Discovery has also done something no other Trek show had done: show the journey of a character to the role of captain. Every other lead in a Trek show started out as a person in command with their place at the top of the ensemble a fait accompli as the show began. But unlike Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and Archer before her (and Pike and Freeman after her), we saw Michael Burnham work her way to it, from her lowest point as a rank-less prisoner to a bridge officer to first officer and finally to captain of the U.S.S. Discovery. She did it with brains, she did it with fearlessness, she did it with a certain arrogance (she was raised by Vulcans, who have raised arrogance to an artform), and she did it—like all Trek commanders—with compassion and love. More to the point, she built a community. And she’s the first woman of color to lead a Trek ensemble, which matters for the same reason why Sisko and Janeway mattered.
While I will be doing some programming, I will be spending most of time at the Origins Game Fair this weekend at my table in the Authors Alcove, section 1918 of the exhibitor hall. I will have a ton of different titles of mine for sale, including one new arrival — the eSpec Books edition of A Furnace Sealed — and some old favorites — single copies of various Star Trek mass markets of mine, plus some of the long-out-of-print Farscape graphic novels that are also autographed by series creator/comic book co-writer Rockne S. O’Bannon!
Here’s the full list, sorted by series:
The 18th Race
The 18th Race Omnibus (with two novels and a short story by David Sherman, and a novel by Sherman and me)
The Adventures of Bram Gold (and other Courser stuff)
A Furnace Sealed
Systema Paradoxa: All-the-Way House
Alien
Alien: Isolation
Aliens: Bug Hunt (with stories by me and fellow Alcovian Matt Forbeck)
Command and Conquer
Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars
DC
The Man Who Laughs: Exploring the Clown Prince of Crime (with my essay “Whatever Joker Wants, Joker Goetz”)
Dragon Precinct
Dragon Precinct
Unicorn Precinct
Goblin Precinct
Gryphon Precinct
Mermaid Precinct
Phoenix Precinct
Tales from Dragon Precinct
Farscape (also autographed by series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon!)
Farscape: The Beginning of the End of the Beginning
Farscape: Strange Detractors
Farscape: Uncharted Tales: D’Argo’s Lament
Farscape: Uncharted Tales: D’Argo’s Trial
Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda
Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: Destruction of Illusions
Marvel
Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours Omnibus (with novels by me, Jim Butcher, & Christopher L. Bennett)
Phenomenons
Phenomenons: Every Human Creature (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Mary Fan and Aaron Rosenberg)
Phenomenons: Season of Darkness (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Mary Fan and Aaron Rosenberg)
Resident Evil
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness — The Beginning
Star Trek
Galloping Around the Cosmos: Memories of TV’s Wagon Train to the Stars by Today’s Grown-Up Kids (with my essay “This is What Happens When You Watch Star Trek from Birth”)
Star Trek Explorer #8 (with my Voyager story “The Kellidian Kidnapping”)
Star Trek Explorer #9 (with my Discovery story “Work Worth Doing”)
Star Trek: “The Mission” and Other Stories (with my Deep Space Nine story “You Can’t Buy Fate”)
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q & A
Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War (with my story “The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned” featuring Lwaxana Troi)
in addition, I have single copies of the following (so they may go quickly): Articles of the Federation, The Brave and the Bold Books 1-2, DS9: Demons of Air and Darkness, I.K.S. Gorkon: A Good Day to Die, I.K.S. Gorkon: Honor Bound, I.K.S. Gorkon: Enemy Territory, SCE: Wildfire, A Singular Destiny, and Worlds of DS9 Volume 3
Supernatural
Supernatural: Nevermore
Supernatural: Bone Key
sadly, I was unable to get copies of Heart of the Dragon
Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet
Ragnarok and Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet
A Trove of Legacies (with my Cassie story “Stop Dragon My Heart Around” and stories by all the Alcovians)
Thrilling Adventure Yarns
Thrilling Adventure Yarns (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Mary Fan, Aaron Rosenberg, and Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg)
Thrilling Adventure Yarns2022 (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Mary Fan, Aaron Rosenberg, and Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg)
Young Hercules
Young Hercules: Cheiron’s Warriors
Young Hercules: The Ares Alliance
Other anthologies and short-story collections
Altered States of the Union (with stories by me and fellow Alcovian Aaron Rosenberg)
A Cry of Hounds (with stories by me and fellow Alcovian Aaron Rosenberg)
Double Trouble: An Anthology of Two-Fisted Team-Ups (with my story “Know Thyself Deathless” featuring Egungun-oya and Ayesha, a.k.a. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed)
The Fans are Buried Tales (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Mary Fan, and Aaron Rosenberg)
The Four ???? of the Apocalypse (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Mary Fan, Aaron Rosenberg, Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg, and Wrenn Simms [Saturday and Sunday only])
Joe Ledger: Unbreakable (with my story “Another Dead Body on the Corner”)
Mine!: A Celebration of Liberty and Freedom for All Benefitting Planned Parenthood (with stories by me and fellow Alcovian Mary Fan)
Sherlock Holmes: Cases by Candlelight Vol. 2 (with stories by me and fellow Alcovian Aaron Rosenberg)
They Keep Killing Glenn (with stories by me and fellow Alcovians Mary Fan, Aaron Rosenberg, and Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg)
Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird (with my 1930s horror story “Prezzo”)
Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido
B5’s hit-and-miss casting has two misses this time, as Elaine Thomas is spectacularly wooden as Kemmer. She only has one bland facial expression, and she has none of the bitterness or ruthlessness that the script insists she has. Her fatal interrogation of Nolan has no bite to it due to Thomas’ shortcomings. And in the end, they have to change her hair to show that she’s softened because the actor herself doing it has proven to be beyond her means.
As for Tom Donaldson as Cutter, he’s practically wearing a sign on his forehead that says “I’m the secret bad guy.” Indeed, Cutter’s status as the real saboteur is one hundred percent inevitable, as he’s the only character with a speaking part who it could be, thus draining all suspense from the storyline.
This coming weekend, I will be making my debut appearance at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. I will have a table in the Authors Alcove, which is in Booth 1918 of the exhibit floor. And there will be a convention-exclusive anthology called A Trove of Legacies for sale that has stories by all of us Alcovians (including a new Cassie Zukav story by me), which you should totally buy and get signed by all of us!
I’ll also be doing some panels:
Thursday
10-11am: “Crowdfunding Your Book,” w/Storm Humbert & Christopher D. Schmitz (A212) — and you know I’ll be pimping “Something for Everyone” there……
Friday
2-3pm: “Writing Habits,” w/C.S.E. Cooney, Mary Fan, and Kelli Fitzpatrick (A212)
Saturday
10-11am: “From Game to Story,” w/Kelli Fitzpatrick, Matt Forbeck, Carlos Hernandez, & Jeri “Red” Shepherd (A212)
12-1pm: “Finishing the Book,” w/Kelli Fitzpatrick & Sarah Hans (A212)
Sunday
11am-12pm: “Readings” (this is about doing readings, not doing them), w/Jennifer Brozek, C.S.E. Cooney, & Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg (A213)
1-2pm: “Fiction and Food,” w/C.S.E. Cooney & Daniel Myers (A213)
This fall, Titan is releasing their next hardcover that collects stories (and accompanying artwork) that appeared in Star Trek Explorer magazine (available for preorder on Amazon), and the cover just went live, and I made the cut to be on it! While there are a baker’s dozen contributors, only four got listed on the cover. One, obviously, is Walter “Chekov” Koenig, who co-wrote a story with Chris McAuley, and the other two are among my closest friends (and respected colleagues), Greg Cox and David Mack!
And it’s, y’know, a nice cover!
I’ve got two stories in this book, a Voyager tale, “The Kellidian Kidnapping” (my first Voyager tale that takes place entirely in the Delta Quadrant, which tells a previously unchronicled incident mentioned by the EMH in “Endgame”) and a Discovery story, “Work Worth Doing” (the magazine’s first Disco yarn, which provides the backstory for President Laira Rillak).
Here’s the full table of contents:
“Chekov’s Challenge” by Walter Koenig & Chris McAuley
“Jack of Diamonds” by Una McCormack
“The Trouble with Jones” by Greg Cox
“Sundering” by David Mack
“The Kellidian Kidnapping” by Keith R.A. DeCandido
“A Dish Served Cold” by Chris Dows
“Working Miracles” by Jake Black
“Forewarned and Three-Armed” by Rich Handley
“Academy Acquisition” by Jake Black
“A Year to the Die I Saw Myself Die” by Michael Collins
Every year at the Origins Game Fair, a section of the exhibitor hall is given over to the Authors Alcove, where a mess of authors sell and sign their books. As part of it, the Alcovians (as one of the authors dubbed us) all contribute to a convention-exclusive anthology, which this year isentitled A Trove of Legacies. The cover, seen here, is by Charles Urbach, and the antho has been put together by the Alcove’s chief wrangler, Aaron Rosenberg.
My contribution is a new tale of Cassie Zukav, weirdness magnet, as I finally tell the oft-referenced story of the dragon she met in the garden of the Bottroff House shortly after she first came to Key West…..
Here’s the full table of contents:
Introduction by Aaron Rosenberg
“The Devil You Know” by Matt Forbeck (a Deadlands story)
“We Flawed and Sorry Monsters” by Carlos Hernandez
“Death Knells and Life Choices” by Aaron Rosenberg
“Commencement” by Beth Cato
“Delta Chi Delta: We’re Out of This World” by Addie J. King
“The Society We Betray” by Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg
“The Lenrow Luck” by Jennifer Brozek
“Etherbridge Haven” by Jeri Shepherd
“Walking the Patterns” by Sarah Hans
“With Wings of Crystal” by C.S.E. Cooney
“Stop Dragon My Heart Around” by Keith R.A. DeCandido
“Scion of the King” by Christopher D. Schmitz
“The Face in the Picture” by Mary Fan
“A Signet to Save” by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
“The Archaeologist’s Map of History, Rendered as a Curse” by Jason Sanford
Sinclair, at least, realizes this, and Gerrold’s script serves the commander well, as it feels like he’s the only one behaving rationally. Certainly more than his medical officers are, as I spent the entire episode wanting to smack both Franklin and Hernandez. Yes, they have a fervent desire to save the child’s life, and that’s important, but it’s mainly important because a) they come from a culture that values the life of a child even more than that of an adult and b) they are dedicated to healing. But that doesn’t give Franklin the right to play god—even though he himself thinks that. Franklin says that every patient who comes through Medlab’s door wants him to play god, and if he has that responsibility, then he wants the power, too. Except for one thing: this patient very explicitly did not ask him to do that.
The fine folks at eSpec Books have revealed the cover to Feat of Clay, the long-awaited sequel to A Furnace Sealed (which was recently re-released by eSpec), continuing the Adventures of Bram Gold. Feat is currently being crowdfunded as part of eSpec’s “Something for Everyone” Kickstarter campaign alongside novels by Ef Deal, Ty Drago, and Christine Norris and short-story collections by Christopher L. Bennett, Christopher J. Burke, and Lisanne Norman.
Here’s the back cover copy:
No One Wields Guilt like a Jewish Mother… Unless it’s a Jewish Aunt…
Bram Gold became a Courser—a supernatural hunter-for-hire—after his parents were killed twelve years ago by a golem run amuck. Now the person responsible wants to hire Bram.
It’s happening again. This time a golem has been sighted at the synagogue where Bram’s Aunt Esther serves as rabbi—and which has been targeted by thieves and vandals. And just like a dozen years ago, the powerful golem is out of control.
Can Bram corner the creature and put a stop to its spree before someone else’s family is torn asunder?
The next book in a new series of urban fantasy thrillers taking place in the Boogie-Down Bronx from best-selling, award-winning author Keith R.A. DeCandido.
I’ve been a big ol’ nerd for golems ever since I wrote a Doctor Who story featuring one for Destination Prague back in 2007, and I had a grand old time writing this one, too. And if you’re a fan of the stories I wrote for Bad Ass Moms and Devilish and Divine, you’ll be happy to know that Bram’s fellow Courser Yolanda Rodriguez and her two daughters also play a big role in the book.
Please consider supporting the Kickstarter! It’s reached its goal, so you’re guaranteed to get whatever you decide to pledge for, and there’s tons of cool things available. We’ve already hit two stretch goals (which means everyone who pledges $7 or more gets two free short stories, one by Ef Deal, one by Christopher J. Burke), and we’re 24 backers shy of unlocking a first-100-backers bonus (a free copy of Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s In a Flash 2024), $240 shy of unlocking another short story (by Jessica Lucci), and $760 shy of adding a reprint of Christine Norris’s The Crown of Zeus to the crowdfund.
The B-plot is a whole not of nothing. For starters, the script was very obviously written for Gilbert Gottfried and just as obviously not adjusted for the much less manic Cosie Costa, who sounded completely wrong reading the lines he was given. On top of that, one thing that this being a rewatch reminds one of is that this particular subplot is never to be seen again, aside from one quick mention later. And hoo-hah has the notion of someone referred to as a “VCR” aged badly. Okay, that one’s not really anybody’s fault, but man, I can see someone under the age of thirty watching this now and wondering what the heck a VCR is, since Garibaldi uses the term as if it’s common knowledge…
KRAD's Inaccurate Guide to Life 