Review: Maximum Warp

Last month, Cross Cult, the current publisher of (most) Star Trek books in Germany, released Maximum Warp - Der Guide durch die Star-Trek-Romanwelten – Von Nemesis zu Typhon Pact, a new guide book to the Star Trek literary world. Friend of the site, and my regular source of German Trek news, Jens Deffner, kindly offered to review this intriguing new book. So over to Jens (continues after the jump):

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This is very unusual review for me to write for a plethora of reasons: It's for a non-fiction book, it's for a German book, and it's not written for Unreality SF (yay, shameless plug). But beyond all that there's a bigger reason why this review is very unusual and hard for me: While reading the book very early on I realized that the book wasn't what I thought it would be, and that in the form it was produced I'm not really inside the target audience for it. To give it a fair shot I'll give you what is more or less a two part review: part one written from my actual point of view as someone who has been deeply entrenched in TrekLit fandom for more than a decade now and has been reading pretty much all the Star Trek novels in the original English as they came out for almost the whole time. In the other part I will try to look at it from the perspective of an average German reader, who has just been (re-)introduced to Trek Literature with the reemergence of the line a couple of years ago.

But before we start I guess I'll give you a translation of the books Table of Content to give you an idea what topics the books deals with:

Review: Pon Farr perfume

The nice people at Palm Beach Beaute asked me if I'd like to review one of their new Star Trek fragrances (which I posted the details of previously). Alas I'm not much of a fragrance wearer myself, so I didn't feel in a position to give an informed review on the subject. Fortunately my very good friend, and fellow blogger, Natasja, is much more familiar with smelling of loveliness, so I asked her to do the honours. And so, here is the first ever guest writer on The Trek Collective:

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Pon Farr Parfum for women is a fragrance that will drive any male Vulcan wild. Every seven years a woman must have her way with a man so she can live long and prosper; this is where Pon Farr Parfum comes in. At first glance, it gives off a soft and subtle yet significant scent. It pulls you in for more.

When applied to your skin the delicate flowery fragrant becomes more powerful as the vanilla musk and sandalwood take over. It has a very pleasant and alluring smell that even I cannot stop smelling. After having done so for a while, the muskiness tones down a bit and the flowery scent returns.

Even the bottle plays with your mind; it looks simple and see-through but becomes a rich shade of purple depending on the angle. Pon Farr Parfum is easy to wear, seductive but not overwhelming, this makes it accessible to any event of your liking; bahan, fasan, taman and especially for those personal experiences. So, be ready to leave logic behind!

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Pon Farr, and the other fragrances in Palm Bench Beaute's Star Trek range, are available now from Entertainment Earth and Amazon.

If you're wondering, Natasja tells me bahan, fasan, and taman, are Vulcan words for various activities. If you'd like to read more of Natasja's musings on beauty, baking, and the trials of being a young woman, check out her blog, Eyes Painted Black. Her latest post is on a bit of a spacey theme too, featuring starscape nail art.