Tag: 1987

How Much for Just the Planet?

How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford
Pocket Books, 1987
Price I paid: Either one or two bucks, I don’t remember

Dilithium. In crystalline form, the most valuable mineral in the galaxy. It powers the Federation’s starships…and the Klingon Empire’s battlecruisers. Now on a small, out-0f-the-way planet named Direidi, the greatest fortune in dilithium crystals ever seen has been found.

Under the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty, the planet will go to the side best able to develop the planet and its resources. Each side will contest the prize with the prime of its fleet. For the Federation—Captain James T. Kirk and the starship Enterprise. For the Klingons—Captain Kaden vestai-Oparai and the Fire Blossom.

Only the Direidians are writing their own script for the contest—a script that propels the crew of the Enterprise into their strangest adventure yet!

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Spaceballs: The Book

Spaceballs: The Book by Jovial Bob Stine
Based on the screenplay by Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan, and Ronny Graham
Scholastic, 1987
Price I paid: $12.67 in Amazon gift credit

Spaceballs, the nastiest beings in the universe, have decided to kidnap the beautiful Princess Vespa. But she’s already run off from her wedding and is speeding away in a Mercedes space coupe, accompanied by her robot, Dot Matrix. Meanwhile, our hero, Lone Starr, threatened by terrible Pizza the Hutt, is flying his Winnebago as far away as possible.

Will the wicked Spaceballs, led by dreadful Dark Helmet and Colonel Sandurz, seize the princess? Or will Lone Starr and his friends save the Princess from a fate worse than death!? Don’t miss Spaceballs: The Book!

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The Haunted Mesa

the-haunted-mesaThe Haunted Mesa by Louis L’Amour
Bantam Books, 1987
Price I paid: Most public library cards are free! Get one!

The Navajo called them the Anasazi: an enigmatic race of southwestern cliff dwellers. For centuries, the sudden disappearance of this proud and noble people has baffled historians. Summoned to a dark desert plateau by a desperate letter from an old friend, renowned investigator Mike Raglan is drawn into a world of mystery, violence, and explosive revelation. Crossing the border beyond the laws of man and nature, he will learn the astonishing legacy of the Anasazi—but not without a price. Set in the contemporary Southwest, The Haunted Mesa draws on Louis L’Amour’s extensive knowledge of Indian lore and mysticism. In this extraordinary book L’Amour tells a tale of epic adventure that takes his readers across the most extraordinary frontier they have ever encountered.

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Copernick’s Rebellion

Copernick's RebellionCopernick’s Rebellion by Leo A. Frankowski
Del Rey Books, 1987
Price I paid: 90¢

Heinrich Copernick and Martin Guibedo came to the States as penniless refugees after World War II. By 1999 they had made huge fortunes in the field of medical instrumentation. But Heiny and his Uncle Martin weren’t just filthy rich, they were also the world’s best gene engineers. And their latest inventions could free Humanity from want and oppressive governments forever. At least, that was the plan.

Imagine:
Free homes with all the furnishings and utilities!
Free food! Even free babysitters!
Heiny and Uncle Martin even thought they should give their inventions away. Free.

That’s when their troubles began.

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Sniper!: Viet Rampage

Sniper!: Viet Rampage by Mark AcresViet Rampage front
TSR, Inc., 1987
Price I paid: $1.50

YOU are John Strong, an elite “on call” agent working with the CIA, sent to find a U.S. spy satellite that crashed in Vietnam. The satellite’s memory banks contain information on Soviet Space technology, and the Russians and their Vietnamese friends will do everything they can to stop you…

To be successful in this adventure, you will have to make snap decisions under pressure, using your abilities of stealth, gun-firing, hand-to-hand combat, and bomb-throwing to reach your objectives. Prepare yourself for adventure and combat with VIET RAMPAGE.

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