Sunday, December 19, 2021

{Sunday Post} - Star Trekking for Books

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Morning, Everyone!


I intended to have this post written and scheduled for midnight, but that didn't quite pan out. It's 12:20 AM as I'm writing this. Oh well! 


There are no updates. Besides the wacky weather, nothing of any importance happened. Well, the Kansas City Chiefs won two games in one week, so I guess that's something. 


Happy Holidays!




 

What Am I Reading?


After receiving an ARC of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Revenant by Alex White, I changed my reading schedule. I'm currently on page 139 or 43%, according to Goodreads. If everything prevails, I should have Revenant read by Monday morning, and I'll post a review on Tuesday (the publication day). Then I'll begin reading Star Trek: Deep Domain by Howard Weinstein, which might be my last read of 2021.  




Recent Reviews


by V.C. Andrews 





To Boldly Go...


By now, I believe everyone knows I have a fascination with Star Trek books, or to be more precise, the '60s and '70s tie-ins. Star Trek: The Original Series was never a rating success during its 1966-1969 run on NBC. While there was a small fan base, it didn't become popular until the series went into syndication in 1969. Until Star Trek returned in 1979 with the first of six feature films, fans had to settle for Bantam's tie-ins. The first Star Trek episodic novelization came out in 1967 by science fiction pulp writer James Blish. Eleven more books followed, with the last published in 1977. Each book featured 5 to 8 short stories based on script drafts. Blish's health started to decline in the early '70s, and his wife, J.A. Lawrence, and his mother-in-law helped with his writings. He died in 1975 before he could complete Star Trek 12. His wife finished the book and received a co-author credit. A 13th installment, Mudd's Angels, was published in 1978 under "An Original STAR TREK Adventure" banner, with J.A. Lawrence receiving full credit. It contained short novelizations of Mudd's Women and I, Mudd that were left unfinished by Blish and completed by Lawrence, and the original novella The Business, as Usual, During Altercations by Lawrence.


Once upon a time, I owned a1st printing of Star Trek (otherwise known as Star Trek 1) by James Blish, but I either lost it or misplaced it. After finding Spock Must Die! by James Blish at a thrift store a few years back, I started looking for original novelizations on eBay. For some reason, eBay sellers want a pretty penny for them. Nearly two weeks ago, I stumbled upon an unlisted eBay listing for all 12 Star Trek novelizations with only one bid. I kept an eye on it and didn't make a bid until the last 30 seconds and won it for $1.25. Yep, a $1.25 - plus $11.35 for shipping. A week went by, and the seller had never sent the books. I emailed the seller to see what was going on, and they replied that they had sent an invoice with combined shipping. It seems the seller sold multiple Star Trek books lots and got me confused with another buyer. The books were shipped the next day and were in my possession two days later.


Considering the age of the books, they're in decent condition. 9 thru 12 are first-printings, and the rest are reprints from the '70s. The novelizations were very popular with fans. The first book in the above photo is the 20th printing, published in 1973.  



From 1970-1981, Bantam Books published 16 "An Orignal STAR TREK Adventure" books, including Spock Must Die! and Mudd's Angels. I very seldom find a bundle of these titles on eBay. When I do, the sellers want a bit too much for them. Immediately after I won the Blish books, I found a "Buy It Now" 7 paperbacks bundle for $5 plus $3.82 for shipping. The titles are Planet of Judgement by Joe Haldeman, The Starless World by Gordon Eklund, Trek To Madworld by Stephen Goldin, Vulcan! by Kathleen Sky, The Price of the Phoenix by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, The Fate of the Phoenix by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, and Spock, Messiah! by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. These are the 1984 reprints featuring new covers.  


(FYI - I own 1st printings of Planet of Judgement, Spock Must Die!, and The New Voyages.)




What's New On the Bookshelf?


While shopping at Walmart for the gazillionth time, I picked up Katt Loves Dogg by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. Yeah, I know I'm way out of the targetted age bracket, but I usually like Patterson's children's stories. Plus, I'm a cat lover.

4 comments:

  1. Go Chiefs! I live in Michigan but we don't really have a team (lol) and I've always liked the chiefs. :)

    I LOVE seeing those older Trek books. Nostalgia! I've been trolling on Ebay for some of the James Blish novelizations lately... I have 5 and need to get some more. You got an amazing deal! Oh, and I had all of them when I was younger. I'm kicking myself now...

    Deep Domain looks promising also!

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    Replies
    1. You have to wait for the right seller with a reasonable price. Many sellers put expensive price tags on Star Trek books, especially the James Blish titles. People don't realize that the books received mass-marketed reprints after the Star Trek reruns became popular. The books aren't as rare as some seem to think.

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  2. Nice haul! Lots of new to me ones here but glad to see you're building your collection nicely! Hope you enjoy the new reads you got this week!


    Here's my StS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm in love with the Star Trek books, especially the ones with the cover art by Eddie Jones.

      Delete

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