The Thief Taker by CS Quinn

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer/ Brilliance Audio

Source: Audible books, my own library

Time: 11 h 28 m

Thoughts: I loved this book. For one thing, I have probably an unhealthy obsession with plague, so just about any book set during the Black Death or the Great Plague is going to grab my attention. Also, this was a gross, gripping mystery. So much gore and death and a genuinely interesting story! I loved Charlie Tuesday. He reminded me a kind of a lot, actually, of Crispin Guest, only a lot later in time. Not a perfect match but similar. The story was intriguing and I did NOT see the twist at the end – well done, CS Quinn! I usually spot the twist a mile away! I listened to this on Audible and the narrator had a dead sexy voice. Not a Benedict Cumberbatch level of knee-melt, but still an appropriately British level of sexiness that made me want to meet Charlie Tuesday in a dark alley sometime.

Tattoo Atlas by Tim Floreen

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Year: 2016

Pages: 370

Source: library hardback

Thoughts: I read this because it fit one of the 2017 Read Harder challenge tasks, and it just sounded good. Overall, I thought it was ok. I thought it could use a little more character development and back story. The ending was, admittedly, totally unsatisfying to me. I had kind of predicted it quite early in the book, but it was something I had hoped would not happen. I highly approve of it for its openly gay main character. More of these, please. In general, I think for teens, this would be a good read and probably have quite the twist. I enjoyed it but the ending ruined it for me because I predicted it and I thought so many other, more interesting things could have been done with it. For adult fans of YA, it left a little something to be desired.

For International Women’s Day, you just KNOW I’m going to write a post about Captain Kathryn Janeway. Honestly. Janeway kicks ass and leaves a footprint. She will do anything for her crew. She will fight for them and with them and drag them beyond themselves and what they think they can do on their own. Of all the captains, I truly believe that Kathryn Janeway gave the most of herself to her crew. As much as I love Jean-Luc Picard, or Will RIker, or even James fucking TIberius Kirk, I really don’t think any of them could have gotten their crew home under the same circumstances. Not even close, or at least not with their sanity as intact as it was. Janeway was more than their captain. She was their mother, their big sister, best friend, and most demanding mentor in the universe all rolled into one. Janeway is, hands down, my favorite captain. Love ya, Jean-Luc, but Kathryn Janeway rocks.

Kate Mulgrew herself is also badass. Whether it is giving life to a beloved Star Trek character, giving ALL the sass to a Russian inmate-mafia-smuggler-cook-ruler of the world in Orange is the New Black, to putting the full strength of her voice to an audiobook recording, Mulgrew seems to live her life to the fullest. She is a great supporter of Alzheimer’s research and has helped to raise millions of dollars to fund various charities and research devoted to curing the disease.

Favorite Janeway quotes or scenes:

• As long as you’re alive, there’s hope. “Hope and Fear”
• One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices. “The Gift.”
• I realize that I’ve been hard on you at times. But it was never out of anger…or regret that I brought you on board. I’m your captain. That means I can’t always be your friend. “Hope and Fear.”
• Keep a docking bay open for us. “Pathfinder.”
• There’s coffee in that nebula. “The Cloud.” The real reason Janeway was so determined to get everyone home. The Delta Quadrant coffee blows.

Other female captains I’m drawing attention to today:

• Silva LaForge (TNG, “Imaginary Friend,” “Hero Worship,” “Interface”). LaForge captained the Hera. She was often stationed on outposts near the Romulan Neutral Zone, according to Geordi. Silva LaForge was lost and missing in action, along with the rest of the crew of the Hera. Despite extensive searches, no trace of the ship was found and no one ever discovered what became of them.
• Captain Rachel Garrett (TNG, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”). Garrett captained the Enterprise-C. She and her crew got stuck in a time loop – those pesky things are always causing trouble – and came out of it in the 24th century. But she chose to go back, even knowing her ship would be destroyed, because in doing so, she went to the aid of a Klingon ship in distress and averted a disastrous war between the Klingons and Federation. Timeline restored! She also took Tasha Yar with her, who was on the wrong ship.
• Erika Hernandez (ENT, multiple eps). Hernandez captained the Columbia NX-02. She helped rescue Dr Phlox from Klingon space while he was there helping to cure a virus.

Since March is Women’s History Month and Star Trek is my favoritest ever, I thought it would be excellent to combine the two things. I know, I’m a genius! But honestly, there are some badass women in Star Trek. I want to take a few days over the course of the month to look at a few of them closer.

From day one, Star Trek has been pretty progressive in terms of women’s inclusivity. Nichelle Nichols was not only a black woman in a 1960s prime-time show, she portrayed a command officer. Uhura could give orders to a very great number of men on the Enterprise. She was instrumental in the visibility and empowerment of black women and other women of color in film and TV, and she had a very notable influence on the young Whoopi Goldberg.

Perhaps it is cliche of me, or disingenuous, to start with such an obvious choice from the Trekverse. But come on. Given the prominent role both Uhura and Nichelle had, the struggles all women today still face – for equality, the right to control our own bodies, the right not to be slut-shamed or victim-blamed for being raped, and so on and on and on. No one would dare do that to Uhura, and if they tried, I have a strong suspicion that he would find himself wearing his testicles as earrings, if he was even lucky enough to retain possession of them. So yes, I think it is perfect to start with Uhura. Nichelle has been a lifelong advocate for space exploration and equality, and was even employed by NASA from the late 1970s to the late 1980s to help recruit more women and minorities to the space program. Among her recruits were Sally RIde, the first American astronaut; Guion Bluford, the first black American astronaut; and Judith Resnick, who died on Challenger (space.com). Her spirit of fairness and exploration fit in wonderfully with many of the ideals of Star Trek.

Some of my favorite Uhura moments:

• In “The Naked Time” when Sulu thinks he is a swashbuckler and tells Uhura “I will defend you, fair maiden!” and she replies with “Sorry, neither.”
• In The Search for Spock when the pain in the ass young officer is commenting about how it’s ok for an officer like Uhura, who is old and at the end of her career, to like the quiet posts where nothing ever happens, but he wants something more exciting. Then Kirk, Bones, and Sulu come in, the young’un is agog at the living legends, and Uhura pulls a phaser on him and tells him “this isn’t reality, this is fantasy. And you’re going to sit in the closet” and then proceeds to beam the men where they need to go on their clandestine mission before she joins them later.
• Any time she said “Hailing frequencies open.” Because, come on. Those were the words that heralded a new adventure. What would it be? A new alien race? Someone in need of help? Some threat to the galaxy that only the crew of the Enterprise could fix? All of the above? And she got to hear about it first. That’s really exciting, every time, even now when I know every mission they’ve gone on and what’s going to happen and who isn’t coming back.

Other female comm officers I’m giving a shout-out to today include:

• Lt. Palmer (TOS). She sometimes stood in for Uhura, which, like, big go-go boots to fill. She did her best.
• Janice Rand (TOS). One of my favorite non-starring characters. She was sassy. That is all.
• Lt. Trilya (TVH). Her ship was one of the ones that got toasted by the whale probe in The Voyage Home. She reported it to Starfleet HQ.