Wesley Britton's Blog, page 6
October 27, 2020
Aliens land on earth and we're not happy about it.
In the coming months, we're going to be touting the upcoming release of Return to Alpha in a brand-new print edition. it's the 6th stand-alone saga from the Beta-Earth Chronicles. The book is especially timely as it features our planet in a future time after climate change has afflicted our world as well as waves of weaponized pandemics.
It's a stand-alone tale as it introduces a new cast of characters not seen in the first five books of the series. How would we on Alpha-Earth react to the news that there are other earths in the multi-verse? Not as happily as you might thing.
The passage below sets the stage a bit. It's an interview with the aliens in a fictitious news article:
The Jamaica Daily Messenger
Special Edition, Monday, March 4, 2044
By Noel Fleming
Photograph and Video Gallery by Tara Clemens
Exclusive: First Interviews with First Aliens to Ever Land on Earth
Humankind has always wondered if we were alone in the universe. In all those planets in our galaxy and beyond, shouldn’t we expect to someday encounter other forms of life?
And what about other universes where perhaps other kinds of humanity might live on parallel earths?
Last Monday, revelers at the Doctor’s Cave Beach in Montego Bay were the first to see a strange, triangular spaceship with two bulbous pods attached to it drop from the skies. (Photo and videos attached.) It carried six beings claiming to be from not one, but two such parallel earths.
At first, witnesses thought they were seeing some sort of Hollywood stunt to promote a new movie. “Two of the creatures that came out of that ship,” Rose Leiter of Saratoga, FL, reported, “looked like Klingons or Wookies or something. Very believable make-up.”
Raoul Esperansa of Santa Clara, Cuba, had a similar reaction. “I think everyone thought we were watching some sort of staged show. Then the police came out and handcuffed the strangers and everyone began to worry. I think most of us were relieved when the bomb-bots scooped up the satchels on the beach. Perhaps we’d just seen some very inventive terrorists get arrested before they could do any damage.”
In fact, officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force very quickly apprehended the six aliens after four of them made attempts to introduce themselves to the crowds on the beach. After determining the situation was more appropriately the jurisdiction of the Military Intelligence branch of the Jamaica Defense Force, the aliens were placed in their custody and taken to the JDF’s headquarters in Kingston.
Within hours, JDF investigators conceded the stranded spacecraft had extra-terrestrial origins. A spokesperson for the scientific branch of the agency, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Messenger, “There’s no way the materials used, the construction design, or the control boards in that thing came from anywhere on our planet. We have so much to explore and test to find out how this thing ticks. Assuming we have the authority to do what we need to.”
Not certain of the legal ramifications in this unprecedented situation, Barrister William Anderson was asked to interview and represent the apparent aliens if they so desired. After consulting with his clients and the supervising officers, Anderson pointed out that while ignorance of the law has never been a legal defense, visitors from other planets should not be expected to know the proper procedures of acquiring entry visas and passports. At his insistence, all charges against the six were dropped.
The aliens’ main request was to be able to speak to the press. So Anderson contacted the Messenger and arranged for the most historic conversation in Earth’s history.
Table-Talk with Aliens
So yesterday at around 10:30 a.m., Anderson, Photographer Tara Clemens, and this reporter were ushered into a dining hall at the JDF headquarters. There was no shortage of armed bots surrounding everyone. Because of an invisible quarantine-shield dividing the room, all our voices would be sent and heard through the imbedded microphones and speakers in the long laminated table in the center of the hall. We felt in no danger even though we were among the very first to meet Jamaica’s most unexpected guests.
At the table, six figures sat together, clearly waiting for our arrival. Like the beach witnesses, my eyes were first drawn to the identical pair that indeed reminded me of old movie creatures like Klingons or Wookies. As readers can see in the attached photos, the aliens, apparently named Hamed El and Hamed Le, looked nothing like their companions. Instead, their bulging foreheads, large protruding jaws, and gray skins illustrated by colorful natural blotches in stripes, streaks, and splashes very much looked like a Hollywood creation.
As we took our places across from the aliens, the youngest of the four normal appearing beings spoke up. “I see your interest in our pilots. Before you ask them anything, please know they don’t understand English. I act as their translator. Also know that, as many have asked before, they can’t tell you much about how our ship, the Marivurn, works. By deliberate design, the builders didn’t want the pilots to know things that might prove dangerous in Alphan scientific hands. On top of that, when we landed here, they erased and destroyed all the memory banks in the Marivurn operating systems. For the same reason.”
“And that reason is,” a yellow-eyed, dark-skinned beauty added, ”is that on both our home-worlds, Beta-Earth and Cerapin-Earth, reckless scientists tried to duplicate multi-verse jumps at times the deities didn’t permit. On both planets, terrible, horrible consequences resulted. Thousands died on both earths. So we brought nothing to tempt anyone here to try to do the same.”
Curious to learn how these visitors knew such perfect, crystal-clear English, I was astonished with what I heard. According to the dark-skin girl, four of them were from the same family, sharing the same father. And they claimed he was originally from our planet. He had taught them English, they said, as something of a private family code as no one else on their home worlds knew their father’s language.
Studying their faces, I could see a slight family resemblance. But as they claimed to have different mothers, they were all distinct in appearance.
To my far left sat a rather handsome, strongly built man who introduced himself as Malcolm Renbourn II. Twenty-four years old, the oldest of the group, he said his father was Dr. Malcolm Renbourn of Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Forty years to the day before their arrival in Jamaica, Renbourn said his father had been ripped from Alpha-Earth, transported to Beta-Earth, and began a life “that’s a rather long story.”
Next to him sat the yellow-eyed, chocolate-skinned Kalmeg Renbourn, clearly from a different mother. Twenty-three years old, the second oldest of the group, she said her mother had been bonded to the Renbourn tribe due to the will of Olos, the goddess of Beta-Earth. “My mother was the prophesized gift from my country, Balnakin, to Tribe Renbourn as part of the reconciliation between my people and the Renbourns. Again, another long story.”
Beside her sat the other female of the group, an attractive, demure sixteen-year-old girl who called herself Olrei Renbourn. “While I was born on Cerapin-Earth, my mother was from Beta. She was one of the five Betan wives who came with father to Cerapin twenty years ago when our tribe had a new mission, to make Cerapin-Earth aware of the multi-verse. As we keep saying, another long story.”
Finally, I was introduced to Malcolm Renbourn III, the one who had claimed to be the translator for the pilots. His skin also had the colorful markings of the big-jawed twins. “I am the one half-Cerapin of my family in this room. My mothers were a pair much like my Hamed friends here. On our planet, many humans are pairs who share, you probably didn’t know, their minds, thoughts, and physical sensations. Other Cerapins are like me, nams they call us. Nams are single-bodied humans once branded defectives and outcasts. Until father and Tribe Renbourn changed all that. Guess what? Yep, another long story.”
When I asked why this Renbourn family had so many mothers, I heard another astonishing answer.
“On Beta-Earth,” the one called Malcolm Renbourn II responded, “for as long as we have recorded history, we suffered from the ancient curse we called the Plague-With-No-Name. For millennia, that plague killed three out of four male babies their first year. So it shouldn’t be surprising our tribal structure was based on polygamous bondings of a husband and usually three or four wives. Come to think of it, I know of no other family with nine wives like father had.”
“There was a reason for that,” Kalmeg said. “Father’s main mission on Beta was not only to make our planet aware of the multi-verse and spread Alphan knowledge everywhere, but to create numerous Alpha-Beta bloodlines. For many years, doctors hoped our genetics might contain the cure for the plague. That didn’t happen until Malcolm II over here. His genetics are something unusual. But that too is a story for another day.”
Was this mission repeated on Cerapin-Earth?
“Not quite,” Malcolm III answered. “Our planet is not polygamous. As we have a serious over-population problem, that isn’t our practice. I know father wasn’t expecting to take on any more wives. My mothers, however, rather, ah, made it impossible for him to resist their, ah, charms. While I have quite a few brothers and sisters on Cerapin, Tribe Renbourn’s main mission, other than spreading knowledge of both Alpha and Beta, was the championing of nam rights like we mentioned before.”
And what is your mission here, I asked.
“To bring awareness of the multi-verse to Alpha-Earth, of course,” Olrei answered. “And awareness of the power of all the deities, Olos, Cerapin, and your god father called Jehovah or Allah or whatever name you prefer. We will have much, very much to share with you about the deities. I don’t know if anyone told you, but we brought with us rather extensive records in many formats with so many details of life on Beta and Cerapin-Earths. They’re on what we call skil-pads, but we don’t know how successful your people will be unscrambling the texts and pictures on our technology. We certainly hope you’ll be able to open them so you’ll have so much knowledge and information to share with Alphans everywhere.”
Are you planning on creating your own polygamous families?
The four Renbourns laughed. “No, while we are open to finding mates,” Olrei replied, “we have no directives to introduce any of our customs to Alpha-Earth. Nothing like that at all. But we’re going to be here for a while.
“Unless the deities do something different we don’t know about, no cross-versal window will open for another twenty years. That seems to be their pattern. We’re going nowhere. And before you ask, no one else is coming after us. No one can.”
“Other than sharing my home planet with you,” Kalmeg added, “I certainly don’t know of any other missions. Before we boarded the Marivurn, neither Malcolm II nor I had even ever met the Cerapin Renbourns. Every conversation we’ve had has been here, wherever here exactly is.”
What future plans do you have?
“You tell us,” Malcolm II shrugged. “Since we’ve been here, we’ve been in rather restrained protective custody. Our only real plans are to talk to any reporters that want to interview us. We hinted at many long stories to tell. Well, we’re willing to tell them. We’re eager to share all of them. On behalf of my family, let me invite you to return, Noel Fleming of the Messenger. We’ve got stories for you that would fill books. On two earths, they already have.”
It's a stand-alone tale as it introduces a new cast of characters not seen in the first five books of the series. How would we on Alpha-Earth react to the news that there are other earths in the multi-verse? Not as happily as you might thing.
The passage below sets the stage a bit. It's an interview with the aliens in a fictitious news article:
The Jamaica Daily Messenger
Special Edition, Monday, March 4, 2044
By Noel Fleming
Photograph and Video Gallery by Tara Clemens
Exclusive: First Interviews with First Aliens to Ever Land on Earth
Humankind has always wondered if we were alone in the universe. In all those planets in our galaxy and beyond, shouldn’t we expect to someday encounter other forms of life?
And what about other universes where perhaps other kinds of humanity might live on parallel earths?
Last Monday, revelers at the Doctor’s Cave Beach in Montego Bay were the first to see a strange, triangular spaceship with two bulbous pods attached to it drop from the skies. (Photo and videos attached.) It carried six beings claiming to be from not one, but two such parallel earths.
At first, witnesses thought they were seeing some sort of Hollywood stunt to promote a new movie. “Two of the creatures that came out of that ship,” Rose Leiter of Saratoga, FL, reported, “looked like Klingons or Wookies or something. Very believable make-up.”
Raoul Esperansa of Santa Clara, Cuba, had a similar reaction. “I think everyone thought we were watching some sort of staged show. Then the police came out and handcuffed the strangers and everyone began to worry. I think most of us were relieved when the bomb-bots scooped up the satchels on the beach. Perhaps we’d just seen some very inventive terrorists get arrested before they could do any damage.”
In fact, officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force very quickly apprehended the six aliens after four of them made attempts to introduce themselves to the crowds on the beach. After determining the situation was more appropriately the jurisdiction of the Military Intelligence branch of the Jamaica Defense Force, the aliens were placed in their custody and taken to the JDF’s headquarters in Kingston.
Within hours, JDF investigators conceded the stranded spacecraft had extra-terrestrial origins. A spokesperson for the scientific branch of the agency, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Messenger, “There’s no way the materials used, the construction design, or the control boards in that thing came from anywhere on our planet. We have so much to explore and test to find out how this thing ticks. Assuming we have the authority to do what we need to.”
Not certain of the legal ramifications in this unprecedented situation, Barrister William Anderson was asked to interview and represent the apparent aliens if they so desired. After consulting with his clients and the supervising officers, Anderson pointed out that while ignorance of the law has never been a legal defense, visitors from other planets should not be expected to know the proper procedures of acquiring entry visas and passports. At his insistence, all charges against the six were dropped.
The aliens’ main request was to be able to speak to the press. So Anderson contacted the Messenger and arranged for the most historic conversation in Earth’s history.
Table-Talk with Aliens
So yesterday at around 10:30 a.m., Anderson, Photographer Tara Clemens, and this reporter were ushered into a dining hall at the JDF headquarters. There was no shortage of armed bots surrounding everyone. Because of an invisible quarantine-shield dividing the room, all our voices would be sent and heard through the imbedded microphones and speakers in the long laminated table in the center of the hall. We felt in no danger even though we were among the very first to meet Jamaica’s most unexpected guests.
At the table, six figures sat together, clearly waiting for our arrival. Like the beach witnesses, my eyes were first drawn to the identical pair that indeed reminded me of old movie creatures like Klingons or Wookies. As readers can see in the attached photos, the aliens, apparently named Hamed El and Hamed Le, looked nothing like their companions. Instead, their bulging foreheads, large protruding jaws, and gray skins illustrated by colorful natural blotches in stripes, streaks, and splashes very much looked like a Hollywood creation.
As we took our places across from the aliens, the youngest of the four normal appearing beings spoke up. “I see your interest in our pilots. Before you ask them anything, please know they don’t understand English. I act as their translator. Also know that, as many have asked before, they can’t tell you much about how our ship, the Marivurn, works. By deliberate design, the builders didn’t want the pilots to know things that might prove dangerous in Alphan scientific hands. On top of that, when we landed here, they erased and destroyed all the memory banks in the Marivurn operating systems. For the same reason.”
“And that reason is,” a yellow-eyed, dark-skinned beauty added, ”is that on both our home-worlds, Beta-Earth and Cerapin-Earth, reckless scientists tried to duplicate multi-verse jumps at times the deities didn’t permit. On both planets, terrible, horrible consequences resulted. Thousands died on both earths. So we brought nothing to tempt anyone here to try to do the same.”
Curious to learn how these visitors knew such perfect, crystal-clear English, I was astonished with what I heard. According to the dark-skin girl, four of them were from the same family, sharing the same father. And they claimed he was originally from our planet. He had taught them English, they said, as something of a private family code as no one else on their home worlds knew their father’s language.
Studying their faces, I could see a slight family resemblance. But as they claimed to have different mothers, they were all distinct in appearance.
To my far left sat a rather handsome, strongly built man who introduced himself as Malcolm Renbourn II. Twenty-four years old, the oldest of the group, he said his father was Dr. Malcolm Renbourn of Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Forty years to the day before their arrival in Jamaica, Renbourn said his father had been ripped from Alpha-Earth, transported to Beta-Earth, and began a life “that’s a rather long story.”
Next to him sat the yellow-eyed, chocolate-skinned Kalmeg Renbourn, clearly from a different mother. Twenty-three years old, the second oldest of the group, she said her mother had been bonded to the Renbourn tribe due to the will of Olos, the goddess of Beta-Earth. “My mother was the prophesized gift from my country, Balnakin, to Tribe Renbourn as part of the reconciliation between my people and the Renbourns. Again, another long story.”
Beside her sat the other female of the group, an attractive, demure sixteen-year-old girl who called herself Olrei Renbourn. “While I was born on Cerapin-Earth, my mother was from Beta. She was one of the five Betan wives who came with father to Cerapin twenty years ago when our tribe had a new mission, to make Cerapin-Earth aware of the multi-verse. As we keep saying, another long story.”
Finally, I was introduced to Malcolm Renbourn III, the one who had claimed to be the translator for the pilots. His skin also had the colorful markings of the big-jawed twins. “I am the one half-Cerapin of my family in this room. My mothers were a pair much like my Hamed friends here. On our planet, many humans are pairs who share, you probably didn’t know, their minds, thoughts, and physical sensations. Other Cerapins are like me, nams they call us. Nams are single-bodied humans once branded defectives and outcasts. Until father and Tribe Renbourn changed all that. Guess what? Yep, another long story.”
When I asked why this Renbourn family had so many mothers, I heard another astonishing answer.
“On Beta-Earth,” the one called Malcolm Renbourn II responded, “for as long as we have recorded history, we suffered from the ancient curse we called the Plague-With-No-Name. For millennia, that plague killed three out of four male babies their first year. So it shouldn’t be surprising our tribal structure was based on polygamous bondings of a husband and usually three or four wives. Come to think of it, I know of no other family with nine wives like father had.”
“There was a reason for that,” Kalmeg said. “Father’s main mission on Beta was not only to make our planet aware of the multi-verse and spread Alphan knowledge everywhere, but to create numerous Alpha-Beta bloodlines. For many years, doctors hoped our genetics might contain the cure for the plague. That didn’t happen until Malcolm II over here. His genetics are something unusual. But that too is a story for another day.”
Was this mission repeated on Cerapin-Earth?
“Not quite,” Malcolm III answered. “Our planet is not polygamous. As we have a serious over-population problem, that isn’t our practice. I know father wasn’t expecting to take on any more wives. My mothers, however, rather, ah, made it impossible for him to resist their, ah, charms. While I have quite a few brothers and sisters on Cerapin, Tribe Renbourn’s main mission, other than spreading knowledge of both Alpha and Beta, was the championing of nam rights like we mentioned before.”
And what is your mission here, I asked.
“To bring awareness of the multi-verse to Alpha-Earth, of course,” Olrei answered. “And awareness of the power of all the deities, Olos, Cerapin, and your god father called Jehovah or Allah or whatever name you prefer. We will have much, very much to share with you about the deities. I don’t know if anyone told you, but we brought with us rather extensive records in many formats with so many details of life on Beta and Cerapin-Earths. They’re on what we call skil-pads, but we don’t know how successful your people will be unscrambling the texts and pictures on our technology. We certainly hope you’ll be able to open them so you’ll have so much knowledge and information to share with Alphans everywhere.”
Are you planning on creating your own polygamous families?
The four Renbourns laughed. “No, while we are open to finding mates,” Olrei replied, “we have no directives to introduce any of our customs to Alpha-Earth. Nothing like that at all. But we’re going to be here for a while.
“Unless the deities do something different we don’t know about, no cross-versal window will open for another twenty years. That seems to be their pattern. We’re going nowhere. And before you ask, no one else is coming after us. No one can.”
“Other than sharing my home planet with you,” Kalmeg added, “I certainly don’t know of any other missions. Before we boarded the Marivurn, neither Malcolm II nor I had even ever met the Cerapin Renbourns. Every conversation we’ve had has been here, wherever here exactly is.”
What future plans do you have?
“You tell us,” Malcolm II shrugged. “Since we’ve been here, we’ve been in rather restrained protective custody. Our only real plans are to talk to any reporters that want to interview us. We hinted at many long stories to tell. Well, we’re willing to tell them. We’re eager to share all of them. On behalf of my family, let me invite you to return, Noel Fleming of the Messenger. We’ve got stories for you that would fill books. On two earths, they already have.”
October 22, 2020
New YouTube Link
This is the link folks can use to go through the Playlist at Wes Britton's YouTube channel. There are 23 videos for your entertainment.
1) Are We Alone x 2 videos
2) Wesley's book narrations x 4 videos
3)Wesley's interview x9 videos
4)Book trailers x 4 videos
5) Wesley's Comcast interview and convention x 4 videos.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCplg...
1) Are We Alone x 2 videos
2) Wesley's book narrations x 4 videos
3)Wesley's interview x9 videos
4)Book trailers x 4 videos
5) Wesley's Comcast interview and convention x 4 videos.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCplg...
October 19, 2020
Book Review: John Lennon 1980 Playlist by Tim English
JOHN LENNON 1980 PLAYLIST
TIM ENGLISH
Publication Date : September 23, 2020
Kindle Unlimited
ASIN : B08JYHM2V1
https://www.amazon.com/John-Lennon-Pl...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
Forty years after his murder, I thought there wouldn't be much new ground to unearth regarding the last days of John Lennon. On that point, I've been proved wrong twice this week. On Friday, Oct. 16, ABC's 2020 aired "John Lennon: His Life, Legacy, and Last Days" featuring new interviews with friends and associates of the influential musician.
At the same time, this week I read Tim English's new John Lennon 1980 Playlist, an analytical history lesson with many surprises for me, a lifetime Lennon aficionado. The book made me remember what I was doing and how I felt on December 8, 1980 and the days and nights that followed. Forty years later, I'm surprised at the emotional impact of revisiting those times.
Part of that emotional resonance I felt while reading Playlist is due to how English captures the musical and cultural times of 1979 and 1980, focusing, of course, on what impacted and influenced John Lennon to come out of retirement and work on Double Fantasy. I wasn't surprised to hear of his interest in New Wave music by The Clash, Blondie, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and Elvis Costello. I was interested to learn how Lennon responded to "Rock Lobster" by the B52s. He was delighted to hear singer Kate Pierson's stylings clearly based on the warbling vocals of Yoko Ono. This sort of appreciation for his wife was a major kick-starter for his own musical revival.
I admit discovering there was music I missed back in the day--I never heard of The Vapors "Turning Japanese." The title alone tells me why Lennon would have responded favorably to that hit. I hadn't known that "Coming Up" from his ex-partner Paul McCartney ignited Lennon's competitive juices.
I already knew of Lennon's interest in the growing importance of Bob Marley and reggae, but I would never have guessed that he liked disco in general, and Donna Summer in particular. Wanting to get Yoko Ono's music on the disco floor had much to do with his work on her "Walking on Thin Ice" dance number. Christopher Cross and the soft pop of the era was never my cup of tea, but I could understand Lennon's love of "Sailing" as that song had special meaning for a man who had just been sailing to Bermuda where his musical torch was relit.
To be fair, Playlist is more than a recital of popular tunes and which songs were on Lennon's personal jukebox. English offers many anecdotes about the origins of many tunes Lennon had liked back in his formative years like Sanford Clark's 1956 rockabilly hit, "The Fool." Lennon had a well-known fondness for straightforward, old style rock 'n roll and the styles being revitalized as in Queen's 1979 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." No surprise that "(Just Like) Starting Over" had obvious nods to Elvis Presley and the rockabilly era.
So, even if you think you know it all, odds are 1980 Playlist should provide knowledgeable readers with fresh revelations into the process of how Double Fantasy and it's follow-up, Milk and Honey, came to be. I love this sort of stuff and found Playlist to be a fast and engaging read. It took me back to a place of wonderful memories before the December 8 crash in so many lives. It's no spoiler to reveal the abrupt last two sentences of the book:
"Perhaps John would have sung "Liverpool Lou” to Sean that Monday night. If only he’d made it home."
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Oct. 19, 2020:
https://waa.ai/uPke
TIM ENGLISH
Publication Date : September 23, 2020
Kindle Unlimited
ASIN : B08JYHM2V1
https://www.amazon.com/John-Lennon-Pl...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
Forty years after his murder, I thought there wouldn't be much new ground to unearth regarding the last days of John Lennon. On that point, I've been proved wrong twice this week. On Friday, Oct. 16, ABC's 2020 aired "John Lennon: His Life, Legacy, and Last Days" featuring new interviews with friends and associates of the influential musician.
At the same time, this week I read Tim English's new John Lennon 1980 Playlist, an analytical history lesson with many surprises for me, a lifetime Lennon aficionado. The book made me remember what I was doing and how I felt on December 8, 1980 and the days and nights that followed. Forty years later, I'm surprised at the emotional impact of revisiting those times.
Part of that emotional resonance I felt while reading Playlist is due to how English captures the musical and cultural times of 1979 and 1980, focusing, of course, on what impacted and influenced John Lennon to come out of retirement and work on Double Fantasy. I wasn't surprised to hear of his interest in New Wave music by The Clash, Blondie, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and Elvis Costello. I was interested to learn how Lennon responded to "Rock Lobster" by the B52s. He was delighted to hear singer Kate Pierson's stylings clearly based on the warbling vocals of Yoko Ono. This sort of appreciation for his wife was a major kick-starter for his own musical revival.
I admit discovering there was music I missed back in the day--I never heard of The Vapors "Turning Japanese." The title alone tells me why Lennon would have responded favorably to that hit. I hadn't known that "Coming Up" from his ex-partner Paul McCartney ignited Lennon's competitive juices.
I already knew of Lennon's interest in the growing importance of Bob Marley and reggae, but I would never have guessed that he liked disco in general, and Donna Summer in particular. Wanting to get Yoko Ono's music on the disco floor had much to do with his work on her "Walking on Thin Ice" dance number. Christopher Cross and the soft pop of the era was never my cup of tea, but I could understand Lennon's love of "Sailing" as that song had special meaning for a man who had just been sailing to Bermuda where his musical torch was relit.
To be fair, Playlist is more than a recital of popular tunes and which songs were on Lennon's personal jukebox. English offers many anecdotes about the origins of many tunes Lennon had liked back in his formative years like Sanford Clark's 1956 rockabilly hit, "The Fool." Lennon had a well-known fondness for straightforward, old style rock 'n roll and the styles being revitalized as in Queen's 1979 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." No surprise that "(Just Like) Starting Over" had obvious nods to Elvis Presley and the rockabilly era.
So, even if you think you know it all, odds are 1980 Playlist should provide knowledgeable readers with fresh revelations into the process of how Double Fantasy and it's follow-up, Milk and Honey, came to be. I love this sort of stuff and found Playlist to be a fast and engaging read. It took me back to a place of wonderful memories before the December 8 crash in so many lives. It's no spoiler to reveal the abrupt last two sentences of the book:
"Perhaps John would have sung "Liverpool Lou” to Sean that Monday night. If only he’d made it home."
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Oct. 19, 2020:
https://waa.ai/uPke
September 15, 2020
Book Review: Oops!: Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse (Life After Life Chronicles Book 4) by Andy Zach
Oops!: Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse (Life After Life Chronicles Book 4)
Andy Zach
Publication Date: January 2, 2020
Publisher: Jule Inc; 1st Edition (January 2, 2020)
ASIN: B0825G9MPG
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0825G...
You'd think after three oddball novels, Zombie Turkeys (How an Unknown Blogger Fought Unkillable Turkeys), My Undead Mother-In-Law (The Family Zombie with Anger Management Issues), and Paranormal Privateers, that Andy Zach would have exhausted all the comic possibilities in his world of killer zombie turkeys and superhero zombie humans.
You'd be wrong. How about flying zombie pickles? Zombie zucchini? Zombie caterpillars? (How can you tell a zombie caterpillar from a normal one? Andy Zach can tell you.)
How about being injected with zombie blood which can cure any ill, regrow any lost limb, and be quickly cured with a widely available antidote? Who needs insurance with that sort of help? How about organizing a zombie worker union at Amazon when zombies can outperform robots? And suggest the story is based on two real people, Anthony and Ravan Jones who contribute the foreword to the book? Or zombie residents of a nursing home taking over the place?
But all this silliness is just part of what Andy Zach has collected in Oops. He has included other short stories by other authors like "The Story of Sound" by Olivia Smith and his own "A Phoenix Tale" before diving into his zombie world. Then he offers a batch of stories based on his other book series featuring disabled middle-schoolers who become superheroes, the Secret Supers. Oh yea, there are the aliens who first appeared in Paranormal Privateers who are defeated by zombies working for the U.S. Government. The aliens can provide you legal assistance in the form of a sexy avatar who looks exactly like Marilyn Monroe.
If you're getting the impression that one Mr. Andy Zach has a wide and wild imagination, you are on the right track. One obvious audience for his quirky tales is the YA readership, especially for all the contemporary references like video gaming and computer lingo. But even grumpy old sixty-somethings like me can have a lot of fun with Andy's characters, scenarios, and plots. I'm still laughing at the image of migrating flying zombie pickles. Hard to get more original, unique, or surprising than Zach's "Life After Life" series. Have some fun with Andy Zach in 2020!
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sept. 15, 2020:
https://waa.ai/uCUJ
Andy Zach
Publication Date: January 2, 2020
Publisher: Jule Inc; 1st Edition (January 2, 2020)
ASIN: B0825G9MPG
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0825G...
You'd think after three oddball novels, Zombie Turkeys (How an Unknown Blogger Fought Unkillable Turkeys), My Undead Mother-In-Law (The Family Zombie with Anger Management Issues), and Paranormal Privateers, that Andy Zach would have exhausted all the comic possibilities in his world of killer zombie turkeys and superhero zombie humans.
You'd be wrong. How about flying zombie pickles? Zombie zucchini? Zombie caterpillars? (How can you tell a zombie caterpillar from a normal one? Andy Zach can tell you.)
How about being injected with zombie blood which can cure any ill, regrow any lost limb, and be quickly cured with a widely available antidote? Who needs insurance with that sort of help? How about organizing a zombie worker union at Amazon when zombies can outperform robots? And suggest the story is based on two real people, Anthony and Ravan Jones who contribute the foreword to the book? Or zombie residents of a nursing home taking over the place?
But all this silliness is just part of what Andy Zach has collected in Oops. He has included other short stories by other authors like "The Story of Sound" by Olivia Smith and his own "A Phoenix Tale" before diving into his zombie world. Then he offers a batch of stories based on his other book series featuring disabled middle-schoolers who become superheroes, the Secret Supers. Oh yea, there are the aliens who first appeared in Paranormal Privateers who are defeated by zombies working for the U.S. Government. The aliens can provide you legal assistance in the form of a sexy avatar who looks exactly like Marilyn Monroe.
If you're getting the impression that one Mr. Andy Zach has a wide and wild imagination, you are on the right track. One obvious audience for his quirky tales is the YA readership, especially for all the contemporary references like video gaming and computer lingo. But even grumpy old sixty-somethings like me can have a lot of fun with Andy's characters, scenarios, and plots. I'm still laughing at the image of migrating flying zombie pickles. Hard to get more original, unique, or surprising than Zach's "Life After Life" series. Have some fun with Andy Zach in 2020!
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sept. 15, 2020:
https://waa.ai/uCUJ
August 27, 2020
Book Review: These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s Volume 2 by Marc Cushman
These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s Volume 2 (1975-77).
Marc Cushman
Publisher: Jacobs/Brown Media Group
Release date: July 1, 2020
Number of Pages: 650 pages
ISBN-10: 1733605320
ISBN-13: 978-1733605328
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/173360...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
Volume Two of Marc Cushman's three volume coverage of everything that happened in the Star Trek universe during the 1970s is the tenth of Marc's books I've read and reviewed to date. Starting with his single volume book on I Spy, I've read everything from Marc's first three books on Star Trek: The Original Series, his three volumes on Lost in Space, not to mention his explorations of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and The Moody Blues. All these books share one major attribute. Comprehensive is too mild a descriptor. Exhaustive is much more on target. Marc is the master of never leaving any stone unturned, no memo unread, no potentially useful data is left out of any of his tomes.
In the case of Cushman's Star Trek journalism, Marc was given unprecedented access to apparently every scrap of paper associated with Gene Roddenberry and everyone involved with the original franchise. In this volume, this resulted in a very comprehensive overview of all the scripts and stories we never saw in the never filmed Star Trek Phase 2 TV project. These chapters were my favorite passages in this history, reading about some adventures I'd like to have seen, some I'm glad were never produced. No Star Trek fan will want to miss these descriptions.
In addition, we get detailed histories of Roddenberry's lesser-known TV attempts like The Questor Tapes, Genesis II, Spectre, and The Nine. On top of that, Cushman tells us about projects featuring Star Trek cast members like Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of . . . documentary series and William Shatner's short-lived Barbary Coast. We hear about how cast members fared in their lives outside of Star Trek, like the sparring between Nimoy and Roddenberry involving Nimoy's possible participation in any Star Trek revivals.
A healthy portion of the book explores the growing fan support for Star Trek including the nationwide success of the show in syndication, the beginnings of Star Trek conventions, the expanding bonanza of Star Trek merchandise, and the public speaking tours of Roddenberry, Nimoy, and Shatner. Cushman also talks about the state of science-fiction television shows of the era, most notably a detailed overview of Space 1999, a program clearly influenced by Star Trek. Toss in generous samplings of contemporary reviews of all these items and it's no wonder the book reaches 650 pages.
As Cushman told me in a recent interview, he doesn't target his books to the casual fan but instead aims for the serious aficionados of his various subjects. In the case of Star Trek, that's a pretty hefty audience who will treasure this authoritative history of a cultural phenomenon. Sure, even this readership will likely find chapters and sections to skim over, other sections will be devoured for all the information never made available before. If you're a Star Trek lover, casual or serious, you won't want to miss any of Marc Cushman's extraordinarily researched studies. No previous histories match him for detail, fresh insights, corrections to popular myths; every possible stone is turned over and examined.
As I write this, I'm about to dive into Volume Three of this set which means one last long summer read. That's before Marc dives into all the movies and later series in the '80s and beyond. Stay tuned . . . six books later and the voyages have just begun . . .
To hear Karina Kantas and Wes Britton interview Marc Cushman about his Star Trek books, here's a link to Karina's "Behind the Pen" Podcast:
https://youtu.be/kchFuD9p64o
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Aug. 27, 2020:
https://waa.ai/ue9q
Marc Cushman
Publisher: Jacobs/Brown Media Group
Release date: July 1, 2020
Number of Pages: 650 pages
ISBN-10: 1733605320
ISBN-13: 978-1733605328
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/173360...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
Volume Two of Marc Cushman's three volume coverage of everything that happened in the Star Trek universe during the 1970s is the tenth of Marc's books I've read and reviewed to date. Starting with his single volume book on I Spy, I've read everything from Marc's first three books on Star Trek: The Original Series, his three volumes on Lost in Space, not to mention his explorations of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and The Moody Blues. All these books share one major attribute. Comprehensive is too mild a descriptor. Exhaustive is much more on target. Marc is the master of never leaving any stone unturned, no memo unread, no potentially useful data is left out of any of his tomes.
In the case of Cushman's Star Trek journalism, Marc was given unprecedented access to apparently every scrap of paper associated with Gene Roddenberry and everyone involved with the original franchise. In this volume, this resulted in a very comprehensive overview of all the scripts and stories we never saw in the never filmed Star Trek Phase 2 TV project. These chapters were my favorite passages in this history, reading about some adventures I'd like to have seen, some I'm glad were never produced. No Star Trek fan will want to miss these descriptions.
In addition, we get detailed histories of Roddenberry's lesser-known TV attempts like The Questor Tapes, Genesis II, Spectre, and The Nine. On top of that, Cushman tells us about projects featuring Star Trek cast members like Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of . . . documentary series and William Shatner's short-lived Barbary Coast. We hear about how cast members fared in their lives outside of Star Trek, like the sparring between Nimoy and Roddenberry involving Nimoy's possible participation in any Star Trek revivals.
A healthy portion of the book explores the growing fan support for Star Trek including the nationwide success of the show in syndication, the beginnings of Star Trek conventions, the expanding bonanza of Star Trek merchandise, and the public speaking tours of Roddenberry, Nimoy, and Shatner. Cushman also talks about the state of science-fiction television shows of the era, most notably a detailed overview of Space 1999, a program clearly influenced by Star Trek. Toss in generous samplings of contemporary reviews of all these items and it's no wonder the book reaches 650 pages.
As Cushman told me in a recent interview, he doesn't target his books to the casual fan but instead aims for the serious aficionados of his various subjects. In the case of Star Trek, that's a pretty hefty audience who will treasure this authoritative history of a cultural phenomenon. Sure, even this readership will likely find chapters and sections to skim over, other sections will be devoured for all the information never made available before. If you're a Star Trek lover, casual or serious, you won't want to miss any of Marc Cushman's extraordinarily researched studies. No previous histories match him for detail, fresh insights, corrections to popular myths; every possible stone is turned over and examined.
As I write this, I'm about to dive into Volume Three of this set which means one last long summer read. That's before Marc dives into all the movies and later series in the '80s and beyond. Stay tuned . . . six books later and the voyages have just begun . . .
To hear Karina Kantas and Wes Britton interview Marc Cushman about his Star Trek books, here's a link to Karina's "Behind the Pen" Podcast:
https://youtu.be/kchFuD9p64o
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Aug. 27, 2020:
https://waa.ai/ue9q
July 30, 2020
New Facebook Book Review group
Join the new Facebook group Wes Reviews, a collection of his book reviews past and present, and we'll send you a free e-book as a thank you.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/28261...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/28261...
July 23, 2020
Book Review: Root and Branch by Preston Fleming
Root and Branch
Preston Fleming
Publisher: PF Press (June 9, 2020)
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
ASIN: B089B63L32
https://www.amazon.com/Root-Branch-Pr...
I've been a fan of Preston Fleming thrillers for years. I have reviewed all of them for BookPleasures.com including Star Chamber Brotherhood (2010), Forty Days at Kamas (2010--one of my favorites), Bride of a Bygone War (2011, another personal favorite), Dynamite Fishermen (2011), Exile Hunter (2013), and Maid of Baikal (2017). So I think it safe to say I am pretty familiar with the Preston Fleming catalogue.
Characteristics you can see in all his works include extremely believable situations and topical storylines, vivid characters, detailed descriptions, and an obvious familiarity with the workings of power brokers and international relations at the highest levels.
You will find all these attributes in Root and Branch, a novel opening after several electromagnetic pulse nuclear bombs from Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea have been detonated along the east and west coasts of the U.S., destroying much of our electronic infrastructure. After this setup, Root and Branch is all about our responses to this Intifada, a cultural clash that continues to escalate and escalate into chilling choices that might not have been plausible a few years ago, but are frighteningly possible now.
Choices include an American government willing to suspend civil rights for all Muslims and anyone, including American citizens, who might be deemed sympathetic to the Jihad; a government willing to perpetrate horrifying scenes of outright murder of both criminals and suspects; a government willing to create international rendition camps far beyond the scope of the 9/11 aftermath; and, well, I don't want to provide spoilers here. Suffice it to say, you'll have a hard time forgetting what Fleming proposes we'd be capable of in revenge for any Intifada.
The principal protagonist is former CIA operative Roger Zorn, a French/American executive who runs a global security company his father founded. It covertly protects government and corporate assets and provides air freight operations and security all over the globe. His company developed a sophisticated “triage” algorithm that can determine whether or not individuals are likely to commit violent acts. The U.S. government wants to use his algorithm in its war against the Jihad. But Zorn slowly comes to learn about the moral consequences of his company's product being used in deadly and illegal actions by the American government. The main dilemma of the book is Zorn's inner turmoil over what to do once he learns what his technology is resulting in. What is his responsibility for what he discovers, even if what he sees is classified and therefor he can say nothing in public? What about the economic impact he might face if he pulls out of the lucrative contracts keeping his company afloat?
In short, the principal conflict we witness in Root and Branch is internal, moral and cerebral. Which results in a very talky book where we watch Zorn wrestle and wrestle with trying to come to the decisions tearing up his soul.
I understand why so many fellow readers, especially fellow Fleming fans, find Root and Branch a tale that isn't ranked as highly as some of Fleming's other efforts. There are long sections of Zorn trapped in his internal inactivity, long sections where events seem drawn out and the reader may start crying out, "Do something already!"
But I found the book a worthwhile read precisely because of the questions it raises--what would we be willing to accept, what would we take as necessary actions when fighting a deadly Intifada? What rights would we give up? What liberties would we sacrifice in the name of security? Uncomfortable as these questions might be, we do live in a world where we do wrestle with such concerns on nearly a daily basis. So I not only recommend this book, I encourage it as important reading for those watching our world that's been dealing with these questions since 9/11.
Wes Britton's review of Star Chamber Brotherhood is posted at:
www.bookpleasures.com › articles › Page1
Wes Britton's review of Exile Hunter is posted at:
www.bookpleasures.com › articles › Page1
Wes Britton's review of Dynamite Fishermen is posted at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton's review of Maid of Baikal is posted at:
http://1clickurls.com/IiOt_U3
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on July 23, 2020:
https://waa.ai/e7TR
Preston Fleming
Publisher: PF Press (June 9, 2020)
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
ASIN: B089B63L32
https://www.amazon.com/Root-Branch-Pr...
I've been a fan of Preston Fleming thrillers for years. I have reviewed all of them for BookPleasures.com including Star Chamber Brotherhood (2010), Forty Days at Kamas (2010--one of my favorites), Bride of a Bygone War (2011, another personal favorite), Dynamite Fishermen (2011), Exile Hunter (2013), and Maid of Baikal (2017). So I think it safe to say I am pretty familiar with the Preston Fleming catalogue.
Characteristics you can see in all his works include extremely believable situations and topical storylines, vivid characters, detailed descriptions, and an obvious familiarity with the workings of power brokers and international relations at the highest levels.
You will find all these attributes in Root and Branch, a novel opening after several electromagnetic pulse nuclear bombs from Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea have been detonated along the east and west coasts of the U.S., destroying much of our electronic infrastructure. After this setup, Root and Branch is all about our responses to this Intifada, a cultural clash that continues to escalate and escalate into chilling choices that might not have been plausible a few years ago, but are frighteningly possible now.
Choices include an American government willing to suspend civil rights for all Muslims and anyone, including American citizens, who might be deemed sympathetic to the Jihad; a government willing to perpetrate horrifying scenes of outright murder of both criminals and suspects; a government willing to create international rendition camps far beyond the scope of the 9/11 aftermath; and, well, I don't want to provide spoilers here. Suffice it to say, you'll have a hard time forgetting what Fleming proposes we'd be capable of in revenge for any Intifada.
The principal protagonist is former CIA operative Roger Zorn, a French/American executive who runs a global security company his father founded. It covertly protects government and corporate assets and provides air freight operations and security all over the globe. His company developed a sophisticated “triage” algorithm that can determine whether or not individuals are likely to commit violent acts. The U.S. government wants to use his algorithm in its war against the Jihad. But Zorn slowly comes to learn about the moral consequences of his company's product being used in deadly and illegal actions by the American government. The main dilemma of the book is Zorn's inner turmoil over what to do once he learns what his technology is resulting in. What is his responsibility for what he discovers, even if what he sees is classified and therefor he can say nothing in public? What about the economic impact he might face if he pulls out of the lucrative contracts keeping his company afloat?
In short, the principal conflict we witness in Root and Branch is internal, moral and cerebral. Which results in a very talky book where we watch Zorn wrestle and wrestle with trying to come to the decisions tearing up his soul.
I understand why so many fellow readers, especially fellow Fleming fans, find Root and Branch a tale that isn't ranked as highly as some of Fleming's other efforts. There are long sections of Zorn trapped in his internal inactivity, long sections where events seem drawn out and the reader may start crying out, "Do something already!"
But I found the book a worthwhile read precisely because of the questions it raises--what would we be willing to accept, what would we take as necessary actions when fighting a deadly Intifada? What rights would we give up? What liberties would we sacrifice in the name of security? Uncomfortable as these questions might be, we do live in a world where we do wrestle with such concerns on nearly a daily basis. So I not only recommend this book, I encourage it as important reading for those watching our world that's been dealing with these questions since 9/11.
Wes Britton's review of Star Chamber Brotherhood is posted at:
www.bookpleasures.com › articles › Page1
Wes Britton's review of Exile Hunter is posted at:
www.bookpleasures.com › articles › Page1
Wes Britton's review of Dynamite Fishermen is posted at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton's review of Maid of Baikal is posted at:
http://1clickurls.com/IiOt_U3
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on July 23, 2020:
https://waa.ai/e7TR
July 17, 2020
Award-winning Sci-FI
Alien Vision is proud to announce that Dr Wesley Britton's, The Blind Alien, the 1st book one Beta-Earth Chronicles just won a silver medal from Author Shout as Recommended Read of 2020
The book can be purchased in ebook for just 99c - 99p- And you can also buy the paperback.
http://bit.ly/BAAMA
The book can be purchased in ebook for just 99c - 99p- And you can also buy the paperback.
http://bit.ly/BAAMA
June 2, 2020
Rosa Parks at the Airport
Recent events reminded me of a poem I wrote back in the late-'90s.
ROSA PARKS AT THE AIRPORT
"I stepped back into the closet," the woman said,
"Too much room, not comfortable."
& the Traveler's Aide sat me by her in the waiting chair
& I asked what all the commotion was about.
"Rosa Parks is coming through," the aide beamed.
"Do you know who she is?"
"Sure. The lady who refused to give up
her bus seat for a white man, helped spark
the civil rights movement."
"Yea," he replied, surprised, walking away,
thrilled to the bone.
& young blacks gather by the departure gate making plans.
"On behalf of all black citizens," one girl rehearses.
"No," her companion corrects, "on behalf of the
entire human race."
We all wait, the blind man by the lesbian
across from the young blacks.
Then Rosa Parks is whisked through on her wheelchair
accompanied by her small entourage
not stopping for any of us.
ROSA PARKS AT THE AIRPORT
"I stepped back into the closet," the woman said,
"Too much room, not comfortable."
& the Traveler's Aide sat me by her in the waiting chair
& I asked what all the commotion was about.
"Rosa Parks is coming through," the aide beamed.
"Do you know who she is?"
"Sure. The lady who refused to give up
her bus seat for a white man, helped spark
the civil rights movement."
"Yea," he replied, surprised, walking away,
thrilled to the bone.
& young blacks gather by the departure gate making plans.
"On behalf of all black citizens," one girl rehearses.
"No," her companion corrects, "on behalf of the
entire human race."
We all wait, the blind man by the lesbian
across from the young blacks.
Then Rosa Parks is whisked through on her wheelchair
accompanied by her small entourage
not stopping for any of us.
May 29, 2020
Book Review: Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and After Star Trek by Walter Koenig
Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and After Star Trek
Walter Koenig
Publisher: Jacobs/Brown Press (April 24, 2020)
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
ASIN: B087N1HHFC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087N1HHFC/...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
Without question, the primary audience for Walter Koenig's new update to his 1999 memoir, Warp Factors, will be Star Trek fans who remember Koenig best for his role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek along with aficionados of his role as the evil Alfred Bester in Babylon Five. Such fans shouldn't be disappointed, even those who previously read Warp Factors.
There may be those who question the value of a new version of Koenig's autobiography as it might not seem, at first glance, all that much has happened in the actor's life in two decades. Well, that's only if you are looking for insights into popular screen roles. In fact, Koenig has much to talk about in an additional 100 pages that is new and does so with his very engaging writing style. In fact, I'd say Chekov and Bester aside, any reader wishing for insights into an actor's life in Hollywood from the '50s to the present should easily enjoy Beaming Up.
That's mainly because Koenig is a very expressive writer, his story full of self-deprecating humor, lots of colorful imagery, and the fact he doesn't merely recite events and anecdotes but shares his feelings and reactions to the moments, people, triumphs and missteps that impacted his life. Among other topics, He discusses his Jewish cultural background and his work ethic, his lesser known projects, including those never produced or those seen by small audiences. But never does the reader sense an agenda, a venting, a man settling any scores. We meet a man presenting himself openly and honestly with a wisdom accrued from experience with a lively approach to his craft and behind-the-scenes life.
I'll admit, the story lags from time to time, mostly during his recounting of his appearances at fan conventions. Those were anecdotes he couldn't not include, of course, and I noticed one story he told an audience at a convention I attended wasn't included in the book. He did retell it later in a radio interview I had with him and hope to get him to retell in a similar interview soon. As they used to say, stay tuned . . .
True, Koenig's descriptions of his early years as Chekov on Star Trek are not the long heart of the book some might hope for. But that is more than made up for in his tales regarding later projects, such as his working in fan-made web-episodes and his thoughts about Anton Yelchin taking over the Chekov role in the 2009 reboot trilogy. I think I already knew this, but I was surprised to read Koenig was 31 when he was cast to be Star Trek's answer to Davy Jones of The Monkees. Among the disappointments of his professional life, the purpose of his casting became a bit muted when CBS shifted the show's time slot to Friday nights when the young audience Chekov was supposed to appeal to weren't watching. At least, not then.
But any reader interested in an autobiography well-told that is guaranteed to be entertaining should give this one a try, whether or not you're a fan of sci-fi television. There's so much more to the life and times of Walter Koenig and so much surprising wisdom to enjoy. Beam on up and get off with Walter Koenig for your summer reading and beyond--
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on May 29, 2020:
https://waa.ai/e0S9
Walter Koenig
Publisher: Jacobs/Brown Press (April 24, 2020)
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
ASIN: B087N1HHFC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087N1HHFC/...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
Without question, the primary audience for Walter Koenig's new update to his 1999 memoir, Warp Factors, will be Star Trek fans who remember Koenig best for his role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek along with aficionados of his role as the evil Alfred Bester in Babylon Five. Such fans shouldn't be disappointed, even those who previously read Warp Factors.
There may be those who question the value of a new version of Koenig's autobiography as it might not seem, at first glance, all that much has happened in the actor's life in two decades. Well, that's only if you are looking for insights into popular screen roles. In fact, Koenig has much to talk about in an additional 100 pages that is new and does so with his very engaging writing style. In fact, I'd say Chekov and Bester aside, any reader wishing for insights into an actor's life in Hollywood from the '50s to the present should easily enjoy Beaming Up.
That's mainly because Koenig is a very expressive writer, his story full of self-deprecating humor, lots of colorful imagery, and the fact he doesn't merely recite events and anecdotes but shares his feelings and reactions to the moments, people, triumphs and missteps that impacted his life. Among other topics, He discusses his Jewish cultural background and his work ethic, his lesser known projects, including those never produced or those seen by small audiences. But never does the reader sense an agenda, a venting, a man settling any scores. We meet a man presenting himself openly and honestly with a wisdom accrued from experience with a lively approach to his craft and behind-the-scenes life.
I'll admit, the story lags from time to time, mostly during his recounting of his appearances at fan conventions. Those were anecdotes he couldn't not include, of course, and I noticed one story he told an audience at a convention I attended wasn't included in the book. He did retell it later in a radio interview I had with him and hope to get him to retell in a similar interview soon. As they used to say, stay tuned . . .
True, Koenig's descriptions of his early years as Chekov on Star Trek are not the long heart of the book some might hope for. But that is more than made up for in his tales regarding later projects, such as his working in fan-made web-episodes and his thoughts about Anton Yelchin taking over the Chekov role in the 2009 reboot trilogy. I think I already knew this, but I was surprised to read Koenig was 31 when he was cast to be Star Trek's answer to Davy Jones of The Monkees. Among the disappointments of his professional life, the purpose of his casting became a bit muted when CBS shifted the show's time slot to Friday nights when the young audience Chekov was supposed to appeal to weren't watching. At least, not then.
But any reader interested in an autobiography well-told that is guaranteed to be entertaining should give this one a try, whether or not you're a fan of sci-fi television. There's so much more to the life and times of Walter Koenig and so much surprising wisdom to enjoy. Beam on up and get off with Walter Koenig for your summer reading and beyond--
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on May 29, 2020:
https://waa.ai/e0S9
Wesley Britton's Blog
This just came in. My favorite two sentences of all time!
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
- Wesley Britton's profile
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