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Product Description
Product Description
It's been said that for any event, there are an infinite number of possible outcomes. Our choices determine which outcome will follow, and therefore all possibilities that could happen do happen across countless alternate realities. In these divergent realms, known history is bent, like white light through a prism -- broken into a boundless spectrum of what-might-have-beens. But in those myriad universes, what might have been...is what actually happened.
THE CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT: In a continuum where Spock died during childhood, an Andorian named Thelin became Captain Kirk's stalwart friend and first officer. But at the moment of Khan's final defeat, history takes an even stranger turn, and the emerging potential of Project Genesis is revealed as the galaxy's greatest hope...and its most ominous threat.
A GUTTED WORLD: Terrorist Kira Nerys -- from a Bajor that was never liberated -- may hold the key to winning a war that has engulfed half the galaxy. But with the Romulans and the Klingons at each other's throats, and the Federation pulled into the conflict, even victory may not bring salvation.
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Dr. Noonien Soong's dream has been realized: androids are now woven inextricably into the fabric of the Federation, revolutionizing Starfleet and transforming the quality of humanoid life. But when Soong's long-missing breakthrough creation, Data, mysteriously resurfaces, civilization reaches a crossroads that could lead to a bright new future, or to ruin.
About the Author
Keith R.A. DeCandido was born and raised in New York City to a family of librarians. He has written over two dozen novels, as well as short stories, nonfiction, eBooks, and comic books, most of them in various media universes, among them Star Trek, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Marvel Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Resident Evil, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Farscape, Xena, and Doctor Who. His original novel Dragon Precinct was published in 2004, and he's also edited several anthologies, among them the award-nominated Imaginings and two Star Trek anthologies. Keith is also a musician, having played percussion for the bands the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players, the Boogie Knights, and the Randy Bandits, as well as several solo acts. In what he laughingly calls his spare time, Keith follows the New York Yankees and practices kenshikai karate. He still lives in New York City with his girlfriend and two insane cats.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Universes to Avoid,
By
This review is from: Star Trek: Myriad Universes #2: Echoes and Refractions (Paperback)
I'd actually like to give this collection 2.5 stars. The boys involved clearly made the effort; it just didn't turn out as well as it could have.The first story (I suppose it could be called a novella) by Geoff Trowbridge, "The Chimes at Midnight", tells of a world where Spock died as a boy in a Vulcan ritual, and Captain Kirk's right-hand man on Enterprise was a rather emotional Andorian named Thelin. Things are told to go relatively the same as they did in the Original Series, up until the end of "The Wrath of Khan." Spock obviously isn't around to sacrifice himself and save the ship, so Thelin thinks up a different solution, which leads to a drastically different Alpha Quadrant ten years later. It sounds good on paper, but there's more than a few problems. First of which: Almost the entire narrative is set during the Star Trek movies instead of the series, and since I've only seen Star Trek II, I haven't got much to compare between what originally happened and what is now happening in the alternate timeline, besides the really BIG stuff. Also, a fair bit of the story is centred on Kirk's son, David, and his budding father-son relationship with his old man. This is a problem for two reasons: One being that David is a character best taken in small doses, as he gets rather annoying over time, and the second being that the father-son moments end up sounding forced and too good to be true. The last big problem with this novella was one of the most common in alternate history stories in that it ends up being either too miserable or too perfect. This one of the former; things wind up getting worse and worse as Trowbridge goes through the movies, and even when all is set more or less right, it's hard to see how things are going to look up anytime soon. The second novella was the one I had the most hope for, and up to a certain point it delivered. "A Gutted World" by Keith DeCandido tells of a universe where Bajor was never liberated from the occupation of the Cardassians and the men and women of "The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine" find themselves in the middle of a very unusual war. Given how much time I spent on "Chimes" I'll be brief here. It started off good. Characters like Quark, Garak and even lovable Mr. Montgomery Scott are displayed just as they were on screen, laughable and workable at the same time, and we get a good look at Picard's mindset after "First Contact" as he heads right into another war. The story flowed pretty nicely, going from DS9 (still called Terok Nor) to Bajor to Voyager (which is still in the Alpha Quadrant since there are no Maquis in this universe) quite smoothly, but despite all that it wound up like the story above. No check that, it wound up even worse. While "Chimes" has at least a hint of possible hope in the future, "Gutted" concludes with none. A rather sad message from a TV universe famous for the "I don't believe in a no-win scenario." speech. Now if "Chimes" and "Gutted" were the depressing, can't-get-any-worse side of the common alternate history flaw, "Brave New World" by Chris Roberson is the overly happy ending, perfect universe side. In a world where Dr. Noonien Soong managed to lay the groundwork for millions of androids creation after Data, our favourite green-eyed android is now fighting for their rights as individuals. Although I was hopeful about this story, I was skeptical, too; I knew it would take just the right guy to pull this story off, and though Roberson managed to get the plane going, it didn't go very far. I can't go into specifics without giving away too much of the plot, but I will go into a few things...well, two things, anyway. The presence of two characters who shouldn't have been there: Ro Laren and Wesley Crusher. In "Gutted" Ro's continuing service to the Federation makes sense because the Maquis were never formed and therefore she would never have turned on the Enterprise, but here, it is never explained why the population of androids should have cancelled out the Maquis, and makes it seem like the author wanted to write her in just because he liked the character. And now Wesley. I'm sure many of you are sighing at the knowledge that Dr. Crusher's annoying, know-it-all boy genius is in this story. Well, buckle up, because he's not only in the story, but he's the Enterprise's chief engineer! Geordi La Forge is apparently Picard's new Number One in this timeline, so that leaves Little Mister Eye Makeup at the Warp Drive! I love dissing Wesley. So sufficed to say, I didn't really care for this book at all, or any of the three novellas within it. Do yourself a favour: If you're interested in alternate Trek, check out the OTHER Myriad Universes collection: Infinity's Prism. That one was worth it and did both Star Trek and alternate history justice. But hey, who knows? Maybe in another universe, "Echoes and Refractions" was the better book... While I'm at it, why don't I wish that "Batman and Robin" was a better movie?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews) 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Echoes and refreactions:Excellent work by all 3 Authors,
By Bryan J. Sorensen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Star Trek: Myriad Universes #2: Echoes and Refractions (Paperback)
I don't think i can say enough good things about this book. I was eagerly awaiting it all summer and when it finally came; it was all she wrote! KRAD once again outdoes himself with his very character heavy story of what would have happened if Cardassia had never left occupying Bajor. Chris Roberson did a great job with a story almost forgotten in the realms of The Next Generations first season! Geoff Trowbridge's story though i feel is the strongest of all three.The tale of what would have happened if Spock had died as a child and never joined Starfleet is intriguing enough as it is, but throw in what happens when a totally different person fills those shoes; an Andorian no less! This story changed how events from the end of Star Trek 2:The Wrath of Khan ended, as well as how the entirety of parts 3 and forward changed drastically! This is one avid trek reader who looks forward to more from Mr. Trowbridge! 9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Echoes and Refractions" Review [Few Spoilers],
By Antoine D. Reid "80sforever" - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: Star Trek: Myriad Universes #2: Echoes and Refractions (Paperback)
Myriad Universes: "Echoes and Refractions" is different from the first volume, "Infinity's Prism". While the first may have had a rather light, typical-Trek vibe with somewhat happy endings, "Echoes and Refractions" is far more complex, deeper and outright dark. But as a reader and avid Trek fan, I appreciated this darker-outlook on the Trek universe. The whole concept of this series is to show what Trek and the characters, plots, shows, situations *could* have been, not what they are and what we're used to. I couldn't put the book down and thought as a whole it was far more ambitious and exciting than the first volume.'The Chimes at Midnight' is an alternate take on the Original Series movie era. Yes, it's darker, but there are some awesome plot twist. I thought it started off a bit weak; reading like a simple rewriting of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Then it really picks up and goes in a direction that completely turns the Trek universe, the characters we're used to, on their heads. David Marcus, Saavik and the Andorian named Thelin (from the Animated series) take center stage. There were parts so intense and shocking that I found myself gripping the book and having to look away. The final pages left me breathless, making me wish the actual movies and producers had taken the chances Geoff Trowbridge took with this story. 'A Gutted World' was, by far, the best book of the entire "Myriad Universes" saga. It features cameos by a dozen or more characters across not just one series but all shows. The plot is basically a different take on the Dominion War and really had the emotion, creativity and spark to be a full-length novel. No, as you may think from the title, this isn't a dull story about Bajor and Kira - the story is so much more than that and saying more about the plot would spoil it. If you wanted to see Picard and the Enterprise have a more active role in the whole Dominion War situation, this is your story. If you wanted to see what Janeway would be doing had Voyager not ended up in the Delta Quadrant, buy this book just for this story. What made this story so exciting and nearly flawless was that it not only showed an alternate take on the Dominion War and how it impacted the Alpha Quadrant, but it managed to be one of the best crossover stories yet. 'Brave New World' was, in my opinion, the weakest story after the first two action-packed, thought provoking stories. It was okay, but it seemed even far fetched for this series. It's more of a 'The Next Generation' story featuring Data and Lore and another surprise guest or two. I felt not enough setup was given to this dramatically different universe and Enterprise we're reading about. Worse yet, I didn't buy the story at the end. Everything is far too easily solved, there's no depth to the characters, the conflict was weak. Picard seems very off, always smiling and chuckling as is Ro Laren. The end is overly cheesy and had me rolling my eyes. It was by far a let down after a majority of the book was so exciting and had a similar theme. Check out this book. You will not be disappointed, I can almost assure you of that. These are, for the most part, some great stories that accomplish what this series was supposed to - showing a different take on the Star Trek universe and sparking our imagination with all the possible universes and plots that could have been but weren't. It's depressing at parts, yes, but it's compelling, breathtaking writing that's been absent from Trek in a long while. Get this book! 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Andorian Story worth the price of the book,
By picardfan007 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Star Trek: Myriad Universes #2: Echoes and Refractions (Paperback)
I have to say this was the ultimate what if story. What if Spock never existed? The Andorian tale should have been expanded into a larger story. It covers all the events in the first original series movies. There was enough background and depth to the character to make you believe he could replace Spock. I was impressed with the character moments between him and Kirk.
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