Tripping On The Light Fantastic

Of all the beings I expected to return in a Star Trek: The Next Generation-era novel (which includes Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and New Frontier) I did not expect the cast of Jeffrey Lang's The Light Fantastic (ISBN 9781476750514). A brief rundown: five years after the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, Data's come back in B-4's body and seeks the help of his former shipmate Geordi LaForge -- some time after returning and restoring his "daughter" Lal (who first appeared and "died" in The Next Generation third season episode "The Offspring"), Data elected to not rejoin Starfleet and operates several businesses on Orion Beta -- to retrieve Lal and her nursemaid/traveling companion Alice from the hands of James Moriarty, a holodeck program who became self-aware to provide a suitable adversary for Data in a Sherlock Holmes program when Geordi called for a foe "capable of defeating Data". When you find out who Alice is -- Lang did an awesome job keeping us guessing -- that's just the beginning on this multi-system ride!

I forgive what I feel are inconsistencies in books when the story ends with ... a logical ending. I should warn people who read my things of that! Back in my world (I've tried "computer, end program" numerous times and this place just keeps running!) I seem to run into my wife's attempts to make at least our mornings easier. Martha called me at work yesterday and proposed, with the regular paper route we are running and the one we're substituting on FOR A VERY SHORT TIME, that we alternate routes, with her doing our main route one day and me the other, and vice versa the following day. Save for Saturday, when she'll have to do both routes because I work at Marketplace and Sunday, when I'll deliver the back-breaking papers only on our regular route. After the kids went to bed and they did their needed reading and ate the macaroni and cheese Martha had made using whipped butter, Martha drew up a new map (for the one Minot Daily News gave us is hard to read even under the best conditions) and we got to bed ready for the new day.

Since I chose a Marvel title to write about yesterday, it behooves me to balance with a DC one. Specifically, a collection of issues detailing the origin of the latest incarnation of the Justice League. As part of DC's New 52 reboot, Justice League: Origin by Geoff Jones and penciled by Jim Lee (ISBN 9781401234614) pits Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, and Wonder Woman who initially don't trust or like each other against Darkseid, bringing super heroes into an appreciative limelight. And unlike the Thunderbolts who topped yesterday's entry, they have not -- so far -- turned against the public that I'm aware of. But then, I read comics in general way less than I used to, I say with a wink. This morning I had to bring that six-issue compilation and several other books that were coming due back to the two local libraries. Then got to share some coffee and fellowship before going into to work, and now here I am. And at least I can settle back and appreciate what I have in the short and leaking time I do have.

Can't override the mortality failsafe on my own, David