Sticks and Stones: A Trek Novel

by Robert T. Jeschonek

Once upon a galaxy, a spaced-out writer launched a novel exploring a starry saga set in a universe much like a certain trek we know and love. Here, for the first time, you can experience this voyage into trekkerness. The names are new, but you might recognize the drama and excitement of an epic encounter aboard the star cruiser Exogenesis as it pioneers humanity's journey to greatness among the stars. In this adventure, first contact with the multilingual Vox species goes horribly wrong when the crew's linguist mistakenly uses a forbidden slur. Drawn into a violent revolution, a “war of words” to decide language dominance, the crew of the Exogenesis races against time to convince the aliens to unite against a greater threat: an unstoppable invasion fleet roaring toward planet Vox from deep space. When revolution and invasion collide, it is up to Captain Joshua Swift and the Exogenesis crew to save the world by revealing the secret behind the slur that started it all…the dark secret linking Vox and invaders in an ancient cycle of slavery, suffering, lies, and death. Don't miss this exciting lost novel by award-winning Star Trek author Robert T. Jeschonek, a master of unique and unexpected science fiction that really packs a punch.


Reviews

"Robert Jeschonek is a towering talent..." – Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author

"Jeschonek´s stories are delightfully insane, a pleasure to read…" – Fabio Fernandes, Fantasy Book Critic

"Robert Jeschonek is the literary love child of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman—his fiction is cutting edge, original, and pulsing with dark and fantastical life. His stories suck me in and refuse to let me go until the last page…" – Adrian Phoenix, critically acclaimed author of The Maker's Song series and Black Dust Mambo


Contents
Novel plus TV script preview


About the Author

Award-winning science fiction author Robert T. Jeschonek has written Star Trek and Doctor Who fiction and futuristic stories for books, magazines, websites, and podcasts around the world. He won the national grand prize in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds writing contest from Pocket Books. He is one of a handful of authors chosen to write stories in the Star Trek: New Frontier universe. DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, and DAW Books have published his work. He was nominated for the British Fantasy Award for his story, "Fear of Rain." His young adult urban fantasy novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, is now available from Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth. Visit him online at www.thefictioneer.com. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him as @TheFictioneer on Twitter.

Genres: Science Fiction

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 25, 2011

About the author

Robert T. Jeschonek is an award-winning writer whose fiction, comics, essays, articles, and podcasts have been published around the world. His young adult fantasy novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, won the Forward National Literature Award and was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth. His cross-genre science fiction thriller, Day 9, is an International Book Award winner. He also won the Scribe Award for Best Original Novel from the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers for his alternate history, Tannhäuser: Rising Sun, Falling Shadows. Simon & Schuster, DAW/Penguin Books, and DC Comics have published his work. He won the grand prize in Pocket Books' nationwide Strange New Worlds contest and was nominated for the British Fantasy Award. Visit him online at www.thefictioneer.com. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him as @TheFictioneer on Twitter. Sign up for the Robert T. Jeschonek newsletter right here: http://eepurl.com/tpKhr

Reviews

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Star Trek and want something similar but not quite the same? This book is for you. If the "Trek Novel" portion of the title isn't enough of a clue, the first few chapters make it very clear that this is very much a Star-Trek-like story.

The story and characters feel very much like a few episodes of the Enterprise TV series. The main characters are very similar, the Exogenesis is a fairly small ship, there's several references to it being the first Human deep-space vessel, they use smaller podships instead of their untried and finicky teleportation system, etc. There's mysterious powerful alien ships, first contact with other aliens, cultural and communication confusion, tense situations both planetside and in space...very familiar for Trek fans.

Sticks and Stones is a well-written novel, which one would expect from an author who has written stories set in the Star Trek universe before. The characters are familiar, at least if you know Star Trek, but they have enough depth to be interesting. Perhaps most importantly, the pacing of the story is good, mostly avoiding bogging down in long-winded tangents or losing focus. It's not the most complex or mind-bending of plots, but it's executed well.

Overall I enjoyed the book, and I'm fairly sure anyone else who likes Star Trek stories would as well.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story this is. Action-packed, edge-of-your-seat reading, full believable characters that the reader cares about, and very cleverly written. It's so imaginative with regard to the linguistics, particularly if you have a love of words yourself.

I love Star Trek and, in my humble opinion, this story is a lot better than some episodes. *runs from lynch mob*

It's a strong enough story to stand by itself. There's. No. Captain. Kirk. Here. Just a great adventure space novel that you will not be able to put down. I loved it, and I'm slowly working my way through this author's work.