Night of the Living Trekkies [Review]
Lindsay Stanley as a Zombie Vulcan, Photo by Michael Asplund
When the Geekadelphia crew was asked who wanted to read the new book Night of the Living Trekkies, I believe my response went something like, OMG WANT. You see, I’m a pretty hard core Trekkie. I have been since I was a kid. And although I can’t say I’m some kind of connoisseur of zombie films, I’ve seen enough to understand the clichés. It was clear, in my mind, that this was a book written just for me.
The book grabs you the moment you see the cover. It’s a zombified Vulcan holding a severed arm, drawn in a way that mirrors pulp magazines of old. I know “they” say not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case the cover perfectly sets up what is inside: a book about zombies and Star Trek that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is fun to read.
More after the jump!
The prologue lets you know right away that this is a book written by fans, for fans, as two characters are discussing what is worse: being bald like Captain Picard, or having first-season Captain Janeway hair. The Trek references in the book range from the common to the downright obscure.
That said, you don’t have to be some kind of Trek trivia Dahar master to read Night of the Living Trekkies, because the obscure references are typically explained via brief exposition by the characters. And hey, there’s plenty here for you Star Wars fans too. In fact, some of my favorite scenes from the book involve Star Wars homages.
The book’s story takes place at GulfCon, a fictional Texas Star Trek convention happening in the Botany Bay Hotel (also the name of the ship belonging to notorious Star Trek villain Khan). Not long after the convention gets underway, well, the zombies start coming. Then they have to escape. Yes, it is supposed to be that cliché. That’s why it’s funny.
The book moves along at a nice and steady clip. It doesn’t launch into a full-on zombie apocalypse right away, giving the reader time to understand and even grow fond of the main protagonist, the aptly named Jim Pike (a mixture of Enterprise captains Jim Kirk and Christopher Pike). But it also doesn’t dwell too long on the pre-apocalypse mundane.
I was rather impressed by the balance the authors achieved between setting up the characters pre-apocalypse, and then showing us how they cope when the reanimated start shuffling into the picture. I also appreciated the fact that the ending wasn’t rushed nor terribly drawn out. I enjoyed the sense of completion it gave me, as well as the “possibilities” it left up to my imagination.
At the end of the day Night of the Living Trekkies is just a fun way to spend an afternoon or two. The intermixing of the Star Trek world and the zombie world works better than I would have thought, and will no doubt appeal to fans of both. Sometimes you just want something entertaining to read, and this fits the bill.
You can get Night of the Living Trekkies at Amazon.com for just $10.17.
Full Disclosure: Night of the Living Trekkies is an original work of parody and is not officially sponsored by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the owners of the Star Trek® brand. Author of this review received a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of reviewing it Geekadelphia.
