Firestorm by L.A. Graf (Star Trek #68, January 1994).

The Enterprise is called to the planet Rakatan, where a Federation geological team is investigating a world rife with volcanic activity. One member of the team thinks she has found evidence of a life form in the volcanoes themselves. That is the ostensible reason the Enterprise was called, but the real reason is a mining operation by a group from the planet Elas that is interfering with the volcanic research.

Kirk and crew have dealt with Elasians before, in a manner not always satisfactory. The arrogant Elasians stress their claim to the planet, and say they are mining dilithium, although the geologists doubt the existence of large dilithium deposits. While their technology is not impressive, the Elasian men are physically imposing, and the women are strong-willed and haughty. Hand-to-hand combat is inadvisable.

Since the Elasians are a strongly matriarchial culture, Uhura is chosen to be the one to head up the landing party. It is difficult for the Elasians to conceive of a man in charge. Uhura, Chekov and Sulu beam down to the planet to negotiate with the Elasians and settle the disputes between them and the geologists. That doesn't go well, but the importance of that dispute soon begins to pale beside the rumbling volcano. And when an Elasian armada shows up, to interfere with the pullout of Enterprise personnel from the planet, the exercise becomes a test of survival skills and grit.

This book is a sequel of sorts to the third-season episode "Elaan of Troyius," in which the female leader of Elas, named Elaan, was to be married to the male ruler of neighboring planet Troyius to cement a treaty between the two peoples. This became difficult because the Elasian ruler was a "barbarian" with poor manners, a trait important to the people of Troyius. When the murderous Dohlman Elas nearly killed the Troyian ambassador, Kirk stepped in for the etiquette lessons. He soon found the true power of the Elasian women was that when their tears fell on a man, he became completely subject to her will and forced to follow her orders completely.

L.A Graf is the pseudonym of the writing team of Julia Ecklar and Karen Rose Cercone. This book, like the previous two produced by this team, features Uhura and Chekov, and like the previous one features Sulu. Chekov is an obvious favorite of this writing pair, especially in his incarnation as security chief in the time period after the first movie. The setting for the novel is the often-proposed "second five-year mission" to have taken place between the first and second movies. We are five years after the first encounter with the Elasians, and the Dohlman who had enslaved Kirk with her tears has died.

While Elaan is dead, her heir is her younger sister, not yet old enough to cry the tears that will bind men to her unquestioningly. The official rule is by her aunt, the Crown Regent. Yet, Israi (the young Dohlman) has a retinue of men who swear loyalty to her, in spite of the lack of biochemical coercion. The book, like the episode, never explains if the tears are a trait common to all Elasian women, or just the royal family.

The Enterprise can easily outgun anything the Elasians have, so plot contrivances must be made to make the crew vulnerable. The magnetic currents on the planet itself, plus a late ploy involving an electromagnetic net by the Crown Regent serve to put the humans at the mercy of the much larger and stronger Elasians. Chekov plays tough guy, as "Graf" always has him do. Much of the focus of the narrative is on Chekov, with a secondary focus on Uhura. This has become the typical modus operandi for the Graf writing team. Kirk and Spock come in at the end to save the day.

Uhura gets to stand on her own here and lead, but this clever idea is not used to best effect. We find out little more about Uhura's character. The novel is mostly built around suspense, also a hallmark of Graf books. The problem is, the constant ratcheting up of the circumstances seems false. The volcano is huge, larger than Olympus Mons on Mars, and looms over all the action.

It feels a lot like we've been here before, because this book is similar in tone and theme to the other books by L.A. Graf. If you read along in the series chronologically, this book seems repetitive and derivative as it takes on the same shape as "Deathcount" and "Ice Trap." It was as though the authors said, "OK, now let's do Ice Trap but with fire instead!" The throw-in of a race previously on Star Trek is just to make the book slightly different. It doesn't work for me.

I also get the feeling the authors dislike geologists. The scientists observing the planet are obtuse, wrapped up only in what they are doing and distrustful of others, even in their own group, and are used in much the same way as "red shirts" in most Trek adventures. It is difficult to get a feeling for any of the characters as people, and they seem one-dimensional, rarely even rising to the level of two-dimensional. The characters exist simply to further the plot.

There is some suspense here, and the focus on Sulu, Uhura and Chekov instead of Kirk and Spock is often refreshing. It's just that no new ground is covered.