Star Trek: Strange New Worlds IX [Paperback]

For some reason, I find SNW 9 to be much better than last year's anthology. The stories, on the whole, read much better and are beginning to add in small details from certain series like the DS9 relaunch and The Lost Era. Although, I am at a loss to explain this year's tribble motif. Here is a story-by-story review by grouping:

Star Trek: The Original Series

"Gone Native" by John Coffren: A short, humorous follow-up to the episode "By Any Other Name" - if anyone was curious. It's always interesting to see what people come up with for characters that only appear once in a series.

"A Bad Day for Koloth" by David DeLee: Tribble story #1. So, what happens after the tribbles show up on Koloth's ship after "The Trouble With Tribbles"? Well, first of all, they can't go back home because they are carrying "dangerous contaminants," for starters... A fun read that bridges the Koloth in TOS and the one we meet in DS9 later.

"Book of Fulfillment" by Steven Costa: This was one of my favorites in the book. While I don't think it corresponds to any specific episode, it is a fantastic story with a great twist at the end.

"The Smallest Choices" by Jeremy Yoder: I thought this one should have been a prizewinner. It is definitely my favorite in TOS section. It is a great follow-up to "Amok Time" and brings back the original Star Trek ice queen, T'Pring.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

"Staying the Course" by Paul C. Tseng: I'm not quite sure why this didn't end up in the "Speculations" category, but I liked the story a lot. Worf's last line leaves nothing to the imagination as to what will happen next, which satisfies the reader immensely.

"Home Soil" by Jim Johnson: Data on Earth during the Breen attack. This wasn't my favorite; it was a little too reminiscent of the Dominion War anthology story "Eleven Hours Out" which had Picard and Troi on Earth during the Breen attack.

"Terra Tonight" by Scott Pearson: I liked the TNG-era Scotty portrayal, which ran very true to form, right down to Scotty thinking that a xenopaleontologist should consider an engineering career.

"Solace in Bloom" by Jeff D. Jacques: The Breen and Vorta portrayals were dead-on, as was the weaving in of the small story of Picard's old friend and his science project. Easily my favorite of TNG stories.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"Shadowed Allies" by Emily P. Bloch: Kira has to confront someone who wants to test her commitment to Odo. A good read, and a believable story, too.

"Living on the Edge of Existence" by Gerri Leen: Or, Curzon Dax crashes the afterlife in the Celestial Temple. A really amusing, yet poignant story that shows what Sisko has been up to since the end of the series (and before he gets back to Bajor, if you've read the relaunch).

The Last Tree on Ferenginar: A Ferengi Fable From the Future" by Mike McDevitt: This was my favorite story in the whole anthology! Why didn't this one win a prize? A future Ferengi tells the story of how Leeta tried to save the last tree while Rom dithered, Zek grumbled, Ishka looked at the bottom line, Quark plotted, and Ro kept Quark in line. It was the only story that had me laughing out loud, right down to the money-meld.

"The Tribbles' Pagh" by Ryan M. Williams: Tribble story #2. It takes place right after "Trials and Tribble-ations," with Kira trying to figure out how to keep Bajor from being overrun with the furry pests. A cute story.

Star Trek: Voyager

"Choices" (second-prize winner) by Susan S. McCrackin: A combination first-contact story with a medical drama. I liked this story, but it was a bit too formulaic to be a prizewinner, in my opinion.

"Unconventional Cures" by Russ Crossley: Tribble story #3. Told from the perspective of The Doctor, very short and though promising, didn't really translate into a gripping story.

"Maturation" by Catherine E. Pike: My favorite Voyager story. Another take on the assimilation of Annika Hansen, and how her identity is systematically torn apart until she becomes Seven of Nine. I thought this one definitely could have been a prizewinner.

Star Trek: Enterprise

"Rounding a Corner Already Turned" by Allison Cain: An ironic twist to the minds-switching-bodies phenomena. Funny, but predictable.

"Mother Nature's Little Reminders" by A. Rhea King: A traumatic experience from Trip's childhood saves the crew. A lot less formulaic than the author's last story in SNW 8, which is a nice change.

"Mestral" (third-prize winner) by Ben Guilfoy: I liked this story, but how many times can the same one be re-told? A clever weaving-in of Mestral into a portion of the "First Contact" story, but it directly contradicts events depicted in "The Sundered."

Speculations

"Remembering the Future" by Randy Tatano: Kirk gets to go back and save Edith Keeler after he dies, thus creating the "correct" timeline. But if you don't like this post-death Kirk story, you may like...

"Rocket Man" by Kenneth E. Carper: In this story, Kirk is resurrected by Gary Seven and his group, and given a second chance to make a difference.

"The Rules of War" by Kevin Lauderdale: An ancestor of Archer's tries to strike a deal with Augments during the Eugenics Wars, with an officer named Green asking, what if the ideas are not all wrong? Hmmm...

"The Immortality Blues" by Marc Carlson: The man we eventually know as Flint tries his best to go along with the flow of Earth's history, taking a few matters into his own hands every now and then. It has nice touches of the Lost Era and other material woven in, which makes it a pleasant read for the hard-core Trekkie.

"Orphans" (grand prize winner) by R.S. Belcher: It has all the right elements - Section 31, the Guardian of Forever, and just the right protagonist from TNG series to make it clear why this one was the grand prize winner.

Here's to next year!

This book collects 23 short stories written by Star Trek fans themselves. It is the ninth in the series. The book has stories based on each of the major Star Trek TV shows. I found all to be good stories with a few that were really good. This series is no longer in print and I find that is unfortunate, some really good material came out of the run. Not to mention all of the Star Trek fans whose dream came true...to be a published Star Trek author!!!

If you are already a Star Trek fan, you will love this book! If you're not, you probably shouldn't bother. Knowledge of the "Star Trek" universe is definitely a plus when reading this book, or any of the others in the Strange New Worlds series. These books are compilations of short stories written by non-professional writers who have won an annual contest to have their stories published in this book. (Instructions & rules to enter for next year's book are included. It's a requirement that all contestants not have more than 3 published works, including their current submission.) I've read all the books in this series & have enjoyed and can recommend them all. And, since they're all short stories unrelated to each other, you don't have to have read the previous books to read this one, nor have read any other Star Trek fiction. It's a great way to get your "feet wet" in the world of Star Trek fiction. The fact that these are short stories means you can read a whole story or two in a smaller amount of time than you would need to read a whole book.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars