to mimic their style to make a parody of Star Trek requires more than just aping their use of language or the plotlines of their famous novels. It requires something, I don't know what, that just isn't present in _Treks not Taken_.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: Good to see Boyett published again. Even thought i wasn't completely familiar with all that he parodized it was all very funny. Hope to see more of his stuff in print soon. good for Star Trek lovers and haters alike.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: I'm a huge Star Trek fan, having seen every episode of TNG and DS9, and this book was a huge waste of money. Someone should've paid me to take the book. The scripts are lame, the jokes lamer, and it would be difficult to even make out which writers are being mimicked if it were not for the by-lines.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money
Review: I'm a huge Star Trek fan, having seen every episode of TNG and DS9, and this book was a huge waste of money. Someone should've paid me to take the book. The scripts are lame, the jokes lamer, and it would be difficult to even make out which writers are being mimicked if it were not for the by-lines.

Rating:
Summary: Great idea, beautifully done and really funny!
Review: I'm one of those readers whose guilty pleasure is the world of Star Trek, but run around with a Hemmingway or Vonnegut tucked under my arm. This book is the way to have the best of both worlds. It's so clever and the parodies are totally on target! I'm giving it to everyone I know who loves Trek!

Rating:
Summary: STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID
Review: If you have read all of the authors imitated in this book, It might be mildly enterntaining. Wiat for it in the used book store and don't pay more than a buck

Rating:
Summary: I wish I hadn't spent 10 dollars on it
Review: If you have read all of the authors imitated in this book, It might be mildly enterntaining. Wiat for it in the used book store and don't pay more than a buck

Rating:
Summary: Only works if you know what it's trying to parody.
Review: It has it's funny moments, but I was lost when it was "written" by authors I'd never heard of. And be warned it does contain sexual content.

Rating:
Summary: Clever, but dependent on your own literary experience
Review: It was amusing to read these Star Trek stories done in the style of famous literati, but the jokes will be lost on you if you haven't read all the stories that were parodied in here. My familiarity with Tom Clancy and "The Catcher in the Rye" made the Clancy-esque "Q Clearance" and "The Crusher in the Rye" humorous, but no experience with James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" made "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Fan" inaccessible. And some of the stories--like "Lady Fed" and "Even Captains Get the Blues"--come dangerously close to slash material.

Rating:
Summary: Clever, but dependent on your own literary experience
Review: It was amusing to read these Star Trek stories done in the style of famous literati, but the jokes will be lost on you if you haven't read all the stories that were parodied in here. My familiarity with Tom Clancy and "The Catcher in the Rye" made the Clancy-esque "Q Clearance" and "The Crusher in the Rye" humorous, but no experience with James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" made "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Fan" inaccessible. And some of the stories--like "Lady Fed" and "Even Captains Get the Blues"--come dangerously close to slash material.