Beyond The Stars
   William Shatner
   (Associate Reviewer-D. H. BROWN)
  2000 HarperPrism, NY USA
   ISBN: 0061051187


Aboard the Out Beyond, a world-sized inter galactic starship crammed with millions of misfits, outlaws & eccentrics, Jim Endicott, no longer the golden boy at the Space Academy, meets up with the Stone Cowboys, a deep space street gang that teaches him hard-earned lessons about courage, loyalty & love.

This series is worth reading not just because it's exciting but it holds that eternal grain of hope for which the science fiction genre is so well known. Shatner, with his Quest for Tomorrow series & central character Jim Endicott is bringing the fascination of the future into the hearts & souls of a whole new generation.

In this episode, Jim Endicott must survive the loss of the only family he's ever known & learns to greater truth of humanity as family. The Stone Cowboys is a gang of transplanted slum kids from Old Earth who show him another facet of his own humanness.

I don't know why but I really like William Shatner's works. In some small way his writing reminds me of the science fiction of my youth, some two score years ago. That's when I was reading Heinlein & a host of others from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. The one book that springs to mind Starship Troopers was written so simply that to this day, its vision still grips me.

Call me juvenile but at 50 odd years of age I still can't lay down & walk away from any Shatner book. The why of it is very simple, that same young boy that I was is still alive & eager to catch a glimpse of a future that my older self now knows I will never see. Being older & wiser though, I have a better sense of that future's inevitability.

We humans have a 2-3 million year old story & that history is all about survival. Oh yes, though we have invented means to destroy our species & they still lurk in the darkness of the future like so many cave bears & saber tooth tigers, I have great faith in the future. That faith is based on one simple & observable fact: our species is very good at survival.

So though it may be several more generations & a few more geological blinks of the Cosmic Eye before we reach a future like that envisioned by William Shatner, & brought to life in the persona of Jim Endicott, we'll still be humans & we'll still be surviving.

More from William Shatner: Teklar; Teklords; Tekwar; Tek Vengeance; Tek Power; Tek Secret; Tek Money; Tek Kill; Tek Net; Man O' War; Delta Search; In Alien Hands & Step into Chaos.
(11/26/00)

D. H. BROWN
A RebeccasReads.com Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
D. H. BROWN is the author of the critically acclaimed HONOR DUE and the Citizens Warrior Series. The son of missionary parents and with the help his Uncle Sam, he has touched base in more than 40 countries.  In 1986 he produced the independent children's film Lessie's Rainbow.  During the late 80s and early 90s, he wrote the book Common Sense and delivered the seminars of the same name for the Community Action Network of Seattle (CAN).  While doing his early Vietnam recovery work, he counseled Veterans and spoke widely to men's groups in Washington state, and was a founder of The Lodge of the Wolf.

D. H. BROWN has worked as a Logistics and Weapons Specialist in Viet Nam; day laborer; Director of Security; Armored Car Driver; Police Officer; Professional Hunting Guide; Trapper; Dog Sledder; Homesteader; Truck Driver; General Contractor; Minister; Editor; Writer; Speaker; Restaurateur; Movie Producer; Antique Restoration Specialist; Personal Care Worker; PC Repair Specialist; Computer Instructor; Webmaster and Web Designer. "I write about what I know."

He lives deep in the Pacific Northwest rainforest with his wife, author and editor Rebecca and Buddy Dog, working on his next book.
Visit him at: www.dhbrownbooks.com