Remember Nemesis? Or is it Dorn's Day?

Like the proverbial London bus there's nothing and then everything comes along at once. Today marks two super special occasions in the History of Star Trek and we thought what better way than to talk about them both!

Apologies that this is a day late but life in general took a precedent!

First up would you believe it's 11 years since the final motion picture from The Next Generation crew limped into cinemas? The less said about its takings...and plot...and...yeah, ok...everything - the better perhaps. Still a shame to this day that they went out without a bang. I've watched it again recently and it's not as bad as I remember which isn't saying it's good if you know what I mean. We at Some Kind of Star Trek have a little something planned around Nemesis in the New Year but we'll come back to you on that one shortly!

Secondly, 9th December was also Michael Dorn's birthday (1952). While we could wander into remembering 10 Great Worf moments or best lines, I thought it might be better to do something different and a little unique to mark the occasion. After all, Worf is the character with the most screen time out of any series or movie ever and has certainly developed in a lot of ways since Encounter at Farpoint where he was essentially a background part.

Hence we bring you Worf-olution - a voyage through each year of the character on the screen (live action only!) and the subtle changes you might be able to spot - ok and there's one that wasn't actually played by Michael Dorn before we get floods of abuse but hey, enjoy!

...OK and if you're wondering I'll throw in ten top Worf moments just because it's Michael Dorn's (belated) birthday post - and in no particular order and I can assure you there are a lot more!

• Killing Gowron; Tacking into the Wind (Deep Space Nine)
• Leaving the Enterprise-D; Redemption (The Next Generation)
• Arriving on Deep Space Nine and KO's Martok's son; Way of the Warrior (Deep Space Nine)
• Refusing to provide blood for a Romulan; The Enemy (The Next Generation)
• Delivering Keiko's baby; Disaster (The Next Generation)
• Saving his wife takes priority over the mission; Change of Heart (Deep Space Nine)
• Realising he's married to Troi in an alternative reality; Parallels (The Next Generation)
• Fighting the Jem'Hadar at their prison camp; By Inferno's Light (Deep Space Nine)
• Singing Gilbert and Sullivan; Star Trek: Insurrection
• Coming to Picard's rescue against the Borgified Lieutenant Hawke; Star Trek: First Contact

Now then...what event do we have coming up next...

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The Fall: Revelation and Dust - Previously on Deep Space Nine

Oh my god, is this a breath of fresh air after the Enterprise novel. The Fall kicks off in style - a style I hope it maintains for this five book run.

I've said it before and I'll say it again now; I missed a whole chunk of non-canon fiction in the last few years but have managed to catch up thanks in no small part to Memory Beta and the works of authors such as David R George III and David Mack.

The opening move of this series ensures you won't be left in the dark for very long. I had a whole heap of questions from page one; where's the old Deep Space Nine? Why is Sisko back? Ro is commanding what? Ezri's a CAPTAIN?! Kira's dead?!

Ok, the last one's not strictly true but Revelations and Dust manages to get new readers up to speed as well as giving that refresh to anyone who's not been out this far for a while. Remember that it's been 2012 since we saw any deep space action with the slew of The Next Generation and The Original Series novels in particular which have packed out 2013. 

So onwards we go and while there's not much in the way of Hollywood-style action, David R George appears to have aimed for a much more solid character piece which echoes something of the focus of his last Star Trek effort, Allegiance in Exile which we reviewed back in March. That same style is here and while we're not looking at the world from the eyes of Kirk and Sulu we are seeing events unfold from, mainly, a quartet of characters; Captain Ro, Captain Sisko, Vedek Kira and Captain Ezri Dax. As one of my erstwhile colleagues has also noted the transformation of Ezri from reluctant host to Starfleet super-captain is amazing and still doesn't hold that true in my mind although the author of this book cannot be held to account on that front. Nor am I massively convinced by Ro's Starfleet-court-martial-Starfleet-Maquis-Starfleet career jumping but hey, that's all in the past so let's move on.

Then there's an entire thread that seems unattached to some degree dealing with a land-based story of freedom fighters which is linked with the "missing" Kira. Now that's a line which takes some reading to find out what it's all about. It seems a random segment to keep returning to and did lose me a little however as with everything there is a purpose. Stick with it.

Kira does indeed feature from page one and her story is almost a separate piece to the rest of the book, placing us back into events both seen and unseen that took place during the initial discovery of the wormhole and first contact with the Prophets. Action from Emissary is replayed word for word but David R George III also weaves in some new bits which make perfect sense and could easily have been lost scenes. I'd go as far to say that while it's a nice twist on past events and keeps us grounded with the Prophets even though the wormhole is gone, Nerys actually has the least to do here, being stuck in one place for a fairly long time...and also seemingly not involved in any way - but there is a point and a payoff to it and no doubt will be continued within the quintet of novels

While there is a lot here which is about looking to the future and also about rebuilding, it's definitely acting as a bridge to the rest of the series; it's a beginning, a beginning and a beginning all rolled into one; most certainly as it should be. Revelation and Dust heavily emphasises the loss that occurred in the destruction of the first Deep Space Nine and never really revels in the commissioning of the second. While you can see the grandiose is there, the assembled heads of empires in attendance, each of the main viewpoint characters are in some way facing a difficulty, making this less than a celebratory occasion. Whether it be family, relationships or assignments, there are a lot of demons to be confronted although David R George III seems to keep them concealed within the psyche of each player, no doubt to be unuravelled and revealed as we go through The Fall. 

In relation to the rest of the series there are one or two line drops in there which are signposting the stories we are due; the first however does take a sizable 200 plus pages to appear and nods to Picard and that starship of his - guess we know where he'll be going in Book Two then! How the rest of the show will intertwine is going to be fascinating as this isn't Cold Equations and a single author - there are five different styles and personalities combined here to cover the events of a window in Star Trek time. I'm guessing there will be numerous cross-references and I'm 99.9% certain these will be essential to hold the reader. David R George III probably gets the hardest job setting out the plan but it's done exceptionally well.

For a fair chunk of Revelation and Dust I didn't know where the heck this was going. I was pointed one way, directed another, introduced to X, spent a bit of time in Y but then I had to pause when the "moment" came because I wasn't quite expecting it nor was I expected it to be at that point in the story. It's all about understanding the relationships and the nature of our characters here and as with his previous effort, David R George III has captured them as we remember them from the TV series. There is a little wisening here and there but we can still see the childishness and exuberance of Bashir especially when he's paired with O'Brien or Ezri's awkwardness when she meets the doctor for the first time in a few years. 

I'm glad in a way that Sisko is back because it wouldn't be Deep Space Nine without him but he seems to be a different man since his time with the Prophets. His Emissarial role is almost insignficant and Ben's place is firmly as a starship captain and nothing more. There is almost a calm about the character that we only saw maybe in the early evolution of the role. I actually found Sisko's parts here among the most enjoyable alongside Ro's preparations for the commissioning. Oddly, while he does share a good portion of the narrative pre-commissioning, his story, for once is not the main focus of the show but a part which forms the whole. I don't doubt it will all be significant but at the moment this is one series which is playing its cards close to its chest.

That goes in particular when discussing the Romulans, the Gorn and the Cardassians to some extent. For thoose of you who have been following the series through Destiny, Typhon Pact and Cold Equations you'll be glad to know that the hissing Gorn imperator is back - must be one of my favourite literary Star Trek creations thus far and means there is a good deal of continuity being retained which adds a factor of "belivability" to proceedings if only to point out that there is a level of acceptance for all that has gone before.

With Odo's return/enforced Alpha Quadrant exile I might even hasten to add the even more mysterious and reclusive Founders into that mix - but that's just me thinking out loud and because the author has managed to drop an awful lot of stones into the pool. There are a lot of splashes and ripples and something tells me that a few of them might, just might, be attempts to take the reader off the main scent so we can be hit with the big guns over the course of the next four tales. 

Yes, it does seem a bit of a fluky excuse to have all the main characters including Kasidy, Nog, Rom and Martok all back in the same place (I waited for Odo to turn up and wasn't disappointed by his returning no-nonsense character) but could we do Deep Space Nine new or old without them? I'd argue not. Sadly though Martok gets almost nothing to say while Rom manages to at least get a typically nervy speech at the dedication ceremony. They could have done with a bit more page time but then I would note that having anything more would have detracted from the story.

There does however seem to be a more personal feel to some points here. As I was reading the section where Dax and Bashir view the memorial to the original station I couldn't help but think about the tragedy of 9/11. The perseverance of those who survived to push on in life; the rebuilding and refusal to be stopped are all here but so is the anguish and mourning that will always be present. Perhaps it's best in that respect that this is a more sombre and retrospective start to the series. It could have easily have fired off a volley of quantum torpedoes and set sail for the sea of high octane action but with this slower, more "talky" start I think David R George III establishes that this is going to be a more "diplomatic" series delivering a few classic twists and turns along the way.

Let's close this off with a bit of personal opinion. As I said back at the start it's a breath of fresh air after the last Enterprise novel but then I've become a fan of this author since Allegiance of Exile. This is definitely slower in pace. Don't expect action all over the shop and use your time here to get to know the characters once again. It's Thinking Man's Star Trek; you do wonder where it's heading for a long time but I would thoroughly recommend sticking with it to the end because you will be rewarded. 

One thing that is made clear here is the significance of the 60 day arc in which this set of stories is placed. I had wondered what the relevance of that was when I saw the press releases. It won't be an over-riding factor in the plots of the upcoming novels but does act as a point to tie them all together subtly. If this is the quality we can expect from The Fall then this could well be one of the strongest Star Trek novel series there has been to date.

Next up we'll have the review of Book Two, The Crimson Shadow....Picard and crew are back for the first time since Cold Equations! We're a little bit excited about that you know....

Brother, Son, Hunter

A cryptic little title for today's musing but pretty spot on.

December 4th is the birthday of one Tony Todd. While we could dive into his career, remember his appearance in Babylon 5, 24 or the seminal Candyman we're here for Star Trek and let's not forget that for one second.

Tony Todd is probably best remembered for his role as Worf's brother Kurn in The Next Generation's Sins of the Father and Redemption as well as Deep Space Nine's Sons of Mogh (that's the brother bit). While it was a massive role that was heavily featured around the story of the duplicitous Duras family I actually wanted to get a look at his second Star Trek role. 

Todd would make two appearances in Deep Space Nine with, oddly, Kurn being his second. The first would be in The Visitor; the first episode of the fourth season after Way of the Warrior. For me this was probably his defining moment; the best performance he gave to the franchise in what was one of the finest episodes the space station saga produced.

Cirroc Lofton portrayed the younger Jake Sisko while Tony Todd took the role forward into a future where Jake becomes a writer (the son bit) but ultimately sacrifices a promising career, wife and potentially a family too in order to try and stop his father from being temporally displaced. While we all know the outcome here, Todd absolutely hits every single note through the story, leading the episode and stealing it from pretty much everyone else on the screen.

For me this was the emotional punch of the entire franchise, even topping (dare I say it) The Inner Light. Each time his father disappears another piece of Jake is crushed and there's a real possibility that this is a mystery that might not be solved. Tragically it is, but it takes, literally, a lifetime. That final scene at the house between father and son is, for me, was the "Picard and the flute" moment of Deep Space Nine. The anguish that Sisko realises as it dawns that Jake has ended his own life to save his own and snap the link is simply perfect. Maybe it was because I had truly "found" Star Trek by this point and wasn't just watching it to pass an hour of TV - I was involved and this found its target.

Todd also manages to carry off the increasing age of the character surprisingly well. Yes, he's clearly under a serious amount of makeup but it's still a believable and heart-stopping performance that makes this one of my most watched stories of the show. Even though we know there's going to be a reset button somewhere in son-of-producer Michael Taylor's script it makes absolutely no difference in the power of events. I have better recall of Todd as Jake than all the future events revealed as the episode unfolds.

All the way through Todd's drive as Jake keeps the viewer hooked, slipping from the future viewpoint in his bayou house where he is narrating the events of the past to Melanie back to the trials of communicating with his missing dad. While this is an episode I've still got to reach in my Episode-a-thon it still sticks clear in my mind even 18 years later and I'm certain it's thanks to the brilliant performance that Tony Todd puts in for the hour. So much so that when I met him it was a picture from The Visitor that I asked to be signed (let's ignore the fact his PR people had TNG at the bottom however...). 

So happy birthday Tony Todd and thanks for making some amazing appearances in the Star Trek universe. As for the hunter reference..? Take a step back to this post to find out the answer!

Our Weekend Viewing

And why not a little something for a Saturday and inspired by the title of a recent novel we're going to be reviewing in The Fall novel series.

Of course, there's no surprise as to the ending of any Cardassian novel - but then the Repetitive Epic is the most elegant form of literature available. Why Bashir didn't like The Never-Ending Sacrifice is beyond us....

Standing in History's Shadow

Now I will open up by stating I am a Star Trek fan certainly not at the level of my colleagues here on Some Kind of Star Trek as my reading is normally limited to Tom Clancy novels or anything based about nuclear subs.

So From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward would not be something I would usually pick up to read. However I have indeed found it an interesting and riveting read.

I very much enjoyed how the book continues from The Original Series episode Assignment: Earth, taking that storyline and really adding depth of detail to the events in the show. I also enjoyed how the book flicked back and forth from Kirk's timeline in 2268, then with Earth in 1947 taking in and linking to real events in Earth's history such as Project Bluebook, the Majestic 12 and the Roswell incident.

I love the touch on how the author develops the Roswell link to introduce the Ferengi as the possible aliens on that downed UFO and how a number of aliens residing with us on Earth adapted our limited technology at the time to develop their own technological requirements. All I can say is Earth was not only limited to just humans in the late 1940's it seems!

One of my all time favorite Star Trek movies is First Contact along with Enterprise being among my favorite Star Trek franchises. I really liked how the book took the basis of what was the known and agreed fact of Earth's first contact with the Vulcans as well as the "conjectural" events in the Enterprise episode Carbon Creek wherein T'Pol tells the story of how Vulcans came to Earth many years before the accepted official first contact event. At the end of that episode Archer and Trip are left wondering if it was indeed an actual event or just a tall tale - now here the book uses the character Mestral (a Vulcan who's choice it was to remain on Earth to continue his studies of the Humans) to further confirm the Carbon Creek incident did indeed take place and therefore unofficially rewrites Earth's history.

There are other links throughout the book referencing other Star Trek -Voyager's Futures End two part story and Deep Space Nine's Little Green Men to name but two and I can say that there are others for both the casual reader and true fan to discover along the way.

The main characters in this novel are James T Kirk, Spock, Security Officer Giotto in 2268 joined by a smattering of the usual USS Enterprise crew. Mestral and Gejalik (a Certoss) cross the timeline throughout the book, as does Roberta Lincoln, Gary Seven's protegee from Assignment: Earth. In 1947 on Earth the main character is Captain James Wainwright of Little Green Men fame - Deep Space Nine who is working on Project Bluebook and Majestic 12 along with a number of personal from the USAF. I am agreeable with the book characters remaining true to their screen characters in personality and traits as this make the book flow in line with the references to the referrals to the many links to the TV shows.  All the main characters in the book have been developed well and interact in a good solid manor that adds to the readability of the book.

The story focuses on the Temporal Cold War featured heavily in Enterprise and the effects of Gejalik sending a message to her home world in 2268 with a 300 year old dated signature and how this message could impact the various pacts in place with differing planets. How the Certoss in 2268 are a peaceful race but it seems 300 years ago this was not the case and they had a part to play in that very Temporal Cold War.  The Certoss are, it seems, a race very much like the Vulcan's whom whilst are peaceful now further back in history seem to hold a warlike mantle. In fact Gelalik mission was without giving too much away to facilitate the destruction of Earth - You'll need to read the book to find out why!

I will not ruin the read by giving away too much of the plot but it is a great book on that really does become a hard to put down read. I enjoyed it so much I even went out of my way to obtain an ebook version for my iPad to have it on my holiday reading list as I felt it was a gripping yet easy read for those that have seen the episodes that set out the pretext for where the book picks up from. I would however on that note, perhaps recommend watching at least Assignment: Earth and Carbon Creek before reading as it would help set the pace for the book to continue on the story. I indeed look forward to reading other titles by Dayton Ward and do recommend this book as a Star Trek fan due to the quality links to the various series and it really does in my opinion complete the Assignment Earth program that did leave the viewer with a few questions.

From History's Shadow is available now from Simon and Schuster ISBN 9781476719009 priced £6.99

Just Some Updates...

And in other news...

A few bits have crossed the desk at Some Kind of Star Trek this week worth at least making a note of on our PADDs.

First up, our friends over at Jacobs Brown Media have informed us that These are the Voyages is now being offered in a limited run of signed copies. This hard-cover first edition is autographed by both Marc Cushman and Sue Osbourne and is certainly going to warp out of Roddenberry.com probably before this note hits the internet.

If you want to see if you can grab one, head over to the site now to bag yourself a reduced price, signed bargain! I won't bore everyone again but yes, it's a bit good.

Second up it's our other friends at Eaglemoss who slipped a couple of additions onto the issues line and we've only just noticed - maybe we're just a bit slower than usual on the uptake but hey, we can't be everywhere (just yet).

From top to bottom, left to right we have the Valdore from Nemesis, the Deep Space Nine Runabout, the Hideki Cardassian fighter, the Surok Class Vulcan ship from Enterprise and the Klingon Bird of Prey also from Enterprise.  For me, I'll be waiting for the Runabout being a fan of that show in particular.

Third up we can show the box art for the new Select action figure - Captain Jean-Luc Picard. We featured this one a while back but our contacts at Diamond Select Toys have now provided some extra shots of Picard and a bit of extra info on the figure:

"Dynamically sculpted by Patrick Pigott, Art Asylum’s lead Star Trek figure sculptor since 2003, Picard’s default stance is firing a phaser at an unseen foe, but seven points of articulation in his upper body allow him a wide range of expressive poses. Also, his hands and legs are interchangeable with other figures in the Select line, which means you’ll be able to give him Mr. Spock’s classic Tricorder and Phaser. He stands atop a base representing the interior of a Borg cube, and the torso and arm of an exploded Borg rests at his feet. The parts are also removable from the base, so you can take them back to the Enterprise for study when the figure hits stores in late December."

When all that's out of the way and you want to settle down for an hour of your favourite episode, why not chill that prune juice with some ice made in your The Next Generation silicon tray? Just saying....

And Finally...

It looks like due to my ineptitude to check my schedule we'll be pushing back the relaunch date by a week or so. Nothing major but we want to ensure that everything is ready, set and perfect to take us through into 2014. We will update you as soon as we confirm a more definite day!

Coming Soon...