Star Trek: Strange New Worlds V

You can ignore most of the first 10 reviews and the 10 latest reviews, because they're about books other than Strange New Worlds V (the erroneous entries are for Strange New Worlds I and Strange New Worlds VI). The entries in the middle are for the correct book (and most specify Strange New Worlds V). It's funny how the librarian's rant about the 'City on the Edge of Forever' story actually looks like Harlan Ellison's writing style. Anyway, in my opinion, Strange New Worlds V is a very good book, although not the best of the Strange New Worlds volumes. My favorite story by far is Robert Jeschonek's 'Shoulders of Giants'.

The fifth Strange New Worlds anthology is the best to date. Although previous volumes have given us exceptional individual stories, such as "Isolation Ward 4" in SNW4 and "Whatever You Do, Don't Read This Story" in SNW3, this volume is excellent from start to finish.There are stories from all five of the Trek series, which is sur[prising, considering how close to the October deadline for submissions the premier of Enterprise was. Yet these stories are some of the best in the book. For TOS fans, there's a visit to City on the Edge of Forever, and an exploration of just what kind of person voluteers to be a "redshirt" even knowing their high mortality rate. TNG deals with everything from investigating a new Leonardo da Vinci to Dixon Hill -- the real one, not Picard playing Dixon Hill -- saving the Enterprise. Voyager stories deal with the homecoming from two different angles and tie up a lot of loose ends left in the Delta quadrant -- including a wonderful resolution for Kes that more than makes up for the Fury. Sadly, there is only one DS9 story, but it is one of the best in the book -- set after the end of the series. All around a truly great collection and hopefully an indicator of things to come from Strange New Worlds and the fans who love to write about them.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds V edited by Dean Wesley Smith is GREAT. Unlike the forth volume in this set of anthologies, this edition has great stories and will keep you glued to the pages with stories from the fan perspective. There are 23 short stories in this volume and they range from TOS, TNG, DS-9, Voyager and something new this year Enterprise. These stories are the winning enteries for this years contest and I must say... you established authors of TREK beware... these up and comers are good, with a little time they will bring Gene Roddenberry's dream forward. Adventure, thrills, action and intrigue all are found here with many different perspectives. This volume is, so far, the best overall of the five published to date and it is a vision of what is to come for TREK.I wish the authors luck and keep on expanding the boundaries of the universe. You are only as limited as your imagination... reading these stories proves that imagination is well and working here. This is where at least 3 current TREK writers have come from and others have sold stories to other publishers. Read this for a refreshing outlook of TREK.

Wow!! Yet again, another great work by the fans for the fans. I really liked the tale, "Kristin's Conundrum" by two authors (one is Jeff Jackson or something ... it shows that even our youngest authors can get out there and really get a decent piece out there.) Makes me wonder if there are another short stories from the authors out there.One question: why are all the writers American?

...a year later: the weather is pretty much the same (currently 45 and less than a week to Memorial Day...blah) and I'm deep into my Star Trek jones waiting for SNW-V. And like "Star Wars: Clones", the franchise has bounced back and rediscovered itself. I'm half-way through the book and almost all the stories have captured my interest and imagination (unlike the very disappointing SNW-IV). I disagreed w/the choice for Grand Prize (a decent story from the Edith Keeler era), but Borg-ified Tribbles, Data confronting Kivas Fajo again, Jake being tested after his dad "disappeared", Seven's conflicts w/Voyager's return to Earth, and Archer's first encounter w/a Vulcan...what's not to like?Dean Wesley's "state of the anthology" address appeared as an afterword and was much welcomed. Though the cover could use some tweaking (Daedalus but no NX-01?) and the back cover fails to mention that there are Enterprise stories contained therein, these are minor quibbles to a most satisfying summer read, well-worth the wait and stands proud w/the first three volumes.