Life Among the Post-Industrial Barbarians by John Coffren

Man, I really don’t like time travel stories, and I especially find the Star Trek ones tedious.

I know they are supposed to be fun, with the Department of Temporal Investigations and all, but it just gets to be so loopy that an author can make up whatever crap he or she desires and it just doesn't have to make sense.

Kind of like this one.

The Last Refuge by Roger McCoy

Not being much of a Voyager fan I could still appreciate the story on its own merits.

That said, it was obviously meant to flesh out a previous episode where a plot thread was left dangling. 

I liked the structure, using flashbacks of a crime to expand on the story at hand. 

Part of what makes tie-in fiction so comforting is that the reader already understands the world, how it functions and the main players in it. 

I felt McCoy had a perfect grasp of the characters voices and created a compelling and satisfying expansion of this part of the franchise. 

A lovely way to spend some downtime. 

Roger McCoy - http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Roger_McCoy

The Dreamer and the Dream by Derek Tyler Attico

Wow!

This took one of my favourite episodes of DS9, Far Beyond the Stars, and revisits the life of Benny Russell.   The 1950’s writer has spent the past six years in the Queens Borough Mental Institution. 

He’s been incarcerated there since being fired from his job at  Incredible Tales magazine.   He has fallen into his creations, that of a black captain of a space station, choosing to live in his mind's imagination. 

But now, 1959, he is on the cusp of being released.  However the power of the worlds he created are influencing his reality. 

Like I said - wow!

This was so much fun to read. I tore right through it loving every flashback to 1959.  I was completely taken in by the meta nature of the story and how the author tied the world of DS9 to Benny Russell and further tied his reality to how Star Trek influenced our own society. 

Well done indeed. 

I continue to be impressed by the quality of storytelling in this collection. 

The Manhunt Pool by Nancy Debretsion

I enjoyed this one very much.

It had all my favourite characters from DS9; Odo, Bashir, Quark and Garak.

It certainly kept to the darker version of Star Trek that was the Deep Space 9 series.

There is death, intrigue, politics and humour.

Every time I read a quality short, it makes me want to either binge on some episodes or start reading a novel.

This collection of stories from "unknown" writers impresses me with it's quality.

The Façade of Fate by Michael Turner

I liked this one. It played with time travel and the Prime Directive.

Sisko, Dax and Worf are ambushed by the Jem’Hadar and, just when it looked like our heroes were at an end, they are hurled into the future.

There they find the Federation much changed.

How they react, the relationships they build and what they do about this future depends on their training and their values.

It was an interesting test of the Prime Directive.

The Seen and Unseen by Chris Chaplin

This was an exploration of the Reman society.

The species was introduced in the movie Nemesis.  They were an oppressed slave race of the Romulan empire.

I found the story a bit ponderous.  Although it did a good job of filling out the society in terms of the movie I wanted it to come to some more satisfying conclusion.

But it did what the best of Star Trek does, it reflects our past back to us, to allow us to see our mistakes.

The Sunwalkers by Kelli Fitzpatrick

The Enterprise is dispatched to a world to lend assistance in a medical emergency.

The story centres on Beverly Crusher, her struggle to come to terms with having to say goodby to Wesley and how that separation speaks to her abilities as a mother.

The story felt like a found script for an episode that was never shot. But, I guess, all these stories will feel that way, considering the length of them. 

As in all good Star Trek this story works on more than one level. Sure there is the adventure of the mission, but from it there is character growth.  This made the story satisfying. 

Kelli Fitzpatrick's website:  https://kellifitzpatrick.com/

Kelli Fitzpatrick

A Christmas Qarol by Gary Piserchio & Frank Tagader

This was a fun riff on Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol.

In it, Q decies to throw Picard into a simulation of the classic tale.  But something goes wrong - when he snaps his fingers it's not Jean-Luc who is forced to play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge but Q himself!

Honestly, this was an absolutely charming story. Not only did it capture the spirit of Christmas it also was a story of hope for the Star Trek universe.

Hard to believe these writers are amatures. 

Very well done indeed.

Gary Piserchino's website:  http://garypiserchio.com/wp/

Frank Tagader has no dedicated website but his Goodreads link is:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13994748.Frank_Tagader

Dilithium is a Girl’s Best Friend by Neil Bryant - Short Story Review

Oh!  What fun.

Harry Mudd, ladies and gentlemen, gets his hands on the Genesis Device.

This idea will perk up life-long fans of Star Trek.

The thing I like best about the written universe of Star Trek is the ability to play around with characters and ideas.

Not only did the author pick a popular character but he made the focus of the story be a less known one, that of Eve McHuron, one of "Mudd's Women" from the original TV series.

The plot was terrific, Bryant took the MacGuffin from the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn and put it in the hands of Eve.  This is precisely when Mudd shows up to make a deal for the device.

The story was fast-paced and there was some welcomed humour throughout.  It's the humour that makes Star Trek work because it brings the characters to life.  The author had a nice light touch with it and never made it come across as campy.

In any case, I liked the story and it was a terrific opening to the whole collection.