Mervi's Book reviews

Collects issues 1-4 from the DC / Malibu miniseries of the same name.

Writers: Michael Jan Friedman, Mike W. Barr
Artists: Gordon Purcell,  Terry Pallot, Jason Palmer

This was a fun series which united the two casts for the first time in comics. It’s set after the crossover episode “Birthright” on TNG’s sixth season and after Odo met Lwaxana Troi in DS9’s first season “The Forsaken”.

Enterprise-D is visiting DS9 and brings a Vulcan Admiral who wants to go to the Gamma Quadrant himself. As the Admiral’s runabout enters the wormhole, it acts strangely and the runabout doesn’t answer any hails. It vanishes and nobody else can go though the wormhole. Starfleet appoints Picard as the leader of the investigation but Picard acknowledges that Sisko knows the situation better and agrees to work with him.

Odo, Kira, and Worf surprise a group of Cardassians who are trying to access the station’s old Cardassian computer links. They beam away before they can be questioned. Meanwhile on Bajor, the energies coursing through the wormhole’s are affecting the weather and the Bajorans are close to rioting.

When a shuttle has been modified enough that it can go through, Picard sends Riker, Troi, Dax, Odo, and Data after the runabout and Kira insists on going with them. While they investigate on the Gamma Quadrant, the others try to help Bajor with natural disasters and calming down the people.

This is a fun comic but suffered from way too much characters. Still, we got good moments between Kira and Riker and between Deanna and Odo. O’Brian also had a few moments with his old acquaintances. I also liked Dax and Data although their interactions were way too brief. The exchange between Geordi and Rom at the beginning was also fun. The covers are gorgeously painted and the artwork actually looks like the characters.

A stand-alone novella in the world of Clockwork Century. But it’s not steampunk.

I bought it as part of the Subterranean bundle back in 2015.

Publication year: 2015
Format: ebook
Page count at GoodReads: 181
Publisher: Subterranean Press

I thoroughly enjoyed Priest’s other Clockwork Century books and was expecting more action/adventure steampunk. But this novella is quite different. It’s horror and builds up slowly. If you like that, this story will most likely work for you.

It has a few references to the rest of the series, but not much.

Sister Eileen Callahan, a nun, has written to padre Juan Miguel Quintero Rios about the Jacaranda Hotel in Galveston. Many people have died there, horribly, and the nun believes that only the padre’s special skills will stop the hotel from killing again. When Rios arrives, he notices that the hotel seems to be alive and threatening. The nun tells him the legends about its terrible past. Yet, the local authorities simply ignore the horrible deaths. Sister Eileen has also asked for the Texas Rangers for help and one of them arrives. However, everyone at the hotel seem to have their own dark pasts, including the padre himself.

The nun, the father, and the Texas Ranger investigate but time runs short when a hurricane approaches.

The story has a great atmosphere and vivid characters. Rios is the third person POV character and he has a distinctive voice.

The first book in the urban fantasy series Santa Olivia. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Publication year: 2009
Format: Audio
Running time: 12 hours 51 minutes
Narrators: Susan Ericksen

I freely admit that I had pretty high expectations from this book. Based on reviews I expected it to be an unconventional superhero book. The ideas were good but unfortunately, it didn’t really work for me.

The main character, and the third person narrator, is Loup Garron who was born and raised in the small town of Santa Olivia. It’s set in a future (or alternate reality from ours) where there is a demilitarized zone between Mexico and Texas. Santa Olivia is in that zone and it’s inhabitants are prisoners in their own town: they can’t leave and their access to the outside world is limited. The US military controls the town. Apparently, the rest of the world don’t even know that town exist and the town’s name was even changed to Outpost number 12. The only entertainment they really have are boxing matches. Sometimes the town’s champion can box against the military champion and if the town’s man wins, he wins a ticket out of the town. Nobody has ever won. Oh, and US doesn’t have female soldiers anymore.

The story starts before Loup is born, with her mother Carmen as the POV character. She has flings with some guys, essentially living off them because her waitress job doesn’t really pay enough. She falls in love for the first time and the man dies, leaving her with a little boy, Tommy. Six years later she meets and falls in love with a deserter, Martin, who turns out to be a genetic experiment. He has really dense muscles and he doesn’t know fear. For a few months Carmen hides Martin and they have mind-blowing sex. Martin is supposed to be infertile but isn’t. In the end, a jealous local turns Martin in and he must flee. Carmen stays in town with Tommy.

Before Martin left, he told Carmen and Tommy that they must keep Loup safe. She can’t do it herself because she won’t know fear. She will also be faster than humans and stronger. Throughout her childhood, Loup must always be on guard to hide her abilities.

Carmen raises the two kids but she dies when Loup is fourteen. Tommy is old enough to get a job and also practices boxing so that he could take Loup out of Santa Olivia. Loup goes to the local orphanage where she has a hard time keeping her secret.

This is essentially a coming-of-age story and focuses on the people around Loup, on overcoming hardship more than actual fights. It only has a few fight scenes. A couple of times Loup and her friends act like vigilantes against men who have wronged the townspeople. But mostly it deals with her growing up: getting friends, dealing with her mom’s death, her awakening sexuality. Through it all, Loup must keep her secret or the military will drag her away. It has romance, especially near the end but the romance isn’t the focus of the story.

To me, Loup felt a very composed character. She rarely has strong emotions. Her main motivation is to keep the people around her safe and herself out of trouble. Of course she makes mistakes, she’s a teenager. She knows that she’s different from everyone else and dreams of escaping the town and finding her father.

The book has an interesting cast of characters. Loup’s big brother Tommy is very protective of her but he’s also single-mindedly focused on winning the boxing championship. I quite liked him but didn’t like what happened to him, but I guess it was inevitable. Another strong secondary character is the boxing teacher who is an older man and apparently knows the military commander quite well.

A larger cast develops when Loup goes to the orphanage. I found them to be an interesting mix and enjoyed them a lot.

The first book in the Bakery Detectives cozy mystery series.

Publication year: 2016
Format: ebook
Page count: 161 at GoodReads
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing

Rachael Robinson has a a bakery in Belldale. But business has been slow recently because across the street Bakermatic is selling their cakes and cupcakes a lot cheaper. They can afford to do that because it’s a big firm and they sell prepackaged cakes. Rachael takes part in the Belldale Street Fair but there, too, Bakermatic wins over pretty much all customers with their free samples. A food critic blogger, who doesn’t seem to like anyone’s food, tastes Rachael’s pie but later the critic is found dead, poisoned. Someone spreads a rumor that Rachael is responsible and her customers desert her. It’s up to Rachael and her best friend Pippa to find out the murderer.

This was a quick, fun read. The characters aren’t very deep but their fun to read about. Rachael hates Bakermatic and is convinced that they must have poisoned the critic. She’s the first person POV character. Pippa is almost the opposite of Rachael: Rachael needs to be a responsible bakery owner while Pippa has a hard time holding down a job even for a week. But they’re quite loyal to each other and both are fun to read about. They watch crime TV-shows. When the local police, meaning the handsome detective, says that Rachael is a prime suspect, Pippa and Rachael decide to investigate.

While this was a short book, it has lots of twists and turns and humor. A good introduction to the series.

Collects issues 20-24 from 90s DC TNG comic series.

Writer: Michael Jan Friedman
Artist: Peter Krause, Pablo Marcos

Friedman is a long-time Trek writer and he has a wonderful grasp on the characters. These issues came out originally 1991, during the third season of the show. That’s when I read them for the first time.

Enterprise-D is approaching Hydros system where two Federation colonies are struggling with a disease. Enterprise is heading toward the larger colony while Riker commands a shuttle to the other colony. Riker’s group has Wesley (as an ensign), Worf, Dr. Selar, and a handful of other medical personnel. Enterprise arrives to their destination and start treating the people. But the shuttle Albert Einstein encounters an anomaly which whisks it away. It disappears.

Enterprise searches for the shuttle for days but can’t find it. In the end, they must face the fact that the shuttle and crew have been lost. Captain Picard can’t really accept it, but the ship gets the next assignment and life must go on.

Meanwhile, the crew in the shuttle have their own problems: Riker is seriously hurt and the shuttle is in unfamiliar space.

This was a very Trek story with the Enterprise crew struggling with their emotions while carrying on their mission. Meanwhile, the shuttle crew are facing a lot of unexpected adventures. It’s not one my favorite story lines from the 90s comic but it’s definitely a very good one.

The first book in the Cleopatra’s Daughter historical fantasy series. It can be read as a stand-alone.

Publication year: 2011
Format: ebook
Page count: 351 at GoodReads
Publisher: Berkeley Books

This story follows the early years of Cleopatra Selene in Roman captivity. She’s the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. It’s written from Selene’s first-person POV.

The story starts just before Cleopatra’s death. Selene, her twin brother Alexander Helios, and their younger brother Ptolemy Philadelphos are coming to see their mother. The twins are ten and Philadelphos is eight years old. Selene is carrying a woven basket and she can feel something moving inside. They meet their mother who is preparing to die. She gives them last advice and also gives them each a memento and a power. Then she sends them back to the palace and reaches for the viper.

When the Romans invade Alexandria, Queen Cleopatra is dead. The three children are confined to the palace. Eventually, they’re brought to Rome for Emperor Octavian’s triumph. They’re paraded in chains in front of the city populace which is a terrifying and humiliating. Selene must beg for their lives which her proud twin refuses to do so. The Emperor gives them to his sister to raise.

His sister Octavia is Mark Antony’s former wife. Her household has Anthony’s other children so Selene meets for the first time her half-siblings. They’re resent her and her brothers.

Selene and her brothers are raised in the strict Roman way and they can’t worship their goddess, Isis. Perhaps even worse, they’re pawns in the Emperor’s political games. Selene must grow up quickly and learn to play politics herself, to survive.

This is a coming-of-age story but quite a unique one. The Romans try to raise Selene and her brothers as Romans because they view Egyptian ways as decadent and immoral. Octavian is especially scornful of women and lectures that women must be modest and work hard. He hates Selene’s mother. He also hates Isis’ worshipers and to them Selene and Helios are prophesied saviors.

I was fascinated by this portrayal of Isis worship. Her worshipers have a personal connection to her, which is very unusual for the time. Her worshipers also come form all walks of life, from slaves to high-born. Roman didn’t approve of this kind of religion and oppressed the worshipers. Isis worship was portrayed as a clear forerunner to Christianity.

Since the book is from Selene’s POV, the Romans and the Roman culture is seen as evil. Octavian is a moody, sickly, power hungry manipulator and his wife Livia is very strict and cold and indulges her husband’s every whim. Octavia is also very strict but does have a soften side which isn’t seen often. Cleopatra’s and Antony’s faults and not really mentioned.

Selene was raised as a Princess; she knows many languages and can dance and play kithara. The Romans view dancing as sinful and they put the children to work doing chores. During the book, Selene also wrestles with her faith: how can Isis be real and allow her parents to die and Egypt to suffer? She also wrestles with how she feels about her mother.

The book has several magical elements, most of them focusing on Selene and Isis. A couple of times hieroglyphics suddenly appear on her arms, carved in her own flesh, her blood dripping from the wounds. There’s also some prophesies and one character can see different Rivers in Time.

I enjoyed this book but more for the glimpse of Ancient Rome and the culture clash than the characters.

Writers: Christopher Golden, Todd Sniegoski, Keith R. A. DeCandido
Artists: Dave Hoover, Troy Hubbs, Jason Martin, Peter Pachoumis, Lucian Rizzo

This collection has two stories.

In “Embrace the Wolf” Enterprise-D comes to Enoch-7 which has a very peaceful society but it’s people are in the grips of madness which makes them violent toward each other. When the Enterprise arrives, the people are bombing cities. The president asks for help and Picard sends down an away team. But one of them is infected with the madness and brings it back on the ship.

This was a nice story and brings back an enemy from the original series.

“Perchance to Dream” is a four-part miniseries which starts with Data having a dream. He’s alone on the ship at first and when he sees other people, they ignore him. In the end the Enterprise crashes to a planet and he can’t prevent it. The dream disturbs him and he decides to talk to Troi about it. She gives him a little advice and they end up setting a counseling session after the current mission is over.

Most of the story is set in a world which has joined the Federation a short time ago. The populace has just elected a new world governor and the Enterprise’s crew is going to attend her inauguration. However, someone has “outed” the new governor-elect as having different sexual practices than the majority. While most people don’t care, a group of fanatics have threatened her. She doesn’t buckle under terrorist threats, so Worf and his team must give additional security.

This is clearly a “message” story about diversity and fanaticism. Meanwhile, some of the crew wrestle with their fears and tragic past events.

The alien Damiani have different biology than is usual for Federation societies. They have three biological sexes (and presumably gender roles) and so (most?) families have three adults. We’re told that they don’t have sexes corresponding to male and female but for convenience the sexes are called she, he, and it. In artwork, each individual has one, two, or three horns presumably according to their sex. However, one of the sexes has breasts so clearly they nurse their young. On the other hand, this is a very uniform species. They all have black, short spiky hair and wear the same headgear. We don’t really see much of the society, which was a shame. What we do see isn’t really different from ours: they have TV and talk shows (as holograms), they have a violent and oppressive past which they’re struggling to put past them. They have protesters and security people even though most people are peaceful.

This, too, was a nice Trek story, which focuses first on Data and then Worf and his staff. The final issue focuses on Picard and a side of him which we don’t often see, which was very nice.

The characters were very well in character in both stories.

A one shot where characters from both franchises meet for the first time

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artists: Marc Silvestri, Billy Tan, Anthony Winn, David Finn, and a whole lot of inkers

The Enterprise has detected an anomaly on Delta Vega, where Gary Mitchell changed and died. Captain Kirk is reluctant to return there but must investigate. When the Enterprise arrives, they see a spacial rift made from pure psionic energy. Two ships come out of it, but the first one explodes immediately. The second one is huge and from it comes Shi’Ar Empire’s Gladiator who demands the Enterprise to leave. Gladiator is following Deathbird who wants the energy for herself.

Meanwhile, seven X-Men managed to teleport to the Enterprise just before their ship was destroyed. Wolverine, Cyclops, Phoenix, the Beast, Storm, Bishop, and Gambit try to find a way off the ship and to Deathbird. Lilandra has sent them after her.

This was a short, fun read. The two teams are facing two very powerful enemies. Unfortunately, the story has way too many characters so each one doesn’t have the chance to shine. There is a great moment between Spock and Wolverine, and when Kirk tries to flirt with Jean, she deflects him deftly. I also rather enjoyed Bones and Hank.

The first volume in a manga series.

Creator: Fuse
Artist: Taiki Kawakami

This is a manga apparently based on an internet novel, at least at the back of the Finnish edition, Fuse writes about how he wondered if it was even possible to make a comic from his book.

Mikami is a 37-year old Japanese man who is unsatisfied with his life because he doesn’t have a girlfriend and while he has a passable job it’s not very good. However, he seemed to be a kindhearted man because when his friends’ girlfriend is attacked suddenly, Mikami intervenes. Unfortunately, he’s stabbed and dies. But when he’s dying, he hears a strange voice talking to him: because he’s a virgin he can reincarnate as a wizard.

When his consciousness returns, at first he can’t see or hear anything but can “talk” in his head with a strange voice who tells him things about the world and himself. It turns out that he’s reincarnated as a blob of slime in a fantasy world. However, he has two powers to begin with and every time he digests something or someone, he gets their abilities. He also changes his name to Rimuru. The first person he encounters in this world is a dragon.

The comic has lots of humor but it’s not slapstick. In this first volume, we get a brief scene from totally different characters talking about the wider world. But the rest is from Rimuru’s POV. He’s mostly a fun POV character and is mostly ready to help others. However, he emotionally he felt like a teenager to me, not a middle-aged man.

The artwork is mostly nice but in the last two chapters women are drawn in sexualized ways.

The world feels like it’s put together from various famous fantasy works with dragons, orcs, dwarfs, elves, and humans. The characters also don’t have character development, as such, but get additional abilities, upgrades, like in computer games. This surprised me at first but I got used to it quickly. However, Rimuru gets very powerful very quickly, so the story focuses more on humor and exploring the world rather than danger. Also, people kept saying the dragon which has been imprisoned for 300 years is somehow protecting the valley.

A fun and light read but the volume ends in a cliffhanger.

A stand-alone Star Wars book.

Publication year: 2017
Format: print
Page count: 409
Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm

This is set a few years before A New Hope. Leia has just turned sixteen and she’s ready to take on the responsibilities of the heir to the throne of Alderaan. To prove herself, she must go through the three Challenges: of the Mind, of the Body, and the Heart. To get ready for the Challenge of the Body, she joins Pathfinders who practice survival in different places on different planets. She has already been helping her father Bail Organa in his duties as a senator but now she joins the Apprentice Legislature to represent her home planet there. For the Challenge of the Heart, she will take on missions of mercy around galaxy.

But her biggest concern is that she senses a growing rift between her parents and herself. She’s been very close to them but now her father rarely talks with her and her mother, the queen, hosts seemingly endless dinner parties where Leia isn’t welcome. She doesn’t have real friends; her status has always kept her apart from Alderaan youth. But in the Legislature and among the Pathfinders, she meets other youths and one special young man who is also from Alderaan. The young people in the Legislature are from wealthy classes and some of them will become senators. The same people are in the Legislature and the Pathfinders.

Leia knows that the Empire is hurting people and she tries to help in her own way, but she soon realizes that good intentions alone aren’t enough. She also wants to know what her parents are doing and digs into that.

This was a good novel about young Leia. She’s growing to be the fierce woman in the movies. But she’s already thinking of ways to oppose the Empire, in her own way. She makes mistakes; of course, that’s the only way to learn. She must also face her own very privileged life; she knows abstractly that not everyone lives as sheltered life as she has but it’s another thing to really see it. She learns from bitter experience to think of the consequences of her actions. We also get to see more of Alderaan’s culture.

I liked Leia’s romance interest but of course I knew it was doomed from the beginning. As far as I know, the character hasn’t appeared anywhere else.

The book has several references to the prequel movies and introduces one character in their youth who appears in the Last Jedi. We know, of course, what the Organas were doing. I had the impression that Leia was involved with the Rebellion from early age, rather than her parents trying to hide everything from her, though.

We got a couple of scenes with Grand Moff Tarkin and he steals every scene. I also through enjoyed Mon Mothma in the few scenes she had. I would have loved to see Tarkin and Mothma meet!

I mostly enjoyed the book but it does take liberties with Leia’s youth.