Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Infinity's Prism

I stumbled upon this book while visiting the Star Trek Exhibit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I started reading it on Monday, September 14, 2009 and finished reading it today, Thursday, September 17, 2009. I just could not put the book down until I finished reading all three stories!!!!! The third story, "Seeds of Dissension", had me on the edge of my seat!! Princeps, Khanate, Oh My!!!!! I can't wait to read through Book Two!!!!!

Of all the stories in this collection; the one with the former Dr. Bashir was the most compelling of all. In this one it shows how he fought the decendents of Khan's Eugenic Wars. This one should have been expanded into a full novel! I wish the editor could have expanded this concept into a larger format. It certainly was the best of all of them and was hoping for more of a story.

What I enjoyed about the majority of Myriad Universes is that the stories told are not complete disasters resulting in the end of the universe or the death of tons of main characters (with the exception of one certain story from the following book which seemed to be written just to kill every main character across the board). The Voyager story was positive and showed an almost better timeline for the crew. I found it interesting, up lifting and touching. Once again, the last story with Bashir was positive and gave hope for a change for the better. Its nice to read some "what if" stories and see that there are other possibilities that turn out just as good, if not better, than the ones written for the TV. Both books are a good read.

Alternate universes and what-ifs are -- obviously -- the life-blood of science fiction. Two of the three stories in this volume live, one just sags. "A Less Perfect Union" features Christopher Pike at the helm and James T. Kirk as his second in command. Characters from throughout the original canon appear, including the animated series. I rated it tops until I read "Seeds of Dissent" the DS9 version in the book. Again, capturing elements from earlier mainstream stories, it ranks as one of the few stories I've ever read that I could not stop once I had started it, and that is in the Trek universe or any other work of fiction -- and I write from the perspective of a 61 year old Trekker (I was there when it started). When Kirk banished Khan to Ceti Alpha 5, Spock wondered what it would be like to see what crop sprang from the seed they had planted. James Swallow lets us see what happened when Khan won the Eugenics War. Outstanding! "Places of Exile," the Voyager installment, reads like one of the early Next Generation TV shows -- tea and talk. If you don't have anything else to read, read it, but you won't miss much by skipping it. But don't let that stop you from buying this book!