While the story didn’t entirely grab me, the artwork by #nwc43 Artist GOH Sana Takeda is quite gorgeous. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her work in person next spring.

Not bad, and I enjoyed the sexual politics (certainly the “love as though wilt” philosophy, though the exploration of BDSM definitely isn’t my kink—I have not been pricked but Kushiel’s dart, but if this side of things appeals to other readers, YKINMKBYKIOK), but in the end, just not my thing (as may be guessed by it taking two months for me to get through it). This is definitely (mostly) in the “life in medieval Europe” style of fantasy, which I’m less enamored of than more fantastical fantasy. And when it does veer into more fantastical realms, it’s rather out of nowhere and feels oddly disconnected from the rest of the narrative.

Captain Sulu and the crew of the Excelsior mix it up with Tholians and a mysterious new race with ties to Earth. A good, easy bit of fluff to spend a quiet day reading.

Fascinating partly for the primary alt history, but also for other alternatives and the ruminations on those, an author’s intent, and the characters’ realizations.

Captain Riker’s first assignment post-_Nemesis_, dealing a lot with the political aftermath within the Romulan Empire of Shinzon’s rise to and near-immediate fall from power. Deals well with the likely after effects of such a situation while also introducing Riker’s new ship and crew.

Also, quite coincidentally, in many ways a sequel to the last Trek novel I read, _The Sundered_, with several direct ties, and by the same authors. I didn’t even realize it was the same authors until I finished, and the closing pages made the direct tie between the two books explicit. I’m amused at the happenstance of grabbing these two books so close together.

Excellent book, mostly quiet and contemplative, as one man struggles with both his and humanity’s place in the galaxy. Touches on a lot of concepts that I’d encountered in other books, including just what defines “humanity” in the context of galactic civilizations and whether humankind is ready to join such a community, but does so in a way that very much appealed to me. An introspective and ultimately hopeful piece.

A King take on the fears that women have of men, of the men that generate those fears, and how they all react when mysteriously separated. King (and his son) still knows how to tell a good tale.

I was, admittedly, rather curious about the fate of non-binary/genderqueer individuals in this tale, but that was never addressed. On the one hand, it could have complicated an already King-length novel; on the other, it could have been an interesting complication (if handled well).

A little odd, because I didn’t know beforehand that the _New Frontier_ books were quite so serialized, and I was coming in mid-story. Still an enjoyable follow up to TOS’s “Who Mourns for Adonais?”.

Veers wildly between interesting concepts (a planet the size of Earth appears in Earth’s orbit, affecting tectonics, tides, etc.), and incredibly dated plots that do _not_ age well.

It was often painfully obvious that this was written in the sixties, from drug-using hippies to weird approaches to writing women to astoundingly clumsily and stereotypically racist handling of the few characters of color.

On top of that, the primary aliens were described essentially exactly as if they’d stepped off the screen of the current film version of Cats that’s getting such horrid reviews, which added some unintentional hilarity.

Definitely not one of my favorite Hugo winners.