A family friendly Star Trek parody that’s funny and pays tribute to the original – and it isn’t “The Orville”. It is “Space Traipse: Hold My Beer” by Karina Fabian.

I’ve long been  a fan of Karina Fabian’s work. We were both involved in the “Infinite Space, Infinite God II” anthology. I’ve reviewed several of her works such as her novel “Discovery” based on her Space Nuns stories. (These definitely ace the Bechtel test.) And I’ve followed her “Space Traipse” stories since the very beginning. That’s why I was honored to be one of her beta readers, though the first set of stories are now out in print and on Kindle.

Note: If you’ve been following her “Space Traipse: Hold My Beer” blog, there is new content unique to the book.

What if you’re unfamiliar with “Space Traipse: Hold My Beer”? The series started in response to a Tumbler post on why humans were in charge in the Star Trek Universe. I’m not kidding.

Reference: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2016/11/star-trek-mad-science/

Karina Fabian started the “ST: Hold My Beer” stories as a result. It begins with a very Star-Trekky crew. You get a ship sexy who has to deal with interstellar diplomacy and careful rules that keep her out of reach of pretty much everyone. Want an illicit romance? There’s a form for that. The transporter chief is a member of a faith that celebrates the death and rebirth of everyone transported through the machine. The chief engineer is Scottish, kind of. The security chief is a refugee from a generation ship that is literally named “The Hood”. The main pilot and his grandmother are great adventurers. They go on adventures from first contact to saving a lost generation ship to dealing with the Borg-equivalents in this universe. They get equal amounts of guidance and hindrance from the Logicals, this universe’s Vulcans.

There are new elements in Fabian’s stories, too, like Planet Amazon. Excuse me, Filedise. The new content in this short story collection contains what is probably the only logical Doctor Who / Star Trek cross-over possible.

There are a lot of little details I like in this universe. For example, you learn why the engines make noise and the inertial dampeners let you feel anything. There’s a pit of backup bridge crew ready and waiting, though some of them get bored. Tons of other illogical details of the Trek universe get an explanation here, though it is generally funny.

The entire series is hilarious. It is also PG, even down to language. I have no issues letting my teens and preteens read it. I give “Space Traipse” five stars.