Vonda has done a lot of writing for Star Trek, and although I’m not the biggest Trekkie in the world, I do like it, especially the original series and the movies that were so popular in the eighties. I have three novels by her on my bookshelf. One is Enterprise – The First Adventure, in which she imagines what the first ever voyage was like once James T Kirk became captain of the Enterprise. I thought her ideas of what might have happened were good and true to the characters. I felt she fleshed them out appropriately.
The other two novels I own are the novelisations of Star Trek III – The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home. Both are well done and those who commission novelisations of movies should take a leaf out of her book. All too often I have read novels based on movies and they are flimsy and shallow, offering no depth or life to the characters and rarely delving into anything more than exactly what appeared onscreen. It is beyond disappointing when I read a novel like this, because so much more can be found in a written work than can be shown onscreen and it’s annoying when a writer doesn’t develop the characters to their full potential. This wasn’t a problem with Vonda’s novelisations. Perhaps being a Star Trek fan helped as she knew the characters well from their portrayals onscreen so it was easier to put meat on their bones, or perhaps it was just her skill. Whatever the reason, I admire her for it and thank her for giving me books I enjoyed immensely.
Ah the French Revolution. It seems to be a time period that so exueds pathos, authors just can’t keep their pens from it. I can list at least four titles off the top of my head about this period And they’re all good! No, good is SO over used, let’s say stirring, compeling and intriguing! I’m itching to get my fingers on Tale of Two Cities since I love Oliver Twist .What an author Dickens was I think his 200th birthday was earlier this year, wasn’t it?(Speaking of great, classic authors, has anyone here actually read the whole novel Les Miserables ? I’m about a third of the way through it; and though I think I’ll have to read it at least a dozen times before I really understand what the author is implying sometimes, it is impressive writing. I know this will make my post exceptionally long, but here is one of my favorite exerpts from this book so far! One hundred years that is young for a church and old for a house. It seems that man’s abode partakes of his own brief existence, and God’s abode of His eternal life. Wow! I wish I could write like that )But I digress. My favorite scene in the Scarlet Pimpernel ? Hmmm probably right towards the end where the elusive hero come face to face with his cunning enemy wholly unintentionally on either part and the authoress spices up the scene with a marvelous escape; and the last scene when Lady Blakeney frees the old Jew whom the soldiers had trussed up like a rat, and makes quite a discovery. (Anyone who’s read this book should know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t or don’t, than it should be a little incentive for you to make a trip to the library ) The Scarlet Pimpernel as a movie! That could either be quite good, or really rather aweful; but I’ll definitely check it out.The Prisoner of Zenda? Never heard of it. But maybe I’ll give it a try when I find the time But if we’re discussing book review options, Leah, you should definitely do Prisoners of the Sea by Florence Kingsley, published by Lamplighter. To use antiquited vernacular, that one’s a regular rouser !OK, this post is becoming way too long now. There’s so much more I could say But I won’t.