Not quite what I expected. There's a pretty standard Trek adventure as a framing story (with a surprising connection to post-TOS Trek that I'm curious about), but it's really more focused on Sulu and his having to deal with a tragic event. Not bad, just be aware the back cover blurb is a very small part of the actual plot.

This series continues to impress, with ever deeper explorations of compassion and empathy for others who are different than ourselves, and at what point the differences become so great that life- and world-altering decisions may be justified (or may not be, or may be pursued even if not justified). And once again, I’m struck that an author who wrote so compellingly on this subject failed to see how to apply his own ideas in the real world.

NOTE: It should be noted that OSC had long held and promoted viewpoints that I vehemently disagree with. The books of his in my collection were purchased before I knew of his standpoints, from secondhand stores, or both. I knew going into my Hugo reading project (which this is an extension of, though the later books in the series weren’t Hugo winners) that there would authors and works I would find problematic, and that there might be situations (like this one) where I enjoyed a work by a problematic author. I do what I can to mitigate those situations by purchasing used copies of books so as not to directly contribute to those problematic authors who are still with us, and by noting when I run into those situations – like here.

A fun, light romp of an adventure, rather perfect for the first Strange New Worlds book. Several Enterprise crew are stranded on a world where electronics don’t work and technology is tightly controlled. This results in a mishmash of the Wild West, mountainside castles, tall ships, mysterious aurora, and steampunk-ish clockwork creations. All with a welcome dash of humor throughout. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Does a great job of building on the story and events of the first. Answers some questions, but raises many more. Very much looking forward to the next book.

Dark, disturbing, and violent, but also fascinating. The situation is bizarre, but the exploration of the protagonist and how they deal (or don't) with the events is really strong.

Dated SF stories (mostly from the '50s and '60s) written using now long-outdated science makes for a mostly uninteresting collection of dinosaur adventures. There were two enjoyable entries (Isaac Asimov's "A Statute for Father" and Robert Silverberg's "Our Lady of the Sauropods"), the rest are quite forgettable.

Really impressive. Builds on the universe and characters of Ender's Game, but in very different ways. Lots of very thoughtful (and thought-provoking) discussions of truth, how people see themselves and others, relationships among different types of people and how they see each other, and the vast differences between assumptions and reality, especially when dealing with other cultures (or, in this case, alien intelligences).

A bit of unfortunate ableism at the very end after a character is injured. While it could almost be explained away as very unsurprising self-pity of someone dealing with new physical circumstances, Card does fall into the trap of having created a futuristic society with space travel and all sorts of technological advances, even allowing a blinded character to see through cybernetic enhancements, but motor and speech disabilities are seen as virtually life-ending.

Outside of that, it's another book that makes me wish Card wasn't so problematic, so I wouldn't feel kind of guilty about enjoying his books as much as I do. Which brings me to copying this over from my review of Ender's Game:

NOTE: It should be noted that OSC had long held and promoted viewpoints that I vehemently disagree with. The books of his in my collection were purchased before I knew of his standpoints, from secondhand stores, or both. I knew going into my Hugo reading project that there would authors and works I would find problematic, and that there might be situations (like this one) where I enjoyed a work by a problematic author. I do what I can to mitigate those situations by purchasing used copies of books so as not to directly contribute to those problematic authors who are still with us, and by noting when I run into those situations – like here (and again down the road, as one of JKR’s HP books also won a Hugo).

It had been long enough since I’d last read this that I only remembered the broad strokes: Ender’s training, the zero-G battles, the simulations, the revelation after his final exam, and a few misty bits and pieces about the fantasy game he explores on his computer. But the threads with his brother and sister and, somewhat amusingly (where was my brain when I read this before?), the entire final chapter where Ender explores the colony world, were almost as new to me as if was my first time reading them.

The parts I remembered were as fun (in their way) as I remembered: the zero-G team combat games and their techniques and strategies, all while watching as Ender is manipulated and molded into what they need him to be. The political maneuvering of his brother and sister were interesting, and in some ways reminded me uncomfortably of the modern world, and in ways that wouldn’t have resonated quite so much when the book was published in ‘85. Now, instead of Valentine and Peter posting to discussion forums on their “nets” to influence politics, we have Qanon and Twitter on our Internet. At a few points, it was more than a little disturbingly prescient. (Plus other little details, like Ender’s “desk” where he can read, learn, program, communicate, and play games — basically, an iPad.)

While it’s perhaps a bit too militaristic to be a five-star read for me, it’s still an excellent book, well worthy of the awards it got, and I'm looking forward to reading more in the series (which I’ve never done before).

ADDED NOTE: It should be noted that OSC has long held and promoted viewpoints that I vehemently disagree with. The books of his in my collection were purchased before I knew of his standpoints, from secondhand stores, or both. I knew going into my Hugo reading project that there would authors and works I would find problematic, and that there might be situations (like this one) where I enjoyed a work by a problematic author. I do what I can to mitigate those situations by purchasing used copies of books so as not to directly contribute to those problematic authors who are still with us, and by noting when I run into those situations - like here (and again down the road, as one of JKR’s HP books also won a Hugo).

A short, YA story following Worf at Starfleet Academy. It feels like the first three books (of which this is the middle book) were written as a full-length (~300 page) book and then split into thirds; it references events from its predecessor, and ends with a “To be continued…”. This is the first of this series of Trek books I’d come across, and while not being a full story, it’s fine for what it is.

Really, the weirdest part is that the primary Starfleet Academy instructor is a Professor Trump. Rather unfortunate choice of character name, that one.

A pre-TOS adventure with Captain Pike just a few months into his captaincy of the Enterprise with Spock and Number One under his command. A Klingon/Orion/Starfleet dustup gets a little confusing trying to keep track of the players and motivations, with a somewhat out-of-left-field twist at the end that seemed a little too convenient for my tastes.

One amusing bit: The author's endnote indicates that he thought of this as something of a prequel to the 2009 Star Trek rebook (so still in the Prime universe), though he still pictured Jeffrey Hunter as Pike rather than Bruce Greenwood; meanwhile, having recently enjoyed the first season of Strange New Worlds, I found myself more often picturing Anson Mount as Pike. The more actors we have inhabiting key roles, the more the mental visualizations start to shift as you read, I guess.