Star Trek Academy #1:
Collision Course
by William Shatner
with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Young Jim Kirk wants nothing to do with Starfleet, and never wants to leave Earth. In the summer of 2249, he's a headstrong seventeen-year-old barely scraping by in San Francisco, haunted by horrific memories from his past.
In the same city, a nineteen-year-old alien named Spock is determined to rise above the emotional turmoil of his mixed-species heritage. He's determined to show his parents he has what it takes to be Vulcan - even if it means exposing a mysterious conspiracy at the heart of the Vulcan Embassy, stretching to the farthest reaches of the Federation's borders. There, a chilling new threat has arisen to test the Federation's deepest held belief that war is a thing of the past and that a secure future can be forged through peaceful means alone. But it is in San Francisco, home to Starfleet Academy, where that threat will be met by two troubled teenage boys driven to solve the mystery that links them both.
In time, the universe will come to know these young rebels as Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock...two of the Federation's greatest heroes. Yet before they were heroes, they were simply conflicted teenagers, filled with raw ambition and talent, not yet seasoned by wisdom and experience, searching for their own unique directions in life - a destiny they'll discover on one fateful night in San Francisco, when two lives collide, and two legends are born.

Why I Read This
Was on a Star Trek high when the 2009 movie came out and proceeded to watch most of the first 2 seasons of the original series. I ended up liking the original series more than the new movie, so I was curious how Mr. Shatner (the actor for the original Kirk) interpreted the First Meeting.

First Lines

“That first night in San Francisco when it all began was cool and gray and thick with fog. Soft billows of it drifted over the Academy, causing its tall locked gates to phase in and out of visibility for the teenager dressed in black, lost in the shadows across Pacific Street.

☂☂☂☂

An unexpectedly intricate mystery is woven neatly alongside the themes of teenage rebellion, institutional corruption, and the slightly overdramatized flashbacks to the murky past of a young Jimmy Kirk. The struggles both teens have to overcome - Spock's search for his place between the Vulcan and human races, and Kirk's reluctant admiration for the very institution he has grown up to resent - urges along character development and the beginnings of a mutually supportive friendship. I am quite disappointed of the less than satisfying portrayals of female characters, as well as the lack of PoC characters, but casual readers should have no problems enjoying this read. I should also mention that, while there are ample descriptions of high-tech settings and props, I found this novel quite accessible for non-sci-fi fans as well.

review posted to Amazon.ca, Book Depository, goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari

A weekly feature on my blog where I post up cover images that fit a weekly theme - art styles, artists, colour schemes, etc. In essence, this is a meme that celebrates book covers as pieces of art. Covers link to larger images and titles to goodreads summaries.

This week's theme: Asian Characters
There's been some controversy I've witnessed regarding a few books that feature works by Asian authors or include Asian content, but don't actually portray anything culturally Asian on its covers. Either that, or they portray them in a "stereotypical" light. I have a little rant coming up where I discuss these issues of representation, but for now, here are some covers I've found featuring East Asian faces (the ones I identify more with) in a variety of contexts.




Green by Jay Lake, art: Dan Dos Santos
Earthseed/Farseed by Pamela Sargent, art: Dan Dos Santos
Indigara by Tanith Lee, art: Dan Dos Santos

Warchild by Karin Lowachee, art: Matt Stawicki
Truancy: Origins by Isamu Fukui, art: Scott M. Fischer
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh, art: ??
Wicked City: Black Guard by Hideyuki Kikuchi, art: Christian McGrath

Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan | Walking Boy by Lydia Kwa
Nothing but the Truth by Justina Chen Headley | On the Prowl (anthology)




Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, suggested by: Ah Yuan
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, suggested by: Ah Yuan
The Secrets of Jin-Shei by Alma Alexander, suggested by: Alma Alexander
The Embers of Heaven by Alma Alexander, suggested by: Alma Alexander

Red Mandarin Dress/The Mao Case/Death of a Red Heroine/Loyal Character Dancer
by Qiu Xiaolong, suggested by: V



It's rather sad to note that out of all the photographed covers, only one of the characters shows their full face. Oh sure there's lots of face-cutting on covers in general, but there's also a lot of full-face (and in fact almost full-body) shots as well, especially for women in urban fantasy. Interestingly, according to comments on this review for Flash Burnout, people disliked the cover and could not imagine Blake to be "Asian". Having yet to read the book myself, I can't confirm or deny if the character of Blake is actually Asian or not, but I personally think the guy is rather handsome |D
Have you guys found any covers with non-stereotypical Asian characters? Photographic covers with a full Asian face? Please leave your opinions/discoveries in the comments =)

You may have noticed I've put up a new tag called asian pride. I'll be tagging all posts I make in the future about Asian media with this label, just because I do try to go out of my way to find and promote them =)

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! We're almost to 100 followers! If I reach that number before the end of the contest, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Hero
by Perry Moore

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father's pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he's been asked to join the League - the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he's gay.
But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.
To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he'll have to come to terms with his father's past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

Why I Read This
I've always loved reading about superheroes, or watching movies/TV shows about them. There aren't many superhero novels (comics are aplenty), so I thought I'd give this a try. It also fits in my GLBT Challenge =D

First Lines

“I never thought I'd have a story worth telling, at least not one about me. I always knew I was different, but until I discovered I had my own story, I never thought I was anything special. My destiny began to unfurl during my very last game at school. What started with an accident on the court ended with the single most devastating look I ever got from my father. And it made me want to die.

☂☂.5

The cliched plot points of convenience, tedious exposition of character pasts, as well as incredibly 2D side characters are only marginally redeemed by the sympathetic if rather dense protagonist Thom and his cute, blooming romance with his mysterious "rival" Goran. The action and intensity does pick up during the last third of the book, with murders and betrayals that depart almost entirely from the self-centered teen angst in the beginning. Nonsensical character decisions, appearances, and fatalities however, did nothing but frustrate me, despite the fact that the final "twist" was a relatively pleasant surprise.

review posted to Amazon.ca, Book Depository, goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.
(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)


Downtime
by Tamara Allen
release date: 1 February 2010

On assignment in London, FBI Agent Morgan Nash finds himself moments away from a bullet through the heart when the case he's working goes awry. But fate has other plans, he discovers when he wakes in a world far removed from his own.
At work cataloguing ancient manuscripts in the British Museum, Ezra Glacenbie inadvertently creates the magic that pulls Morgan out of the twenty-first century and into the nineteenth. It's an impromptu vacation which may become permanent when the spellbook goes missing.
Further upsetting Morgan's search for a way home is the irresistible temptation to investigate the most notorious crime of the nineteenth century. But it's the unexpected romance blossoming between Morgan and Ezra that becomes the most dangerous complication of all.

Why it's on my wishlist
I've seen quite a few glbt mysteries, but none that's based in the 19th century like this one. The dash of magic is of course a bonus, along with a scholarly hero and "unexpected" romance (as opposed to lust at first sight).

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! We're almost to 100 followers! If I reach that number before the end of the contest, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Just grab your current read, open to a random page, and share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
(hosted at Should Be Reading)

“Kirk gave him a skeptical look, "How would you know how things 'typically' operate around here?"
Spock seemed surprised by the question. "I have read the Recruit's Manual."
"We've been here three days, Stretch. That thing's eleven hundred pages."
"Eleven hundred and twenty. Including the index."
from chapter 37 of Collision Course by William Shatner

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm at a friend's house where I don't have a stable internet connection DDD8
This book has been a on-and-off venture for me, mostly because I bought it while on a Star Trek high - introduced to the fandom by the 2009 movie and ended up enjoying the original series more lol. Now that high has sort of worn off, but I admit the "mystery" aspect of this novel was pretty well plotted. Will finish this soon, and just finished Hero yesterday, so new reviews should be up within the week =)

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! We're almost to 100 followers! If I reach that number before the end of the contest, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!