Tag: Star Trek Picard

REVIEW: What Is the Story of Captain Picard? by David Stabler

REVIEW: What Is the Story of Captain Picard? by David Stabler

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

The Who HQ line of nonfiction books for kids adds the story of Jean Luc Picard to their line which also includes What Is the Story of Captain Kirk? This book includes some basic Trek history – from the timeline for TOS (The Original Series) to side bars about Rodenberry, Trek captains, and Picard’s hobbies – as well as background on the actor who plays Captain Picard, Sir Patrick Stewart. Then Picard’s story is told in highlights from key Next Generation (TNG) episodes.

Review

This is really well done! The author does a great job of synthesizing 7 seasons worth of TNG episodes to build a cohesive biography for Picard. A biography for a fictional character! Something not easy to pull off.

There’s no info dump here – nothing bogs the reader down. Tidbits of info are offered (with some spoilers) while the author moves quickly through highlights of Picard’s journey. (Although I did take issue with one instance where the author’s summary of the captain’s motives in a situation didn’t match the episode in my opinion). The book is current through initial planning and discussions of Picard season two.

I’m impressed by how deftly the author moves between reality – box office numbers, series actors, the larger Trek universe – and fiction with the life of Picard and to a lesser extent that of some of his friends. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and highly recommend it for Star Trek fans and newbies alike.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!

REVIEW: Star Trek: The Wisdom of Picard edited by Chip Carter

REVIEW: Star Trek: The Wisdom of Picard edited by Chip Carter

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Adams Media in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary and Review

This gift book/reference book includes quotes from one of Star Trek’s most well-known and well-loved captains, Jean-Luc Picard, both from The Next Generation TV series and movies as well as from the new Picard series. There are also photos of the character throughout the book.

The quotes are separated into five sections – philosophy and humanity, history and science, literature and the arts, exploration and adventure, and finally politics, leadership and diplomacy.

In my review copy, all of the quotes included the name of the episode where they came from. Only some of them included the name of the show and the season number as well. I assume that the printed versions include this information for every quote. There is no context given for the quote, other than the episode name, but sometimes the quote is given as part of the conversation it was part of.

I think this will be a fun resource for Star Trek and Picard fans. Some readers are going to recognize the quotes immediately. Others will recognize the episode titles and be able to fill in the context on their own. Still others will use the episode citations to go back and revisit the moments for a refresher.

I was sad that there was no indexing or cross referencing for the quotes. I would have liked a way to see which quotes came from which seasons or maybe which ones were said to or about a specific character or alien race. As it is, this is a fun stroll down memory lane for Star Trek fans. I’m not sure newcomers will get as much out of this except maybe as a prompt to watch a specific episode to find out more about a particular quote. But with only a few words or a few lines, I’m not sure it would be enough to draw novices in.

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½=Good+