Star Trek

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Book Title: Various Star Trek adaptations

Author(s):  James Blish

Publishing Year: Late 60's - Early 70's

Review: 

I'm a Star Trek fan, I've seen the original series, and so I started reading these books.

James Blish wrote 12 of these Star Trek books, stories based on the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, which aired starting in 1966. There are about six episode adaptations per book, and even though the books are small, the stories are still well-written, and enjoyable.

It's interesting seeing the parts where the adaptations are different from the original episodes. Whereas a lot of them are nearly identical, some vary quite a bit, and I wonder if he was working with the original scripts from the show when he wrote these. I liked seeing even the small changes in dialogue, and some of the motives of the characters are explained a bit better in the books. 

And not to judge a book by its cover, but the book cover art really is amazing on all of them. They're all quite bright and colorful!

Favorite Part(s):

Oh wow... I definitely know my favorite part. In the adaptation of "Spectre of the Gun" (aka "The Last Gunfight") I love the part where Kirk says this to Spock:

"Mr. Spock, once again we owe you our thanks for quick, thorough and logical thinking. But I

will tell you something else. Privately, and for no other ears than yours, I think you are a

sentimental bag of mush."

XD Best moment ever. It really was.

So You Want To Be A Wizard

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Book Title: So You Want To Be A Wizard (Young Wizards series, Book 1)

Author(s): Diane Duane

Publishing Year: 1983

Review: 


This book is quite amazing. It's really amazing. 


It all starts when Nita Callahan, a 13-year-old girl who's sick of getting beaten up, is hiding from bullies. The place she is hiding is the library. Nostalgically, she runs her hands over the bookshelves, remembering all of the books she'd read, when her hand is caught by a book she's never seen before. It's title is "So You Want To Be A Wizard," and it's shelved with the other "So You Want To Be A" books (ie, "So You Want To Be A Pilot" or "An Astronaut," etc).


At first she thinks it's a joke, but learns very quickly that it's definitely true. She can hear things speak to her like she never had before, and she another wizard that she befriends go on an adventure through a dark and evil Manhattan, and lose and gain more than they'd thought was possible.


This is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read it about...well, sixteen times. No joke.


The other books in the series are absolutely amazing as well; there are eight books in the series, with a ninth book coming out in April. (The author, Diane Duane, is going to be in New York City at "Books of Wonder" bookstore, on April 24th to do book signings.)


Favorite Part(s):

1. The carnivorous fire hydrant that eats pigeons (look for it in the cover image).
   
2. The multiple parts that were extremely quotable, including the passage from The Book Of Night With Moon.
   
3. The fact that the magic described is so scientific that it's actually almost possible in the real world.
   
4. The ideas and the feeling of the whole thing; it leaves you with a sad, joyous, emotional feeling of wonder.
   
5. The part where Fred mentions how much life there is in the city. He says this when looking at the World Trade Center, and remarks about how horrible it would be if something happened to "all that life." I think that was a moment of pure precognition on the author's part.

Additional Notes:


 I think you can tell by now that my favorite genre to read is Science Fiction. :P 


 But of all the books I'd ever recommend to someone, this is the best. The ultimate best. In my opinion, anyways.

The Colour of Magic (Discworld, Book One)

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Book Title: The Colour of Magic

Author(s): Terry Pratchett

Publishing Year: 1983

Review: 

In this book, the main character is a wizard named Rincewind - But he's not exactly a wizard. He can't do magic. He has a spell trapped inside his head, and it keeps him from doing any magic. But more about that in the next book.

Rincewind becomes a guide for an extremely naive tourist, Twoflower, who has Luggage that follows him everywhere. Twoflower doesn't really seem to grasp life in the same way people are really supposed to, and he always is optimistic, which annoys Rincewind to some degree.

Together, the two go on a journey across the Disc of their world (It is called the Discworld, of course), which sits on the back of four elephants and a giant turtle (the turtle's name is A'Tuin).

During their journey they have many different confusing and amazing adventures, leading them through a plethora of strange and awkward situations, including meeting Death, who always talks in CAPITAL LETTERS.

But what they don't know, is that their entire journey, is being controlled by the Gods playing a board game...

The story from this book continues in the second Discworld novel, The Light Fantastic.

Favorite Part(s): 

Haha, the 'Big Bang Theory' mentioned near the beginning of the book. It's just really funny!

I liked the parts with Twoflower's camera, because it was really a little man sitting inside a box and painting pictures.

Also, the Luggage is my favorite character. It's like a trunk, kind of, but with lots of legs. It walks. It eats people. It folds and stores your laundry. (Who wouldn't want one?)