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REVIEW: “The Art of Star Trek — The Kelvin Timeline”

Jim Moorhouse
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REVIEW: “The Art of Star Trek — The Kelvin Timeline”

The Art of Star Trek – The Kelvin Timeline is a superb companion piece to the recently released Kelvin Timeline reference book: Star Trek Beyond – The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow. It’s also the premier reference book on the impressive creative team that brought the Kelvin Timeline to life 10 years ago.

Covering all three movies in the Kelvin Timeline, the book tracks the creative genesis of a myriad of topics, broken down into three large sections covering Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. The 192-page oversized, hardcover release from Titan Books is a hefty addition to your bookshelf or coffee table.

‘The Art of Star Trek’ rounds out a great set of Kelvin Timeline books, including the prop auction catalog.

The books 38 different topics include more than costume, prop and ship designs. The two-page spreads layered throughout the publication also include details on location, creature and visual effect designs, as well as the dissection of a few pivotal scenes from the films (including Khan’s attack on Starfleet Academy in Into Darkness and Kirk’s motorcycle rescue of his crew in Beyond).

In the same way that Joel Harlow’s book cleverly served as both a making-of resource and an in-universe reference book for Beyond, the expert organization of this tome by the book’s author Jeff Bond accomplishes the same task. (Although a sampling of the first film’s imagery in the book can also be found in 2010’s The Art of Star Trek, the descriptive prose and interviews are all seemingly new.)

Following a foreword from Beyond director Justin Lin, the book opens with an extensive 10-page section on the USS Kelvin, a ship that sets the tone for the Kelvin Timeline from the opening moments of the first J.J. Abrams film.  From concept artist James Clyne’s interior design of the bridge to John Eaves expansive shuttle sketches — including the medical shuttle where James T. Kirk would be born — the new details are fun to go through.

Creating the red, alien landscape for ‘Star Trek Into Darkness.’

Of course, the real star here is right in the book’s name. It’s the amazing art that bleeds off almost every page in big, bold, colorful ways. From a beautiful two-page spread of the Kelvin shuttlebay in deep dark reds to the light metallic hues detailing an entry passage on the Yorktown Station, this book is all about the art.

The 10-page section on Yorktown is particularly impressive and features some of the early designs for the station, as well as the thinking behind incorporating some of the modern architecture in Dubai, where many of the Yorktown scenes were filmed.

In the eight-page section on Vulcan, Clyne’s extensive artwork of the unique architecture, including cities hanging downward from tectonic rock strata, is staggeringly beautiful. “I thought it would be great to have cities underneath all of that as well, not only cities on the ground, but cities hung underneath, almost like bats hanging from these rocks.”

In creating the Narada for Star Trek (2009), the unique Romulan ship design (also by James Clyne) ended up being based on an avocado. “We have to build that?” said visual effects art director Alex Jaeger the first time he saw Clyne’s artwork. “And then we got the spec of how big it was and we said we’d start building it now and the model would be done the day the movie comes out.”

Updating the Enterprise crew’s uniforms for ‘Star Trek Beyond.’

In terms of creature design, the 12-page section on the Niburu planet features a number of amazing initial looks for the Nibiran natives, including some early CG creature designs. “It took us probably nine months to figure out the tribe itself because JJ decided, to his credit, to do it all in camera,” said producer Jeffrey Chernov. The impressive clay-encrusted natives were the final choice, but another make-up concept considered can be seen an amazing portrayal of the Nibirans covered in elaborate sticks, twigs and feathers.

The six-page section near the end of the book dedicated to the USS Franklin is a nice bookend to the opening section on the USS Kelvin. The many renderings featured here from ship designer Sean Hargreaves, both external and internal, show the important lineage between the Franklin and NX-01 from Star Trek: Enterprise.

There’s even a rudimentary image of the ship buried in a sand dune, which was the original concept idea for the Franklin’s long-time resting point (before it was moved to the side of a mountain, where we also see a beautiful full color image of that concept, as well).

Keeping Spock warm on the icy world of Delta Vega in the 2009 film.

On a critical note, both Into Darkness and Beyond each feel a bit under-served here. More than half of this new publication focuses on the 2009 debut picture, which (as noted above) has already had a dedicated 150-plus page art book already available to fans, while this is the first book touching on the second Kelvin Timeline film at all.

And despite having the Harlow makeup companion book out this fall, having only six pages here to cover the swath of costume designs, uniform upgrades, and alien species in Beyond seems a bit too restrictive for those fans who aren’t buying both books.

Additionally, with the amount of 2009 concept art included here that has been seen before, it’s a shame to leave out some of the many pieces for those two films, including the work of artist Victor Martinez, who has shared many of those images online for both Into Darkness and for Star Trek Beyond. By our count Martinez’s work only appears once, total, across the coverage of the second two films.

We also spotted a few minor editorial issues – a few typos and a mislabeled photo or two – but most notably, the section on Beyond’s Enterprise redesign actually features concept art for Sean Hargreaves’ Enterprise-A seen at the end of the film… without any follow-up discussion of the actual Enterprise-A later in the text.

Despite those minor criticisms, the overwhelming majority of the info and imagery The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline serves as a top-notch publication, making it an excellent addition to any Star Trek fan’s reference collection.

Titan Books has really put together a great guide to the creativity behind the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline across its three publications to date – and we’re glad to have them all on our shelf.

Star Trek:
The Art of the Film

Star Trek Beyond:
The Makeup of Joel Harlow

The Art of Star Trek:
The Kelvin Timeline

Trek Comics Review: “Boldly Go #15”

John Kirk
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4
Trek Comics Review: “Boldly Go #15”

I think Tony Shasteen’s cover for Star Trek: Boldly Go #15 truly captures the spirit of this comic.

The story so far: in part three of the story arc titled I.D.I.C., we find the various incarnations of the USS Enterprise and its crew from multiple realities converging upon a single point in a reality broken up into mixed combinations of landing parties on several different planets, including an Earth ruled by the House of Khan, Risa and a Vulcan where Starfleet has been relocated to, after the destruction of Earth by Nero.

We have all sorts of different types of Starfleet crew in this story: we have gender-reversed characters, a Spock who has renamed himself Grayson and denied his Vulcan heritage; a gaseous version of Montgomery Scott and also botanical and cybernetic versions of crew and captain. Mike Johnson has certainly got a good assortment of characters in this one.

We see Kirk and Simon Grayson match up against each other in physical combat for Lady Khan’s entertainment; definitely a highlight sequence in this story but one that also provides us some insight into the background of this version of Spock. This Spock – or Simon Grayson, as he identifies himself – has repudiated his Vulcan heritage and has a vendetta against his Kirk – or otherwise known as the Klingon battle commander, “the Orphan.” To see Grayson and Kirk fight definitely adds bit of flavour and also highlights the nature of the story.

As the crews try to work out exactly what has happened and why they are on their respective planets, we are introduced to a mysterious voice that only the Kirks can hear and is clearly the reason for their circumstances. Yes, Q is everyone’s first thought — remember his appearance in the comic series back in 2014 — and after all, the being who has transported all of them is clearly a being of great power… but that theory is quickly put to rest.

This is a bold story. Not only does it show Johnson’s willingness to experiment with the Trek characters and expand the palette of the Kelvin Timeline but it also adds depth to it with the inclusion of multiple realities. However, for me, as the Kelvin Timeline itself is a variant timeline, I’d really like to have seen representative crew-members from the original timeline as well; the fact that all of the variants are all Kelvin ones just seems fairly chronal-centric, to coin a phrase.

We are also introduced to a new artist in this issue as well. Tana Ford takes over pencilling duties for Megan Levans and while I am not privy to the editorial decisions behind this choice, I have to remark how jarring it is to a reader to change an art style within the middle of a story.

I am not too familiar with Ford’s work – I know she has extensive credits with Marvel – but I just found that the transition between the two art styles in the middle of the story was distracting. I especially found that to be the case when comparing characters that we had just been introduced to in the previous issue, like Pavela Chekov, for instance.

  • As I indicated at the beginning of this review, Tony Shasteen’s bold cover really captured the essence of this book for me. The cybernetic versions of Kirk and Spock are eye-catching and J.D. Mettler’s colouring work truly makes them stand out and, forgive me, shine. I wish Shasteen was doing more interior Star Trek comic work for IDW; his likenesses are astoundingly accurate and are always a joy to view.
     
  • The B cover by Angel Hernandez is a stark black-and-white artist’s edition and it’s also a sublime piece of work that captures action, intensity and character expression. I love seeing the skill demonstrated in a penciled piece of work. This is definitely a unique cover and an excellent example of Hernandez’s work.
     
  • The first retailer incentive cover is a photograph of John Cho’s Hikaru Sulu. While I despise photos for a comic cover anyway, I fail to see how this is an incentive for retailers unless it’s some sort of collection package for folks who appreciate movie stills. I wish IDW would reconsider their policy with photos on covers.
     
  • Yoshi Yoshitani’s retailer incentive B cover is more like it. Also of Hikaru Sulu, this is a cover that has some skill attached to it and is what a comic cover should be: done by a comic artist. Yoshitani’s work is highly stylized and while I wouldn’t want to see it in the interior, this idealized type of art is great for a cover.

I.D.I.C. is a bold storyline and has proven to be one of my favourites from Johnson. It’s fun story that explores a lot of possibilities in the Kelvin Timeline and that infinite diversity in infinite combinations is really the heart of what Star Trek is all about.

BOOK REVIEW: Titan — “Fortune of War”

Alex Perry
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2
BOOK REVIEW: Titan — “Fortune of War”

Death slumbers in the ashes of silent planets, waiting to be awakened and unleashed…

Twenty years have passed since the interstellar scourge known as the Husnock were exterminated without warning by a being with godlike abilities.

Left behind, intact but abandoned, their desolate worlds and derelict ships brim with destructive potential.

Now a discovery by a Federation cultural research team has drawn the attention of several ruthless factions. From black market smugglers to alien military forces, it seems every belligerent power in the quadrant hopes to capture the Husnock’s lethal technology.

All that stands between the galaxy and those who have come to plunder the cruelest secrets of the Husnock are Admiral William Riker, Captain Christine Vale, and the crew of the Starship Titan.

David Mack returns for his third Star Trek novel of 2017 with Fortune of War, the latest story in the long-running series of Star Trek: Titan novels. The Titan books follow the adventures of Will Riker, the USS Titan, and a crew of characters taken from the Star Trek shows and original to the novels.

Fortune of War is best described as a heist novel, with plenty of action in the signature style of David Mack. The story is a follow up to the events of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Survivors,” in which the Enterprise-D discovers two survivors of a colony wiped out by an alien race called the Husnock. Twenty years later, the Titan is dispatched to Husnock space to secure its mighty starships and weapons from other parties interested in procuring the technology.

Mack is an extremely comfortable and confident Star Trek novelist, and it shows. He weaves a tight narrative of the race between several parties to secure the Husnock technology, and continues to advance the rich characters of the Titan crew and their individual storylines.

The Husnock warship seen in “The Survivors.”

The breakout character of Fortune of War is Christine Vale, the former First Officer and now Captain of the Titan, following the promotion of Will Riker to Admiral in a previous novel. Her journey in this novel to step out of Riker’s shadow and emerge as the undisputed commanding officer of the Titan is a great arc, especially with such high stakes.

In addition, there is good development for the Efrosian chief engineer, Xin Ra-Havreii, the security chief Ranul Keru, and a simmering subplot involving the divided loyalties of the new first officer, Dalit Sarai, that sets up events for future novels.

Unfortunately, the editorial decision to promote Riker to Admiral results in him being largely sidelined for the events of the novel. His arc, to learn how to be an admiral and stop himself from interfering in captaining the ship, mirrors Vale. Unfortunately, it’s less interesting overall, and results in Riker being absent for large portions of the narrative. Troi is also largely absent from the events of the book.

Two Breen in the distinctive refrigeration suits.

The main foil of the novel is the Breen, an apparent favorite of Mack’s. Since Zero Sum Game, Mack has contributed to significantly fleshing out the mysterious race, and reconciling the many contradictory claims about them throughout the Star Trek shows. The Breen backstory is one of the most interesting alien concepts that the novels have put forward, and they are growing as a real threat to the Federation.

In addition to the Breen, there are other groups pursuing the Husnock technology, including the Ferengi, the Orion Syndicate, a crew of Pakleds, and a group of Nausicaans. Each play an important role in the story’s development. In addition, there are fun appearances two Ferengi characters who made multiple appearances or were frequently referenced throughout Deep Space Nine.

Both novels published in November, Fortune of War and Prometheus: Fire With Fire, follow mixed crews of canon characters with those original to the novels. It’s not entirely fair to compare the two, given that the Titan has appeared in 13 previous novels and Fire With Fire was the first for the Prometheus.

But where Prometheus’s characters were largely bland and undeveloped, Titan’s are rich and well defined. This book provides needed re-affirmation that it is possible to care for novel-only characters as much as those from the canon.

Ultimately, Star Trek: Titan — Fortune of War is an exhilarating action adventure – the kind we have come to expect from Mack. The only downside is that, as the last Star Trek book of 2017 and with only one Star Trek novel set in the 24th century on the calendar for 2018, it’s currently uncertain when we will revisit the Titan.

Fingers crossed we don’t have too long to wait.

If you liked Titan: Fortune of War, you should check out:

  • Desperate Hours by David Mack – The first Star Trek: Discovery novel, written in coordination with the show’s writers’ room, follows Captain Georgiou and First Officer Michael Burnham aboard the USS Shenzhou as they race to save a colony… with the help of the USS Enterprise under command of Captain Pike!
     
  • Section 31: Control by David Mack – The conclusion to the Section 31 storyline that Mack has told over several novels, Control is another action-packed novel that challenges the fundamental notions of Star Trek in the best traditions of the show’s allegories. A pulse-pounding, thought-provoking read.
     
  • The Midnight Front by David Mack – This isn’t Star Trek, but David’s original novel, The Midnight Front: A Dark Arts Novel, which is being released in January. The book involves sorcerers practicing dark arts behind the scenes of World War II.

REVIEW: Eaglemoss Starbase Specials — DS9 and K-7

TrekCore Staff
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17
REVIEW: Eaglemoss Starbase Specials — DS9 and K-7

December 29 is the 50th Anniversary of “The Trouble with Tribbles,” so with that in mind we’re focusing today — with the assistance of contributor Clive Burrell from Some Kind of Star Trek — on Eaglemoss’ Star Trek space station models, including Deep Space Station K-7 from that classic episode!

First, though, we’ll look back at the first space station to beam down from the retailer: 2014’s starbase Deep Space 9 model, a faithful recreation of the Cardassian setting to our favorite Trek series — and the first of what we hope is several more base recreations.

When this special delivery arrived in 2014, it instantly became one of our favourites – Eaglemoss’ Deep Space 9 station model is Grade-A quality, with a level of detail that really stands out even now, a few years later.

Being mostly metal – the promenade, habitat ring, and docking ring is one metal piece, with the central core, weapons sails, and pylons are plastic – the Deep Space 9 model is a little heavier than the usual releases. It’s also the first — and so far only — model which doesn’t include a display stand, but the familiar Cardassian design lends itself well to stable positioning on the feet of the three lower pylons.

On the outer docking ring, we have the exposed paneling and docking ports, as well as the three upper and three lower pylons which are perfectly shaped to match the studio model. On the inner habitat ring, the plastic three weapons sails are securely attached to the ring, which also features six molded runabout pads in the die-cast metal.

The more intricate detail though comes in the central hub: Eaglemoss has replicated the oval windows of the Promenade as well as the sensor arrays perfectly. Some of the finer aerials and masts are omitted, but we can understand that from a safety point of view (as well as on a production level) they wouldn’t be the easiest thing to replicate.

Really, though, the only nitpicky issue we have with this model is the lack of windows on the outer docking ring. Considering the lengths gone to on the other sections of the station, it seems like a bit of a glaring omission – but in the end, it doesn’t detract from the overall magnificent aesthetic of this ‘Cardassian monstrosity.’

The joint lines are faultless, the pylons all face the right way, and are at the right angle, and boy does she photograph well, allowing light to really highlight the surface detail and key exterior features.

Size is on her side, and making this a regular-sized issue would have been a total misstep – its six-inch diameter makes it perfect for display on a desktop or shelf… though we wouldn’t turn down a version of this model as part of the larger-scale XL Starships line!

Three years later, after we’ve been asking for more Starbases – from Earth’s Spacedock to the Caretaker Array in the Delta Quadrant – the second space station finally arrived from Eaglemoss in the form of Deep Space Station K-7, the iconic locale of 1967’s “The Trouble with Tribbles” (and revisited in 1996’s “Trials and Tribble-ations”).

The instantly-recognizable station, located near Sherman’s Planet and packed with quadrotriticale grain, has certainly been worth the wait. One of the largest models released to date, measuring nearly 20cm in diameter, you’ll certainly need to clear out some shelf space to make room for this 23rd Century base.

Starting down at the cylindrical base, the series producers have even managed to include a shuttlebay with actual depth — and not just sealed doors – which opens up the main structure; it’s a plastic insert assembled inside the metal base module (which is the only metal section of the model).

The paneling here, and at every point, is kept very simple with everything seeming to spread out from the central core of the station. There are one or two panels highlighted in a darker shade, but these are few and far between on this item.

Travelling vertically, the shuttlebay module is connected by a slender strip of plastic which leads up towards the main central hub of the station, a larger circular section from which the trio of outer modules are attached. As with the other classic designs from the remastered edition of the Original Series, the detail is minor, with the shape and overall style being more dominant rather than adding a lot of flashy finishing touches.

Now we do like a good greeble on our models, but if K-7 was overloaded with surface detail, putting this model alongside the relatively featureless Enterprise NCC-1701 or a Klingon D7 would just feel wrong. Here, minimal is optimal, and from that grey mid-cylinder your eyes are instantly drawn up to the large pointed cap of K-7’s upper habitat section.

The uniform space grey colouring continues on all surfaces of this section, save for the upper antenna, but even on the top of the central unit there are defined panel lines, which do serve to tone down the initial feeling of over-simplification. Eaglemoss has scored the hull paneling very precisely on this circular module, without any messy buildup of paint around the details.

The most prominent markings on K-7 are the deep black identification text on the upper surfaces of the station; the K-7 and UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS labelling are implemented in crisp text despite placement over hull textures. Each of the four station ‘points’ are also topped with coloured paint, with modules “KA” and “KB” marked in red and “KC” in green; the antenna on top of the central hub is a deep grey with a bright yellow tip representing the station’s central light.

Unfortunately, like many of the previous models we’ve discussed, the textured windows surrounding that top hub have misaligned white paint applied to the area. The windows painted around the smaller hubs, however, are much more successful as they appear to be simply painted on rather than both painted and textured in design.

There’s a lot to love in the 1960’s basic design here. The lines are so clean and honestly, the lack of detail makes this even more enticing as a piece as it’s so similar to the on-screen studio model featured in “The Trouble with Tribbles” – and really feels like a no-brainer for any collector. While it is more expensive than the subscription issues, the size and presentation is one of the few that seems to have retained its distinct appeal and look from the Original Series.

Unlike the Deep Space 9 station, K-7’s design mandates an included display stand, a claw-shaped appendage that the station simply drops inside. It’s a good fit — and the symmetrical design of the station keeps it centered above the standard metal base -– though beware that it’s not a very tight setting, and will still allow the station to move a bit if you’re not careful when moving it around.

It’s too bad the DS9 station didn’t come with a similar stand to keep it aloft, but it’s certainly less necessary with that design.

The included magazine features a short overview of the station and its role in “The Trouble with Tribbles,” along with its resurrection for Deep Space Nine’s “Trials and Tribble-ations,” but it would have been nice to have a bit more information about the original studio model since this is only the second space station in four years.

*   *   *

Ben Robinson has said that he’s likely set to take on Spacedock in the future, so hopefully it won’t be another couple of years until the Eaglemoss space station series gets its next expansion.

For now, though, Deep Space 9 and K-7 are great additions to any collector’s display – just make sure to leave enough from on your shelf!

Deep Space 9 retails from Eaglemoss at $44.95 in the USA (and £16.14 in the UK shop), and Deep Space Station K-7 matches the same prices in the US (and goes for £21.24 in the UK).

We’ll be back with our next Official Starships Collection review in early January!

In Eaglemoss’ US store, TrekCore readers can use promo code TREKCORE at checkout for 10% off any ‘Star Trek’ collectible purchase $60 or greater (some exclusions apply).

REVIEW: “Star Trek — The Book of Lists”

TrekCore Staff
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REVIEW: “Star Trek — The Book of Lists”

At first glance, Star Trek: The Book of Lists sounds like the kind of Star Trek reference book you would be able to easily skim through, bouncing from one quickie list to another, like you would a “to-do list” or a “grocery list.”

In reality, The Book of Lists is an incredibly dense tome that is meticulously researched with references and deep cut choices throughout its 224 pages.

Written by Chip Carter, who previously authored the quintessential Star Trek trivia book Obsessed with Star Trek — as well as the questions for Star Trek Trivial Pursuit — the book contains exactly 100 lists that range from in-universe ideas (“The Recreation Room,” “Relics of the Future”) to real-world production notes (“In Stages,” “Fight on Vasquez Rocks”), from serious (“Family Matters,” “Famous Star Trek Fans”) to whimsical (“He’s Dead Jim,” “The 47s”).

The production design of the book is generally strong, especially in two detailed lists breaking down Trek’s historical uniform designs (“Dress Code”) and many different alien species (“Signs and Symbols”). The section on the Original Series costume design (“Retro Fashion Forward”) includes 10 vibrant photos of some of Trek’s most fashion choices.

When presented in their entirety, the lists are a strong snapshot of the 50-plus year history of the Star Trek franchise in a compact hardcover book, sleekly measuring just 7 by 9 inches.

Of course, the fun of a book like this comes from the inevitable debate and discussion found in the pages of its different categories and selections. For example, any list of “Cosmic Creatures” that doesn’t include Gomtuu knocks the other selections down a peg — seriously, forgetting the Tin Man? — and the debate will surely rage as Carter takes on a few subjective topics in its pages (including “best” and “worst” episodes).

Photo: Publisher preview image.

Some of our favorite lists include:

  • Who Am I this Week? A superb breakdown of some Star Trek’s most notable theater troupe casting MVPs (like Jeffrey Combs, JG Hertzler, and Vaughn Armstrong); the four-page section includes more than 20 photos.
     
  • Great Minds Think Alike: An interesting list that quickly dissects some of the more notable Vulcan mind melds in Star Trek history.
     
  • The Reset Button: An extremely tight list of the top-tier selection of temporal reset episodes (like “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” “Year of Hell,” and “Parallels”).
     
  • iTrek Playlist: A unique look at some of the original and popular songs that have been featured in Trek through the years (including “Sabotage,” “Beyond Antares,” and “A British Tar”).

A few of the lists, however, don’t quite make the grade:

  • Face-to-Face: A superficial four-page list that is ostensibly about major alien make-up designs, however the selections include the Trill with no acknowledgment of the species’ original design in “The Host.” (Plus: The Ferengi entry is highlighted by the odd inclusion of a picture of Quark — as the female ‘Lumba’ — from “Profit and Lace.”)
     
  • Signs and Symbols: A generally strong production layout for this topic includes the Borg logo errantly displayed horizontally, instead of vertically.
     
  • Cosmic Phenomenon: An odd mish-mash of entries which run the gamut from the Q Continuum and the Mirror Universe to the Delphic Expanse, the Badlands and the Briar Patch; we’re still not sure what this list was even meant to really cover.
     
Photo: Publisher preview image.

There’s no doubting the research that went must have gone into compiling the gigaquads of Trek info found in these pages, and the book’s producer, Quarto Seattle, told us that including Carter, The Book of Lists had “three experts with over 50 years of combined experience working on Star Trek directly, and through ancillary projects, involved in creating [the book].”

In addition, Carter authored an excellently-detailed column for StarTrek.com on his development process on The Book of Lists, where he described his research from his days on the Trek sets, to checking episode scripts, to “re-watching a part of an episode, checking a licensed publication or phoning a friend.”

While the vast majority of the book certainly feels like a huge effort in research and wrangling of Trek minutiae as described, there were a few lists which do feel like they may have originated in fan research sectors like Memory Alpha and Ex Astris Scientia.

Of course, in a project like this, you would likely expect to find an overlap to that kind of fan-generated material, but we couldn’t help notice the similarities between a handful of the behind-the-scenes lists to some of the more well-developed write-ups that don’t really appear anywhere online except for the Ex Astris Scientia archives:

In the end, the fact an analog book like this exists in today’s digital reference world is a win for the Samuel T. Cogley’s of Sector 001.

While not necessarily an essential book for your reference collection, it might serve well as great debate starter for your next Star Trek party (for which you can find menu and drink ideas with lists detailing “An Intergalactic Menu” and “M-113tini with a Twist”) — or simply to prepare yourself for the inevitable “One Trek Mind” rankings at the next Star Trek Las Vegas convention.

Star Trek: The Book of Lists is available now.

BOOK REVIEW: Prometheus — “Fire With Fire”

Alex Perry
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7
BOOK REVIEW: Prometheus — “Fire With Fire”

The German ‘Star Trek’ novel series comes to the United States with its first English translation!

A mysterious terrorist organization has carried out several attacks against the Federation and Klingon Empire.

Tensions are running high in a region already crippled by conflict. The perpetrators are tracked to the Lembatta Cluster, a mysterious region of space whose inhabitants, the Renao, regard the the Alpha Quadrant’s powers as little more than conquering tyrants.

The Federation are desperate to prevent more bloodshed, and have sent their most powerful warship, the U.S.S. Prometheus, into the Cluster to investigate the threat before all-consuming war breaks out.

As the first original Star Trek novel not written in English, Star Trek Prometheus: Fire With Fire is an ambitious undertaking, deserving both credit and respect to German authors Bernd Perplies & Christian Humberg.

Released in conjunction with the 50th anniversary, English-speakers now have access to this novel thanks to a translation by Titan Books, with help from noted Star Trek scribe Keith R.A. DeCandido.

Fire With Fire follows the adventures of the USS Prometheus, seen on screen in the Star Trek canon in the Voyager episode “Message in a Bottle.” The ship is dispatched to the Lembatta Cluster to investigate a terrorist attack carried out by an extremist faction of a species called the Renao. The Klingon Empire, who are also drawn into the story, send their own ship to investigate.

Much of the novel’s setting – including the Renao and the Lembatta Cluster – are original to these novels, including most of the crew of the USS Prometheus. However, there are some familiar faces scattered throughout, including a guest starring role for Spock who is on hand to provide diplomatic support.

The book is also grounded in the continuity established in recent years in the Star Trek novel line, and references many of the recent events in the books. In the timeline, this book is set shortly after the conclusion of The Fall miniseries, and the election of the Andorian Kellessar zh’Tarash to be Federation president.

Perplies and Humberg have created a diverse crew for the Prometheus. While the captain, Richard Adams, does not make much of an impression beyond possessing many of the character traits one would expect from a Starfleet captain, the crew are an interesting array of characters that provide depth to the narrative.

Other familiar faces on the crew include Lt. Mendon, the Benzite science officer from the Next Generation episode “A Matter of Honor,” along with Lt. Chell, the Bolian from Voyager’s “Learning Curve,” and a brief cameo from EMH Mark II — Andy Dick’s holographic doctor.

The authors also provide us with a motley Klingon crew, the IKS Bortas, whose point of view and contribution to the story was simplistic, but nonetheless enjoyable. Sometimes the most fun Klingon stories don’t involve the great warriors, but the bad ones. And the Bortas crew has its share of warriors verging on the dishonorable.

Unfortunately, the biggest issue I had with the book’s characters involved the use of Ambassador Spock. While it is always welcome to see one of the big three’ make an appearance in any Star Trek story, Spock felt very unnecessary to the events in this book, and is involved in one scene that raised significant consent issues that I really did not care for.

As for the story, the narrative was fun but seemed to lack a clear sense of what story it was trying to tell. While book starts and ends as a mystery, the mystery element of the book largely fizzles in the middle as the Prometheus crew work to figure things out that the reader is already privy to. Since we already knew who was responsible for the attack on the starbase, there’s no real sense of payoff when the Prometheus crew finds out as well.

The final mystery revealed at the end of the book, however, which clearly sets up the events for books two and three, was much more interesting, and gives me hope for the sequels as the narrative widens.

With the tension that Fire With Fire establishes between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, the book feels like it’s covering a number of similar themes as John Jackson Miller’s Prey trilogy, which was also published in 2016. It remains to be sees how that plays out over the rest of the trilogy, but I am hoping it moves in a different direction from conflict between Starfleet and the Klingons.

The alien race specifically created for Fire With Fire, the Renao, are a bright spot of the book. They have an interesting and unusual ethos in the Star Trek universe, and I hope they are further fleshed out in books two and three.

Overall, Prometheus: Fire With Fire was an enjoyable addition to the Star Trek novel continuity, the previously mentioned character and narrative issues aside. I’m very interested to see where the story goes next, and I hope that we can truly enjoy the unfolding of the mystery in conjunction with the crews of the Prometheus and the Bortas in The Root of All Rage, due in May.

If you liked Fire With Fire, you should check out:

  • Prometheus: The Roots of All Rage by Bernd Perplies & Christian Humberg – Book Two in the series is released in May 2018, and continues the journey of the USS Prometheus and IKS Bortas through the Lembatta Cluster as they work to flush out a threat to the entire Alpha Quadrant.
     
  • Prey: Hell’s Heart by John Jackson Miller – A different three-book series also released in 2016 for the 50th anniversary by John Jackson Miller, following the USS Enterprise-E as the crew confronts a crisis in the Klingon Empire.
     
  • New Frontier: House of Cards by Peter David – New Frontier was the first Star Trek novel series to focus exclusively upon an original ship and crew, and remains a triumph of narrative long-form story telling over a number of novels, comics, and eBooks.

Trek Comics Review: NEW VISIONS #19

John Kirk
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6
Trek Comics Review: NEW VISIONS #19

I play Alexander Courage’s original Star Trek theme music in the background every time I read a copy of John Byrne’s Star Trek: New Visions.

It may sound a little extreme, but I think that’s the only thing that’s missing from the visual extravaganza of Trek involved in reading this book. After all, when you consider the visual accuracy and respectful homage to Gene Roddenberry’s original vision, the reader is lacking for nothing as she visually explores the familiar settings of the USS Enterprise in Byrne’s brilliant and novel adventures.

If you know an artist, you also know about the mindset of one. An artist is committed to an image in their mind that is as close to the original source as their perspective allows it. Philosophically speaking, it’s the pursuit of truth and Byrne’s photographic realization and rebirth of this series in this book is about as close to absolute truth as one can get in a fictional story.

There’s also the nostalgia effect this creates as well. I may be getting older, but my love for the Original Series has never diminished. Though I celebrate new incarnations of Trek, this series will always be my first love. From the times when I would stay up late, hoping for a stay of the regular bedtime routine from my parents by declaring “…but Star Trek’s on!” to those other occasions when I would record the series on my old tape recorder and listen to them for a week until it was time to record the new episode. Byrne has gifted readers like me with a chance to visually relive this series and I enjoy every page.

Star Trek: New Visions #19, titled “The Hunger,” has all the typical hallmarks of an episode on a deep-space exploratory mission: we read some philosophical musings from McCoy that are countered by an analytical retort from Spock. In the background, Kirk observes the banter with a playful expression and by the next frame, something unusual registers on the long-range scanners and ultimately, on a planet in the nearby vicinity.

As we continue with the story, an unusual type of energy signature has been detected. When the inevitable landing party investigates, they experience a feeling of apathy and sluggishness. It’s an effect of the energy they detected earlier and then discover that it has traveled in a pattern of planets, one after another. It’s up to the Enterprise to investigate — and just like that, we’re off on another adventure and one that we could expect from any of the 1966 writers.

Later McCoy suggests to Spock that perhaps the planet is missing something called “Leiber-Kurtzberg” energy, a likely reference to famed Marvel Comics legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It’s the type of energy that measures the amount of life force a planet has. Spock, for once, does not dismiss McCoy’s notion and the ship follows the pattern until they discover a planet-sized spacecraft that has been consuming the life-force of all these planets.

Kirk and a landing party explore the spacecraft and discover several anomalies. While I won’t go into the full details of what these things are, Kirk finds himself a prisoner of this malevolent force and the rest of the crew now have to both rescue the captain and somehow stop this entity from endangering the more populated regions of the galaxy.

It’s the subtle stuff that Byrne doesn’t get enough credit for. The shading, background imaging, in addition to the new images he creates that that allow for the nuances of the original series to be subliminally appreciated by the reader. All of this goes hand in hand with the overt stuff of his craft: the writing, the pacing of the story as well as the lay-out of the photo-images to properly describe the plot.

For example, the landing party scene is clearly taken from episodes that have involved Chekov, McCoy, Kirk, Spock and any anonymous redshirt. Yet Byrne has to find those images, appropriate poses, then splice them into a completely originally designed backdrop. Oh – and the dialogue has to get written and placed in there too.

He has received criticism for not simply drawing his book. I argue that he is, just in a different medium and it’s one that Byrne fans are not used to seeing. He’s creating new 3D models for his stories all the time. The planetary object the Enterprise encounters is completely original, as are its settings when Kirk and his landing party set down to explore it. Also, Kirk’s encounter afterwards is also quite well displayed and I had to say that it was a very artfully done piece of staging. You’ll see what I mean when you read the book.

The new holographic display in Engineering that we see in this story was created some issues ago, yet this is brand new art for not only the series but for Byrne as well. Moreover, it blends perfectly with the series and does not appear out of place. That’s a tall order for Byrne to accomplish. It’s one thing to be able to recreate computer generated images from scratch, but it’s another to make them seem like they fit into the milieu.

Speaking of Engineering, the extra officers in the main area waiting to greet Scotty were also a feature of this unseen effort. It also begs certain questions: are these extras actors that Byrne has photographed or are they also background characters whose images are part of the stock footage that Byrne is allowed to access? In either case, this too is work that is in addition to the usual labours involved with creating a comic.

It’s the relaxed, care-free posturing of the characters in these images that can’t be overlooked. While we may take them for granted as the types of poses that we would come to expect from the characters, we have to remember that this is not something that happens effortlessly or by chance. I don’t know how many hours it took for Byrne to research the pictures with the exact type of facial expression or stance he would need for these frames, but I can be sure that they must have been numerous.

Like I said, I love to play the original theme music in the background when I read these books. It adds to the ambiance and it’s the only thing that’s missing from the experience.

Maybe that can be Byrne’s next challenge?

John Byrne’s New Visions series hits its landmark 20th issue with “Isolation,” where Kirk and crew find themselves trapped on empty versions of the Enterprise. Captain Kirk has found himself all alone on the Enterprise before — but what happens when each individual member of the crew finds themselves in a similar state?

Find out in our review next year!

Tarantino TREK: Screenwriter Mark L. Smith to Script

TrekCore Staff
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82

As we reported earlier this month, award-winning filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is working with Paramount Pictures and producer J.J. Abrams to develop a possible Star Trek film, and today sources out of Hollywood are confirming that a scriptwriter has been chosen to bring the story to page.

Mark L. Smith (above left), best known for his work on The Revenant (nominated for Best Picture in 2015), was part of the story pitch group identified in early December and will craft the first script for this yet-unknown story, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Bad Robot and J.J. Abrams are expected to remain as producers on the film (as they have since 2009’s Trek reboot), and Tarantino is reportedly interested in directing the picture.

We’ll continue to bring the news on this developing story to you as it arrives over the next weeks and months, to keep coming back to TrekCore for the latest!

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Review — STAR TREK: DISCOVERY ‘Chapter 1’ Soundtrack

Jim Moorhouse
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Review — STAR TREK: DISCOVERY ‘Chapter 1’ Soundtrack

Familiar, yet excitingly different, Lakeshore Records‘ first soundtrack release for Star Trek: Discovery provides an instant connection to the tapestry of music in Trek’s history, while also moving much of the series’ scoring in bold and modern directions.

On this initial release of 21 tracks (featuring 53 minutes of music) from the first nine episodes of Star Trek: Discovery — save for “Choose Your Pain” — composer Jeff Russo invokes more strings than probably any collection of Trek music ever heard. Layered throughout the tracks are an interesting mix of violins and cellos (as well as percussion and reed instruments) offset nicely against what can only be described as a traditional Star Trek sound.

The result is a resounding success that somehow seems to mesh elements and tones from every previous Trek incarnation (including the unrivaled work of Michael Giacchino on the Kelvin Timeline films).

“I’ll Go” is a perfectly titled track that grafts the listener into the adrenaline rush being felt by Michael Burnham as she investigates the unidentified beacon in “The Vulcan Hello.” It’s the longest track on the album at 8 minutes and moves you up and down the scale: from heightened anxiety, to feelings of wonder and awe, to trepidation of the unknown, to a final fight or flight crescendo.

And as far as building crescendos go, nothing can top the ceremonial horns that overtake each other as T’Kuvma honors his fallen comrade in “Torchbearer.” The track is a nice companion piece to “We Come in Peace,” one of the album’s signature moments that helps set up the drama behind T’Kuvma’s declaration of war in the series premiere episodes with a thumping drumbeat. The two tracks together effectively serve as a de facto T’Kuvma theme.

On “Persistence,” Russo moves his familiar beats into EDM territory with an inspirational track that will have you running laps around your home or work place — just like Burnham and Cadet Tilly through the saucer section of the Discovery in “Lethe”. Make sure to put this one on loop, though, to expand its far-too-short 64 second running time!

The now well-known Discovery theme earns its place in Trek lore by serving as the building blocks for a number of the album’s tracks, including “The Day Is Saved” and “Undetermined.” The integration is seamless and exhibits the versatility of Russo’s exquisite main theme.

“I Can’t Dance” changes the pace a bit with a soft piano introduction that builds nicely through the pivotal slow dance between Burnham and Lt. Stamets that is destined to end with another timeline reset in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.” That moment is captured poetically as the track comes to a sudden and dramatic close.

From the same episode, “Stella” is bursting with sweeping emotion and drama as Harry Mudd is reconnected with his wife in a ‘heartfelt’ reunion. The track poignantly ends with another classy nod to Alexander Courage’s original Star Trek theme to raise the emotional stakes even higher.

“Facing Off” is perhaps the most impactful track on the album. What sounds like the background music for a showdown between mortal enemies is actually a perfect reflection of the pain being caused by Burnham as she betrays Captain Georgiou and her shipmates in the stunning cliffhanger conclusion to “The Vulcan Hello.” The smattering of oboe on the track hearkens back to Vulcan themes throughout Trek’s past, and the sweeping, emotional horns and percussion of the track’s final 20 seconds literally makes you feel like you are being dropped off a cliff.

“Weakened Shields” is another standout, from “Battle at the Binary Stars,” mixing traditional Trek scoring rhythms with kinetic strings and pulsing brass. It starts fast and then comes to a moody close, as it perfectly tracks the action of Georgiou and Burnham’s infiltration of the Ship of the Dead that results in the sad death of the Shenzhou captain and her Klingon counterpart.

A slight departure on the album comes in the form of “What’s Happening,” which only runs 60 seconds and aligns very well with the introduction of the mysterious Pahvans. It’s tinkly, and a maybe even a bit saccharine, and will likely be judged alongside your view of the Pahvans and the effectiveness of how you think they worked on screen in “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum.”

The album concludes with a slightly expanded version of Discovery’s main theme, adding an extra 30 seconds of strong percussion to increase its running time from 1:34 to 2:11. The theme variation is a welcome addition to the album, and the album is a welcome addition to the storied and proud history of Star Trek music.

If you missed it, check out our interview with Discovery composer Jeff Russo about this new soundtrack release, touching on his approach to scoring Star Trek: Discovery episodes from the early days of production, through his current work finishing up the first season’s themes.

Currently available in digital download format only — and available on Spotify and other streaming music services — the “Chapter 1” soundtrack for Star Trek: Discovery is due out on CD and expanded vinyl releases in early 2018.

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast, and can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter.

S1 Soundtrack: Chapter 1

S1 Soundtrack: Chapter 2

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