22 years ago, I was still reading Star Trek novels. While some of them were, well. You know. Others were brilliant. One of those was The Final Reflection by John M. Ford. This was, in effect, a historical novel set about Klingons, and I looked at them differently. He painted a picture of a society where everything was a game of chess. These are not the Klingons as we know them now, from ST:TNG and ST:DS9, but it was a viewpoint we needed at the time. And it was the first time, I think, that the Star Trek universe was viewed as something so huge that it could have a history, that books could be written that would be *novels* in that universe. And *that* concept blew my mind.

Three years later, there came How Much for Just the Planet - Star Trek as musical comedy, plus parodies of other film styles. It was hilarious at times, touching at others and the original characters interacted with the classic ones seamlessly. It impressed me so much I induced jonbaker to buy it himself when we met two years later.

And I still think about these books - things still remind me of them.

John M. Ford passed away last night. The world is a poorer place.