Nichelle Nichols Books

It honestly took me awhile to get into this story. It seemed like a typical sappy love story, from the go. I thought it a waste of time so I put it down but found myself reading it under duress -- I didn't have anything else to read.

To my pleasant surprise, the story improved dramatically and by the end I desperately wanted to see where everything would go. Though, a persistent frustration was the lack of chemistry. If I weren't told of their affections I would not have guessed it, except that it was obvious that Tetrok and Nyota would end up together from the initial meeting.

I was also disappointed to find that there has yet to be an addition to the story, leaving things incomplete.

I can guess what's likely to happen but this one surprised me so I'd much rather read it. The second book would have definitely been more enjoyable.

great book!! compelling!! still waiting for the rest!! nichelle and margaret did a great job on this.

This book was wonderful. I am anxious for the next book in this series. You don't want to put the book down. Pick it up and read it. Savor every moment.

This is a character-driven story -- the essence of the narrative is really about the characters, their histories, and how they interact and relate to one another. The space exploration and politcial plots are a framework upon which the characetrs can act and interact. As such, there is a lot of detail, especially about the characters, but a significant effort was made in the world-bulding, and it never feels as if the characters are on a cardboard stage. I enjoyed this book for those very reasons.

That said, what I would fault the story for is the following: It has a fairly slow pace and the flashbacks are occasionally disconcerting -- I would start to get into the story and sometimes found myself wrenched off into a character's past. Nooo! We were justing getting to a good part.... I found the end a little too neat and tidy, given all the convolutions that led up to it. There are some issues with some of the science, but these probably won't be noticed except by readers with a strong science background. This is not a hard sci-fi novel, but the detail is much better than in some soft sci-fi novels, and I appreciated the fact that science and scientists were presented in a positive way. And I do think the setting was more than a little idealistic, with the humans and Fazisians (and their governments) getting along extraordinarily well.

In summary: If you like character-driven sci-fi, this book is worth a read. If you are looking for space battles or accurate technological detail, best to look elsewhere.

I hardly ever read a book that I just cannot finish, but this was one of those rare instances. I tried, really tried to get into it, but I never made it past page 50 or so. The characters didn't strike me as believable. The world-building was clunky at best. But the worst offense of this book was in the writing. Most of it was passive voice and overstated motivation to try and make the characters seem real. I can see why Nichols grabbed a co-author on this one. Too bad it didn't help more.

I had a copy of this book when it first came out, but I lost it and thought it was out of print. I was delighted to see it still available and ordered it, especially since I have the TV series and movies on DVD now. I this book, author Phil Farrand goes through each and every episode of the Original series and the six feature films. In each he discusses changed premises, plot oversites, equipment oddies, and props that don't work like they should. Also he points out scenes that were cut when the show was syndicated, and what stills where shown during the end credits. Also Farrand also includes what are called tote boards, that lists things like the number of times Kirk's shirt gets torn, number of people who slap Spock, number of times McCoy pronounces someone dead etc. This book is a must for fans of Classic Star Trek.
PS, in the episode The Savage Curtain, during a fight scene, Kirk is on his back, and he draws up his legs to push away his opponet, his pants cleary split!! I laughed until i almost could'nt breathe.

Kirk and spock are sweeping the floor when spocks notices a man using small tools, the sceen cuts and shows the man's hand picking a a sharp looking tool, then the sceen changes back to Kirk and Spock some words are passed then sceen shows the man's hand again doing the same motion.

For example he picks on one Trek ep for mentioning the Euygenics Wars of the 1990's and the fact that in the real life 1990's the Eugenics wars never took place. Also, he mentions inconsistencies beween the TOS and TNG shows. If these are nitpicks they should be in the TNG nitpickers guide. Also I hate when he talks about how Miri would be a shorter show if they (the landing party) could talk to the ship. Wrong author Phil! It would be a different show if they could talk to the ship.

I loved this book. Whenever I'm in need of a laugh I still return to it. Every blooper, every continuity problem and and every single episode is discussed in this very funny guide. The author was obviously a huge fan of Star Trek.

Phil Farrand does a wonderful job here of pointing out things the creators of Trek got wrong (and right!)--small things most of us would never give a second thought to. My favorite glitch:

"Return of the Archons--Just after Festival begins, Kirk & the others scamper for cover. In one shot, a rock about the size of a cantaloupe arches down and whacks a crew member on the top of his head. Surprisingly, the man seems unaffected, and the rock simply bounces off. Now that's the kind of guy you want to take on landing party missions!"

I couldn't stop laughing for about five straight minutes after I read this one. If you like Star Trek, and you like to laugh--get Phil Farrand's Nitpicker's Guides for Trekkers. You will not be disappointed.

very worth reading, even if you aren't much into Star Trek stuff.

Especially interesting for me was, of course, the struggle it was for a young talented black woman to get a space in a succesful TV show in the 60s. It seems astounding, from our perspective, that her story was so difficult, and that she almost wouldn't have remained in Star Trek at all without a chance encounter with none other than Martin Luther King.

If you are interested in civil rights and/or showbiz intrigue, you'll certainly love this. What a lady!

This autobiography by Nichelle Nichols reflects upon her life, as a black actress, facing racism of her times and breaking them with certain amount of courage and skills. First half of the book retells the story of her life prior to Star Trek, her education, training and people whom she met, some who were helpful while others who were not. Her occasional slide into self praise is typical of many memoirs, not atypical.

But for most people who read this book, they read it because they are Star Trek fans and second part of the book don't disappointed them at all. She goes into all sort of interesting tales about her experiences in Star Trek that brought her to the forefront. Her story on how Martin Luther King talked her into staying on the show, her frustration with the limited role she was having and her relationships with her co-workers while still fighting occasional racism at the studios proves to be an set of very interesting and telling stories. She continued on with her stories on the Star Trek movies as well as her work with NASA.

Like Jimmy Doohan and George Takei books, Nichols seem to have problems with William Shatner. From the three of them, Shatner does not seem to be a very generous actor and by design or not, William Shatner often end up sounding like a self centered cad. Its interesting that almost every Star Trek actor have problems with Shatner. But she was generous enough to say that Shatner as a director of Star Trek V, was most wonderful person. Doohan and Takei had no kind words for Shatner in their books.

Intersting reading material for all Star Trek fans. Story of Nichelle Nichols proves to be one of courage and determination that marked her a very special woman. In some ways, that make the color of her skin immaterial in the end.

I just came from reviewing Walter Koenig's book and I'd like to take the chance to review Nichelle's book. Nichelle's is the 2nd ST book I've read this week.

I liked Uhura on Star Trek, but after reading Nichelle's book I admire her even more. Nichelle is a brave woman and she had to put up with a bunch of [stuff] to get where she did. If you read her book, you'll see she met a few people that made racial comments to her and treated her badly because of her skin color. I don't know Nichelle, but I must say that I admire her bravery to put up with some of the stuff she had to put up with.

Let me move onto her Star Trek days. I was entertained by the chapters talking about Star Trek. Like Walter Koenig's book, she didn't really talk about the issues with William Shatner. She skimmed the surface, but then I reach the end of the book where Bill wants to interview her for his Star Trek Memories book. She did sound upset that William betrayed her trust, but she didn't spend the whole book dissing him. It's just my guess, but I get the feeling when I read James Doohan's book that's when I'll see the dissing start. I like every Star Trek cast member, including Bill Shatner and I'm still going to like every member whether or not Bill did have a chip on his shoulder.

Anyway, Nichelle's book is def. worth a read.

Hi ... as if my Review Title isn't "controversial" enough. Might I first note, with sick fascination, the overwhelming majority of occasions on which We Of Varied "Colors" wildly [ and customarily, VIOLENTLY ] flail away at each other ? Ruefully, therefore, even when Gayle Sayer's beautiful autobiography, I Am Third, was *not* out-of-print, hardly ANYbody, Black -or- White, decided it worth the time to read, among other chapters, Gayle's summary of his friendship with Brian Piccolo entitled "Pick." As my segue into some brief remarks on Nichelle Nichols autobiography, Beyond Uhura, might I specify: look to a verse in the Beautiful Beatles song "A Day In The Life" wherein Paul McCartney, I believe, sings "The Crowd of People turned *away* ... BUT I just *had* to look ... having Read the book." That's what I think, and feel, about Ms. Nichols splendid autobiography. What a wonderful Lady, and how very gracious, talented, lovely (in AND out), non-bigoted, non-judgemental, and holy she is ! Her autobiography is an invaluable, indispensable read for we who vituperously segment ourselves into separate "Races" ( check out the Graham Nash song, if you will, titled "There's Only One" ) and stick hurtful, derogatory LABELS upon anyone but OURSELVES. Nichelle, like Gayle, simply tells us the TRUTH, and like Mr. Sayers, Nichelle relates Truth to us like the genuine, loving Christian she is !!

I really enjoyed this book. Nichelle tells lots of great stories. A couple of times it would get a little bogged down in details about all her various gigs, but for the most the book moved quickly. She begins with her multi-racial family living thru segregation. She goes on to tell stories about how her carreer evolved, her brush with gangsters running the entertainment industry, her relationship with Gene Roddenbery, how insensitive Bill Shatner was to his cast mates, and by contrast, how egalitarian Leonard Nimoy was, and about her work with NASA recruiting astronauts. There are many, many fascinating stories in this book.