Those talented folk at Hero Collector — the same people who make all those incredible models (and accompanying books) of sci-fi spacecraft — have launched a truly unique book; an extremely colorful and entertaining work based on Grudge the cat’s enlightening perspective of all things USS Discovery.
“Star Trek: Discovery – The Book of Grudge” will be published on January 4, 2022, just weeks before the Season 4 finale of “Star Trek: Discovery.” It’s available meow for pre-order and it will be priced at $14.95 in the US and $19.95 in Canada.
This book contains 96 pages of beautiful artwork by Walter Newton and dazzling photos (of an apparently very impatient Grudge) taken on the “Discovery” set. Needless to say, the book’s author and Grudge’s interpreter in this venture, Robb Pearlman, is a big fan of “Star Trek.”
“I remember, as a young kid, being entranced by the action and the aliens and the tech of the show. Pointed ears? Amazing! Blue skin and antenna? Bring it!” Pearlman told Space.com. “The show played in syndicated reruns on my local New York station, especially over the weekends. And because it was — and is — the kind of show that can be enjoyed by multiple generations, it was usually on when my parents, grandparents, and I were all together.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Pearlman is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 35 books for grown-ups and kids. He specializes in pop-culture, a field he considers himself fortunate to be able to carve a career out of.
“I was a weird kid,” he laughs. “I’m lucky that, to some degree, I can consider channel and internet surfing part of my job! I like to call myself a pop culturist, rather than a critic, because I’m not in this to judge or criticize. Not everything is for me, which is totally fine. There’s a lot out there to enjoy.”
Book’s cat, Grudge is a Maine Coon — the largest domesticated cat breed and one of the oldest bred in North America — and is actually played by two feline film stars, Leeu and Durban, two lookalike brothers who belong to a Palm Springs-based restaurateur named Michelle Smith and take turns playing the part.
Pearlman was presented with a unique set of problems in trying to understand and accurately interpret this colossal cat from Kwejian. “You’re working under the false premise that Grudge is a cat. She is, in fact, a queen,” Pearlman laughed.
“Grudge isn’t much of a talker and hasn’t had a whole lot of screen time on the show…I was able to glean a lot from her body language. A swish of her tail, a sigh, an eye roll. All that speaks volumes if you know how to listen.”
This isn’t the first collaboration between this sci-fi franchise and the feline kingdom, there’s also “Star Trek Cats,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation Cats” and the “Star Trek: Cats of the USS Enterprise 2022 Wall Calendar.” So, clearly there’s a connection. In fact, Lt. Cmdr Data (Brent Spiner) was in possession of a pussycat named Spot in “The Next Generation.”
“Listen, I don’t want to start a catfight here, but I think Spot just never had the opportunity to harness the power of the internet the way Grudge has,” Pearlman said.
As the promotional blurb says, Grudge is “sharper than the sharpest claw and more stunning than a phaser blast, [this book] delivers not only Grudge’s snarky purr-sonal take on everything from space travel to the proper care and training of various alien species, but also includes ‘Star Trek’-inspired quotes, and haiku meditations on her most favorite things, including napping.”
The Book of Grudge will be published on Jan. 4, 2022, just weeks before the Season 4 finale of “Star Trek: Discovery.” It’s available meow for preorder at Amazon and directly from Penguin Randomhouse Books and it will be priced at $14.95 in the US and $19.95 in Canada.
The first half Season 4 of “Star Trek: Discovery” is available to watch now and subsequent installments will drop every Thursday on Paramount Plus in the US and CTV Sci-Fi or Crave TV in Canada. Countries outside of North America can watch on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel.
Here’s how to stream Star Trek: Discovery to catch up on seasons 1-3. Our full streaming guide for Star Trek has tips on how to see the rest of the Trek franchise).
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