(pb;
1977: fan fiction/science fiction story and poem anthology)
Overall
review
New
Voyages 2 is a good, mostly entertaining collection of fan fiction.
I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first volume, but it was still a worthwhile
read.
Stories
“Surprise!”
– Nichelle Nichols: The Enterprise crew try to set up a surprise
birthday party for James Kirk while he, to their frustration, roams around the
ship. Fun, ultra-flirty and chatty tale─it’s overlong and wanders a bit, but
still largely entertaining.
“Snake
Pit!” – Connie Faddis: Christine Chapel─nurse/secondary doctor on
the Enterprise─must, with a knife, fend off many snakes in a pit where
she and downed-by-poison James Kirk try to avoid becoming weather-predictive
sacrifices for a Vestalan tribe, the Hualan. Outstanding story, nice to see
Chapel in an unusual-for-her situation, beyond her role as a healer.
“The
Patient Parasites” – Russell Bates: Kirk, Sulu and McCoy match wits
with a technology-thieving, difficult-to-defeat machine (Finder), whose deeper
agenda is even more devastating. This teleplay is entertaining, flows well and
is a standout read in this collection.
“In
the Maze” – Jennifer Guttridge: Kirk recklessly disobeys Star Fleet
orders and further risks getting himself, Spock, Bones and several other
crewmen killed or worse when he illegally investigates an out-of-place
technological building on a backwater planet. Well-written, entertaining tale
that bringing to the fore Kirk’s underlying, sometimes-childish-and-selfish umbrage
nature.
“Cave-In”
– Jane Peyton: Back-and-forth-structured dialogue poem, did not read it.
(Not into Star Trek-themed verseworks.)
“Marginal
Existence” – Connie Faddis: The crew of the Enterprise
encounter sleeping aliens and hostile robots. Solid, pedestrian-for-the-series
piece.
“The
Procrustean Petard” – Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath: Several
crew members of the Enterprise are gender-switched and trapped in
planetary orbit with a ship full of Klingons, led by fan-favorite Kang. While it
runs too long and is occasionally awkward, it is an often-entertaining read.
“The
Sleeping God”: Kirk and co. come face-to-face with a galaxy-destroying mega-computer
while transporting super-powered mutant (Singha the Sleeper). Good, chatty story.
“Elegy
for Charlie” – Antonia Vallario: Another unread poem.
“Soliloquy”
– Margarite B. Thompson: Another unread poem.
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