Product Description
"Whimsy and malice­--yes­--also mystery, a very female sensuality, and wit. An elegant and entertaining book."
--Ursula K. Le Guin

"The tales are beautifully written, elegant, passionate, funny, and moving. The entire collection is a delightful, magical bridge across cultures. I hope many readers find their way to it."
--Patricia A. McKillip

"Noted short story author Foster offers a dozen enchanting and sometimes chilling tales alive with elegantly sketched characters and sensibilities drawn from Asian folklore . . . Readers who long for a break from European medieval fantasy will be charmed and entertained by Foster's tales."
--Publishers Weekly

Enchantment, peril and romance pervade the shadowy Far East, from the elegant throne room of the emperor's palace to the humble teahouse of a peasant village. In these dozen stories of adventure and magic from the Orient, a maiden encounters an oni demon in the forest, a bride discovers her mother-in-law is a fox woman, a samurai must appease his sister's angry ghost, strange luck is found in a jade locket, and dark and light are two sides of harmony.

A striking debut collection from Eugie Foster. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Grace, Energy and Heart
The book contains twelve stories, originally published as early as 2004, in venues as various as Cricket, Paradox, Realms of Fantasyand Jim Baen's Universe.They are all drawn on Japanese, Chinese or Korean traditions, and in several cases drawn directly from existing folktales or well-known narratives.Being myself disgracefully ignorant of these literary traditions (I could earn maybe a C+ in an oral exam on Introduction to Eastern Religions, but that's about it) I have no idea how well Eugie is reflecting or representing them, but I don't care.She tells her tales with such energy, grace and heart that one feels instantly transported and moved.

My favorite story in the collection was "A Thread of Silk," based loosely on actual historical events in Japan, and weaving together this Japanese tradition of storytelling, a scifi sensibility and a reflection of western (Greek!) mythological tropes.It is a tour de force.I love it especially for its thematic and complexity, its twist added upon twist, a feature also present in "Daughter of Bótù" and "Honor Is a Game Mortals Play."

I also adored "The Tanuki-Kettle," a fairy tale also drawn on a Japanese tale that is too unutterably cute for, er, utterances.I read it aloud to my ten-year-old while he chortled.The newest story in the collection, "The Tears of My Mother, the Shell of My Father," is a strange mixture of adorable cuteness and philosophic profundity.

Nearly as fun as the stories themselves are Eugie's one-paragraph commentaries at the end of each tale, reflecting such things as the family expectations at her own birth, the prevalence of unfair "foxist rhetoric" in Chinese and Japanese folktales, and the habits of her pet skunk.

I recommend this collection highly.

Pure Style
Eugie Foster's writing style contains a near-poetic flow that'll keep you reading from start to finish. And when it comes to characterization and plot and so forth, her stories never disappoint.

Far Eastern Fairy Tales Second to None
What a joy, a delight, and an experience that makes a fellow writer breathless for having gone through it. Ms. Foster's collection of stories is mind-boggling in its juxtaposition of both complexity and simplicity. Simple, in that almost all of these stories I could read to my young girls at bed time; complex, in that I would be hard-pressed to emulate the storytelling style of Ms. Foster who has obviously mastered the skill. I've given the book to my 10-year-old daughter who is enchanted by it almost as much as I was. No amount of embarassingly rich praise is too much for this collection. "The Tiger Fortune Princess," "The Tanuki-Kettle," The Archer of the Sun and the Lady of the Moon," along with the story from which the book takes its name...classic storytelling flow and structure, set in mostly ancient Asia. So lovely, words fail me, so I shall stop trying to think of them. ... Read more

Product Description
Prepare Yourself For Warp-10 Excitement!

The Galaxy's ultimate future is in the hands of James Kirk, Mr. Spock and the indomitable crew of the Enterperprise.

The Galaxy's ultimate weapon is in the hands of the evil Khan and his followers.

A battle that will shake the universe cannot be avoided...And the ultimate adventure is about to begin! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

It is impossible to capture the tension of the movie in words, but reading them generated scenes from the movie in my mind
This book suffers from the affliction that all novelizations of exciting and dramatic motion pictures must suffer from. It is simply not possible to put the dynamic tension of the Kirk/Khan battle and the sadness of the sacrificial death of Spock into words. In my opinion, some of the finest acting ever done was by Ricardo Montalban in this movie. Playing an intelligent lunatic has to be very hard for the region where it is done well is very narrow.
Nevertheless, McIntyre manages to capture enough of the drama to make this book worth reading and a few literary embellishments are added. It is a quick and simplistic read; my passage through it caused the involuntary recall of images from the movie to appear in my mind. Not surprisingly, shortly after I finished this book I was motivated to watch the movie once again.

Not Free SF Reader
As far as novelisations go, this one is pretty decent.It helps that the underlying event is a fairly entertaining star trek epic, as well, as we get K vs K, Kirk vs Khan, one of those old enemies from the past conjured into being type of confrontations.

Throw in Kirk's kid, and a dead pointy eared science officer and there is plenty to keep the interest.

This is one of the best Trek books!
This is an example how should movie novelizations be written. They tend to be flat and screenplay-like, but this one makes me feel like the movie were an adaptation of the book, not vice versa. It provides lots of background information (some of them were actually in the movie but were cut out later), mostly on Saavik, Peter Preston and Carol's Deltan co-workers. The main characters, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the others are the very same characters we all love, they talk and act just like they do in any Trek episode, they never do anything out of character. Vonda McIntyre knows how to write Star Trek. A novel can't be more Star Trek than this.

The Wrath of Khan
This is my favorite Star Trek movie novelization.It contains so much more than a play-by-play of the movie, but it also delves into tremendous characterization..In the novel, Peter Preston Engineer's Mate is so much more.The reader also becomes aware that the young cadet is also the son of Scotty's sister.This revelation gives so much added meaning to the scene in which the chief engineer brings in the young man's charred remains after Khan's surprise attack.The theatrical release gives little more than Bones' heart-felt apology.The network television showing (which would appear from time to time on ABC) added scenes which did bring out this important plot point, but this has not been shown for many years.Why not issue a Director's Cut of this a la the original Motion Picture DVD.It would bring so much added meaning to this already classic film.

It could happen.
With the ability to clone we're that much closer to making a race of Kahn Sighs than we thinkForget Jurassic Park for a moment.Yes we do have the technology to clone sheep and monkey.Yes dinosaurs maybe down the block. But acroos the street lies an even bigger possibilility - humanbeings.We have the gen sequencers.We have computers and online services capable of linking us to labs around the world.Even now growing in a labratory could be a baby Genghis Kahn.When it first came out The Wrath of Khan was science fiction.Now it could be science fact ... Read more

Product Description
An award-winning novel set in the post-apocalyptic future follows a young woman who travels the earth healing the sick with the help of her alien companion, the dreamsnake, pursued by two implacable followers. Reissue. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

GOOD SHAPE
I was happy to find this book which I had 25+ years ago , and it is in pretty good shape for a old book . Very satisfied with my purchase.

Brilliant story, riveting
From the very start, I was absolutely riveted by this story.The writing is superb, the characters multi-faceted and sympathetic, the story is gripping.

Snake is a healer out on her first rounds - her Proving Year.She heals with the assistance of an albino cobra named Mist, a rattlesnake named Sand, and a rare and beautiful dreamsnake, named Grass.However, when a terrible chain of events leads to her losing her dreamsnake, she is left without an essential part of her healing repertoire.Nonetheless, she feels she must find a replacement for her dreamsnake before she goes home.

Being stalked by a crazy, having taken in an adopted child, and racing against the deadly winter storms in the desert, Snake makes her way, trying to find a replacement dreamsnake, and help and heal people as she is able.

I was so impressed with this novel that I am going to add Ms. McIntyre to my list of favorite authors.If you have a chance, please don't miss it - read this book.

Not Free SF Reader
Dreamsnake is a novel about a healer in a postapocalyptic world.The title object is an animal that has very unique properties that can be used in the protagonist's chosen profession.

So, she promptly loses it and has to try and find another.This means a postapocalyptic road trip, and a couple of companions, a man that helps her and a girl to protect.

Originally, the stories in here were in Analog, and this is what makes up the novel.

Dreamsnake : Of Mist and Grass and Sand - Vonda N. McIntyre
Dreamsnake : The Serpent's Death - Vonda N. McIntyre
Dreamsnake : The Broken Dome - Vonda N. McIntyre


Double serpent treatment.

4.5 out of 5


Backbreaking snake release.

3.5 out of 5


Dreamsnake search disagreement.

3.5 out of 5

Unusual and Amazing
This is a delightful and haunting mix of excellent, gripping prose, and a totally new idea for a sci-fi/fantasy novel. The protagonist uses snakes to heal people. I happen to love snakes and have several as pets, but to those of you who do NOT like snakes, get this book and read it! You'll love being freaked out by the author's excellent descriptions of her healing reptiles.

Not that the book is all about freaking out anyone: the story is that the healer's snake, Grass, gets killed by frightened villagers. This is a tragedy because all Grass ever did was help patient's feel comfortable andhappy. Without Grass, she can't heal, so she goes on a quest to find another dreamsnake. A unique and interesting surprise ending reveals the origins of the snake.

Part adventure, part ancient medicine, part love story, this is a haunting, lovely book.

a fine read
I really enjoyed slipping into the mind of McIntyre for a few hours as I followed Snake (the heroine) around a strange and hopefully alternate future. Part of what I enjoyed is that McIntyre left the reader in just as much confusion over aspects of how this future world worked as she did her protagonist. So as her protagonist found some new knowledge or discarded old false ideas, so did the reader.

There is one thing that I would like to point out for anyone who has not read this book yet, and that is don't go into this expecting your usual form of science fiction here. This is more of a mystical journey where the mood created by the author is half of the fun. I kind of equate this book with the 'Kin of Ata are Waiting' in writing style. Other than that it is unusual against the books that I have stumbled across.

I would highly recommend this book as a light and un-taxing read. It is not Pynchon or Proust, just a gentle pleasant story.


... Read more

Product Description
Word count: 1961. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Three excellent novellas
I first read this book in the 1970s I suppose.The title story has remained in my mind ever since.I found a copy this last summer, and was happy to find out that the stories are as fresh and involving as ever.

This seems to be a neglected book, for some reason.

The title story involves a 'superior' group of people who live in a ship orbiting the neglected world beneath.It tells of the heroine who comes to terms with those left on the planet's surface, and her fellow travellers who have forgotten the purpose of their life.Instead, they are almost constantly in a drugged stupor, perhaps to dull the realization that they have wasted generations of their lives.

I can still feel the cold, harsh wind that blows through the almost abandoned city on the surface, and the strange pool that may be a transport system, or simply a means to an easy death.

Update:I've re-read this book and have enjoyed it yet again.How this book can be so ignored is just a puzzle.A neglected masterpiece. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Enjoyable, but probably won't stay with you
This is an enjoyable early Trek novel. Author, Vonda McIntyre, does a nice job with the characters, and manages to give us a more detailed insight into these characters inner thoughts and motivations without going against what we already know about them from the television shows and theatrical releases. I especially enjoyed the development of Mr. Sulu, showing his relationships to others on the ship. There are also some very nice character moments with the main triumvirate of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.

The plot has the Enterprise circling a naked singularity that has inexplicably appeared, and Mr. Spock is evidently the only scientist who can study this phenomenon. Unfortunately, just as they are getting towards the last few days of Mr. Spock's observations the Enterprise receives a planetary distress signal that pre-empts anything else, and the Enterprise must immediately depart for Aleph Prime an outpost of the Federation. Once the Enterprise arrives at Aleph Prime they are hailed by the planetary prosecutor who assumes they've come to escort a "dangerous prisoner" to a rehabilitation planet. It turns out the dangerous prisoner is Mr. Spock's former physics professor. Also in orbit is the starship commanded by Captain Kirk's former flame.

What follows is an interesting story that involves time travel, love, friendship, honor and trust. I'd end up giving away too much of the plot to explain further, but it makes an interesting and fast moving read. If you enjoy original Star Trek, you will enjoy this novel. Ms. McIntyre knows how to craft an interesting story that will keep you engrossed until the end, but don't expect it to remain with you... ... Read more

Product Description
A perfect match-the all-time top Nebula Award winner edits this year's volume of the celebrated series honoring the Nebula Awards. The coveted Nebula Awards are the only SF awards bestowed annually by the writers' own demanding peers, the Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Each Nebula Awards collection showcases the year's Nebula-winning fiction, top selections from the ballot-including work not collected in other best-of-the-year anthologies-and intriguing essays written expressly for each volume. Nebula Awards 33 features prizewinning fiction by Vonda N. McIntyre, Jerry Oltion, Nancy Kress, and Jane Yolen; the Rhysling Award winners for best SF poetry; classic stories by Grand Master Poul Anderson and Author Emeritus Nelson Bond; and original essays by Jack Williamson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ellen Datlow, Sheila Williams, Cynthia Felice, Michael Cassutt, Geoffrey Landis, Beth Meacham, Wil McCarthy, and Christie Golden. This excellent compendium is, as was said of last year's volume, "a must-read for both serious and casual SF fans alike."Amazon.com Review
The annual NebulaAwards are given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers ofAmerica to honor the best novel, novella, novelette, and short storyof the previous year.Nebula Awards 33 editor and six-timeNebula winner Connie Willis reveals her love of the Nebula collectiontradition:

"In those 33 eventful years, I've won NebulaAwards and lost them (or, as this year's toastmaster, Michael Cassutt,put it, I've been 'differently victorious'). And I've read another 31Nebula Awards collections and all the stories in them.... Andyou know what? I'm just as dazzled, just as awed and impressed, by theNebula Award stories as I was that first time."

Nebula Awards 33 features Jane Yolen's Best Short Story winner,Sister Emily's Lightship, a tale of poetic inspiration from thestars; The Flowers of Aulit Prison, Nancy Kress's winner forBest Novelette, which beautifully examines the persistence of memory;the Best Novella winner, Jerry Oltion's Abandon in Place, anextraordinary space-ghost story; and an excerpt from VondaN. McIntyre's lush historical fantasy The Moon and the Sun,which took Best Novel honors.

A terrific selection of "differentlyvictorious" pieces rounds out this outstanding collection, along withthe essays, author profiles (of Nelson Bond and Poul Anderson), andRhysling Award winners (for science fiction poetry) we've come toexpect in the Nebula series. The Nebula nominees represent some of thebest science fiction and fantasy published each year, and NebulaAwards 33 is full of high-caliber writing, great ideas, andfascinating insight into the minds and hearts of the nominatedauthors. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Always Entertaining, Often Mind Blowing
It really doesn't matter which volume of the Nebula Awards you pick up, you know that you're going to discover some great SF stories.That is certainly true of NEBULA AWARDS 33.Sure, you might find one or two that you don't care for, but those stories are probably the exception to the rule.Out of the works selected for inclusion in this volume, I found six of them to be outstanding, with a couple of them blowing me away.
The SF stories that I enjoy the most teach me about myself and the world around me.These stories did that and more.

James Patrick Kelly's "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is a touching, thought-provoking look at our relationships with our children and our parents."The Flowers of Aulit Prison" by Nancy Kress is immediately readable, enjoyable, and yet full of depth.With a title like "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream," you know you're NOT in store for a boring read!A masterful look at the battle between science and religion.Michael Swanwick's "The Dead" is a wonderfully disturbing look at the corporate world.And what can you say about Karen Joy Fowler's "The Elizabeth Complex," except that it's brilliant?(Man, this woman can write!)

To end the volume, Willis hits a home run by picking Grand Master Poul Anderson's "The Martyr," a story that I just can't stop thinking about.

270 pages

Good summary of the year
Another collection of this long-running series that presents the award-winning fiction for the previous year. I'll comment on the individual stories:

Jane Yolen, "Sister Emily's Lightship" -- I've never been a Yolen fan. While I find her prose professional enough, I've never read anything by her that would make me jump up and rush out to force someone to read it. This story is no exception. The premise of Emily Dickinson meeting an alien is too...precious, and Yolen's sole contribution to that premise in this story is to emphasize some of the ethereal and otherworldly quality of Dickinson's poetry, and that doesn't come until the end. Yeah, she did her Dickinson research, but so what? Other than the alien, there is no reason for this story to be science fiction (see "Abbess Phone Home" in the Turkey City Lexicon).

James Patrick Kelly, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" -- Uses technology of the future to portray a true human characteristic.

Vonda McIntyre, excerpt from The Moon and the Sun -- As someone who has not read this Nebula-winning novel, the excerpt presented here does exactly what it is supposed to do--whet your appetite for more. I had no idea what the subject of the book was before I read this, now I do, and have had a taste of how it is told. I'm not going to rush out and get it, but I'm much more interested now than I was before.

Nancy Kress, "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" -- An excellent story with its basis in that most Phil Dickian question, "What is reality?" This is the kind of SF that I look for, where aliens help us understand, through them as a metaphor, a fundamental idea of life. That it has a plot, an unique setting, and fascinating characters makes it an award winner. I'm not giving anything away with this one, but just point you to it and say, "go read."

Gregory Feeley, "The Crab Lice" -- I disliked the beginning of this story so much that I didn't even finish it. There was nothing for me to grab onto to orient myself in the story, and life is just too short.

Nelson Bond, "The Bookshop" -- A nice little classic story, where every writer's fantasy comes true, but at a price, of course. You could do a collection of these ultimate library tales (Borges comes to mind).

James Alan Gardner, "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Bloodstream" -- A great story, with some unique twists to alternate history (so much better than the Feeley).

Michael Swanwick, "The Dead" -- An audacious story, and right up my alley. I liked it well enough, but there was something missing--I'm not sure what, maybe more of an explanation for the Donald character and his background. The anger that it stems from is good.

Karen Joy Fowler, "The Elizabeth Complex" -- This could have been as bad as the Yolen, yet it works to some extent because of its experimental nature. I wouldn't want a steady diet of these things, but once was interesting.

Jerry Oltion, "Abandon in Place" -- Wow, I liked this story a lot, even though it is so ridiculous that it is laughable. One must come at this as if reading a fairy tale--there is nothing plausible here. The science is bogus, the characters are straight wish-fulfillment from Heinlein days. But the mythology is strong, and if one has any remorse for the space program whatsoever, there's a good chance that it will tug the correct strings.

Poul Anderson, "The Martyr" -- A classic from the latest grand master, a nice little mystery about why those infuriating aliens continue to treat us differently.

All in all, this is a worthy volume to grab, especially if you don't want to dedicate the time to reading the Dozois' Year's Best or the magazines themselves.

very disappointing
a collection of SCI-FI short stories , poems ext.. edited by the authorconny willis.

tee writings are from many genres of SCI-FI and bydifferentwriters, some are new and some are SCI-FI master from the oldgeneration.

most of the stories are very weak, and some are verypeculiar

the best things about the book, is that ther reader can alwaysskip to the next story, and mabee to find something for is taste.

i thinkthis book is realy for SCI FI fanatic fans only, especially for those whoare familiar with the NEBULA award organisation, and for conny willis'sfans and friends (i'm not one of them)

Disappointing
History repeats itself:Two years ago I read Nebula Awards 31.The only story that engaged me was by Grand Master AE Van Vogt - a story written over 50 years ago.I don't remember much else about that volume.

NebulaAwards 33 concludes with a story by Grand Master Poul Anderson writtenabout 40 years ago.It's easily the best thing in the book.If I were toguess what this means about contemporary short science fiction, I would saythe genre is not only short on new ideas, but it has lost the joy of thenarrative.Indeed, little happens in many of these stories.And, as theearlier reviewer noted, many really aren't sf. Jane Yolen's award-winningstory about Emily Dickinson and a spaceship is silly and unnecessary. Gregory Feeley's story is interesting, but there's no narrative.JohnHoward Gardner's story has perhaps the best science fictional idea.Itdeals with certain snake-like analogues in human blood which have areligious significance that affected society.But, it's just someconversational set-pieces with no narrative.Nancy Kress's piece startsgood, gets better, and then just ends.(Is there a novel in the works?) The one story with spaceships is actually a ghost story.

Science fictionand fantasy writers are perhaps entitled to pat themselves on the back fromtime to time - after all few others do.But editor Connie Willis's gushyendorsements do nobody any good.Rather than let the reader judge thestories, she keeps telling us how good they are.(No analysis isprovided.)She makes the absurd claim that this volume is as good as thefirst volume, which contained much-anthologized classic works by Aldiss,Ellison and Zelazny.

Willis mourns her inability to include all thenominees while including nine (!) gushy pages on Poul Anderson and aboutone apiece on each story.The volume concludes with a totally unnecessary(and, except for a piece by Kim Stanley Robinson, facile) collection ofpieces about 1997.But who cares about 1997 in the middle of 1999?Itincludes about 10 pages ripped out from the award winning novel.(Why dothis?The novel will probably have greater circulation than thiscollection.)Maybe K.D. Wentworth wouldn't have the ignominy of being theonly short-story nominee left out had all this unnecessary material beentossed.

Disappointing, only a nodding acquaintance to SF
A marked disappointment, considering the traditions of the Nebula books. It is possible that they are good stories but a large majority is not SF (in my book). The stories do (in general) improve as the reader progressesthrough the book,however even the best is only mediocre. The longintroductions are just a waste of space (:-), and to add insult toinjury,it contains an excerpt from a novel, and a whole spiel (some 10pages) about a Nebula man of the year (or similar). Buy it if you must, mycopy is going to be binned. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The best of all the Star Trek video novelizations
"Star Trek IV" remains my favorite Star Trek movie of all time, the combination of humor, social message and action make it a great story. This book is an excellent novelization of the movie, McIntyre captures the events with just the right amount of poetic license in converting the on-screen action into words. In my opinion, this is the best literary adaptation of any Star Trek video, if you pay very close attention you will recognize some differences between the book and the movie, but in my opinion, they only serve to make the book better.

Great Book
If the book Star Trek 4 the voyage home is anything like the movie that i'm going to enjoy the book.

Rondall Banks

A visit with old friends
Why did I enjoy this more than any of the other Star Trek movies? Probably because it's got all of the elements I love. Kirk and McCoy trying to relate to Spock, and Spock too puzzled by his Human half to help them much - if at all. Humor. A feisty, intelligent "love interest" who actually has a key plot-driving role, in Dr. Gillian Taylor. Sarek. And, at the end...oh, never mind. Just in case there's someone left who may want to read the book, or see the film, without already knowing the ending - no, I wouldn't spoil it for worlds.

So the science doesn't make a lot of sense. It often didn't in the original Trek, on TV. The plot premise and execution worked well enough to let me temporarily suspend my disbelief when I first saw "The Voyage Home" on the big screen, and I found that unchanged when I finally read the novelization. So the humor's lame at times. It still felt to me like a visit with old friends, and that's really what I'm looking for in a Star Trek story. On screen, or between book covers.

Haw haw haw, Spock! Vulcans can't hold their candy!
One of the abilities of the Star Trek franchise has been the ability to alleviate a potential cliche in a story by bringing a bit of humor in. A time travel scenario can be really hackneyed and lame except for the fact that this one gets a good laugh out of it. Like Kirk and Spock wandering around San Francisco traffic without a working knowledge of profanity. Most of us know how Kirk & co use a borrowed Klingon ship to go back to our time when the humpbacked whale was not yet extinct so that they could bring a couple of them forward in time to tell the mysterious probe to shut down the hurricane already, we hoid ya da foist time--if not from reviews, then by seeing the movie. One scene that got ad-libbed into this novelization didn't make the screen, though. Remember if you will the sequence where Kirk pauses by the checkout of a restaurant and hands Spock an after-dinner mint ("Don't say I never gave you anything"/ "Why would I say that, Captain?")? Now fast forward to the scene where Kirk and Spock find the whales at an aquarium and Spock goes "swimmin' wit' da fishes" (yeah yeah, whales aren't fish, I know). The scene we didn't get in the movie is right after scientist Gillian gives Spock hell for that little swim. In this book, Kirk gets Spock aside and asks him what's the matter with him. Spock reminds him of the mint and reveals the not widely known medical fact that sucrose has a certain physiological effect on Vulcans. If I'd written this book, I would have also added the above reaction by McCoy.

A adventure for all ages
It is even better then the movie. It has all the elements of a classic Star Trek episode, with Capt. Kirk falling in love with a beautiful young women, the crew dealing with a different time periode, MR.Spock and Dr.McCoy going at it like an old married couple.......And there are the Klingons, a major threat to Earth, and, of crouse, the whales... Who wouldn't like this book? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting sequel
Described on the cover of my copy as "A powerful new novel set in the universe of Starfarers". Which is true enough but rather misleading, Transition is a sequel to Starfarers and shouldn't be treated as a stand alone novel, ninety percent of the character development and scenario creation takes place in the earlier novel, anybody starting with Transition is going to be half way through the book before they really come to grips with who the main characters are or what the hell is going on. It also has the statutory cliffhanger ending pending the next volume in the series.
Our crew of misfits have evaded the attentions of Earths military and are limping through space in a crippled ship following a trail of artefacts and inter spacial highways in a search for aliens.
While I quite enjoyed it, I don't really think that the gallant crew could organise a trip to a local mall, let alone run a starship. They take anarchic liberal thinking to ridiculous extremes, nothing is ever done without a series of meetings, nobody takes responsibility for anything and everybody agonises about it on the occasions when something does get done. The truth is no group of people with their heads jammed that firmly in the clouds achieve anything and in this scenario, they simply wouldn't survive. Interesting approach to hard core Sci Fi, but flawed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A science fictions set for women
Of the twoI liked "Screwtop" more, as the characterizations and plot seem more realistic thanthe Hugo award winning"The Girl who was plugged in".
The Tiptree novel invents a new technology of wireless remote control of a human clone by a controller. He has the "imprinting" of personality from controller to the blank clone, in a way that breaks your heart,
but the prose is rough and raggedly hard to read.
McIntyre seems to be an underrated author: both the novels I've read by her were very good.
The prison in this novel is like a southern road gang of the worst sort with women prisoners. Some people are even good at winning while losing?
A future "marriage" of a group sort is a plot element.
I liked both novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

ST-TOS: Star Trek III - The Search for Spock
Star Trek-The Original Series: Star Trek III:The Search for Spock by Vonda N. McIntyre based on a screenplay by Harve Bennett is just what is says... the search for Spock.

This book is based on Paramount Pictures space adventure Star Trek III the movie... The Search for Spock... but is Spock really gone for good?The awesome powers of the Genesis Device were released in an inert nebula and now where there was nothing, there is a planet teeming with life.But, to the Federtion and its enemies there is more to the Genesis Device.Could the Genesis Device be used as an awesome weapon?The enemies of the Federation will not rest until they themselves have the power of the Genesis Device.

What I liked about reading this book is that there are fewer leaps in logic and there are more scenes written in the book that aren't found in the movie version, making the book far superior to the movie.The author's writting style makes for easy reading and she has excellent character development as the story flows and makes sense.

The story is well-written and when reading it the prose flow and makes for a quick read.If you liked the movie, you'll really like the book as the book is an expanded version of the movie.

This is classic TREK as the Federation and its enemies battle for the most powerful weapon to control the galaxy... the Genesis Device.

Beginning scenes a great extra
Vonda McIntyre's added scenes in the beginning of this book were absolutely wonderful.The romance between Lieutenant Saavik and David Marcus, the wake for Spock, and the story about how Captain Sulu is originally supposed to command the Excelsior all bring together the story in a much better way than the movie did.Overall, an excellent book that all should read!

Good writing, bad concept.
It's a real shame that Vonda McIntyre's excellent writing had to be hamstrung by being forced into the general plot of the third Star Trek movie; the very concept behind this book -- bringing back the character of Spock after he'd quite efficiently and irrevocably been written out of the series in the previous movie -- was just plain stupid, and there was no possible way to do it well. Granted, writing him out in the first place was a mistake, but it was one that there was virtually no way to repair. Certainly, this was not the way.

Which, as I say, is a real shame; other than the fact that the basic concept is ridiculous and impossible, the book is excellent. (But aside from THAT, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?) The characters are well-handled, the rebellion of the Enterprise command crew and their theft of the Enterprise is delightfully done, the idea that they would all, without hesitation, scrap their careers for loyalty to a fallen comrade is commendable; everything about the book is wonderful...EXCEPT for the basic underlying concept.

Nostalgia for Spock fans
OK, I read this book when I hadn't seen the movie. I still haven't. That's because I think its an amazing piece of fiction and the movie (even though it came first) wouldn't do justice to the book!

For crazy Spock fans likeme it's getting back to the pure Trekkie zone, a refreshing change from the"Next Gen" ! The small part of the novel based in Vulcan is anamazing work at giving natural touch. Vonda McIntyre's descriptions areworld class!

Vonda N. McIntyre rocks!
She wrote the novilizations for Star Trek II and IV also, but I thought this was her best. ... Read more