STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS - WARP YOUR OWN WAY - Ryan North

STAR TREK WEEK


 This. Is. Brilliant.

In the tradition of the 'Choose your Own Adventure' books comes this riotously funny, often irreverent, Star Trek: Lower Decks, choose your path, graphic novel. Yeah, that's a lot.

Mariner just wants to have a quiet, normal day, but no matter what she does, the universe is on the verge of ending. At least for her and the ship she rode in on. It's Groundhog Day with death and destruction at the end of the wrong paths. But are they all wrong?

I can't remember the last time I had so much fun and laughed so much while reading a book. Author Ryan North understands these characters - this really is like watching an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks! There are a LOT of little moments that really make this shine.  My favorite is probably the talking Spock clock which, like a modern day Alexa, offers to provide useless, random facts:

"Once, on Stardate 5341, I survived without a brain for almost 24 hours."
"Spock clock, disable all fun facts!"
"Acknowledged."

There's really not a sense of impending doom for the reader, which is odd, since you die a lot. The older Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books really brought the reader into the story. This is a little more passive, but it's also a heck of a lot more fun.

If you are going to consider this, and I highly recommend it for any Star Trek fan, then you really need a physical copy. My digital ARC made it very difficult to jump forward and back to follow along the different paths.  The page numbers didn't line up accurately - if the story path you choose asks you to jump to page 28 and the actual story is on page 32 it throws you off. I know ... once you know the disparity you can do the math each time. But let's face it, 1) I don't want to have to think too hard, especially when reading a fun book like this, and 2) I shouldn't have to. You also have to remember where you were when you want to go back - it's not too easy to 'flip' through digital pages.

The art looks exactly the animation on the television program.

Looking for a good book? Star Trek: Lower Decks - Warp Your Own Way, story by Ryan North and art by Chris Fenoglio is a seriously fun 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style book with all the familiar Star Trek: Lower Decks characters and plenty of Star Trek Easter Eggs.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Warp Your Own Way

author: Ryan North

artist: Chris Fenoglio

publisher: IDW Publishing

ISBN: 9798887241548

paperback, 208 pages

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