Red Meat Cures Cancer: A Novel

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Steve from MA

good solid story

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Are you kidding?

Culture of Meat

Red Meat Cures Cancer: A Novel
Starbuck ODwyer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HWYO9E

Book Description

What would you do if you were a few months from collecting early retirement—a pension for which you’d sucked up and sycophanted almost twenty years—when your obscenely overweight and extremely crass boss told you that if you didn’t raise the company’s market share by the end of the year, you’d be out on your ass without a dime?

If you’re Sky Thorne, Senior V.P. of Tailburger—a fringe fast food chain whose specialties are batter dipped, deep-fried meat patties and 96-oz. beef-flavored shakes—you’ll get to work on as many harebrained, desperate schemes as you can think of. And if that means launching a marketing campaign that asks the public, “Why just abuse your body when you can torture it?” then damn it, that’s what you’ll do! Because Sky Thorne is ready to fight dirty and do anything necessary to earn the pension he sees as the reset button on life, liberty, and the pursuit of unadulterated deep-fried happiness.

Red Meat Cures Cancer is a hilarious and poignant romp through a world of excess, and marks the arrival of a great new satirical voice in American literature.

Customer Reviews:

Steve from MA.......2006-08-14

This is the funniest novel/farce/satire that I have read in a long time. I hope Starbuck is not a one book author.

good solid story.......2004-08-08

overall a solid story. great developed characters, you know the people he describes. nothing too original, a bit slow at the beginning, but it picks up about 1/3 of the way in. the ending was done well. there are a few bright spots in the book, parts that shine, but as a whole, it is an even keel book.

Laughter is the Best Medicine.......2004-03-29

Outrageous and smart humor makes this book an enjoyable read. The story starts so far from reality and coherently spins out of control, I found myself searching for real-world parallels. This is an effective technique making the story work and the characters memorable.

Like a recurring, well done Saturday Night Live sketch (Will Ferrell as George W. Bush or Darrell Hammond as Chris Matthews "Hardball") the caricatures follow the subject and continue to entertain far into the future. Red Meat will no doubt have the same result for the many stereotypes O'Dwyer weaves into the book.

I love stories set in familiar places and I think this is the first book I have ever read set in Rochester NY, where I grew up. The many popular landmarks from upstate NY added to the story

md
Michael Duranko
www.bootism.com

Are you kidding?.......2004-03-17

I do not understand the positive reviews of this book. I saw it on display in a bookstore, the first couple of pages made me laugh, and so I picked it up. It was all downhill from there. There isn't much humor, the characters are too much, the silly names are distracting, and the main character's attack of conscience was painful.

Culture of Meat.......2004-02-26

This review from NadaMucho.com, which features book reviews focusing on contemporary fiction...

"Red Meat Cures Cancer" tackles the world of fast food corporate culture - although not quite the way we'd expect - with the story of Schuyler "Sky" Thorne, a sort of everyman executive hoping to coast through his last year of work so that he can collect retirement. A threat from his grossly obese, good ol' boy boss to raise market share "or else" triggers a series of outrageous events that threaten Sky's chances of finishing off his career in peace.

As Senior V.P. of Tailburger, an underdog burger chain whose target audience is convicts and other assorted lowlifes, Sky's life takes a turn from bad to worse as he realizes his morals are slipping away in a wash of increasingly desperate marketing ploys, most of which have gone horribly awry. The books shines in this aspect - by presenting the story from an intimate, first person point of view, "RMCC" puts a personal spin on the otherwise terribly inhumane world of corporations.

Additionally, this angle allows O'Dwyer to tackle the many gray areas and personal conflicts that are all part of survival for people in positions of power. Successfully balancing an insane boss, political alliances that shift with the daily news, and a personal life gone terribly awry, Sky becomes an improbably sympathetic character. It's refreshing to read about an executive-type who is portrayed as much more human than the stock, heartless "The Man" (read: aging white guy) character, which would be the obvious choice for a story such as this.

This is O'Dwyer's greatest strength. He understands that competent satire requires a blend of absurdity and subtlety, and that the obvious choice (which in this case would've been a McDonald's executive) is not always the funniest. He deftly walks the fine line between archetype and stereotype, delicately balancing an outrageous cast of familiar characters that might have come across as stale in lesser hands.

A penchant for silly names (a Texas beef council member named Traylor Hitch, for example) and superfluous characters, a tendency to throw in a few too many absurd and unnecessary situations, and an all-too-abrupt and poorly conceived ending are the few missteps in an otherwise purely American satire. Super mad props to the author for self-publishing the hardcopy edition before Vintage picked it up for larger distribution in paperback. It may not be the benchmark for contemporary corporate satire, but "RMCC" is a double bacon burger with extra cheese: delicious and enough to satisfy.

Amazon.com

This SF team's earlier novel, Acorna, introduced the alien girl Acorna, an orphan rescued and reared by space-faring humans. Though generally human-shaped, she shares some features with the unicorn of myth--notably, a forehead horn that can heal and purify. Now Acorna blasts off with human friends in search of her own race, who shortly turn up looking for her. These gentle, horned nonhumans are fleeing other aliens who are wanton murderers and torturers that resemble huge cockroaches. Meanwhile, a starship full of dispossessed human miners picks up a scientist whose devastating system of planetary weather control inspires some on-board criminals to stage a coup and use the weather machine to blackmail whole planets; Acorna stumbles into this conflict. Meanwhile, a spacefleet of killer roaches is on its way.

These storylines mix romance, light comedy, and some violent action, which is generally downplayed or dealt with offstage. Of course, the verminous villains find humanity a tougher proposition than nice unicorn-folk and complain bitterly: "They are barbaric and vicious beyond belief; when attacked, they actually fight back!" Happy endings emerge, with room for more sequels. Overall, Acorna's Quest feels like a romping, uncomplicated SF adventure intended for younger readers and Anne McCaffrey devotees. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

"I must find my own kind!"

Found as an infant drifting in space, Acorna, the Unicorn Girl, has become a young woman. She still has her tiny, translucent horn, and her "funny" feet and hands. And, she still has her miraculous ability to make plants grow and heal human sickness.

But Acorna has strange dreams of a gentle folk who mind-speak by touching horns. With her "Uncle" Calum, one of the three grizzled asteroid prospectors who rescued, protected, and raised her, she sets off to find her people. No sooner does she leave than a mysterious craft appears, piloted by the Linyaari, a gentle race with telepathic powers.

The Linyaari are roaming the galaxy, spreading the alarm about the deadly Khleev--And searching for a beloved little girl they had given up for lost, long ago...

Download Description

"I must find my own kind!"

The Linyaari are roaming the galaxy, spreading the alarm about the deadly Khleev--And searching for a beloved little girl they had given up for lost, long ago...

Customer Reviews:

A Tale for Recess Reading.......2005-12-29

A science fiction novel must usually be critiqued using criteria substantially different from those upon which non-fiction works are judged. After all, we do not open a sci-fi novel expecting to learn anything new, to discover historical events that eluded us in school, or to perfect any skills that we may be learning. Sci-fi is escapist reading. It is the recess in the school day of "serious" reading, and, as with any other sort of recess activity, it is meant to be fun and relaxing. What, then, are our criteria for proclaiming such a book as "good, bad or indifferent"?

For me, a "good" sci-fi novel allows one to set aside reality, to become immersed in the story, and to believe in the reality of that story as it unfolds. Even though the events and the technology may be incredible in the light of the "real world" as it now exists, the story must have a verisimilitude about it, a sequence of events that, in some alternate universe perhaps, could believably happen. The characters must act and react in natural ways. Dialog must be natural and must fit with the mental image the reader creates for each character based upon description and action. Above all, the story line must develop smoothly with no miraculous fixes to rescue the characters from impossible situations and with no loose ends or needless "red herrings" thrown in to expand the page count.

I admit to coming to the Acorna series with some trepidation, for McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series had been overextended, and the last couple of novels displayed disturbing weaknesses in both plot and character development. However, whether because the Acorna series was a new direction or, more likely in my opinion, the novels were primarily written by the co-authors, Margaret Ball in this case, the books do not display the disappointing problems that eventually infected the Pern series. ACORNA'S QUEST is fresh and entertaining, and it allows one to set aside disbelief and enjoy the story as though it were indeed happening somewhere else in time and space.

If there is a weakness in the story line, it is the ease with which the mercenary fleet of the Red Bracelets defeats the Khleevi. Throughout three-quarters of the novel, the reader is led to picture the Khleevi as ruthless and practically indestructible monsters. By the end, however, it seems as though they appeared to be indestructible merely because no other race that they encountered was sufficiently hostile to take them on. Of course, the author may have planned this intentionally as a comment on the barbarism and militancy of the human race; in fact, the highly civilized Linyaari even refer to humans as barbarians and wonder more than once whether or not they are more like the Khleevi than not. On yet another tack, one might interpret the Khleevi's destruction as a comment that pacifism results only in perpetual retreat and that militarism is a positive, saving trait among a people. Any part of a story line that permits as many as three different interpretations (plot weakness, humans as barbarians, or pacifism as a cultural failure) constitutes a serious weakness in the text.

Despite the ambiguous messages sent to the reader by the book's treatment of the Khleevi, the novel remains a fun read. The book does include a preface that summarizes the events in the preceding novel of the series, ACORNA; however, the reader will appreciate ACORNA'S QUEST more by reading the earlier novel first. Those who enjoy taking a recess from their studies with imaginative sci-fi novels will, I think, enjoy the Acorna series.

definately not one of her best.......2005-04-25

I read and loved Acorna and eagerly picked up the second book in the series and what happened? This grand search for her people fizzles and they just turn up, right on the doorstep of a planet where people know her. What a happy coincedence that out of all the planets in space, they just find the planet where Acorna had been living. I was expecting a nice quest to find her people and what did I get, plot devices and some daft sub-plot about these space faring criminals, I cared so little about their story and that Tirla-lite character, that I skipped vast sections of the book and gave up. Terrible, proof that McCaffrey has truly lost the plot.. Do not read.

A Wonderful Escape from Reality........2005-01-15

In the first book of the series, we meet Acorna and come to know both her and her situation, which began something like this...

When three asteroid miners were just beginning one of their long collection terms, they discovered an escape pod floating in space. Calum, Gill, and Rafik had no idea what lay inside, and were surprised to find a humanoid occupant. She wasn't human, though, the hooves, and single horn protruding from her forehead proved that. Acorna, as the miners took to calling their new ward, was a very special creature indeed.

The horn gave Acorna abilities that human mythology is fraught with. She could purify air, water, and even heal grievous wounds. She also grew from an infant to the equivalent of an adolescent girl in one year, with a maturity and intelligence that constantly surprised her guardians. These three gruff single men came to love Acorna as if she were their own, and together they saved the planet Kezdet from the mysterious "Piper," and set the enslaved children free.

In this second instalment, Acorna has been plagued with dreams of finding her own people, and quite understandably wants to know where she is from and what she was doing floating through space on her own as an infant.

Calum, Gill, and Rafik are torn between their desire to protect Acorna, and that of helping her to find her people. While Calum and Acorna plot out the most likely course and prepare themselves to journey off and find her people, everyone else is reluctant to allow them to leave. Delay after delay is keeping their space ship docked, and the pair have had enough - they leave as they are.

Naturally, as soon as the pair leave orbit a strange ship arrives. The occupants are the Linyaari, Acorna's people. They are traveling the galaxy warning other life forms of the deadly and violent Khleev who demolish everything they come across. Acorna cannot be reached, and the race to save humanity is joined by the need to find Acorna.

Acorna has her hands full trying to save a planet from a horrible wrongdoing, and a ship full of Starfarer's children who have been boarded and held hostage by some very devious criminals from another planet. Acorna has no idea that her dream of being reunited with her own kind could become a reality, and much sooner than she would have expected.

As in the first book of the series, this was a wonderful escape from reality, with enough fantasy elements blended with the science fiction to keep any reader content. The story is strong, the characters memorable and very appealing. I am looking forward to the next title in the series, and wondering what could possibly be facing Acorna this time.

Review Originally Posted at LinearReflections.com

This is one seriously facinating read!.......2003-08-30

I may only be thirteen, but I know what I like...and I love this book. I've read a lot of books, a lot more than you know, and believe me, this is definately worthy of being the sequel to the already wonderful book, ACORNA.
I found this book incredibly well thought-out and imaginative, with a plot to kill. For all those people who state that this book could've been better-I don't know what you're talking about...But, I suppose everyone's entitled to their own opinions.
You want entertainment, you want this book!!!

review.......2002-05-06

WONDERFUL! Anne Mcaffery is a great writer on her own, and when she teams up it's like a fantastic book with a whole new writer!

Average customer rating:

Acorna's Quest

Manufacturer: Books on Tape, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0736643532

Acorna's Quest - The Adventures Of The Unicorn Girl

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Acorna's Quest - The Adventures Of The Unicorn Girl
Anne and Ball, Margaret Mccaffrey
Manufacturer: Harper-prism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000U94KEI

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Acorna's Quest - the Adventures of the Unicorn Girl

Manufacturer: HarperPrism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HK46VW

ADVENTURES OF THE UNICORN GIRL: Acorna; Acorna's Quest; Acorna's World

Average customer rating:

Fantastic!
Acorna: The Unicorn Girl, More than it seems

ADVENTURES OF THE UNICORN GIRL: Acorna; Acorna's Quest; Acorna's World
Anne (with Margaret Ball and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough) McCaffrey
Manufacturer: Corgi Books; Harper Prism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0552146218

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!.......1999-03-09

The book Acorna is a story about 3 miners in space that raise an orphaned alien child that has a horn in her head that resembles a unicorns. This wonderful story will not let you go until it is done. Acorna is one of the best books I have read from Anne McCaffrey and Margret Ball.

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl, More than it seems.......1998-12-21

Anne Mcaffrey and Margret Ball team up to write a simply amazing, terribly absorbing novel. Acorna: The Unicorn girl is about a young alien child found by three rough-n-tough space miners, and their struggle to raise her. Kind of a 3 men and a baby set in the future, plus some added excitment. One more thing though..she does not remain a child through the entire book. But the book does not span a human girl's life time. I highly reccomend this book.

Anne McCaffrey - The Acorna's Series (First Warning, Second Wave, Acorna's Quest, Acorna - The Unicorn Girl)

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Anne McCaffrey - The Acorna's Series (First Warning, Second Wave, Acorna's Quest, Acorna - The Unicorn Girl)
Anne McCaffrey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QDC7SE

Product Description

Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball, two great names in the genre, join forces to create the first in a stunning and magical series about Acorna

7 Titles By Anne McCaffrey Acorna Series (1-7) : 1. Acorna: The Unicorn Girl 2. Acorna's Quest 3. Acorna's People 4. Acorna's World 5. Acorna's Search 6. Acorna's Rebels 7. Acorna's Triumph

Average customer rating:

7 Titles By Anne McCaffrey Acorna Series (1-7) : 1. Acorna: The Unicorn Girl 2. Acorna's Quest 3. Acorna's People 4. Acorna's World 5. Acorna's Search 6. Acorna's Rebels 7. Acorna's Triumph
Anne McCaffrey , Margaret Ball , and Elizabeth Scarborough
Manufacturer: Harper Torch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000MTBI14

Product Description

7 Titles By Anne McCaffrey Acorna Series (1-7) : 1. Acorna: The Unicorn Girl 2. Acorna's Quest 3. Acorna's People 4. Acorna's World 5. Acorna's Search 6. Acorna's Rebels 7. Acorna's Triumph. Complete series. Seven mmpb books.

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Acorna's Quest
Anne; Ball, Margaret McCaffrey
Manufacturer: EOS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OESNTM

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Acorna's Quest
Anne McCaffrey
Manufacturer: Bantam Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J2LRTW

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Acornas Quest :Acorna 2
Anne Mccaffrey
Manufacturer: HARPERCOLLINS @ PUBLISHERS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCB9V2

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Father and sons

An excellent prequel to much of the Star Trek original series storyline

Possible Romulan first contact?

The First Enterpise

Final Frontier, The First Adventure

Final Frontier (Star Trek the Orginal Series)
Diane Carey
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Star Trek | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Strangers From the Sky (Star Trek)

The Lost Years (Star Trek)

Spock's World (Star Trek)

KLINGON GAMBIT

Burning Dreams (Star Trek)

ASIN: 0671696556

Book Description

Commander George Samuel Kirk was aboard the Enterprise under the command of Captain Robert April before his famous son was born. Starfleet has just been founded and the Enterprise has just been built, and is sent on its first mission. The mission takes the Enterprise into the heart of hostile Romulan territory, where cosmopolitical machinations and advanced weapons technology will decide the fate of a hundred innocent worlds.

Customer Reviews:

Father and sons.......2007-03-20

When James T. Kirk entered Star Fleet he was following in his father's footsteps. George Kirk had served on a space station in the early days of the Federation, an assignment that put a strain on his marriage and caused him to be away from his sons most of the time. He kept in contact with them through letters, letters that his youngest son kept. When Jim Kirk was re-evaluating his life and the price of a career in Star Fleet he returned to his family home in Iowa and re-read those letters to decide if the price was too high.

FINAL FRONTIER switches between two story lines, James Kirk's visit to Iowa occurs shortly after the events of 'The City on the Edge of Forever', Kirk is depressed at the loss of Edith Keeler. He is seeking the advice of his father through the letters George had written the boys 25 years ealier. The second story line is about George's life at the time he wrote those letters while on a classified mission abroad the ship that would become Enterprise.

For avid fans of the series this is a treasure trove of background information about the Kirk family and the beginnings of Star Fleet. For more casual fans though it is not as interesting since there is very little real action for the more familiar characters of (James) Kirk, McCoy and Spock. Carey does handle the characters well, and is respectful of the 'canon' laid down by the original TV shows.

An excellent prequel to much of the Star Trek original series storyline .......2007-02-27

This book is the prequel to the Star Trek saga, the career of James Tiberius Kirk, Star Fleet, the United Federation of Planets as it existed in the original series, the battles with the Romulans and the magnificent starship known as the Enterprise. James Kirk is on shore leave in Iowa and questioning whether he should go back into space. He is reading some letters written to him by his father George Kirk, who was a military man in space. Those letters express regret for not spending enough time with Jimmy and his brother and it appears that George may be about to give up the life of the space adventurer.
The story then moves to the adventures of George Kirk. A ship has become disabled and given the distance and the ion storms in the area, there seems to be no hope of rescue. However, the Federation has been working on a new class of ships, the mighty starship, and the prototype is ready for action. Kirk and his friend Drake are kidnapped and taken aboard the new and unnamed ship. The current captain is Robert April, a good man but probably not an effective prototype for a star ship captain.
The new ship moves out and immediately fails. Kirk is suspicious and suspects sabotage. Suddenly the warp drive malfunctions and they find themselves in the middle of Romulan space very close to the Romulan home world. There is a Romulan ship nearby but it is rife with political infighting. A dictatorship led by the Praetor has taken control and the Romulans are about to launch an invasion of Federation space. This is after the Romulan-human wars mentioned in the episode "Balance of Terror" so it appears that a new interstellar war is about to break out.
The task of the star ship is to somehow extricate itself from the dilemma and prevent the new war. Fortunately, Kirk is able to "capture" the Romulan commander, a man with beliefs similar to those of the Mark Lenard character in "Balance of Terror." While he will do his duty to the Empire, he has no desire for war. Within those bounds, he helps the crew of the star ship defeat the Romulan forces and trick them into believing that the Federation has cloaking technology and is ready to crush the Romulan forces ready to invade Federation space. The trick is very similar to that used by James Kirk in the episode, "The Deadly Years."
This is an excellent story, Carey provides believable prequels to many plot devices that we encounter in later episodes. Unfortunately, we never do learn why James Kirk was given the middle name "Tiberius."

Possible Romulan first contact?.......2002-07-19

In "The City on the Edge of Forever", onee of the best-loved original Star Trek episodes, Spock and Capt. Kirk have to prevent a drug-crazed Dr. McCoy from saving a woman from being struck by a car in 1930's Earth---a woman Kirk ends up falling in love with. This novel begins by picking up where that episode leaves off.

Kirk, now seriously debating whether or not he should resign his Starfleet commission, takes shore leave on Earth where he manages to take comfort in letters from his father, Commander George Samuel Kirk Sr.

But these letters are more than just conversations between father and son. They contain clues to the mystery of one of Starfleet's most highly classified first contact missions that went horribly wrong...and at the same time made the Enterprise truly worthy of her name, twenty-five years before Kirk would assume command.

I gave this book four stars because it isn't the easiest Star Trek read in the world, since you have to wade through a lot of "background" or "historical" information to get to some of its most important points, but it is very well written; I enjoy it mostly for the great amount lot of insight given to the character of Jim's father, and what the Enterprise might have been like as an unmarked, unregistered, completely brand new Starfleet prototype. I have only one negative: George Kirk's befriending of the Romulan Field Primus t'Cael adds good drama, but it doesn't quite gel with the idea that eventually the Romulans and the Federation would go to war, which would lead to the creation of the Neutral Zone (see classic episode "Balance of Terror"), but it's still a good book.

The First Enterpise.......2001-05-13

Diane Carey's "Final Frontier" has to be a must read for any fan of the original series. It tells the first story of the Enterprise before it acquired it's legendary name. Under the captaincy of Robert April; George Kirk (Jim's father) embarks on the test run of the infamous ship. The adversary in this one is the Romulans. We get a glimpse of their uncompromising world of political treachery within their own ranks. This one is everything the new prequel series should be. Alive with interesting characters that act like real humans; unlike some of the Starfleet members we've seen on TV in the show Voyager. If there is any book that needs a reprinting it's this one.

Final Frontier, The First Adventure.......2000-09-16

This book was very well written. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put it down till I read the whole thing. It was interesting to go back and forth from the past and future. I liked 'Final Frontier' alot.

Average customer rating:

Trying not to copy others, but they're right
Dillard makes Shatner's concept work, almost.
Amazing how much better the same story can be;
Better than the Movie
Excellent

Star Trek 5: the Final Frontier
J.M. Dillard
Manufacturer: Severn House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0727840215

Book Description

On the planet Nimbus III, a harsh world deep in the neutral zone, the three major powers -- Federation, Klingon, and Romulan -- attempt a revolutionary cooperative program, jointly developing the planet as an experiment in peace. But that makes Nimbus III an irresistible target for terrorists, who seize control of the planet, and the Enterprise ^TM is sent on a daring mission of rescue. And soon Kirk and his crew find themselves on a much more dangerous and disturbing journey, to the center of the galaxy and the forbidden secrets it holds.

Download Description

On the planet Nimbus III, a harsh world deep in the neutral zone, the three major powers -- Federation, Klingon, and Romulan -- attempt a revolutionary cooperative program, jointly developing the planet as an experiment in peace. But that makes Nimbus III an irresistible target for terrorists, who seize control of the planet, and the EnterpriseTM is sent on a daring mission of rescue. And soon Kirk and his crew find themselves on a much more dangerous and disturbing journey, to the center of the galaxy and the forbidden secrets it holds.

Customer Reviews:

Trying not to copy others, but they're right.......2003-06-03

Yeah, so what they said. The movie was a bomb, and the book tells the story the way it should have been.

Trek books are a tricky thing. Novelizations are a tricky thing. This particular Trek novelization does everything it should, and more. The only problem is that an artist is only as her subject matter, and Find God in the Center of the Galaxy still remains a hokey premise.

But let's focus on the good things. Every major Trek player gets a focus in this novel, including Sulu, who had a big part in all of McIntyre's novelizations. I was glad to see Dillard continue his story in the same vein. We get to see his and Scotty's "secret pain", as well as several other characters in the movie who got left out.

All the characters have depth -- the three delegates, the Klingons, Sybok himself, even the funky-toothed guy drilling holes in the opening shot. Every one is three-dimensional. Example: Klaa (Klingon captain) is no longer a chip-shouldered upstart with delusions of grandeur. He's a Klingon worthy of Klingons, and his motives in pursuing Kirk are revealed as devious and calculating, rather than dumb and bumbling as they appeared in the film.

This novel ties the movie into the others. Star Trek II-V form one continuous tale, without a whole lot of break in between. Yet they still make very little reference one to another. In this novel, we see a Kirk who was re-rejected by a dear love only months before, who lost his son very recently, and who is still coping with Spock's death and resurrection.

I have nothing but praise for the work of J.M. Dillard thus far. And this is no exception. If you, like me, consider Star Trek V the red-headed stepchild of the Star Trek series (no offense to all you red-headed stepchildren), then please read this novelization. Give it a shot. You'll like it. Or I'll buy you a Twinkie. (not really though)

Dillard makes Shatner's concept work, almost........2001-12-14

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier arguably had the silliest of plot concepts, and the touches of buffoonish humor did not help the movie much either.

Sybok, a renegade Vulcan from Spock's past, has managed to seize Nimbus III, the 'Planet of Intergalatic Peace'. But it is a ruse, what he really needs is a starship to take him to the center of the galaxy. Once there, Sybok believes he will meet God.

Dillard attempts to fill in the many character gaps in Shatner's Kirk centered story, giving each brainwashed member of the crew a chance to have center stage and a moment to shine. Thus it is more of an ensemble piece than the film. Dillard also clarifies some of the fuzzy plot points, making the hijacking and trip to God a tad easier to believe. There is also an honorable attempt to fit the concept of Nimbus III into the Trek Mythos rather than having it just be a gimmick jumping off point for the story. But despite all this hard work this novel is worthwhile reading only for those who would like to see a silly story told in a more well thought out manner. Strictly for Trek buffs.

Amazing how much better the same story can be;.......2001-03-24

The movie version of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" was an unutterable turkey, totally unconvincing on a number of levels. This book, while remaining true to the movie in most major plot points, varying only in minor detail, nonetheless manages to be a great deal more plausible and internally consistent, both with itself and with the established Star trek universe as a whole. The characterization is better, the plot flows more smoothly and makes more sense, and several details that were completely implausible in the movie are at least arguable here, if not completely acceptable. The book is quite enjoyable on a simple action-story level, and on deeper levels it is at least as good as most Star Trek stories, better than some if also not as good as others.

Definitely recommended for any "Trek" fans who would like to see the movie version turned into a viable story, and if you actually liked the movie, there's nothing here not to like.

Better than the Movie.......2000-05-17

Star Trek V, the Novel, is much better than the movie. There is so much more depth and adventure that the movie really shows that it was cut up pretty badly in post production. Even though this is one of the weakest of the Star Trek movies, it is still great reading!

Excellent.......1999-12-29

In regards to the review below, I fail to see why a novel that fails to be upbeat is considered diminished in some way. Most great books aren't particularly upbeat, because most great deeds or events don't occur when everything is hunky-dory. And while Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is by no means a "great book," neither was the film a classic. Nevertheless, both are entertaining and worthwhile voyages of the imagination for your typical Star Trek fan.

Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

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Shatner's Book
A great read on the making of a Star Trek movie.

Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Lisabeth Shatner , and William Shatner
Manufacturer: Star Trek
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671686526

Customer Reviews:

Shatner's Book.......2000-05-12

I think it was/is wonderful! William Shatner is a terrific writer!

A great read on the making of a Star Trek movie........1999-02-26

This book, "Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account on the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" by Lisabeth Shatner (William Shatner's daughter, who was on the film's set & location shoots) is an excellent read on the making of a Star Trek movie. This book details the accounts on what lead star, co-writer, & director of Star Trek V, William Shatner, went through making this movie. Although this fifth movie is best remembered as not one of the best in the Star Trek film series, this book details the process on the making of a feature film. This book also includes details on the originally planned ending that had to be changed. Featuring interviews with the cast & crew, as well as 16 pages of photos, "Captain's Log" is an excellent read. For Star Trek fans as well as anyone interested on the process of filmmaking.

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Star Trek: Final Frontier

Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Star Trek: The Final Frontier
J. M. Dillard
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

5 Star Trek Titles - Final Frontier - Strangers From the Sky - Enterprise - Lost Years - Prime Directive

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5 Star Trek Titles - Final Frontier - Strangers From the Sky - Enterprise - Lost Years - Prime Directive
various authors
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Product Description

5 massmarket paperback Star Trek Titles - Final Frontier - Strangers From the Sky - Enterprise - Lost Years - Prime Directive

6 Star Trek Movie Titles - Star Trek the Motion Picture - Wrath of Khan - Search for Spock - Voyage Home - Final Frontier - Undiscovered Country

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6 Star Trek Movie Titles - Star Trek the Motion Picture - Wrath of Khan - Search for Spock - Voyage Home - Final Frontier - Undiscovered Country
various authors
Manufacturer: pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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6 massmarket paperback Star Trek Movie Titles - Star Trek the Motion Picture - Wrath of Khan - Search for Spock - Voyage Home - Final Frontier - Undiscovered Country

Beyond the Final Frontier (Star Trek) an Unauthorised Review of the Trek Universe on Television and Film; Season Summaries; Characters; Episodes; Movies (PRINTED IN 2003)

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Beyond the Final Frontier (Star Trek) an Unauthorised Review of the Trek Universe on Television and Film; Season Summaries; Characters; Episodes; Movies (PRINTED IN 2003)

Manufacturer: CONTENDER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

A Comic Book Issue of Star Trek Deep Space Nine (See Seller's Comments for Issues for Sale) (At The Edge of the Final Frontier (Star Trek DS9), Comic Book Series)

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A Comic Book Issue of Star Trek Deep Space Nine (See Seller's Comments for Issues for Sale) (At The Edge of the Final Frontier (Star Trek DS9), Comic Book Series)

Manufacturer: Malibu Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic

Product Description

Sample Story Summaries: #1 Aug 1993 Stowaway On their way back to class from Dax's lab, Jake and Nog detour through the cargo holds and accidentally release a green mold. Renowned xenoarcheologist, Dr. Wembley, aboard a visiting Federation starship, asks DS9 to store some artifacts from the Gamma quadrant for transport to Earth. O'Brien takes the artifacts to the cargo bay and is nearly overcome by the rapidly reproducing mold, which also produces a toxic gas. While Odo and his staff try to evacuate contaminated areas, Bashir must figure out what the mold is and how to destroy it. #3 Oct 1993 Old wounds Gul Trelar, born on Bajor, once known as "The Butcher of Bajor", and now an old man, arrives at DS9 to acknowledge his approaching death. Travelling with Trelar are his children and second wife, a Bajoran who was once his prisoner. At his own request, Trelar stays in one of Quark's holosuites, so that his mother and childhood home can be simulated. At dinner with DS9 officers, Trelar collapses, Bashir administers medication, and he is left alone in the holosuite to rest. The following morning, Trelar is found stabbed to death, and there is no record of anyone entering the holosuite. Nearly everyone is a suspect. Odo uses his shapeshifting skills to conduct an investigation. #4 Nov 1993 Emancipation While collecting biological samples in the Gamma quadrant, Dax and Bashir encounter an alien vessel carrying refugees in need of medical assistance. Once they arrive at DS9, it becomes apparent that the refugees are slaves, fleeing their owners. Rogon, a representative of the Chiaran people, arrives at DS9 to reclaim the runaway slaves. The DS9 crew stalls while Sisko tries to come up with a valid reason to offer asylum to the slaves.

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The Final Frontier (star trek 5)

Manufacturer: pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Open Heart Surgery of the Supreme Reality

The Ultimate Secret

Abhinavagupta's teaching about the nature of ultimate reality

Excellent!

Triadic Heart: A Treasure House of Brilliance

The Triadic Heart of Siva: Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism of Kashmir (Suny Series, Shaiva Traditions of Kashmir)
Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega
Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Yoga Spandakarika: The Sacred Texts at the Origins of Tantra

Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme

Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening

The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of the Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism (Suny Series in the Shaiva Traditions of Kashmir)

Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism : The Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo

ASIN: 0887067875

Customer Reviews:

Open Heart Surgery of the Supreme Reality .......2007-01-13

This book delineates the concepts of Abinavagupta's investiture of the heart or hridaya as metaphorically analogous to the centermost reality of supreme consciousness. This exposition becomes the vehicle for a foundational exploration into the historical development and conceptual underpinning of the Kaula lineage and its interweaving influence amongst the larger framework of non-dual Kashmir Shavism.

Mr. Ortega's extensive research and refined scholarship is clearly evidenced throughout this work. While the literary style is thoroughly scholastic in disposition, one could presuppose that readers less familiar with the rigors of this venue could find the linguistic constructs unduly pedantic and inaccessible. This work is implicitly conceived as a scholarly interrogatory into the numinous symbology of the heart, and the author makes no supererogative overtures to attitudinize this as a pedagogical guidebook of mediation or tantric praxis. While those with a predilection for the trance state will find ample catalyst for such while ruminating over the significance of the weighty subject matter, the kernel of this work is largely philosophical in nature and its potency relies primarily upon absorption into one's own conceptual fabric. The onus of methodologically deciphering and putting into practice the myriad of specific kaula oriented techniques employed and espoused by Abhinavagupta, which are by and large beyond the parameters of this work, remains squarely on the shoulders, if not the heart, of the reader.

The Ultimate Secret.......2006-04-12

This book contains priceless wisdom from a first-rate scholar, who, surely, must be an experienced tantric yogin! You could sincerely say that he has discovered & revealed the secret of the real holy Graal in these pages. It's very much a practical handbook on how to become immortal - like a lamp that lights the way to the god within.
I hope Mr Ortega publishes more material like this. Better still, I wish he were my Guru to learn from first hand....

Abhinavagupta's teaching about the nature of ultimate reality.......2005-12-27

The Heart as a metaphor for the enlightened experience of consciousness was masterfully revealed by the great Shaivist sage, mystic and scholar Abhinavagupta. Abhinavagupta "taught from a level of complete spiritual awakening with the authority of one who was considered a Siva incarnate." The study of these teachings, for the student able to attain and maintain meditative absorption, may be the basis for a radical transformation in consciousness to spiritually awakened Being in nondual freedom of awareness.

Excellent!.......2000-05-14

Not only a rare and brilliant sanskritist, Paul Muller illuminates a once obscure mystical-religious tradition with the erudition of the most accomplished scholar. His rich background in the history of religion and familiarity with a seemingless endless variety of sanskrit texts show throughout his writing. He explains intricate spiritual concepts in straightforward terms and unearths the complexities of deceptively simple images, whose meanings might go otherwise unappreciated without his detailed explanations. Rock-steady in his approach, he somehow balances painstaking technical analysis with broad conceptual understanding. He traces around sanskrit words close to their sources, never straying far from the original texts. Moving beyond the literal, he also treats symbols as multilayered representations of human experience. His work exemplifies intellectual exploration and impeccable scholarship, but also packs rich insight and meaning. After reading more basic works, this is the one that will provoke new thoughts and a thirst for more knowledge about the complexities of indian religious and spiritual systems.

Triadic Heart: A Treasure House of Brilliance.......2000-04-03

This magnificent piece of literature contains wisdom so deep, so clear and so intellectually developed I am sometimes unable to read more than a sentence or two before I am plunged into a space of unrelenting power. Each sentence has been carefully worded as to not waste even one second of the student's time in speculation or controversy. It's as if Abhinavagupta, with his expert hands, surgically removes our ingorance of Shiva, in so doing, he leaves us unable to experience anything else! "The heart of Siva is not a static or inert absolute, however. In fact, the non-dual Kashmir Shaiva tradition considers it to be in a state of perpetual movement, a state of vibration in which it is continuously contacting and expanding..." The Triadic Heart pg. 82

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