Little Sister
{4.5/5} “Being in that streamlined, percolating body with its loose joints and eagle vision was an indescribable thrill, beyond anything she had ever felt or imagined feeling.” Little Sister by Barbara Gowdy, published in 2017 Rose runs a movie theatre — she lives with her mother who has dementia, and has a boyfriend she sees […]
Star Trek: The Latter Fire
{4.5/5} “We are captains, and with command comes the implicit truth that we must balance lives against lives, with each order we give… I have done so in the past and I carry the scar that does not heal. I do not need to ask you if you have done the same. I know you […]
A Simple Favor
{5/5} “I’ve seen him with his wife. Let me tell you, they’ve got more chemistry than a science fair.” A Simple Favor, released in 2018 Stephanie’s friend Emily is missing. They’ve only been friends for a few weeks — their sons go to school together. They’ve bonded over martinis. At least, Stephanie thinks they have. […]
Final Report
{5/5} “I don’t know much about science, but I know this: They didn’t land a spaceship on a comet using anecdotal evidence, and they didn’t calibrate the rate of descent using focus groups.” Final Report by Rick Mercer, published in 2018 This is mostly a collection of Rick Mercer’s rants from his TV show, Rick […]
Star Trek ENT: Patterns of Interference
{4.5/5} “Do we presume we have the right — and the wisdom — to intervene in the lives of other beings we may not fully understand? Or do we default to granting them the same primacy over the lives that we insist upon for our own?” Star Trek: Enterprise — Rise of the Federation: Patterns […]
Star Trek: Enterprise — Live by the Code
{5/5} “Mayweather… tried to imagine wanting the experience he’d undergone inside the Ware, believing it was necessary and just. Would it really be so wrong for someone to free him from that condition, that conviction, over his protests? Would he be better off staying inside? He couldn’t believe that.” Star Trek: Enterprise — Rise of […]
Star Trek: Enterprise — Uncertain Logic
{4.5/5} “Peace, tolerance, openness to exchange with other species: These ideas create more opportunities, allow individuals more chances to survive and more options to succeed. Therefore, they have an evolutionary advantage over violence, intolerance, oppression — ideas that tend to destroy lives or restrain their opportunities.” Star Trek: Enterprise — Rise of the Federation: Uncertain […]
Star Trek: Enterprise — Tower of Babel
{4.5/5} “The Federation’s strength comes from its unity — its ability to set aside its members’ differences in pursuit of their mutual interests. Our respective syndicates will be better able to stand against them if we learn from their example.” Star Trek: Enterprise — Rise of the Federation: Tower of Babel by Christopher L. Bennett, […]
Source Code
{5/5} “It’s the new me.” Source Code, released in 2011 A soldier wakes up in someone else’s body. He’s on a train and he has 8 minutes to find out who is planning on bombing it. When he fails, he tries again. When he returns to real life he communicates with a woman named Goodwin […]
Elf
{5/5} “Human, raised by humans.” Elf, released in 2003 Buddy is a human but he was raised by elves — at the North Pole. When he finally discovers his true heritage, he decides to visit New York to visit his father. His father turns out to be a not-so-nice businessman who initially thinks Buddy is […]