Thanks to a Google news alert, I was made aware of a recent blog post on Martian Utopia Cafe by a poster who goes by the nickname Areophany. The title of his post is “Dream of stars: Star Trek novels, tragic optimism, and personal myth,” and it’s a very well-written, insightful piece about grand themes related to human suffering and our deep need to find meaning in an arbitrary universe.

The poster chooses to cite a number of classic Star Trek novels that he feels contributed most poignantly to his own sense of personal myth. See if you can spot which entry looks out of place:

Prime Directive by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, 1991.

Federation by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, 1994.

My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane, 1984.

The Final Reflection by John M. Ford, 1984.

Final Frontier by Diane Carey, 1987.

Star Trek Destiny trilogy by David Mack, 2008.

All I have to say is that it’s both a great honor and somewhat intimidating to be included on a list comprising works and authors of such lofty caliber. So, to Areophany I give my heartfelt thanks. The rest of you, give his blog post a look — it’s quite thought-provoking, and many of his accounts of how his worldview took shape during his childhood echo my own.