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Being a big Ben Bova fan, I was looking forward to his latest instalment in the "Grand Tour of the Universe" series. I was quite disappointed with the second Rock Rats book, since it suffered from an underwritten, minimalist style with significant time jumps that prevented you from getting "up close and personal" with the characters.

Sadly, the same problem was present in his latest book, Saturn. Instead of focusing on science and exploration, the book concentrated on the social conflicts between a group of cardboard cut-out characters, and then had the gall to tack on a lame science sub-plot at the very end! Sorry, Dr. Bova, but that just won't cut it.

Let's move on to something that actually lived up to expectations: Alias season two (spoilers follow). It must be about a year since season one was shown here in Australia, and I was getting worried that my memories of the series had been over-inflated. Thankfully, I was wrong. The first four episodes of season two have been phenomenal, from the Will-Vaughn-Sydney love triange (you could cut the tension with a knife when the two guys met in the lift!) to the Sydney-Jack-Irena dysfunctional family group.

After establishing Jack Bristow as a fairly stand-offish character initially, he mellowed over the course of the season to someone the audience could sympathise with - well I did, at any rate. But his actions at the end of "Dead Drop" turned me completely around - all of a sudden I hated him and felt sorry for Irena. I love this show because the good guys aren't all good and the bad guys aren't all bad (despite what the irritating pre-show promo would have us believe). Although Sloane killed his wife at the end of last season, you can't help but feel for the guy. Top-notch stuff.

Moving on to The West Wing, can I just mention one thing? "I'm Marion Cotesworth-Haye!" Funniest scene ever.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

- Is Star Trek your hobby?

- Does Enterprise work as a prequel?

- Is it best to watch the original series in production or airing order?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

These were some of the major news items on August 9 & 10, 2001:

• 'Broken Bow' Guest Cast Photos
  UPN's Denver affiliate published the first images of several members of the Enterprise pilot guest cast, including Gary Graham as Ambassador Soval, Vaughn Armstrong as Admiral Forrest and Tom 'Tiny' Lister Jr. as Klaang.

• Further 'Broken Bow' Script Info
  The latest draft of the "Broken Bow" was examined with a fine tooth comb for addition tidbits on the series. These included Farmer Moore's exploding grain silo, the Vulcans' knowledge of the Klingons and the Suliban's cloaking technology. One of Archer's firey anti-Vulcan lines from the pilot was also revealed: "You have no idea how much I am restraining myself from knocking you on your ass."

• 'Nemesis' To Honour Trek Continuity
  John Logan's Star Trek Nemesis script was peppered with references to other franchise incarnations, according to the latest reports. References included nods to the Gorn, the Treaty of Algeron, the Dominion War and Defensive Pattern Kirk Epsilon.

More news can be found in the archives.

Poll Results

Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:

How many Trek books do you buy on average in a year? None 30.7% - (308 Votes) 1-2 20.5% - (206 Votes) 3-5 17.7% - (178 Votes) 6-10 17.6% - (177 Votes) However many Pocket publishes 8.4% - (85 Votes) Books? Give me fanzines and online fanfic! 4.6% - (47 Votes) Total Votes: 1001

Thanks for voting! Please participate in our new poll, which asks which Xindi species sounds the best.

Happy Birthday!

August 7 was the 25th birthday of Cirroc Lofton, who played Jake Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

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