Pawns and Symbols by Majliss Larson (Star Trek #26, 1985)

On Sherman's Planet, a world jointly claimed by the Federation and the Klingon Empire and administrated by the Organians, an earthquake shatters the calm of the Federation field researchers. There is widespread damage, and all but one of the scientists is killed. Jean Czerny is found and taken by the Klingons to a waiting ship, where the Klingon medic saves her life with some timely first aid. The ship's commander, Kang, declares Czerny endebted to him, and takes her to help investigate problems on Empire worlds, suffering a widespread blight that is making food supplies scarce. While Kirk and the crew work to get her back, Czerny spends months working on a grain to resist the disease with a Klingon scientist. She eventually becomes embroiled in a plot by Kang's estranged wife, Mara, to pressure Kang into negotiations with the Federation.

It's not a bad plot, and in fact is similar to the plot for Star Trek VI. The Klingon Empire is in trouble, they must seek help from the Federation but are too proud, etc. This becomes the second book release in a row with a Klingon-human sexual encounter, which is unfortunate. While in the previous book Margaret Wander Bonanno handled it deftly, Larson is far more clumsy with the encounter. It also seems unlikely that a plant disease could spread to so many worlds.

This is one of the most blatant "Mary Sue" stories ever published by Pocket. A Mary Sue novel is one where the author puts herself as a character in the story, and often has the character act out her own fantasies regarding Star Trek characters. This has long been a staple of fan fiction, with women fantasizing about having affairs with Spock especially, and other characters as well. It is not seen so much about male fans, perhaps because it is easier for the men to identify with the extant characters. The women can either be Uhura, Chapel, or one of the one-shot guest stars, much less emotionally satisfying. In this case, the fantasy seems to be Klingon sex, with the dark and menacing Kang, seen here as the heir to the throne.

During this period, Pocket editors were certainly asleep at the wheel, letting this story slip through. There is little to learn about the Klingons, a race portrayed here as simply more agressive humans, not as aliens. There is not much here to recommend the story. It's not really bad as much as it is tedious. As self-published fan fiction, or posted on a website, sure. But mass-produced as a novel in a series, this falls short.

Dwellers in the Crucible by Margaret Wander Bonanno (Star Trek #25, 1985)

Based on a Vulcan custom, and similar practices on other worlds, the civilizations of the Federation have sent to Vulcan Warrantors of Peace--children of high-ranking officials, with key state secrets held on their persons, as a sort of hostage group to help maintain peace among Federation worlds. Sensing a weakness, the Romulans kidnap six of these Warrantors, and give them to the Klingons to hold while the intrigues are played out. It falls to the Enterprise crew to rescue these individuals, with Sulu going undercover as a Romulan and Scotty seeking information from a Klingon out of his past. The prisoners will surely die under Klingon hands, unless they can be found and rescued quickly.

This is a good story, important after the previous poor book, but it does not focus on the Enterprise crew. The book is really a re-examination of the Kirk-Spock friendship, using a different and somewhat inside-out vessel. Two of the Warrantors are women, human and Vulcan, one Cleante al-Faisal and another T'Shael, a student of languages and daughter of one of the most accomplished musicians ever heard on Vulcan. T'Shael is without family, as her father died of an inherited disease, and her mother was one of the crewmembers of the destroyed ship Intrepid. T'Shael, with no remaining family ties, has volunteered to be a Warrantor, taking the place of Ambassador Sarek's son--Spock.

Six are originally captured, including three Deltans and an Andorian. The Andorian dies soon after the kidnapping while resisting the Romulans. The Deltans die when the Klingons begin to experiment with them out of boredom. Meanwhile, the two women, on the road to friendship before, are thrown into a "crucible" that tests them to their very limits and beyond. The story is largely a look at forming friendships with people of other cultures, and especially the differences between oh-so-emotional humans and eminently logical Vulcans.

Bonanno writes an interesting story here, with only brief and mostly unimportant appearences by Enterprise crew. The scenes are written mostly to keep the fans interested, I think. Sulu is an interesting choice for undercover agent, although I think Chekov would have been a more reasonable choice. At this setting, though, Chekov is not on the Enterprise as this is the first novel set during the movies' time period. The story takes place just before the events of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." This is unusual, since most authors write for the time period of the original TV series, or the often-proposed second five-year mission that supposedly followed the first movie. Bonanno uses elements from the movies, including the very sexual Deltans and Saavik from the movie series. She even gives her a "girl's name," saying her name is really "T'Saavik," but that humans have trouble pronouncing that. A nice touch.

Bonanno is also the author of the "Preternatural" series, and also wrote the Star Trek books "Strangers from the Sky" and "Saturn's Child" (with Nichelle Nichols). She is the credited author on "Probe," but insists that is not her book, as it contains only 7% of the words from the manuscript she handed in and was extensively rewritten (obviously). "Crucible," however, is Bonanno's book, and it's a good one. Just don't go in expecting a Kirk-Spock story, because that's not here. It is a good Star Trek universe tale, though.