This collection of 15 essays is "from the magazine for Star Trek fans." Oh my, I was so very, very young and so very much a trekkie when I bought this book, and it somehow survived several purges of my bookshelves over the years--when I had to be ruthless because my books multiplied like tribbles.
Back when this book was published in 1985, The Search for Spock had just come out; the opening article was "A Speculation on Star Trek IV." The second article, "Star Trek Fans: The Blind Spot" was all about how fans had to accept recasting or Star Trek would die. Not only was the Reboot not on the horizon, it didn't occur to the author the Trek universe could expand and thrive by other means; Star Trek: The Next Generation wouldn't air for two more years. Fanfic was found only in fanzines, not online. The article on it "The Three Foot Pit and Other Stories" didn't even mention slash. Had it not yet surfaced or was Kirk/Spock still a deep, dark secret? And in terms of the writing advice, well, I've seen better essays online from fan fiction authors since. Carpenter's "'Approaching Evil' and 'Love in Star Trek'-- a Rebuttal" had Ayn Rand's fingerprints all over it. It's obviously an application of her philosophy of Objectivism to Trek. What annoys me so much is the author doesn't have the guts to identify the sources of his argument, probably because he knows many would then dismiss him without a hearing. "And the Children Shall Sue" was just not an interesting parody--renaming Kirk "Jerk" doesn't pass for wit with me. If I had a favorite article, it was "All About Chapel" which does well in giving dimension to an underrated character through small moments in canon. But that's not enough--it's finally going into the get-rid-of box, because despite some lingering nostalgia, no this isn't a keeper.
