Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana (Star Trek #44, February 1989).

Spock of Vulcan has just been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and posted to the Enterprise as third-in-command and Science Officer. He will report to Captain Christopher Pike. First, he must go to Vulcan and tend to business with his father, and with his betrothed.

The Enterprise has been ordered to the planet Areta, site of a nuclear holocaust that is rebuilding its civilization. The factions on the planet are wary of each other, and have lost much of their former technology, but Pike had accomplished an earlier mission to help groups establish trade relations between a nomadic tribe and a group of city-dwellers. He will return to try and monitor and perhaps strengthen those relations, to help the planet recover. While en route, the ship is diverted to follow a lead on the lost gem called Vulcan's Glory, a huge emerald that became a symbol of the planet from ancient times. It was lost in an ill-fated space mission hundreds of years before, and Vulcan highly values its return. Spock and the other Vulcan crew members are greatly interested in the recovery of the Glory. Especially after someone, who must be a Vulcan, begins killing for it.....

Dorothy Fontana is one of the original Star Trek series writers, and wrote many acclaimed episodes, most especially "Journey to Babel" which introduced Spock's parents Sarek and Amanda. Fontana wrote for other science fiction series as well, and westerns before that. As one of the few women working in TV during the 1960s, Fontana often came to be writing about the emotional side of characters. Here, she returns to the character she wrote so often before, Spock.

The story explores a young Spock, just coming into his own as a StarFleet officer. He is buffeted on all sides by a new commander, a father who will not speak to him, a betrothed whom he does not love. He finds a woman who cares for him, but of course things cannot work out. Also here in his first tour on the Enterprise is Scotty, though he is used mostly for comic relief. We are also shown the workings of the Enterprise under Captain Pike, Kirk's predecessor, and given a logical explanation for the name of "Number One," the female first officer.

Some quibbles must exist. Given that the crew members still react a bit stiffly to Spock in Kirk's day, that there could be 7 Vulcans on board when Spock is first stationed there seems unlikely. Also, the stories do not quite join together. There is no special reason they must, but it is dramatically satisfying when they do. Instead, the three plot threads remain pretty much separate, merely intersecting.

All in all, I liked the book. I do think it could have been better. It's definitely worth a look for Star Trek fans, as well as Spock fans.