Book Review: Federation by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

To call these few words a review is somewhat of an overstatement. I will not give specific details of the plot or the story. I **really** do not want to give anything away…
This is one of the few books that I have read more than once; in fact, I finished my last re-read a few minutes before writing this review. I read it for the first time 20 years ago and each time I have re-read it I have thoroughly enjoyed.
Yes, I admit that I unconditionally love the Star Trek universe (well, maybe not movie # 5 of TOS, but I digress). I also admit that it is not a perfect series. Just to give you an example, the future that it dreams of is a little unrealistic, but not because it is a science fiction. You see, as much as it pains me to say it, I do not expect humanity to change much in 300-400 years. Greed, not the pursuit of knowledge will most likely still be one of humanity’s main motivations to start with, and I do not think that I need to go much further than that to make my point. That being said, family members are rarely perfect and we still love them, right? So, I still love Star Trek.
Anyway, let’s be honest, wouldn’t it be nice to live in a universe where noble ideals are truly and honestly followed as opposed to just give them lip service?
Also, one of the things I like the most about Star Trek is its sense of adventure, of discovery and space, oh man, space, to see the light of other worlds!
Ok, I’ll calm down now…
That is one of the many reasons why I love Federation. The book takes us through several time periods as seen from the perspective of TOS crew and TNG crew. Maybe this is a silly thing, but one of the things that I especially liked about the book is that they explain the origin and meaning of the famous Starfleet insignia!
Moreover, the story is pure escape reading, and even though the book was written right after the movie Generations, which means that it may not be consistent with the subsequent series (most of DS9, Voyager, TNG movies, Enterprise and the new movies), Federation retains its charm.
This is the kind of book that is meant to be read in calm nights, hot beverage in hand, and with phasers set at Full Wonder.

Federation (1994) Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens Picture credit: Pocket Books
 
~~~~~
**If you like what I write, kindly spread the word about this blog!
**For a list of all my scientific papers please click HERE.
**I wrote the first chapter on this technical book.
**I wrote a popular science book and a second one will be published soon! For my Amazon author page, click here.
**Here’s my Goodreads author page!
**Want to see more of the things I write? Go here for some other posts.
**Shoot me a message if you have any questions! (orpagan@yahoo.com)
**You can subscribe to my blog! Just go to the “Home” page, right hand side.
**Here’s a link to my Facebook page
**Finally, my Twitter “name”: @Baldscientist
**For the customary (and very important) disclaimers please go to my “About” page…