u/Obvious-Examination6

This morning I finished Burning Dreams, the final entry in the Strange New Worlds/Captain Pike reading list. And what a final entry! This book reminded me a lot of what Mosaic was for Captain Janeway. It follows Pike's life from childhood to death, and while some of it is retconned by Strange New Worlds, it truly dives deep into what made Pike the man we only briefly saw in the original pilot episode. Definitely one of the best Trek books I've read so far--kudos to Margaret Wander Bonanno!

4.8 stars out of 5.

That's it. That's the post.

Last night I finished reading The Captain's Table #6: Where Sea Meets Sky as part of the Strange New Worlds/Captain Pike reading list. This book was... different. The framing story in The Captain's Table bar was fine, but the flashback story was a bit more bonkers than I would like. Bioengineered carnivorous space whales with lasers and warp drives really pushed the limits. I did like that the crew was able to explore previously uncharted regions of space, but too much of the book was just jumping from one star system to the next to take sensor readings. Thankfully there were enough action sequences to keep me moving forward. Oh, and the ending was so abrupt. Definitely not in my top tier of ST books I've read so far.

3 out 5 stars

Earlier today I finished The Enterprise War as part of the Strange New Worlds/Captain Pike reading list. I really enjoyed this one, y'all. Despite being one of the longer Trek novels I've read so far, I blew through it because I couldn't put it down. The chapters were really short, which always helps me speed through books. I will say that I found the parallels to Enterprise Season Three quite interesting--being trapped in a hostile nebula, dealing with a group of aliens where five sentient species evolved on the same planet. I appreciated that it provided a little closure on a few characters from earlier novels and comics, such as Nurse Carlotti, but I'm disappointed nothing has addressed the departure of Doctor Boyce directly, though it can be inferred a little from this book. I love tying up loose ends from the narrative, and this book did that for a number of things.

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One thing, though, that I don't ever recall from ships of this era... The NCC-1701 could separate the saucer from the drive section?? I thought that was just a gimmick from the early days of TNG?

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Definite 4.5 out of 5 stars from me.

Continuing on my journey through the Strange New Worlds/Captain Pike reading list, I've just completed Desperate Hours by David Mack.

Let me say that overall I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes reading more Trek. While I neither loved nor hated Discovery, its format did leave something to be desired. This is the second novel in the Discovery line that I've read so far, and I admit to liking them much more than the television series.

My biggest issue with this book is really no fault of the author's. Reading about some of the backstory of the development of this novel, the author was directed to write a somewhat specific storyline. What bothers me is that much of it is contradicted by season two of the show. It seems the show runners or the powers that be weren't thinking very far ahead.

Nevertheless, it wasn't that jarring, so I'd recommended at least giving it a fair shot.

I've been hovering around the 100lb loss mark for almost three weeks, but never quite reached it. Then this morning, a day before my birthday, I finally hit it!

I promised I wouldn't buy any new clothes until I hit this milestone, so now I know what I'm doing next weekend! My pants barely stay on even with a belt (and I need a new belt, too). A few more pounds and I'll be able to buy the rowing machine I've been wanting to get, too!

I'm honestly always confused about how many calories to consume to maintain a weight loss. The TDEE calculator says 2,275 to maintain current weight. Today, which is a pretty normal weekday, foodwise, I'm at a little over 1400. Is this too low? I've been gaining and losing the same two or three pounds for almost three weeks so I decided to start food logging again.

I just wrapped up Child of Two Worlds as part of my trek through the Captain Pike and Strange New Worlds reading list. I enjoyed the storyline and the parallels to Spock's life, but the editing of the book, the Kindle version at least, is pretty bad. There were a number of typos or general editing errors throughout that pulled me out of the story at times. Perhaps it was rushed by the publisher to get to press? Nevertheless, I've enjoyed reading the Pike stories, including the related comics, and I thankfully still have several to go

As a gay man, I didn't think I'd ever be able to use a GLP-1. Now I can! Happy Pride Month, y'all!

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I just finished The Children of Kings as part of my Captain Pike/Strange New Worlds reading list. I hadn't seen much of anything about this book before, so I wasn't expecting much, but boy was I wrong! I love that this book focused heavily on Orion's and their dynamic with the Federation and the Klingons. I also wasn't expecting a book with Dr. Boyce as the main character, sometime who was in, what--5 minutes of the original unaired pilot? The first few chapters were a little slow but it picked up fast and kept me riveted.

If you haven't read this yet, I recommend it!

Last night I finished Vulcan's Glory by DC Fontana. I quite enjoyed it, but I'm a sucker for anything Spock- or Vulcan-related.

It feels almost canon since it's written by Fontana, and I enjoyed this depiction of Pike. It actually felt more like the Pike in Strange New Worlds, as opposed to the one in "The Cage." I also found it interesting that Number One is established as an Ilyrian, though without the stigma attached from SNW.

I wasn't expecting a murder mystery, and I'm always a sucker for those, too.

The book was quite short and I blew through it in just a few evenings, >!though it would have been nice to get some closure on the Glory's return to Vulcan. !<

Overall, I'd recommend it and give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

This book was SO MUCH FUN! I'd seen good reviews but I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Easily one of my favorites so far. Chekhov is underrated (did y'all see how they did him dirty in the Animated Series?) and it was great to read a book with him as the central character.

I wonder if I have a renewal coming up?