Fan Fiction

I loved this book. If you are a Star Trek fan this is a must read for you. Written by Brent Spiner of LT Commander Data fame this is his Mem-Noir inspired by true events

Brent Spiner tells us the tale of a mid tier hollywood celebrity that finds himself being stalked and harrassed by a crazy fan and has to get the FBI involved. With a full cast of characters and Star Trek favs such as Michael Dorn (LT Worf), Jonahthan Frakes (Commader Riker), Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Marina Sirtis (Counsellr Troy), Gates Mcfadden (Dr Crusher) and of course Mr Gene Rodenberry creator of Star Trek

This is not only a entertaining read into the life of a celebrity but a funny hilarious book that had me laughing all through the book! a must Read 5 star easily

Part semi-truthful memoir, part fictionalized noir mystery novel, this is one of the more original books I've read this year. (Well, listened to on audiobook...)

Brent Spiner, who is highly underrated as a talent in Hollywood, shows that he's not just a good actor, funny, and a wonderful singer–he's also a talented writer. He churns out a funny story based around true events that happened back in his Next Generation days, and he managed to hire on his friends to voice themselves in the audiobook. The result is a delightful treat for fans of ST:TNG and mystery novels alike.

Spiner casts himself in the role of neurotic, desperate-for-attention character actor, and it works. He knows what he's doing by writing himself in some less-than-glamorous lights, and it works.

This book was a lot of fun.

This was a fun but very parallel universe type of book. It is part memoir but then it veers off into fiction/fantasy/mystery. Brent has a stalker who wants to kill him and sends him weird stuff in the mail. He name drops many characters (real life and in the star trek universe) so they must be in part true. I found this fun as I am a fan of Next Generation Star Trek. If you are not a fan of Next Generation or Star Trek it will probably leave you a little baffled.

Very fun to listen to as an audio book with my partner in the car

I would love to know how much of this is fact vs fiction. Star Trek FUN!

I give it a resounding “meh”. I didn't love the writing style and there was some weird stuff with women that wasn't necessarily offensive but didn't really draw me in as a woman.

Does this count as self-insert RPF? Anyway, fun! Super quick and easy read.

This was a fun read. Spiner can be a funny guy (I did love his character's attempt to connect with comedy when he played Data in ST:TNG) and he brings that humor in this book. A fast, easy to read and amusing story that will leave you chuckling more times than you can count.

I also voted for it in the Goodreads “Best Humor” category of their Choice Awards.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—
WHAT'S FAN FICTION ABOUT?
During the filming of Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner starts receiving threatening (and disturbing) packages and letters delivered to his trailer. They're purportedly from “Lal” (Data's daughter from episode 3.16 “The Offspring”).

Those aren't the only interesting letters he's receiving, there are also a series of letters from someone claiming to speak to Spiner on the phone at night while her husband is out of town on business. These conversations are apparently quite graphic and sexual in nature, while the letters that are in response to them are very benign, and maybe a little tragic.

Spiner gets help from the LAPD, the FBI, a personal bodyguard, and fictionalized versions of his ST:TNG costars as the threats increase in intensity. This assistance bounces from comical to incredibly effective, while Spiner's worry and stress (and increasing lack of sleep) start to spiral out of control and his grasp on sanity starts to slip.

FAN CONNECTION
When it comes to his stalker, the late-night phone call recipient, a law enforcement officer/would-be-TV-writer, a pizza delivery man—and a few others, the relationship between fan and performer is clearly unhealthy.

But throughout there is a thread of meaningful connections being made through Spiner's performance to the audience. There were a couple of really sweet moments we see because of this—in the midst of the satiric madness, they really ground the work and help you remember that Spiner was more than someone suffering from a sleep-deprived paranoia.

I'M LIKELY TO BE THE ONLY ONE BOTHERED BY THIS, BUT...
We spend a lot of time with ST:TNG and have references to other parts of Spiner's career before that, but not one single nod to Bob Wheeler?

That's the role that made me a fan of Spiner—probably would've found another 1/2 Star or so if there'd been a quality joke about him.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT FAN FICTION?
I don't remember the last time I had this much fun reading a book—it was just a blast. I laughed and/or chuckled frequently, cringed a couple of times (in a good way), and couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

That starts with the characters: Spiner's antics and reactions to his situation were great. The comically-exaggerated versions of the ST:TNG cast were fantastic—I wouldn't mind reading a series of Spiner's adventures just to see those again. The Bodyguard and FBI officer rounded out the cast of characters in an entertaining way that also provided the lethal abilities required to keep Spiner alive in the face of the threat.

The stalker's actions in other settings would be hair-raising and chilling—but given the comic tone, they become ridiculous. And you can't wait to see what extreme “Lal” will go to next.

Spiner's humanity (depicted as very flawed) shines through in the midst of the madness. When that's combined with the heartwarming fan connections, they make this surprisingly sweet as much as it is comically dark. All in all, a real winner.

Fans of Star Trek or Hollywood satires need to get their hands on it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

Fun Romp Through Star Trek: TNG In Its Heyday. This is a fictionalized loose autobiography featuring Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation - and more specifically, Brent Spiner, the human actor who portrayed him. As one of those Autistics that Spiner mentions during the course of this story as eventually being told so many of us looked up to that character, I can absolutely attest to that being true... and one of the reasons he became so legendary to me. But the story itself is pure light-noir Hollywood, with quite a bit of comedy tossed into a plot that is nominally about obsessive fans and the more serious aspects of how that can go a bit off the rails. Most of the rest of the cast of TNG comes through in various bits, with Jonathan Frakes and LeVar Burton getting the most “screen time” here but even Michael Dorf, Gates McFadden, and yes, Sir Patrick Stewart himself all getting at least one scene of direct interaction with Brent within these pages. Still, as a “fictionalized autobiography” / noir, these scenes aren't meant as literal “this happened” so much as “this is true to who these people were in my experience, even as these exact interactions are fictionalized”. As such, it offers a great view “behind the scenes”... without actually going “behind the scenes”. Great use of the medium, and a quick ish read to boot- I read it in a single afternoon. Very much recommended.