TOS Audiobooks
Feb. 14th, 2021 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kribbanOh, how I love the new Star Trek: The original series audiobooks narrated by Robert Petkoff! They seem to be releasing them fairly often; so much so that when I've finished one, my app recommends another one.
Robert Petkoff has a great, fairly neutral narration voice and does the character voices well (and doesn't overdo them!) including the more subtle ones like Sulu's.
Yes, reading a plain old book is good, but A) I have to sit or lie down to read. I can't exactly do housework or take walks while reading and those are two activities that are good for my well-being and B) audiobooks are a much more immersive experience for me than reading. I get to take part in a performance, and I like that!
These are the ones I've finished:
Agents of Influence by Dayton Ward
A spy thriller. Human Federations spies have been surgically altered to appear as Klingons and the Enterprise are sent to extract them. I thought this was fairly boring, but then again, I'm not a fan of spy thrillers. Someone who loves that genre might really like this book. The coolest part was Sulu piloting a shuttle through an asteroid field.
The Higher Frontier by Christopher L. Bennett. Almost a supernatural fantasy-drama, though it still fits within canon parameters. A group of blind, but telepathic Andorians are massacred. The Enterprise saves the survivors and it snowballs from there.
There's a very enlightened 1970's feel in this book. There is consciousness-raising and mentions of polyamory. Sulu is a single dad. (Yay, Demora.) Kirk admits to having had threesomes (and is adorably flustered.) There's also a tiny mention of the universe Discovery takes place in, which I think is a nice touch.
The most amazing scene is one where Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov discuss how displeased they are with the fictionaltv holovid-series based on their lives. This is a scene taken straight from debates in the old fanzines, I'm sure! :-)
A Contest of Principles by Greg Cox
A straight-up action-adventure split into three parallel storylines. The Enterprise crew are acting as election observers (a thing that happens in the real world, kudos for accuracy.) McCoy is kidnapped. Spock and Chapel go on a mission to save him while Kirk is left to deal with the election.
I love McCoy, that's no secret, and he's at his best here, surly yet charming, trying to save himself but following his physician's oath at the same time.
Spock does some badass secret agent stuff, like meeting an informant in a sauna. There's another little Discovery-mention and a lesbian character, which is a complete non-event, as it should be.
This is my favorite book so far, and though it was obviously written before the 2020 US election, and probably not with any real nations in mind, the whole mission felt like something taken from real life.
Greg Cox has also written the book I'm listening to now, The Antares Maelstrom which is a gold-rush adventure story. I haven't gotten that far, but Sulu has his own separate storyline, which I always enjoy, and he has a romance with a woman I'm quite sure will be Demora's mother.
Honestly, don't produce any more shows/films/reboots. Just keep pumping out audiobooks, and I'm good to go.
Robert Petkoff has a great, fairly neutral narration voice and does the character voices well (and doesn't overdo them!) including the more subtle ones like Sulu's.
Yes, reading a plain old book is good, but A) I have to sit or lie down to read. I can't exactly do housework or take walks while reading and those are two activities that are good for my well-being and B) audiobooks are a much more immersive experience for me than reading. I get to take part in a performance, and I like that!
These are the ones I've finished:
Agents of Influence by Dayton Ward
A spy thriller. Human Federations spies have been surgically altered to appear as Klingons and the Enterprise are sent to extract them. I thought this was fairly boring, but then again, I'm not a fan of spy thrillers. Someone who loves that genre might really like this book. The coolest part was Sulu piloting a shuttle through an asteroid field.
The Higher Frontier by Christopher L. Bennett. Almost a supernatural fantasy-drama, though it still fits within canon parameters. A group of blind, but telepathic Andorians are massacred. The Enterprise saves the survivors and it snowballs from there.
There's a very enlightened 1970's feel in this book. There is consciousness-raising and mentions of polyamory. Sulu is a single dad. (Yay, Demora.) Kirk admits to having had threesomes (and is adorably flustered.) There's also a tiny mention of the universe Discovery takes place in, which I think is a nice touch.
The most amazing scene is one where Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov discuss how displeased they are with the fictional
A Contest of Principles by Greg Cox
A straight-up action-adventure split into three parallel storylines. The Enterprise crew are acting as election observers (a thing that happens in the real world, kudos for accuracy.) McCoy is kidnapped. Spock and Chapel go on a mission to save him while Kirk is left to deal with the election.
I love McCoy, that's no secret, and he's at his best here, surly yet charming, trying to save himself but following his physician's oath at the same time.
Spock does some badass secret agent stuff, like meeting an informant in a sauna. There's another little Discovery-mention and a lesbian character, which is a complete non-event, as it should be.
This is my favorite book so far, and though it was obviously written before the 2020 US election, and probably not with any real nations in mind, the whole mission felt like something taken from real life.
Greg Cox has also written the book I'm listening to now, The Antares Maelstrom which is a gold-rush adventure story. I haven't gotten that far, but Sulu has his own separate storyline, which I always enjoy, and he has a romance with a woman I'm quite sure will be Demora's mother.
Honestly, don't produce any more shows/films/reboots. Just keep pumping out audiobooks, and I'm good to go.
