Rating: 
Summary: Waste of Time,money-why bother?
Review: I paged through this book in the bookstore.Normally,I simply pick up a Star Trek book and put it in my cart-I buy them all and I have every Star Trek novel{Original series and Next Generation only -I don't waste my energy on D.S.9 or Voyager novels]ever printed.After I paged through it,I shook my head and put it back on the shelf. I thought that it was going to be a new Star Trek novel,not a compilation of what the author thought were the best of the Star Trek novels.What a stupid waste of energy,time,and effort.Why do the people at Pocket Books continue to give us such poor quality works such as this? A case in point is a recent Next Generation novel entitled "Dyson Sphere". What a piece of pure trash!! It is the worst Star Trek novel since "The Abode of Life$QDyson Sphere is boring,poorly written,and pays no attention what so ever to the novelization of the Star Trek:The Next Generation episode "Relics",where the Dyson Sphere was first introduced and Montgomery Scott[James Doohan}made a guest appearance.Pocket Books had better make a much,much better effort to provide us with high quality Star Trek novels, or else I am going to stop buying them.Period. I've read enough of the trash that they're printing these days.The last good Star Trek novel that I read was"Spectre"by William Shatner.His "Dark Victory novel wasn't bad,either,and I'm looking forward to his next one.At least his novels are entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Star Trek: Adventures in Time and Space
Review: Star Trek: Adventures in Time and Space edited by Mary P. Taylor is a journey in retrospect through time to sample the best the future has to offer. This is a one-of-a-kind tribute volume highlighting the most unforgettable moments from a generation of bold exploration by some of the most imaginative science fiction authors of our time.Taylor is one of the initial fans who was captivated by Star Trek early on and over the course of two decades never lost her fascination. This book covers the genres of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager. Within these genres we find the best-of-the-best here, dramatic confrontations, the strangest aliens and the most deadly perils that ever tested Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and their valiant crews. This book is divided into three major Parts and they are as follows: Part 1: The Crew, Part 2: Aliens, Allies and Enemies, Part 3: Visions of the Future. Within the major parts you have eighteen chapters and within these chapters you have listed the best-of-the-best in books and movies of the Trek Universe. Now, remember this, there is a greater emphsis on TOS and that is understandable as there has been more written about this genre than the others. Nevertheless, the representation of the other genres are very well represented. As you read on in the book you'll notice that you've read these passages before, but Taylor's analysis is what ties these seemingly unconnected parts together making a rich and vibrant character... living and breathing... ready to leap into action. There is one other very valuable part to this book, and that is the definitive Star Trek novel chronology found as the appendix. This is a complete timeline to the Pocket Books Star Trek novels, short stories, original audio programs and Young Adult books published through November 1998. This is very valuable because now you have a liner reference to where your Star Trek library falls in relation to other books within your library.
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek: Adventures in Time and Space
Review: Star Trek: Adventures in Time and Space edited by Mary P. Taylor is a journey in retrospect through time to sample the best the future has to offer. This is a one-of-a-kind tribute volume highlighting the most unforgettable moments from a generation of bold exploration by some of the most imaginative science fiction authors of our time. Taylor is one of the initial fans who was captivated by Star Trek early on and over the course of two decades never lost her fascination. This book covers the genres of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager. Within these genres we find the best-of-the-best here, dramatic confrontations, the strangest aliens and the most deadly perils that ever tested Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and their valiant crews. This book is divided into three major Parts and they are as follows: Part 1: The Crew, Part 2: Aliens, Allies and Enemies, Part 3: Visions of the Future. Within the major parts you have eighteen chapters and within these chapters you have listed the best-of-the-best in books and movies of the Trek Universe. Now, remember this, there is a greater emphsis on TOS and that is understandable as there has been more written about this genre than the others. Nevertheless, the representation of the other genres are very well represented. As you read on in the book you'll notice that you've read these passages before, but Taylor's analysis is what ties these seemingly unconnected parts together making a rich and vibrant character... living and breathing... ready to leap into action. There is one other very valuable part to this book, and that is the definitive Star Trek novel chronology found as the appendix. This is a complete timeline to the Pocket Books Star Trek novels, short stories, original audio programs and Young Adult books published through November 1998. This is very valuable because now you have a liner reference to where your Star Trek library falls in relation to other books within your library.
Rating: 
Summary: Trek, but not dreck
Review: This big book is a compilation of excerpts from popular Star Trek novels published over a 20-year period. Author Mary Taylor has received some criticism for "over-representing" the original series (TOS), but I don't feel such criticism is warranted. For one thing, there are more TOS novels in publication from which to choose than from the three modern Trek series combined. But more importantly, there are more TOS books that are better written, and by superior authors. Samples of their work appear in this compilation: Diane Duane ("Spock's World", "Doctor's Orders", "My Enemy, My Ally"); Melinda Snodgrass ("Tears of the Singers"); J.M. Dillard ("The Lost Years"); John M. Ford ("The Final Reflection"). There was a time, the Trekless years between TOS and the Next Generation (TNG), when paperback novels and FASA role-playing games were all that the fandom had. That was the time when Trek authors tended to come from the ranks of respected sci-fi writers who were permitted to excercise creativity in their works, to further develop the beloved characters and alien societies of the original series. Around the time of TNG's rising popularity, the quality of Trek fiction went out the air-lock. Nowadays even talented authors are seemingly restricted to formulaic drivel, which often appears to be churned out overnight. Most is just abysmal "Star Dreck". There are exceptions of course: William Shatner's series and a few of Peter David's stories. Ms. Taylor found the best of the modern series. But she got a few stinkers too, which only reinforces my opinion of most of today's Trek fiction. I would have omitted the abominable "Kahless" and included an additional TOS, Dana Kramer-Rolls' well-researched and well-written "Home is the Hunter". For fans who own every Trekkie novel in print, this book is probably superfluous. For those more discriminating, this book provides a useful random sampling.
Rating:
Summary: Trek, but not dreck
Review: This big book is a compilation of excerpts from popular Star Trek novels published over a 20-year period. Author Mary Taylor has received some criticism for "over-representing" the original series (TOS), but I don't feel such criticism is warranted. For one thing, there are more TOS novels in publication from which to choose than from the three modern Trek series combined. But more importantly, there are more TOS books that are better written, and by superior authors. Samples of their work appear in this compilation: Diane Duane ("Spock's World", "Doctor's Orders", "My Enemy, My Ally"); Melinda Snodgrass ("Tears of the Singers"); J.M. Dillard ("The Lost Years"); John M. Ford ("The Final Reflection"). There was a time, the Trekless years between TOS and the Next Generation (TNG), when paperback novels and FASA role-playing games were all that the fandom had. That was the time when Trek authors tended to come from the ranks of respected sci-fi writers who were permitted to excercise creativity in their works, to further develop the beloved characters and alien societies of the original series. Around the time of TNG's rising popularity, the quality of Trek fiction went out the air-lock. Nowadays even talented authors are seemingly restricted to formulaic drivel, which often appears to be churned out overnight. Most is just abysmal "Star Dreck". There are exceptions of course: William Shatner's series and a few of Peter David's stories. Ms. Taylor found the best of the modern series. But she got a few stinkers too, which only reinforces my opinion of most of today's Trek fiction. I would have omitted the abominable "Kahless" and included an additional TOS, Dana Kramer-Rolls' well-researched and well-written "Home is the Hunter". For fans who own every Trekkie novel in print, this book is probably superfluous. For those more discriminating, this book provides a useful random sampling.
Rating:
Summary: Like a clipshow on paper! Fascinating.
Review: This is a great book that includes excerpts from many Star Trek novels. The fifth star I gave it was for the timeline in the back. Being slightly obsessive-compulsive, I love reading things in the "proper order" or at least knowing what in order they are supposed to be. The other four stars are for simply showing what all is available out there in the world of Trek books. It gives us some wonderful insights into many of our favorite characters. And for those of you who are whining about the book's focus on the original series, this book is about Star Trek BOOKS. Since there are 2-3 times as many books in print about the original series as there are on any of the other 3 shows, of course Ms. Taylor included more of those excerpts in her book! It only makes since that the book be representative of ALL of the titles. Think about it! All in all, a worthwhile purchase for every Trek book fan!
Rating:
Summary: Like a clipshow on paper! Fascinating.
Review: This is a great book that includes excerpts from many Star Trek novels. The fifth star I gave it was for the timeline in the back. Being slightly obsessive-compulsive, I love reading things in the "proper order" or at least knowing what in order they are supposed to be. The other four stars are for simply showing what all is available out there in the world of Trek books. It gives us some wonderful insights into many of our favorite characters. And for those of you who are whining about the book's focus on the original series, this book is about Star Trek BOOKS. Since there are 2-3 times as many books in print about the original series as there are on any of the other 3 shows, of course Ms. Taylor included more of those excerpts in her book! It only makes since that the book be representative of ALL of the titles. Think about it! All in all, a worthwhile purchase for every Trek book fan!
Rating:
Summary: Come on, guys....
Review: Uh--- Seems to me the least you can do is read a book before posting a review of it. True, this book may not be for those who already own -all- the Star Trek novels, but then it never pretends to be anything but what it is - a nifty collection of the best bits from the hundreds of Trek novels out there. It's a great guide for those of us who haven't yet found the time to read all the books, and the timeline is really neat. The book delivers exactly what it says right on the FRONT and BACK COVER that it does, and no author can help that you bought it "sight unseen" thinking it was something other that what it says it is.
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