Escape Plus, A Short Story Collection by Ben Bova - Book Review #245

I've always had trouble dealing with collections.  I review each story individually thinking that if a reader of this blog wants to know more about the anthology itself he or she would find the label of the title, click on it and - voila! the entire book reviewed on one page.

But that seems like a lot of trouble and not always very intuitive.  So I've decided that with this book and going forward, once I've reviewed every story, I will publish a collection of links.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All in all this was a very enjoyable read.  Most of the stories worked for me and I am glad I spent time with it.

I am always thankful for collections like this, as it is often difficult to follow an author's work in the short story field.

Escape! -

http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2018/03/escape-by-ben-bova.html

A Slight Miscalculation -

http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2018/03/a-slight-miscalculation-by-ben-bova.html

Vince's Dragon -

http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2018/04/vinces-dragon-by-ben-bova.html

The Last Decision -

http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2018/04/the-last-decision-by-ben-bova.html

Men of Goodwill -

http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2018/04/men-of-good-will-by-ben-bova.html

Blood of Tyrants -

http://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.ca/2018/04/blood-of-tyrants-by-ben-bova.html

The Next Logical Step -

https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-next-logical-step-by-ben-bova.html

The Shining Ones -

https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-shining-ones-by-ben-bova.html

Sword Play -

https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/05/sword-play-by-ben-bova.html

A Long Way Back -

https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-long-way-back-by-ben-bova.html

Stars, Won't You Hide Me?

https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/05/stars-wont-you-hide-me-by-ben-bova.html

Ben Bova's website - http://benbova.com/

Ben Bova

The World of Star Trek by David Gerrold - Book Report #168

This was the second edition of Gerrold's original insight into the Star Trek TV show.  This volume also included insights into the making of the first three movies in the franchise.

It was a terrific read.  It wasn't just gushy about how wonderful the show was.  As a matter of fact he goes into great detail to show how there were more bad episodes than good.  What made Star Trek so good was that, when an episode worked, it worked very, very well.

Even though it predates The Next Generation it is still a relevant book today.

It was interesting to read that the frustrations the fans had with NBC and Paramount are the same today with Paramount and CBS.

The book was written with warmth and love to the actors, crew and fans.  As it was admitted by the author; he is a fan as well and holds the creation in very high regard.  He blames the faults of the shows on the producers and the pressures the studios pressed onto them.

Gerrold expressed hope for more Star Trek to be produced in the future.  In the fullness of the 33 years that have passed since this edition was published we know that the franchise certainly enjoyed years of unimagined popularity with The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.

I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the show.

David Gerrold