Coraline

Coraline by Neil Gaiman


Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. —G. K. Chesterton

This is a book about dragons - not real dragons, but monsters that are subtle, and terrifying.  And about a girl, Coraline, who learns about being brave:

“Because,” she said, “when you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave.”

I really enjoyed this, as I did Gaiman's later work, The Graveyard Book.  There is a deep, CS Lewis-ian quality about the story and what Coraline faces.  It's like if The Great Divorce had a run in with the Narnia books.  Highly recommended!

Coraline sighed. “You really don’t understand, do you?” she said. “I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn’t mean anything. What then?”

Cold Equations: Silent Weapons

Star Trek: The Next Generation:
Cold Equations: Silent Weapons: Book Two
by David Mack

I've been reading Trek novels since Blish's days.  Time was when I always had the latest one on hand - part of my strategy "have something to read in case I'm abducted by aliens" (see also "have something to read while waiting in the checkout line").  It is a strategy that has served me well.

And with the advent of ereaders and other portable electronics, I'm now able to carry around stacks of books ... the library NEVER closes - come and get me, saucer-folk!

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How do you top the resurrection of Mr Data?  Well, with adventure, mysteries and conspiracies, of course.   The Enterprise gets called on to clear Data of a murder charge and unravel a Breen plot on the Orion homeworld.  With fast paced action, and more than a few plot twists, the story moves quickly.  The familiar Trek characters, as well as the new ones work well together.  I'm still getting used to Picard and Crusher as a couple (and as parents!)

Mack works in details from the Trek canon AND the less-than-canon novels.  (He and the many current Trek authors play fair - giving you enough info to move the story along, without spoiling the other books.)


Now I'm on to the concluding volume (Wesley' s back!) - happily it was at the library just when I finished this one.