Tag Archive: Star Trek


The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway–The Voyager captain tells her story “in her own words”

Filed under: Comics & Books, Sci-Fi Café, TV — Leave a comment
November 30, 2020

Review by C.J. Bunce

The latest of the in-universe Star Trek biography books takes fans of the franchise back to Star Trek Voyager in The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway.  The captain made famous by Kate Mulgrew takes readers through key life events that led to her role as one of Starfleet’s greatest leaders, and she provides her recollections on seven years in the Delta Quadrant.  For fans looking for a trip through memory lane and the key encounters of the crew on Star Trek Voyager, all in that calming and authoritative voice, they will find it here.

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The Wisdom of Picard–A mini Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations for your favorite captain

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November 24, 2020

Surprisingly for a Star Trek series, we haven’t seen much by way of tie-ins for this year’s newest small-screen incarnation, Star Trek Picard.  We at borg enjoyed the series, the Star Trek version of the Old Man trope that actor Patrick Stewart contributed to so well with Hugh Jackman in the Old Man Logan movie, Logan.  We especially liked the new Romulan characters the series introduced, and Jonathan Frakes’ Will Riker back in the captain’s chair was hard to beat.  Patrick Stewart has taken his beloved Jean-Luc Picard there and back again many times, so maybe we haven’t seen a lot more because it’s already been done before.  But out now for holiday gift-giving is a new look back at the good captain and his memorable commentary across seven seasons of The Next Generation, four feature films, and the first season of his new series.  It’s The Wisdom of Picard, a book full of his most memorable utterances.

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These Are the Voyages–Book explores Star Trek fandom and abandoned TV series

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August 13, 2020

Review by C.J. Bunce

TV historian and Star Trek expert Marc Cushman is back to continue his second trilogy of books about the development, production, and struggles behind the first two decades of Star Trek.  In These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 2 (1975-77), at last we get to delve into the biggest Star Trek project never delivered: The 1970s Star Trek: Phase II series that would be parted out and become Star Trek: The Motion Picture and later Star Trek: The Next Generation.  And that’s not all–ideas and early scripts for Phase II continue to be tapped in the 21st century Star Trek series and films.  Even better, Cushman digs into the ever-developing Star Trek novels, conventions, and more, which became the practice grounds for the wider, broad world of pop culture fandom as a whole.  How did Star Trek finally movie forward from the original series to become what it is today?  How did the fans play a major role in making that happen?   Continue reading →

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Beaming Up–Walter Koenig recounts a lifetime as an actor in new autobiography

Filed under: Comics & Books, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, TV — 1 Comment
June 25, 2020

Review by C.J. Bunce

Walter Koenig may be best known as the youngest crewman on the original Star Trek, and he’s recounted his work and life during after the series and movies in his earlier memoirs Chekov’s Enterprise and Warped Factors: A Neurotic’s Guide to the Universe.  But there’s much more to this complex personality, and he shares his personal stories and his experience as an actor of stage and screen in New York and Hollywood in his new and updated autobiography, Beaming Up and Getting Off.  This is a continuation of Koenig’s Warp Factors, which covered his life only up to 1998, but the actor has updated his memoirs at age 83 with nearly 100 new pages looking back at a struggling actor making his way, including a filmography and a proposed but rejected story outline he submitted in 1990 for Star Trek VI.

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Strange New Worlds–Captain Pike & crew to return in next Star Trek spin-off series

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May 17, 2020

Like the split between fans of the third Star Wars trilogy and The Mandalorian, fans of Star Trek probably see themselves aligned to prefer either Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Picard.  Or maybe there’s even a better contrast between Star Trek: Discovery’s first season worldbuilding vs. that series’ second season’s throwback concepts.  Was your favorite character the badass Mirror Universe Emperor Philippa Georgiou (formerly Federation Captain), played by the sly and fabulous Michelle Yeoh (the only actor onscreen who could actually immobilize someone in real life with her martial arts skill and the highest paid actress in Asia)?  Maybe it was the very Original Series-inspired engineer Jett Reno, who got the best dialogue and had the best style of any character in this decade of Trekdom, played by the brilliantly funny Tig Notaro?  Maybe it is the series lead, the very straight-laced Ant-Man and The Wasp-inspired sci-fi-meets-superheroine, Captain Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green?  Or maybe it is Anson Mount giving his own superhero performance as an early (and later?) famous Captain Christopher Pike of the familiar good ship Enterprise?  Turns out, if any one of the above fits the bill for you, Star Trek has something for you heading your way.

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Star Trek: Picard–Go behind the scenes with the cast in new hardcover book

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April 28, 2020

picard

Now that the series has wrapped, a new hardcover book from Titan is taking a look at the long-awaited return of Patrick Stewart as beloved Star Trek Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Via a series of interviews with cast members and key crew, Star Trek: Picard–The Official Collector’s Edition provides fans of the CBS All Access streaming service show Star Trek: Picard with insight into the latest generation of Starfleet tales.  Now a retired admiral, Picard sets off on what might be a lost cause, protecting a young woman who may have ties to Data, the android who gave his life to save Picard the last time we saw the characters on the big screen in 2002’s Star Trek Nemesis.

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Build your own Enterprise or Klingon Bird of Prey with new Star Trek wooden model kits

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April 4, 2020

Looking for something to do at home?  Check out the Insight Editions Incredibuilds series of 3D wooden model kits.

As a follow-on to its Harry Potter crest, Hogwarts Express, Golden Snitch, and Time Turner, Firefly Serenity spaceship, Star Wars Death Star, Millennium Falcon, Star Destroyer, AT-AT, X-Wing Fighter, and TIE Fighter, Marvel’s Iron Man and Infinity Gauntlet, DC’s Flash helmet and Batmobile, Ghostbusters Ectomobile, Assassin’s Creed hidden blade, Disney Beauty and the Beast characters, and even Santa Claus, a monuments collection, and animal kingdom wooden model kits, Insight Editions has released its three latest 3D models, and they feature iconic ships from the Star Trek franchise.  Just released as part of its Incredibuilds line, you can choose from the original Federation starship U.S.S. Enterprise, the U.S.S. Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation, or a Klingon Bird of Prey.  Or grab them all.

Recommended for ages 10 and up, each kit comes with a full-color 32-page softcover booklet discussing the specs of each vessel, the history, appearances, and notable Star Trek characters that have served on each ship, dozens of photographs from the TV series and movies, and a section discussing behind-the scenes materials.  Each is written by Dayton Ward, Star Trek novelist, all in the style of the fan-favorite technical sheets that once appeared in Star Trek magazines over the years.

 

Like all model kits, adult supervision is a good idea, and the need for patience to avoid breaking any parts–the nature of wood makes these easier to build than the more difficult to assemble and more breakable Metal Earth kit counterparts.  And these are a bit sturdier than the classic balsa wood kits you may be familiar with.  An easy to follow, fold-out instruction sheet is included for each ship, and a single sheet of laser-cut, FSC-certified wood with easy-to-assemble, punch-out pieces.

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Shelter at home with Patrick Stewart with sonnets and Picard series–free

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, TV — 1 Comment
March 25, 2020

PatrickPicard

Patrick Stewart is back again to save the day, and he’s doing it in two ways.  As Sir Patrick Stewart, he has begun reading sonnets and sharing his readings online.  And as one of our favorite Captains, Jean-Luc Picard, he’s sharing news of the ability for anyone to stream the first season of his new series Star Trek: Picard on the CBS All Access streaming service–free.

As most know, the master thespian was an actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company before appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Charles Xavier in the Marvel X-Men franchise films, including one of his landmark performances in James Mangold’s 2017 Oscar-nominated film, Logan.  On his social media (see his Instagram page here) Sir Pat has begun reciting a sonnet a day, in the hopes that “a sonnet a day keeps the doctor away.”  He has so far read Shakespeare sonnets 116, 1, and 2.

Patrick Stewart

And Tuesday he announced more good news for his Star Trek fans: “Our #StarTrekPicard season finale is Thursday, and starting today until 4/23, you can watch for free on @CBSAllAccess in the US with the code: GIFT.”  All you need to do is sign up for the streaming service and use the code GIFT.  Check out the CBS All Access website for full details.

Star Trek: Picard takes place twenty years after the events in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, which resulted in the death of Brent Spiner’s character Data, and also after the events of Star Trek (2009), which resulted in the destruction of the planet Romulus.

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Red Alert–Star Trek’s Kirk Fu Manual is coming your way next month

Filed under: Comics & Books, Con Culture, Retro Fix, TV — 2 Comments
February 6, 2020

Connoisseur of all things Star Trek, author Dayton Ward is back next month with his next in-universe look at what makes the Federation tick in Star Trek Kirk Fu Manual: A Guide to Starfleet’s Most Feared Martial Art.  It’s a comical look at everyone’s first (or second) favorite Captain, in his familiar 1960s (or 23rd century) uniform and scene stealing stances, rendered for the willing student or old-school fan by artist Christian Cornia.  Providing a how-to manual of some of Captain James T. Kirk’s more eccentric hand-to-hand combat moves, it gives you some step-by-step instruction in being cool like Kirk, complete with excerpts from his personal log.

Who exactly is the Kirk Fu Manual for?  It’s for those who listened to our recommendations of Ward’s past humorous inside looks at the franchise, seen in his Hidden Universe Travel Guide to Vulcan (reviewed here at borg) and his Hidden Universe Travel Guide to the Klingon Empire (reviewed here).  And it’s exactly the right gift for your office party swap when you can’t figure what to buy, but you know your boss is a Star Trek addict.

Readers better pay attention, as they’ll find a check-yourself test at the end.  And a certificate for those who pass.  If Kirk Fu is not your thing, don’t worry–Spock steps in with alternative suggestions in a bonus section.  Take a look at a preview of the Kirk Fu Manual below, courtesy of publisher Insight Editions.

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Retro fix–Star Wars and Star Trek books serve up nostalgia from magazine back issues

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, TV — Leave a comment
October 21, 2019

Sometimes you wish you could go back in time, to decades past where life was simpler and you could grab a magazine at the local bookstore or grocery store rack to get a fix from your favorite movies or TV series.  Back in the 1970s and 1980s sometimes that meant Starlog, Starburst, or Space Wars, Fantastic Films Magazine, or even mags aimed at the younger set, like Dynamite.  Then people like Dan Madsen came along with fan clubs that resulted in titles targeted at specific, single fandoms like The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine for Star Wars, and Star Trek Communicator and other titles under variants of those names.  Titan Magazines inherited management of these legacies decades ago, and is still putting out both Star Wars Insider and Star Trek Magazine, and it’s the articles from those mags that fans can “read again for the first time” as Titan launches three new compilation books, Star Wars: The Best of the Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters, and Star Trek Picard: The Classic Chronicles.

The two Star Wars books are tied to the anticipation for the release of the final chapter in the original Star Wars saga as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters in December and The Mandalorian series begins streaming in November.  And the Star Trek book is primed to get newer fans up to speed in time for the release of the Star Trek Picard television series.  If you collect the magazines, you have already read this content, but if you haven’t or you threw out your magazines over the years, this is your chance to check out Titan’s targeted looks back at these big franchises.

Vintage photographs, tie-in toys and other products, posters, interviews, and articles full of trivia are reason enough to take a look back through these books.  And those photographs include many you’ve probably not seen before–or at least haven’t seen in a long, long time.  Clocking in at 176 pages, each book has something for every fan of these franchises.  Star Wars: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters is a must for anyone after lots of detail photographs of Chewbacca and your favorite bounty hunters, something from every previous Star Wars film through Solo: A Star Wars Story.  Star Trek Picard: The Classic Chronicles isn’t just about Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but is an overview of the entire series and films featuring the NextGen crew.  Star Wars: The Best of the Original Trilogy is perhaps the most nostalgic, with those marketing photographs and accompanying 1970s magazine style art that could have come straight out of Dynamite magazine.

Below are previews of all three books.  Catch up on the past–order these books at your local bookstore or comic book shop or from Amazon at these links: Star Wars: The Best of the Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters, and Star Trek Picard: The Classic Chronicles.

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