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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 10 edited by Dean Wesley Smith with Paula M. Block
01/05/2008 . Source: Eamonn Murphy 
pub: Simon and Schuster. 354 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK), $15.00 (US), $17.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-1-4165-4438-8. Buy Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 10 in the USA - or Buy Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 10 in the UK  check out website: www.simonsays.co.uk
It struck me while reading these stories, in between reading other SF, that there is a difference between the two. Original SF stories are strange and odd at first reading. Often, the opening paragraph is baffling and you have to persevere to find out what it means. 'Star Trek' fiction, on the other hand, is instantly familiar and depends on that familiarity for its popularity. Science Fiction is there, in the starships and the computers and the aliens but its all pre-packed and ready to go. Perhaps this is why the stories are more like soap operas than other SF.
It also struck me that the later Trek series rely too heavily on illusions, as do too many of the tales in this volume. Four stories in a row were mostly unreal. 'The Very Model' by Muri McCage is about using the holodeck to jog Data's memory. 'So A Horse Walks Into A Bar' by Brian Seidman is about Vic Fontaine, a holodeck creation on Deep Space Nine. 'Signal To Noise' by Jim Johnson has some character undergoing illusions in the thick white fog generated by the Prophets on Bajor or the wormhole or something. Then 'The Fate Of Captain Ransom' by Rob Vagle has a the eponymous hero undergoing happy illusions in the last seconds of his life, provided by a kind alien. None of these stories are particularly bad or particularly good, but they all rely on super-scientific illusions. Obviously all fiction is unreal but this added layer of unreality does not help reader involvement. Who cares what happens to a fictional character in a place which is an illusion even to him?
'Echoes' by Randy Tatano was mostly set in 'reality' but ended in the infernal Nexus which is another fantasy world where anything can happen. The writers notions of what DNA can do also struck me as more fantasy than Science Fiction.
Happily, most of the other stories were pretty good and the following were particularly to my liking. 'A Taste Of Spam' by L.E. Doggett has Janeaway and crew trying to cope with unwanted advertising. Good fun. 'Your Are Not In Space' by Edgar Governo has Hoshi Sato struggling to translate an alien language for Captain Archer and featured a nice lateral thinking denouement. 'Time Line' by Jerry M. Wolfe was a Gary Seven story with a guest appearance by a well known Trek villain. Clever stuff.
The last two stories, 'Brigadoon' by Rigel Aillur and 'Reborn' by Jeremy Yoder, use time travel and one-dimensional trickery to feature Star Trek captains from across the generations. Both were pretty good.
This is fan fiction but it reads like professional fiction because the editors have high standards. Some of the tales did not suit my own prejudices but all in all it's a good collection and with nineteen stories pretty good value, too. It will give fans many pleasurable hours and may even inspire a few to have a go themselves.
Eamonn Murphy
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