Books: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Re-launch

I'm about to make a plug for some books I really enjoy reading, something I tend to do when I know I've got an audience who like Star Trek, especially Deep Space Nine. So if you're not a DS9 fan or if you've heard me mention these books again, feel free to skip this post. But if you're interested in fun, humorous, and well written stories that maintain continuity, then read on...


I don't know what your experience with Star Trek books, but if you're like me you've read more than one and formed your own opinions of them. For me I read them a lot after TNG first aired, but eventually gave up on most of them. Surprisingly, one of the few books I read after I gave up on most of the other books, was "Ashes of Eden" which was "written" by William Shatner (with help from Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens). This was followed up by Shatner's (or as I like to think... the Reeves-Stevens') books such as "The Return" and "Avenger" among others. Part of what I liked about these books was that there was a continuity between them, as well as the fact that they used a lot of established Trek plots and characters in an interesting way. But even then, the books were linked to themselves only and had no connections in any of the other Trek books.

Then in 2001 I read the "Avatar" duology and realized that Pocket Books was finally getting it. Here was the beginning of a Trek book series that had continuity and was based on the TV show, continuing the story as if it was the 8th season. Then came "Abyss" and the characters were developed even further. Characters from the show were properly developed and they seemed like the characters from the show, not a different character with the same name. Next came "Demons of Air and Darkness" which was a part of PB's crossover among their Trek books, "Gateways." Characters from the DS9 book were shown to be in the same meeting as Captain Calhoun and Captain Shelby from the New Frontier books and the entire storyline wrapped up with characters from TNG, New Frontier, and DS9 books interacting.

Meaning, of course, that the characters featured in the DS9 books were "established." In addition, one character, Commander Vaughn (the 100 year old former Starfleet Intelligence officer) was a major character in the TNG book "The Battle for Betazed" which took place during the Dominion War.

The latest Trek books has been the 4-issue mini-series "Mission Gamma" and the Jake Sisko story "Rising Son." All five of these books served to further the story and set up the 10th Anniversary book "Unity" which is the next book in the series, due out in November.

Currently characters from the DS9 re-launch can be found in the Star Trek: The Lost Years books, specifically Admiral Akaar (who first appeared in the book in the Mission Gamma storyline and was also seen in the TOS episode "Friday's Child") who appeared in the first Lost Years book, "The Sundered" featuring Sulu on the Excelsior. Vaughn appeared in the second book, "Serpents Among the Ruins," which features a story about the Enterprise-B 17 years after it's maiden voyage (as seen in "Generations").

In addition to these books, there are three additional books that came out before the re-launch, but are referenced in the later books and they are "The 34th Rule," "The Lives of Dax," and "A Stitch in Time."

All of these books (well I haven't read "Battle for Betazed") are very well written and in addition they have everything I wanted the earlier Trek books to have.

And what's more, they also answer a lot of fanboy questions, that fans have been asking for years.

Go read them!

Revisiting Why

So yesterday I didn't post anything. I'm not sure why, except I feel I really didn't have much to say, which made me question, again, why I chose to start this Blog. On one hand I've wanted to write down my thoughts in a journal for a long time, but never really set pen to paper. This way, since I'm on the computer almost every night anyway, I might as well do something similar on-line. Of course the main difference is that only a few people might read my hand-written journal, while this one is out there for the world to see. Of course, I have no idea if I'm the only one reading this page or if there are people who are reading it, though I'm not sure which would scare me more.

I like writing. It's cathartic, but it is hard for me to write fiction. I do enjoy it, but it is a special challenge. On top of that, I'm one of those people who feels that I constantly have an "inner dialogue" going on and sometimes it's easier to get those thoughts down on paper (or the screen--I think one of my posts will eventually be about turns of speech and how they've changed).

So if you're reading this, I apologize if the nature of the posts or the writing seems...confused. This journal is more for myself than anyone else, but if you're reading it and enjoy it, then so much the better.

I do wrestle with the idea of posting my e-mail on-line, as I said, I'm not sure if I want to know if people are reading this. But I am interested in what people think, so I'll give it a try. If you promise not to sign me up for tons of spam, feel free to send me your thoughts at shivkaladrakh@yahoo.com. Just make sure to title the e-mail with something that I would recognize as not being spam, since I usually don't check my bulk mail folder thoroughly before I delete it (I'm tired of viagara, debt relief, male enhancement, etc. spam. And I don't even open those with vague titles that are almost assuredly spam).

And if you notice spelling mistakes in this post, I apologize. I'm currently using my wife's laptop until I can get my computer out of storage and I do have a spell-checker on my computer for the internet, but God-forbid I download strange programs onto my wife's computer. Look for better spelled posts next month. Edit: There's a built in Spell-Checker, sorry I have this problem where I can't see things right in front of me, I'm fixing the spelling now on all the posts and promise to check spelling before I publish from now on.

Thursday Night TV, including Scrubs

Scrubs is back! Yeah. Finally seriously funny TV with characters I really care about, but first...Friends:

So the last season of Friends keeps going and while I did laugh, I also kept thinking how nice it is when most of these characters are retired. It seems to be that they aren't sure what to do with Phoebe, which explains the whole non "take one of my kids, please" plot line. And while the idea behind Chandler and Monica trying to adopt is good, it really isn't that interesting. Ross continues to be funny, but still really, really annoying. Rachel is alright, but Joey is really my favorite character, which is why I'm glad he's the one getting the spin-off. They took the cliched dumb character and made him really sensitive and now I'm rooting for him to walk away with Rachel, though since I don't think she's on the spin-off that this will actually happen.

On to Scrubs. Perfection. It was funny and it made you really feel bad for Elliot. Great part was when Elliot actually said "So Janitor, what should I do?" And a nice bit of continuity with the Janitor saying that his mother, who was actually his grandmother said something and then something happened with his sister, who was really his mother. He mentioned that before, so I'm glad they're continuing to go with that backstory. Still doesn't top last year when he took over teaching a class and wrote on the board that his name was "Dr. Jan Itor."

Coupling still bores me, I'm actually watching it while I am typing this. Meh.

Shiv's Personal Life

So, if you stumbled across this and wonder who the hell this Shiv'kala guy is, here is a basic "history"

I'm a 25 year old (EDIT: actually I'm 24 until January, but I tend to forget how old I am, though this is the first time I said 25 instead of 22 or 23. Milestone I guess...finally thinking I'm older instead of younger), happily married man who just celebrated his second wedding anniversary. We have a beautiful 3 year old daughter and a son on the way (due date, Leap Year 2004).

I am working full time, but living with my wife's grandparents until our house is finished (estimated date: October 30th.)

So that's it in a nutshell. Oh yes, I'm mentally a 10 year old, since I love cartoons, comics, and toys. Occasionally, I act my age, but where is the fun in that?

What Shiv Likes: A Primer

I'll be going into detail on each thing later on, but I thought I'd give you a head's up on what I like and what you can expect posts on.

Television (current):

SCRUBS
THE SIMPSONS
SOUTH PARK
STARGATE: SG-1
JUSTICE LEAGUE
DUCK DODGERS
X-MEN EVOLUTION

Television (older shows):

BABYLON 5
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES
SUPERMAN
FUTURAMA

Comics:

JSA
FLASH
NEW X-MEN
DR. FATE
1602
TEEN TITANS
FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE
TRANSFORMERS G1
TRANSFORMERS ARMADA

Toys:

TRANSFORMERS
MARVEL LEGENDS

Stargate SG-1: My New Obsession

Years ago, around 1987 to be exact, I started watching Star Trek with the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it was good. In 1993 I started watching Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 and things were really good (especially when all three where on at the same time). In 1995 Voyager started and it was okay. In 1997 I left to go to my Freshman year of College and stopped watching Voyager and Deep Space Nine, since I didn't have a TV in my room. I did try to catch most of Season 5 of Babylon 5 and it was okay. In 1998 Babylon 5 went off the air, with what I personally thing was the best hour of television ever and it was sad. In 1999 Deep Space Nine went off the air and I didn't watch it until the fall of that year when I found a station that re-ran seasons 6 and 7, which I had mostly missed and it was good. I also caught the first two episodes of Crusade, but didn't get to watch any of the other episodes and it was sad.

Then I stopped watching new Sci-Fi television for a while, though in 2001 I did catch all of the Crusade episodes on Sci-Fi and I did watch the last Voyager episode. Crusade was good, though it would have gotten much better. Voyager was just sad, not original, not entertaining and kind of bland. In the fall of 2001 I watched the first two episodes of Enterprise and gave up on the show.

So from roughly 2001 to recently, I gave up on science fiction television. Then through the magic of re-runs, I found Stargate SG-1 and I found what I had been missing since TNG, B5, and DS9 went off the air...Intelligent science fiction that has a larger story to tell, interesting characters, and is fun to watch episode after episode.

I've watched mainly Season 4, 5, and 7 episodes so far, so I do tend to get lost, though websites have helped. And though the larger story gets confusing sometimes, each episode is fun to watch filled with enough action, story, humor and pathos to make me want to watch more.

For those who don't know, the show is a spin-off of the 1994 Movie Stargate, about an ancient device that is uncovered which is a doorway to another world, which turns out to be where aliens impersonating the Egyptian gods took slaves.

Most of you might remember the movie as being good "popcorn entertainment" and not much else. It had a decent story, but rapidly turned into the usual "shoot-em-up" story. The show takes off of this premise and uses the movie characters Col. Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson.

The show has a great humorous side, especially when Jack shows his smart-assed side, which happens often. It also deals with the idea of mythology, as well as the inherent strife between the military and science. I can't really explain it well, but trust me if you are into science-fiction and want an intelligent show that is a break from the tired excuse for a Star Trek show Enterprise, then tune into Sci-Fi Monday-Friday at 6 p.m. or Mondays 6-10 p.m. or for the most recent re-runs, Fridays at either 9 or 11 p.m.

Greetings and What This Blog Is About

Welcome to my Blog. I guess I'm one of those people who used to say "I'll never have a Blog," but then I thought about it and figured, "hey, I have things to say and am interested in seeing who will end up reading this."

So if you stumbled upon my Blog, WELCOME!

I figure a lot of my posts will be comments on "geek" things such as Transformers, Comics, Star Trek, and other stuff I find interesting. But once in a while I may just post about life or current events. Up front, I'm no fan of President Bush or any other republican and Politicians as a whole really piss me off. I really try not to complain about politics all that often, but I figured if you come here, you should have a small idea of what to expect. Please realize that these are my opinions and that I do respect the Office a politician may hold, whether or not I respect the person.

But my promise is that most of the time I'll be posting about my interests and not really to bitch, so don't expect anything heavy into politics.

And again, if you took the time to visit this Blog, thank you and I hope you enjoy it.