Tekwar

View other editions of Tekwar.
View books by William Shatner.

Ahead warp factor - well, about 0.75 really - Rated
Recently I had a spare evening, and had a rummage through my old books, to try to find something to read. I stumbled on this one, which I forgot I had in my collection, & finished it last night.
First of all, I think that William Shatner writes SF competently. What he does particularly well is imagine how things might be in the future, particularly with regard to robots/androids. Isaac Asimov would be proud of him! He really does have a vivid imagination, and comes up with lots of new ideas. His SF is snappy and action-packed.
Unfortunately, I thought the story itself was not quite so good. It's readable, certainly, but perhaps a little on the shallow side. In other words, a bit too much action and not enough philosophy was my impression.
Nonetheless, if this is Shatner's first attempt at SF, he should definitely stick at it. Just make the characters a bit deeper and less like cardboard cut-outs. I hope this is fair.

TEK WAR IS EXCELLENT - Rated
Okay I'll admit I merely bought this book because Shatner is the author. I, however, found TEK WAR to be fun and exciting to read. Jake Cardigan is a wonderfully realistic protagonist who is not without his own vices. After being parolled from the Freezer, Cardigan tries to find out who framed him for dealing the virtual reality drug TEK. This book is great. When I started it I couldn't put it down.