Throwback Thursday - Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall

note: This is another book review from my old website. At the time I was obsessed with any zombie fiction that I could get my hands on. This was of course before the glut of books, comics, shows, and movies that hit the market when zombies became “cool”. This on still holds up well.

You know when I heard that someone had combined two of my favorite things zombies and Star Trek, I was psyched. Though I will admit after the failed attempt to do the same thing with the Star Wars universe I was a bit worried. But unlike that book this doesn’t take place in the Trek universe, but at a convention. That is pure genius.  Before I talk about the book though lets talk a look at the story.

Jim Pike is a veteran that has come back from the Middle East with some issues. Despite being qualified for much better work he has chosen to become a security guard at the Botany Bay Hotel and Convention Center. His experiences in the war have convinced him that he doesn’t want to have any responsibilities at all. When his sister, Rayna shows up with here friends and everyone starts to munch on each other things get very difficult for Jim. It is up to him to lead a group of survivors out of the Botany Bay hotel and to safety, whether he wants the responsibility or not. Toss in a “Klingon” named Martock, a beautiful girl dressed as Princess Leia, and a scientist with a secret for a good time. 

What can I say about the book? It is a great read that will please both the fans of Star Trek and those looking for some good zombie fun. The Trek fan in me really appreciated the references to the series, from the names of the characters and hotel, to the acknowledgement that hard-core Trekkies and Star Wars fans don’t get along. That is a touch that non-geeks wouldn’t ever add or understand. I also thought that the time spent showing how the convention was setup and the levels to which some fans take it was pretty nifty. I mean you have a regular guy that can’t deal with the situation, but is forced to get in touch with his inner Klingon and then becomes a killing machine! Nice job guys.   

Night of the Living Trekkies also manages to be a very good zombie story as well. You get plenty of Gut munching (always a good thing!) and there are some gory bits here and there. I mean if you have ever wanted to read about a guy dressed as a Klingon chopping thru zombies with a Bat’leth then this is the book for you. But it isn’t all just about nerdy fun, as there is a clever and disturbing zombie story at the core of the book. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I found the sci-fi twist to be very enjoyable. 

This could have been a silly and poorly written cash in on a couple of popular genres, but the authors Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall put a lot of effort in to make the book a good read. I was very surprised how much fun that the book was and highly recommend it. 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer