Book – Dark Vador VS Monsieur Spock

Book – Dark Vador VS Monsieur Spock 

Author: Olivier Cotte & Jeanne-A Debats 

Score: 7/10

Year: 2016

Publisher: Dunod

ISBN 978-2-10-075464-9 

Pages 223

Language: French 

This is a very funny and yet, somewhat, informational book, discussing points of divergence between the two largest science-fiction sagas of the past few decades : Star Wars & Star Trek.

As fans of the two celebrated sagas tend to oppose one another in endless battles of comparisons and preferences, the authors, who are sci-fi buffs, collaborated for this book, discussing everything that the two sagas share, and their differences. 

Each of the sagas have many qualities, but also flaws, and which are partially addressed in these 101 mini-chapters. the authors use these as rounds (like in boxing), opposing the two sagas in many topics. 

I say mini, because each is 1-2 pages of text. When it's only a page, the other is usually an illustration (by Olivier Cotte, one of the authors), or a table. Sometimes, though, the other page is more text. In all cases, it's a very fast read.  

The title for this book follows the french name of Darth Vader, which is a regrettable choice for Darth Vader. 

Topics cover sociopolitical aspects of sci-fi in general and these sagas in particular ; special FX, costumes, monsters, heroism, protagonists & antagonists, music/sound, tropes, characterisation, and the like.  

A word of warning : sometimes the authors spoil stories, so this book is mostly for those who know and seen everything in the sagas. The others may find the spoilers too much.

It's a pity that the two authors, supposedly eminent in their knowledge of the genre and these two sagas, miss a few details or give erroneous comments, as if they hadn't actually seen every single episode/movie. 

Contrary to the fans, I have a preference to the genre itself, finding these comparisons and battles are baseless - as baseless as comparing oranges and courgettes, they are simply quite different. None of them is perfect, due to many reasons and factors.

7/10 for originality in discussing the two sagas ; humour and illustrations. Potentials aren't fully met in this short book, offering fragmentary viewpoints which can be argued at lengths. Also lost point due to some of the jokes which verge or cross the line with sexism, and speciesism.