The View from the Bridge - Book Review

The View from the Bridge
by Nicholas Meyer
Viking Books 2009

Nicholas Meyer, for those of you who don't know, is an American screenwriter. He wrote the novel of the 1976 movie The Seven Percent Solution. He also wrote parts of the screenplay for Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (the one about the whales in San Francisco).



Nicholas Meyer is also a director. He directed Star Trek 2 - The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek 6 - The Undiscovered Country.

This book is his memoir from his college days in Iowa up until 1991 when Star Trek 6 was released. There are also a few chapters covering the last 19 years, but the bulk of the book is about Meyers college education and his job as a film press agent in New York City up until Star Trek 6. Meyer also wrote a book - The Love Story story (the behind the scenes story of filming the 1970 movie Love Story). This book financed his trip to Hollywood.

Meyer also gives some behind the scenes details about the making of Star Trek 2 and Star Trek 6. Star Trek 2 covers 50 pages - 20% of the book but all very interesting.

If you like Star Trek as much as I do, you have to read this autobiography. It's not a long book - only 240 pages. I really enjoyed it.

Before Dishonour - Book Review

Star Trek - Before Dishonor.
By Peter David
Pocket Books 2007

One of my favourite characters in the Star Trek world is Seven of Nine, the ex-Borg from the Voyager series. I love the way she is a non-nonsense person, shows no emotions and is extremely logical in her thinking, her actions and her speech.



This book is centred around Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Seven of Nine. And it takes place in the year 2380, some years after the Voyager destroyed the Borg transwarp conduits in the Delta Quadrant and cut 16 years off their homeward journey back to Federation space. Seven is now a civilian Professor at the Star Fleet Academy. She teaches the cadets about Borg technology, assimilation and how to avoid it. Her mentor on the trip home was Captain Kathryn Janeway.

Janeway is now an Admiral, and she intends to destroy the Borg once and for all. A few years earlier, the Enterprise (under Captian Picard) had destroyed a large Borg cube and left it for dead. Janeways intends to go back to the dead cube and study it further in the hope that the Federation can learn new techniques to defend itself from Borg attacks. Once on the cube, Janeway and her away team are assimilated. They return to the Einstein where they assimilate the entire crew. The new form of assimilation means that new Borg drones only have one attachment at the back if their heads. As long as they face a person speaking to them, noone can tell that they are no longer human.

When Janeway is assimilated, she screams and her psychic scream sends horror into Seven's sleeping brain and shocks her out of sleep. Seven would not normally agree with premonitions and instincts but this time she chooses to act on her hunch. She contacts Admiral Jellico and asks for permissin to travel to the borg cube and check to find out if Captain Janeway is ok. Jellicoe says no, but after Seven leaves, he puts a transmission through to the Einstein and asks if the crew are managing ok. He is assured that the crew are all fine. Janeway is still on the cube but she can be patched through. Jellicoe is reassured and terminates the call.

Seven in the meantime chooses to disobey orders and hires a small ship (called the Pride) to take her to sector 10 where the dead Borg Cube is located. Starfleet have vessels chasing Seven so the Pride is stopped and the captain talks his way out of the situation, by engaging a cloaking device he has installed in the ship.

They escape and head for sector 10. When the captain finds out that they headed to a old Borg cube, he balks and refuses to go any futher. So Seven asks him to take her to Vulcan. Captain Picard and the Enterprise are at Vulcan, honouring Ambassador Sarek.

When she arrives, Seven speaks to Picard and together the two of them decide to go and find the dead borg cube. However the crew of the Enterprise refuses to follow orders. Sarek's son, Ambassdor Spock is also on board the Enterprise. He mind melds with Seven and opens a flood gate. The Borg hear her voice and they immediately head for Earth to find Seven and Picard (who used to be the Borg Locutus).

Picard, Spock and Seven come up with a plan to use the old Planet killer that is now dormant on the Museum planet known as the Trophy world. Admiral Jellicoe through Starfleet Command sends word to Captian Picard that he must return to Earth immediately and help in the defence of Earth against the Borg.

Picard refuses, as do Worf, LaForge, Spock and Seven. The other bridge crew attempt to take over the ship, but Spock has programemd the computer to go to the Trophy World. The mutineers throw Picard and co into the brig. Several hours later when they cannot override Spock's lock on the computer, they take Picard out of the brig and beg him to remove the locks on the computer. Picard refuses.

When the Enterprise arrives at the trophy world - Seven, LaForge and Spock take a shuttle craft and go and visit the Planet killer. Their plan is to reactivate the planet killer so that it can destory the Borg cube. Seven is able to reactivate the plent killer and off they go to Earth to destroy the Borg.

You'll have to read the book to know if the Borg won the battle.

I loved this book. Picard finally has to deal with a mutiny from the junior bridge staff who do not follow him blindly, They prefer a captain who follows orders. Picard is just like Kirk and Janeway. Neither of them followed orders either.

Star Trek Academy - Collision Course

StarTrek Academy - Collision Course
By William Shatner
Simon & Schuster October 2007
Collision Course
Collision Course
Collision Course
Collision Course




If you've read my profile, you will see that I love reading Sci Fi (especially Star Trek and StarGate). In fact back in New Zealand I had a nice collection of over 60 Star Trek novels - mostly TOS (The Original Series) and a few from the other series. When I started watching Star Trek, I was watching the Original Series in reruns. In 1980 that was the only series on TV, although the first movie had just been released (1979). During the 1980s, more Star Trek movies came out, I continued watching TOS but I was not raving about it. Kirk was ok, but I really liked Spock. I loved his logic, his reasoning and his lack of emotions. I even made and uploaded a website about Vulcans called Shirkahr of Vulcan.

In 1987 the new series of Star Trek called The Next Generation started airing, and I absolutely fell in love with the Enterprise D and all her crew. I especially loved Data, Picard and Troi. TNG is still my favourite series. I watched DS9 but there was no Spock/Data like character. When Voyager started, the critics said it was not very good, but I found myself rather liking Janeway, Tuvok, and Chakotay. I didn't like Kes much, and when she left and the Borg showed up, things got much more interesting. The Borg was another variation on Spock and Data - my 2 earlier favourite characters.

I eventually stopped reading the novels - mainly because they got a bit boring, and repetitive in their storylines. And for the last 10 years I haven't really seen any Star Trek novels that I could rave about. Until last night.

One of the episodes of TOS was called Conscience of the King (1967) in which Karelian (a travelling theatre player) is accused of being Kodos the Executioner - a man who in his position as governor of the Tarsus 4 colony (some 20 years previously) had deliberately executed at least two thirds of the colonists so that others could survive. The food supply had gone bad and Kodos' thinking was to kill the adults and allow the children to live. The children would eat less food, and be more malleable under his control. James Kirk was on Tarsus 4 that year and he lived through the entire event. He was one of nine witnesses who could identify Kodos. Oh yes, and Kirk was just 14 at the time.

Collision Course starts in San Francisco, three years after the events on Tarsus. Jim Kirk is back on Earth and living in San Francisco. He is now 17, a rebel teenager, doing silly things like stealing a Starfleet car and trying to prove his girlfriends innocence. She stands accused of stealing Dilithium. (Dilithium is the fuel for Starship engines). Kirk gets caught by Starfleet, along with another teenager who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This teenager is 19, and a Vulcan. His name is Spock. Together the two of them are manipulated by StarFleet to find the Dilithium thieves.

So how does the theft of Dilithium tie into Kodos? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out, but I assure you they do. Spock of course entered Starfleet against the wishes of his father, Sarek, who wanted him to go to the Vulcan Science Academy instead. This book also shows how that decision played out. Remember that scene in the movie The Voyage Home (ST4) where Sarek finally acknowledges that Spock made the right choice. (This is one of my favourite lines)
Sarek As I recall, I opposed your enlistment in Starfleet. It is possible that my judgment was incorrect. Your associates are people of good character. Spock They are my friends.

OK OK. I know I have gone on long enough, but it is a great book. I stayed up until 2AM reading it, because I could not put it down. The fact that up until now there has NEVER been any stories of how Spock and Kirk met, makes this book a must read for ANY Star Trek fan. Star Trek is 40 years old, and it has taken 40 years for this story to finally come out. What other stories are still in hiding?