First Officer Michael Burnham
To Boldly Go…
How many of you reading this have been watching the new Star Trek series, Discovery? Only four episodes have aired so far, but it is so cool! Discovery takes place ten years before the original Star Trek series with Kirk and Spock. It follows former first officer Michael Burnham on the slightly mysterious science vessel Discovery. The rest of the crew is also intriguing, but I can’t say much without giving away some things for those of you who haven’t seen it. But I can say that Discovery looks like it’s going to be an incredible ensemble show, like many of the other Star Trek series. Discovery also has a lot of firsts going for it, including a first female person of color lead, and Star Trek’s first openly gay character. This series is so far boldly going in some new directions but also very much staying true to the spirit of Star Trek through the ages. Discovery embraces diversity, intrigue, rich character development, and multi-layered plot developments. I mean, these new Klingons, you guys!!
With Discovery airing, and a number of staff members being pretty excited about it, I thought I would put together a short list of books and multimedia that you all might like if you also enjoy Star Trek of any kind.
- The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. A lot of people refer to this book as feel good science fiction. I’m not sure if that counts as a spoiler. It has the feel of original series Star Trek camaraderie, with Discovery Trek technology (even though Discovery comes before the OS in the Trek timeline – bear with me). This book is a mostly closed ship narrative about a tight knit crew who explore their differences among themselves in addition to wide open outer space. There’s also fungus fuel for the ship in both. And a warlike species bent on causing trouble for their small part of the universe.
- Firefly. This show is probably an obvious choice, but in case you haven’t seen it, give it a shot. It’s another closed ship narrative about a crew with a lot of differences but the ability to get along with each other. Mostly. I would suggest this one to fans of Enterprise or again, the original series.
- Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. The premise of this is a bit dark. Six astronauts run a generation-type ship through space. But instead of reproducing, they clone themselves at the end of every life-cycle and keep all of their knowledge and experience. However, someone has murdered them all, forcing their clones to regenerate with no knowledge of their many years on the ship. And then destroyed the cloning devices. It could only be one of the six. But who? And will they strike again?
- Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. This one is for those who like the world building of Star Trek. An abundance of technology has created a universal utopia built on a complex system of castes and houses and the outlawing of religion. This book, the beginning of a series, follows two misfits in this seemingly perfect but complex world along with a child who might bring ruin to all of it.
- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. This slim non-fiction volume may not be as completely outlandish as Star Trek but it really makes you think about humanity and our place in the wider universe. Will Vulcans find us some day? Will we ever develop warp speed technology? Does the Mirror Universe really exist? This book gives hope that we aren’t completely alone in the universe and that someday, we’ll develop the technology to find out for sure.
In addition to these titles, check with library staff about the Star Trek titles we have in television, movies, and books.
Post by Carey Gibbons, Reference Specialist
About #FDL
Welcome to #FDL! #FDL is a twice weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and East Peoria. Twice a week, library staff will make posts that highlight some aspect of library life and relate it to you – our readers. Have you ever wanted to know which Dewey number represented a certain topic? Are you looking for book recommendations based on your favorite television show or television recommendations based on your favorite book? Have you ever wondered about the secret details of librarian life? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then #FDL is for you. We look forward to writing posts that are informative and entertaining and hope that you enjoy getting better acquainted with Fondulac District Library.