Star Trek: Strange New Worlds VII (Star Trek: All) [ペーパーバック]

In this seventh edition of the Strange New Worlds anthology series, we once again have the winners of the writing contest Pocket Books does every year for Star Trek stories. Will some of these writers go on to become part of the stable of Trek writers for the ongoing series? Perhaps, though I don't know if any of the stories in here justify that completely. Still, there are definitely some good stories in here, well worth checking out.

The stories are divided by the television series they are attached to, with another section called "Speculations." These are stories that are too broad to be tied to just one of the series. Perhaps it's something that spans almost all the shows. Or maybe they bring together elements from more than one series. The other two stories in this section of Strange New Worlds VII don't really fit this concept, however, as one deals with a Dax, from Deep Space Nine (though it is a future Dax) and one deals with Picard and the history of the Borg. Still, the stories are a bit broader than just "another adventure with the crew of the Enterprise," so maybe that's why.

The grand prize winner was the Next Generation story, "Life's Work," by Julie A. Hyzy. This is the story of Data's creator, Noonian Soong, and the time when his wife finally left him because he was too wrapped up in his work. He was working on a final emotion chip that he would be able to put in Data when a crisis in his marriage happens. His wife, Juliana, has determined to leave him because he's more married to her work rather than to her. The weird thing is (as established in one of the Next Generation episodes), Julianna is actually an android that Noonian fashioned after his real wife died, because he couldn't bear to be without her. He made her a perfect copy of his wife, so much so that she doesn't even realize she's an android. He's understandably shocked when she tells him she's leaving, and it's a testament to his craftsmanship that he created her so perfectly that she has enough emotions to actually leave him. Hyzy captures the characters perfectly, especially during a poignant scene where Noonian has deactivated her to examine what's happening, and carries on the conversation with her that he knows he would have if she were currently activated. It's a touching story, compelling despite the fact that it doesn't have any of the regular Trek characters in it. Definitely worthy of the grand prize.

The second prize entry is "Guardians," by Brett Hudgins, one of the "Speculations" stories. This story travels a *long* way into the future. It's about the Horta and how they've interacted with the Federation throughout the 50,000 year lifetime of the mother Horta. Eventually, humans leave the Horta home planet of Janus VI, and leave them alone (though the former head of the mining colony there does make regular visits to his new Horta friends). However, when a scientific station on the planet containing the Guardian of Forever (an ancient time portal discovered by Kirk & the Enterprise) is wiped out, an ancestor of the original mining colony head remembers the Horta and thinks that they would make great protectors of the guardian. The rest of the story is various vignettes through almost 50,000 years, as various races come to the Guardian planet. Some to try and conquer it (like the Borg) and some to just look at the past (like a certain founder who is remembering his past Bajoran lover many, many years in the future). At times, this story seems to gloss over events a little too quickly, but all of the vignettes are good in their own way. Some are just little snippets (such as a couple of visits by Q, complaining about how humanity is suddenly becoming equal to the Q as they move on to the next level) and others are a bit more detailed. I did have a little trouble with some of the future history (the Federation is still around, virtually unchanged politically and socially, thousands of years in the future, though they have obviously improved technologically), but overall, the story was quite good.

Finally, the third prize winner is "Adventures in Jazz & Time," by Kelly Cairo. This is the story of a gift that Wesley (still a futuristic Traveller, and disguised as a Federation professor) decides that he wants to give something back to one of his role models, Commander Riker. He gives him a truly interactive jazz holoprogram containing the jazz great Stan Kenton. Even better for Riker, Kenton asks him to sit in with him and is willing to give him some lessons. This is a dream come true for Riker, who has idolized Kenton for a long time. Cairo captures Riker's love of jazz wonderfully, and the story, while pretty short, covers all the bases. Wesley leads Riker to the program and then dutifully bows out of the picture. While I don't know anything about Kenton, she manages to capture the feel of a jazz great as well. There's no conflict in this story. Just a young man wanting to do something nice for one of his mentors, and the love of jazz. Just poetic.

The rest of the stories in the volume are hit or miss. Some have some glaring errors (one has Seven of Nine, from Voyager, speaking with a lot of exclamation points, something the rather monotone Borg woman wouldn't do). Others are decent but don't carry that spark that carries them over the top. Still, it's an interesting read, and a number of the current Trek authors got their starts in Strange New Worlds collections, so it may be something to pay attention to if only for that. It's worth a looksee.

David Roy

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds VII edited by Dean Wesley Smith, with John J. Ordover, Elisa J. Kassin, and Paula M. Block is the seventh edition in the Strange New Worlds series. This collection of short stories is from the readers of Trek submitting their works for review. What makes this book interesting is that you get to read some of the early works of some very promissing writers along with some seasoned submitters of previous editions.

Getting to read about what the readers think should be going on in the Trek universe is intriguing. There are seven submissions in the Star Trek Original Series, six submissions in the Star Trek: The Next Generation... included are the Grand Prize and the Third Place writing of the contest. There are two submissions in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine section, while the Star Trek: Voyager section has four submissions. The Star Trek: Enterprise has one submission and the is a new category called Speculations with three submissions and includes the Second Place prize.

There are some very inventive and interesting stories in this years crop of stories and I truly enjoyed them I hope you get a chance to pick up a copy for your library and you can later compare some of these stories to later ones written by some very promissing authors later in time as these writers compete for a writing contract with pocket books for future stories.

The three prize winners and the ones that I liked the best are:
"Life's Work" (Grand Prize) by Julie A. Hyzy
"Guardians" (Second Prize) by Brett Hudgins
"Adventures in Jazz and Time" (Third Prize) by Kelly Cairo

There are other stories in this book that could have been winners of a prize as they were that good, but alas, there could only be three winners.

If you like some off the common road short stories than this is your book as you can read a short story from this anthology before bed to get a quick fix of Trek. Enjoy these stories as I did and you can follow the progress of these writers in the future.

Every year I count the days to the release of Strange New World. Each year I delve into the collection hoping to be capture by the amateur tails woven together by the wonderful editor Dean Wesley Smith. Each year I miss a night of sleep as I struggle to put it down. This year was no different.

The grand prize winner this year was `Life's Work' is a wonderful tail of the final android that we know Dr. Soong created. Last year I questioned the grand prize winner but this year I am in full agreement. This creation was not the most original but was the best written summation this year.

One story I personally enjoyed was `Full Circle.' It was a great return to the Captain of the Enterprise-B during the mission the Federation lost Kirk. Now he is involved in the mission that returned Kirk to save the Veridian people.

This collection is one of the best in the last few years. My personal enjoyment in the group of stories is the ability for these fans to be great story tellers and select the smallest hook from the episodes to stretch out of.

Pick up this collection and loose some sleep.