forgive me for I have sinned

[sergebroom]

Forgive me for I have sinned.

I felt quite good about work by the end of the day yesterday so, on my way back home, I made a detour to the nearby Borders, with the intention of treating myself by doing something crazy.

I bought Star Trek novel Kobayashi Maru. What was crazy about that? For one thing, I may have read a total of four such novels in my whole life (not including James Blish’s novelizations of episodes of the original series), but those were by known science-fiction people, and I’m not familiar with this book’s authors. The other crazy thing is that this is a Star Trek: Enterprise story, based on the show I found so boring that I gave up before the end of the first season. There is a reason why I refered to it as boldly going where rude Vulcans have gone before.

So, I sinned by feeding the beast that crowds out real SF.
Why? Why? Why?!
I blame the Blood Fever.
That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

I also bought Jay Lake’s novel Mainspring, which Tor released in paperback a few months ago. To say that its premise is intriguing is something of an understatement: it is set in the 19th Century on Earth, but not our Earth, for this one exists within a solar system that is a literal clockwork. At the equator is a gigantic wall at the top of which are the cogs that move the Earth around the Sun. This is the kind of setting that I’d have expected from the graphic stories published by Métal Hurlant circa 1980, something like Schuiten's Les médianes de Cymbiola. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Comments

Interesting...

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I was confused, so I went to check my bookshelf. The book I have turns out to be The Kobayashi Maru, and it is (as I remembered) a ClassicTrek novel written by Julia Ecklar. It's fairly good, too -- several of the bridge crew are trapped in a wrecked shuttlecraft, and distract themselves from their (fairly dire) situation by telling their individual Kobayashi Maru stories. Rescuers, of course, turn up in the nick of time.

Re: Interesting...

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Ecklar is the filker, right? Anyway, that book does sound interesting. I should take a look next time I go to the used-book store. Mind you, it's not like I'm running out of books that haven't been read.

Re: Interesting...

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, credit where credit is due:

Julia Ecklar, the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, which puts her in some pretty nifty company.

I've always been sorry she didn't write more outside Trek, but she's a passionate long-time Trekfan. She does have at least one non-media novel and several other Trek novels including some collaborations under a pseudonym.

Her music is also well worth hearing; look for the album Divine Intervention. She has an amazing voice.

Re: Interesting...

[(Anonymous)]

Um, the above was me.

Susan
http://www.rixosous.com

Re: Interesting...

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize that Ecklar had won the Campbell Award. Like you said, that definitely puts her in good company. I went to the nearby used-book store the other day, hoping to find The Kobayashi Maru, but the store is apparently being consolidated with its non-used-book counterpart across the street, and most of their stock was being tucked away in boxes. Well, I'll try again later. If that pans out, well, there is bamm.com and Alibris.

Re: Interesting...

[readinggeek451]

Right, that's the one I have, too. It is pretty good. And yes, Julia Ecklar the filker.

Re: Interesting...

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation, both of you. I'll look for it next time I go to the nearby used-book store.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

I just read Mainspring and found it interesting, a different approach, and a refreshing one at that.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

The book got good reviews, as far as I can tell. Escapement, the followup, just came out in hardcover and people liked it too.

[pedanther]

Of course you realise that now you've bought it, you're going to have to read it.

It's a win-win situation, really. (You can't see whether I have my fingers crossed from over there, right?) If it's good, then you made the right decision to buy it. If it isn't, then having to read it is your penance.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I really have to read the whole thing if I find that it's not my cup of tea. (Could we make that a cup of coffee, with two shots of espresso?) After all, last night, I became very impatient with this novella by a well-known author. Still, since I had already invested all that time in it, I wanted to see how it turned out, so I skimmed. The ending confirmed that I should have skipped, not skimmed the whole thing.