The Kobayashi Maru by Julia Ecklar (Star Trek #47, December 1989).

The shuttlecraft carrying Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Sulu and Chekov is disabled and adrift. There is little to do but wait for rescue and care for their injuries. As time passes, McCoy listens to each of the officers describe how they tackled the simulation known to StarFleet command cadets as the Kobayashi Maru. The test is as much about revealing character as managing a crisis. And some face death more nobly than others.

Julia Ecklar is one-half of the writing team that uses the pseudonym "L.A. Graf" and has written many Star Trek novels, but this is her first ST novel. It's an interesting change-of-pace feature, with the framing story of the shuttle incident and the problems it offers juxtaposed against the Academy stories of four Enterprise officers. The novel is set between the first two Star Trek movies, in the often-proposed "second five-year mission" and provides retroactive continuity for that second movie. Such as, how did McCoy know Kirk's story?

Kirk tells his story first, and little new detail is revealed here. Kirk makes a clever but rather obvious adjustment to the programming of the simulator, on his third try at the scenario, and manages to save the ship. Chekov does not take defeat very well, and his story also includes the next simulation of the Russian and his cadet class, when the young man learns much. Sulu's story is entertwined with his 103-year old great-grandfather, and is very poignant. Scott comes up with a solution to the problem worthy of an engineer. Never let it be said a Scotsman did not go down fighting.

The book is rather interesting, and provides depth to the characters involved. It is a story that would work well as a television episode, and it is perhaps surprising no one thought of using such a plot. It goes well, with more emphasis on character than plot, and moves along quite quickly.

The cover painting is a bit off-putting, as the perspective is poor. The Scott face looks OK, but Kirk and Sulu do not fare as well.

Nice writing, and a different approach to the Star Trek novel.

The Cry of the Onlies by Judy Klass (Star Trek #46, October 1989).

The world of Boaco Six has recently seen the overthrow of a dictatorship, and the Enterprise is sent to see if relations can be established with the new government. This is especially important since a key pharmaceutical substance can be found in plentiful supply on that world. Even more, Federation ally Boaco Eight could be in trouble if Romulan or Klingon interests, as rumored, gain a foothold on its near neighbor.

Things seem to be going well until a prototype ship attacks a Boaco Six envoy's ship and destroys it. The Federation is blamed, and Captain Kirk and his crew must get to the bottom of the causes. Doing so takes them through a gauntlet of past decisions, for better and worse. Dealing with their past may be as difficult as dealing with the present.

This is Klass' first and only Star Trek novel, and her only published novel to date. She has written s-f short stories, but is not well-regarded enough to get cover billing on magazines like "Asimov's." Klass has also published books of poetry, and written movie scripts. She is apparently well known in the New York writers' scene. If this novel is indicative of her work, I'd avoid the rest.

The main story itself, of the planet wracked by an insurrection against a totalitarian government tolerated by the Federation, is passable if not overly compelling. It seems to indicate a mistrust of governmental power in general by the author. StarFleet and the Federation in general seem to be either unwise or incompetent, although the Enterprise crew are all right. But only Kirk, Spock and McCoy really get any time here, and their characters are not handled all that well.

There is also the matter of the mishmash of former TV episodes. "Miri" and "Requiem for Methuselah" plus a smidge of "Dagger of the Mind" are all grafted onto a reasonable story. A main character is killed offstage for no good dramatic reason. Old plot points are brought up, possibly to provide tension, but there is no payoff. The characters of Jahn (Miri) and Flint (Requiem) seem to be present just to provide counterpoints for Kirk. And the Romulans and Klingons are not worthy foes at all, but more ineffectual and ruthless despots.

It is all really poorly written. Descriptions are given of events and emotions that could be portrayed much better by dialogue, and situations which seem to be in the narrative for no other reason than to advance the plot or please the writer herself. There is no value here, nothing to enhance the characters, no meat. This is easily the worst Star Trek novel since some of the early efforts in the series. How this got past the editors is a bit of a mystery, especially with the rollback on published original series novels to just a few a year, with emphasis being put on the new Next Generation series.

It's a bad book. Leave it on the shelf. Run away, far away.

The Lost Years by J.M. Dillard (hardcover #2, 1989, reprinted in paperback in October 1990).

The five year mission is over and the starship Enterprise returns to Earth. It all seems anticlimatic to the command crew, as in "now what?" Captain Kirk wants another ship while he waits for the Enterprise refit, Spock wants to be Kirk's first officer, and McCoy wants to return to his beloved Natira and catalog the Fabrini medical knowledge, seen in "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" (original series episode).

Nobody gets quite what they want. Kirk is promoted to admiral, with the promise that he will be a travelling troubleshooter, not a deskbound paper-pusher. Spock, denied service with his closest friend, returns to Vulcan. And McCoy finds his beloved has wed another. Again the threesome is faced with the question, "Now what?"

The "what" is a circumstance that brings them together in the swirling Romulan plot on the planet Djana, and a Vulcan's attempt to take the katra of a Vulcan "mind-master" to the Romulan homeworld to reteach them the old mind powers of the ancient Vulcans. Uhura and Sarek are kidnapped, Kevin Riley becomes Kirk's aide, Spock becomes engaged again, and McCoy also finds a "girlfriend." The threads all come together at the end for a riveting conclusion.

This was to be the first book of an ambitious project at Pocket Books: a three-book hardcover series detailing the "Lost Years," the years between the end of the original five-year mission and the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first movie. Dillard's book was to be followed a few months later by Brad Ferguson's "A Flag Full of Stars," and then Irene Kress' "The War Virus." Didn't happen.

This book, of course, was published. Ferguson's manuscript was rewritten by at least one and probably several other writers, and eventually published as a paperback. Ferguson estimates the book, listing him as author, is about 7% his. It is said that Dillard did much of the rewrite. Kress' book never appeared. She has no Star Trek novels published, at least under that name. Two other titles on the same theme, "Traitor Winds" (by L.A. Graf) and "Recovery" (by Dillard) were later published.

This book gets off to a very slow start, but the plot eventually gets rolling and becomes quite interesting. You have to be patient to get to that point, though. Dillard is not a writer who will wow you with her wordsmithing, or impress you with characterization. Her strength is plotting. The storyline is good, if you can get through the first 1/3 of the book.

While this book (and the ones that followed) were supposed to feature the in-between story, it's really about Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Uhura is just here to advance the plot, and Scotty, Sulu and Chekov are mentioned only in passing. It may be that their stories were planned for the other books, but they appear here only briefly.

The characterizations are OK, nothing off-note here, but you won't really get any insights into the characters. It's more of the same, the Big Three being put through there paces. Dillard's pet security crew, Thomson, Sanger and the gang, appear here but again mostly just show their incompetence. They get promotions too, but if someone else showed this level of ineptitude StarFleet would bounce them. Of course, it's important to get the plot moving.

All in all, it's a good book. A bit too long, as the first 100 pages could have been tightened to 50-60 without sacrificing anything, but having the room of a hardcover encourages such laziness. The middle and end are well done.

Not a bad entry in the Star Trek book universe, although we've seen better.

Double, Double by Michael Jan Friedman (Star Trek #45, April, 1989).

The U.S.S. Hood picks up a distress signal from Exo III, the last known location of famed scientist Roger Korby. Investigating, as good StarFleet ships do, the Hood is informed that Korby has died, but there are amazing discoveries down on the planet. Could a landing party come down?

Meantime, the Enterprise and Captain Kirk are aiding a civilization on the planet T'Nufo, where a meteor swarm is headed. The ship's weapons can destroy some but not all of the meteors, so the population in the affected area must be evacuated. Kirk saves the life of a young man...which bonds the fellow to him for a one-year period. So, he has to come along for the ride, or he will commit ritual suicide since he has been rejected. At least one of the crewmen can speak his language a little.

But the planet Exo III is where an ancient civilization has left behind the means to craft android duplicates of humans, complete with their memories. And the last template left on the machine was...Captain Kirk. But this is a Kirk programmed with a mission to replace humans with androids, and also with an irrational hatred of Mr. Spock. And the android Kirk decides to take over the Enterprise, and from there the Federation itself.

Taking up where the original series episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of" left off, the first ST novel by Friedman sets off at a merry pace and builds suspense along the way. Friedman has written many, many more since, but this was his first outing. It's a pretty good effort. Friedman is a competent writer rather than a lyrical one, but he does a good job of building a feeling of impending doom. We know that Kirk will triumph, of course, but we do wonder how at times.

In the original first-season episode, Nurse Chapel was introduced. She was Dr. Korby's fiance, and when the ship gets a distress call from Korby, Chapel and Kirk beam down to meet him. They find a few scientists and a strange apparatus. Korby surprises Kirk by having him captured, and strapped into the machine, which creates an android duplicate of him. Kirk, seeing what was happening, impresses into his duplicate feelings of antipathy toward First Officer Spock, stressing the phrase "I'm sick of your half-breed interference, Mr. Spock!" It is this phrase that reveals the imposter, and gives Spock the information to destroy the android and not the original. The outpost is then destroyed and all the androids (for even Korby is an android) are believed destroyed. Chapel is now freed to vicariously love Mr. Spock, a continuing theme of the original series.

But Friedman postulates that one android was away from the site at the time, and escaped destruction. This android uses the machine to make a duplicate of the last android made, which was Kirk. This new Kirk takes charge, discovers the problem that exposed him before, and sets out to fulfill Dr. Korby's vision with his own twist: a fixation on the Enterprise. Well, after all, this is Kirk.

The book is plot-heavy, and long on suspense, but short on characterization. If you are not familiar with the characters, Friedman does not take long to introduce you, he simply barrels along. This is not a good first novel to read if you are not knowledgable about Star Trek in general and the original series in particular.

It is an enjoyable book. And it would have made a decent movie, if someone had decided to some time ago. But for now, all we can do is read.

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.

The Final Nexus by Gene DeWeese (Star Trek #43, December 1988)

Gravitational turbulence begins to appear across the galaxy, of the type encountered before by the Enterprise (Chain of Attack, ST #32) that led to the discovery of a "gate" to another part of the galaxy, or perhaps even another galaxy entirely. These gates seems to be associated with an abject, irrational fear on the part of people near the openings when they spontaneously appear. The Enterprise is diverted to investigate.

The Enterprise also encounters the fear-causing presence, and the paranoia it brings. Mr. Spock feels the presence in his mind, and comes to the conclusion that it belongs to a sentient entity. But just how, or why, it causes this fear is unknown. One thing is sure: these gates will have to be controlled, before one opens up in an inhabited area.

Gene DeWeese writes a sequel to his earlier novel in his second Star Trek novel outing. DeWeese had also written the second book of the Next Generation novel series, released not long before. DeWeese is a rather prolific author, in genres from science fiction to mystery to romance, often with a pseudonym, but his stuff is usually just workmanlike, not often inspired. He's sort of a generic writer. The story is engaging enough, and DeWeese writes short chapters that often end in cliffhangers (at least in Nexus) to keep the pages turning, but there is little or no inspiration here. No flow or sweep to the writing, just words on a page.

As is often the case, Spock becomes a deux ex machina in the story. Spock is easily the most featured character, and in fact the story resolution is impossible without him. The other characters make appearences, and nice things are said about Captain Kirk, for one, but we don't get to read about them doing much of anything. The other featured character is Commander Ansfield, a fiftyish woman and first officer of another ship who becomes a key in the plot, but for most of the book she simply stands around and has little to do. Most of her part could easily have been given to Dr. McCoy without losing anything. Ansfield is apparently based on a friend of DeWeese, and even her name is used.

The book does introduce two alien species of some interest, but there is little to be learned about either here. They seem simply to function as part of the plot, and have no other existence or use outside of the book itself. As with his previous book, I am simply not impressed.

Memory Prime by Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens (Star Trek #42, October 1988)

A Vulcan on a lawless planet is approached to take on a contract to kill someone. On the Enterprise, Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy surprise Mr. Spock with the news that the Enterprise will be ferrying scientists to the Nobel and Z. Magnees Prize ceremonies, to be held on the new Federation library computer planet, Memory Prime.

Then everything begins to fall apart. Commodore Wolfe comes on board the Enterprise and takes Spock into custody. An tragedy is narrowly averted during a tour of the engine room. On Memory Prime, a sort of martial law is declared and administrator Mira Romaine is at a loss. Finally, all concerned figure out that one of the Prize nominees is marked for death. But which one?

This book serves as a sequel to one of the poorest TV episodes, "The Lights of Zetar," and also as the first book by the Reeves-Stevens couple, the first of many in a career that has also seen them become staff writers for the final season of Enterprise. They have become William Shatner's collaborators on his Star Trek novels as well.

"Zetar" featured Mira Romaine as a technician going to Memory Alpha, travelling on the Enterprise to set up the new data at the Federation library. She fell in love with Scotty, and became "possessed" by disembodied creatures bent on destruction for some reason. The episode was one of the poorly-filmed group from the third season. It was written by puppeteer Shari Lewis and her husband Jeremy Tarcher. The book is much better.

The authors have put together a serviceable first effort, with some first-time writer mistakes but an overall good story. It plays a lot like an episode, although longer, and could be adapted into a screenplay for the movie series to gain a better story than the movies have had recently. Of course, technology has jumped ahead of the ideas presented here. With the World-Wide web and delocalized information storage, such a facility as Memory Prime would likely be unnecessary. Of course, several other facilities are mentioned, so these could be interpreted as sites of "servers" like we know today.

The new stuff here are the Pathfinders, computer intelligences of a type postulated once or twice on the series (most particularly on Next Generation) and interfacers, humans outfitted with leads so that they can directly communicate with the Pathfinders. They are the only "enhanced" humans allowed in the Federation. It is an interfacer featured on the book cover with Spock, in one of the most misleading covers of the series.

The plot is solid, the dialouge a little stiff but similar to many TV episodes (might sound better spoken) and the story resolution is a bit convoluted, but does bring things to a satisfying conclusion. It's not high art, but it is a fun read.

Spock's World by Diane Duane (Star Trek hardcover #1, 1988)

Vulcan is one of the founding members of the Federation (one of four, according to another source). But there is a movement on Vulcan to pull the planet out of the Federation, and to close it to outworlders. The referendum issue, to be voted on by the entire planet, would close the borders of the world and recall all Vulcan personnel elsewhere, whether in StarFleet or anywhere else. Those who do not return, would be declared non-citizens.

Due to the importance of the issue, a series of speakers are scheduled to present arguments on both sides of the issue prior to the voting. Among those to speak are Captain James T. Kirk, Doctor Leonard McCoy, and first officer Spock of the Enterprise, the planet's most famous son. Also recalled are ambassador to Earth Sarek and his wife, Amanda Grayson, Spock's parents. To complicate things, Sarek has been asked to speak in favor of the resolution to withdraw from the Federation.

This is the first hardcover published by Pocket Books, a sign of how successful the publishing series had become. Between the improving quality of the books themselves and the greater interest in Star Trek brought about by the movies and the Next Generation TV series, book sales were going well, and the extra-length paperbacks were morphed into actual hardcovers. There was, arguably, another hardcover that came first, a 1968 book in a "Hardy Boys" type format, which is admirably discussed at Steve Roby's website dealing with Trek publications: http://www.well.com/~sjroby/lcars/

Duane is always at home with the Star Trek characters, and writes deftly and superbly. Her dialogue and situations are so wonderful that you will hardly notice this book has almost no action in it. The plot, as it stands, is about a series of debates on a legislative issue! There is certainly tension here, but no physical action. This would not play as a TV episode or a movie. But it makes an excellent book, and a wonderful use of the printed medium.

The chapters alternate between "Enterprise" and "Vulcan," with scenes in the here-and-now juxtaposed with chapters showing vignettes from the history of Vulcan, from its prehistory to the recent days. One chapter deals with Surak (with a lot of similarities to Ghandi, appropriately enough) and another with the appointing of Sarek to his ambassador's post and meeting with Amanda.

In the hands of another writer, this would be a slow and boring book. With Duane doing the wordsmithing, it's a pleasure from cover to cover.

The Three-Minute Universe by Barbara Paul (Star Trek #41, August 1988).

Captain Kirk addresses a meeting of officers in the briefing room and begins by announcing, "The universe is on fire." A new heat source, so strong it is even devouring suns, has been detected. The Enterprise must investigate. Once there, instruments give astonishing data: a "rip" has opened, and a universe in the early stages of formation, approximately three minutes old, has begun bleeding over into the Star Trek universe. Kirk and crew must find out how the rip was opened, and more importantly, how to repair it.

The cause is soon found. The Sackers, a race so repugnent of all senses that human races avoid them at all costs, have found a way to open the door between universes. They have wiped out an entire civilization, and the whole galaxy may follow. Their ship is more powerful than the Enterprise, so Kirk must find a way to communicate with the Sackers and get them to heal the rift....if even they can.

Barbara Paul is a science fiction and mystery writer of some note, and this is her only Star Trek book to date. On her website, www.barbarapaul.com, she reports that the book was actually much easier to write than her usual fiction, because of the depth needed for the submission in plot and tone that made the actual writing flow very quickly. Her intent, she says, was simply to write a rip-roaring adventure for the old Enterprise crew. At that, she has succeeded.

The Sackers are an interesting new race, with bodies that are repulsive to humanoid races, and an odor that inspires waves of nausea. They also radiate great heat, so that contact with one causes severe burns. And yet, the familiar seven crew members must establish communications with them on a one-to-one basis.

Paul uses the "Magnificent Seven," Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov, to good effect. Each gets some "screen time" for character development, and acts in character. The speech patterns are good, and Paul also writes in dialect for Scott and Chekov. Those two characters provide much of the humor, which balances the seriousness of the plot and situation. Uhura gets a nicely featured role involving a childhood fear of fire, and Spock gets a chance to be in a situation where he does not have all the answers, a nice change.

The author makes use of a rather cheap device to make the villains, the Sackers, sympathetic, but it is effective. The book itself is well-written and plotted. It's a good book even for those who are not Star Trek fans, but fans of the series will appreciate it even more. 1988 was a good year for ST novels, and this is an excellent entry in the series.

Timetrap by David Dvorkin (Star Trek #40, June 1988)

The Enterprise is en route to Starbase 17 for much-needed repairs and rest, when Uhura picks up a distress call. Oddly, the call is from a Klingon vessel, in Federation space. Kirk wants to know what a Klingon ship is doing in Federation space, so the Enterprise diverts to the signal. The area is near Tholian space, where the Enterprise had attempted a rescue of the ship Defiant and Captain Kirk had become lost in a dimensional rift some years ago, in the episode "The Tholian Web."

Kirk beams over to the Klingon ship with a security team, and then the Klingon ship vanishes in a blinding flash. To Spock's eyes, the Captain has vanished with the ship, although there is no wreckage to indicate an explosion, and the energy signature does not match the earlier dimensional rift.

Meanwhile, Kirk regains conciousness in a Klingon medical ward. He is told that he has come 100 years into the future, and is now in the world of "New Klingons," who have formed an alliance with the Federation. But, there's a catch. History says it was Kirk himself, 100 years earlier, who was aboard the Klingon flagship that addressed the Federation fleet and began the years of peace. So, he must prepare to make that moment happen, as the Klingons prepare to travel back in time.

To prepare, Kirk's liasion is a Klingon historian, Kalrind. She becomes Kirk's guide and also his lover, another in a long line of "space babes." Once the jump is made, Kirk faces the task of convincing his friends that the Klingons are sincere, even though they will not allow him to beam over to his ship and talk face-to-face.

"Timetrap" is Dvorkin's second ST novel, following "The Trellisane Confrontation," ST #14. Unlike A.C. Crispin, who improved from her first to second book, Dvorkin seems to have gone backwards. This effort is much less successful than his last. Most of our time is spent with Kirk, and most of the rest with Spock. This reveals some weaknesses, as Kirk is the most difficult character to capture in a book. Dvorkin's dialogue is not smooth, and sounds rough to the reader's "ear." The plot is telegraphed well in advance to the alert reader, as is the conclusion. I was able to discern where the book was going before I was even halfway through. Dvorkin also tries to keep some things from the reader to keep the suspense, but his weak setups lead to even weaker payoffs.

It wasn't a very good read. The plot device of Klingons is given some credence by the appearence in the then-current Next Generation of Worf, but it falls short of expectations. Dvorkin later wrote a Next Generation novel, and has written other SF books as well as mysteries.

Time for Yesterday by A.C. Crispin (Star Trek #39, April 1988).

Admiral Kirk is summoned to the office of Admiral Morrow. Spock is there also. There is a problem. Waves of time have caught several stars, causing them to age suddenly. One has gone nova, others have started pouring out excess radiation giving signs of explosion or expansion into red giants. Several ships and inhabited planets are caught in the way, necessitating rescue operations. Dr. McCoy is on one of the affected ships.

But the cause is the troubling part. The Guardian of Forever, the time portal discovered by the Enterprise crew some years ago, is emanating the waves of time. The StarFleet personnel stationed on the planet do not respond, and must be presumed dead at this time. Since Kirk and crew are the ones who have dealt with the Guardian before, they are the logical team to tackle this project now.

Spock tells the admiral that there is one individual who has been able to directly influence the Guardian before: his son, Zar. But Zar is thousands of years in the past on the world Sarpeidon, the place of his birth and subsequent death. Kirk, Spock and McCoy had encountered him once before, when Romulans had tried to use the Guardian to change history and wipe out the Federation. Zar had been pulled back from the past then, and communicated telepathically with the sentient machine. Perhaps another powerful telepath could do the same.

D'berahan, a member of the telepathic Marishal race, is taken to the Guardian to attempt contact. But communicating with the powerful force of the Guardian shocks the small being, causing her to retreat into herself. Now, the only choice they have is to travel back in time to reach Zar. But Zar has troubles of his own, including an impending battle that may spell the end of his attempts to bring civilization to Sarpeidon.

And that only scratches the surface of the plot. Crispin went all-out with this story, checking in at just over 300 pages in paperback format. This book follows her first best-selling Star Trek novel, "Yesterday's Son" (Star Trek #11), the first paperback in the series to hit the best-seller lists. Both books act as sequels to the original series episode "All Our Yesterdays," when Kirk, Spock and McCoy inadvertently travelled into the past of the planet Sarpeidon, and Spock had an encounter with a woman named Zarabeth. That there was a physical relationship was never confirmed in the episode, but the possibility was left open. Crispin then posited the existence of a son.

The first book became popular largely due to the interest generated by the news of Spock having a son, reading about a Vulcan without Vulcan training, one with emotions. This was a Vulcan who could fall in love! It was especially popular with female fans.

This sequel is a better book, as Crispin by 1988 had become a better writer. The first book had been her first published novel. Now, she had written other tie-ins for franchises such as Star Wars and V, and begun working on her own series. This book reflects the added experience, and is simply bursting at the seams with plot.

There are a number of weaknesses here as well. The concentration is largely on Zar and secondarily Kirk, with a full helping of McCoy. The secondary characters are given some work to do, especially Uhura, but not a lot. The biggest part of the book is concerned with Zar's adventures as a tribal chieftain on a cold planet. Surrounded by enemies, he must gain whatever advantages he can by diplomacy before setting off for battle. And this must be settled before going to communicate with the Guardian. Crispin's characterizations of her own characters are fine, her Enterprise characters are a bit weak, especially Kirk, and Zar is still too strong a character. He can do too many things. It weakens the book.

The setting is just before the Star Trek II movie, and the cover uses the red uniforms from that time. Kirk is an admiral beginning to feel his age, McCoy is teaching, Spock is an Academy instructor, the rest are mostly teaching except for Chekov off on the Reliant. The crew is gathered for the mission by Admiral Morrow at Kirk's request, a theme that occurs often in the movies.

It's not a bad book, but it's not a great one. The overflowing of plot points may help you overlook the weaknesses.

The IDIC Epidemic by Jean Lorrah (Star Trek #38, February 1988).

Transporting a group of Vulcan revolutionaries to a colony planet (the antagonists from Lorrah's earlier novel, "The Vulcan Academy Murders") the Enterprise is quickly called back to Vulcan for a mercy mission. They must take some Vulcan medical specialists to the planet Nisus, a colony designed to be infinite diversity in infinite combinations set to practice. Scientists have gathered from all over the galaxy to work and live there among many species, both of the Federation and from other places, including a Klingon and some Orions.

The plague on Nisus is an agressive virus, which is even more dangerous because it seems to mutate every time it infects someone of mixed race. And there are a lot of beings of mixed race on Nisus, a true "melting pot." Spock's parents Spock and Amanda are on board as well, on their way to a conference but halted by the disease-ridden world. Care is taken on the beamdown of personnel, but the Enterprise is exposed, and Amanda is infected. Spock must go into isolation to prevent further mutation of the virus. McCoy is down on the planet and hard at work. Then, the renegade Vulcans seize engineering. And on top of it all, the dam that provides the reservoir for the planet's community is about to burst under the spring thaw.

Lorrah writes a very eventful book that keeps the pages turning with brief chapters (about 5-7 pages each) and dense plotting. This book has far more plot and less character development than her first effort. Lorrah makes great use of the characters she has honed from years of writing fan fiction, including Vulcan healer Sorel, his human partner Daniel Corrigan, and their circle of friends and colleagues. These characters are picked up directly from V.A.Murders and placed here, mere seconds after the end of the other book.

Lorrah also takes time to develop the Klingon Korsal, an engineer and not a fighter. He has two sons by a Starfleet officer, who left Nisus to go back into space. Korsal has remarried an Orion woman on Nisus and continued his residence. Korsal faces a crisis when it is found that he and his sons are immune to the plague, due to their Klingon blood. Should this be reported back to the Empire, for possible use as a weapon?

The action is fast, and your interest will be held by this volume. ST fans will see that Lorrah spends almost no time on the series' supporting characters (Sulu and Chekov get one bit of business, near the book's beginning) and more focus on the author's own characters. This would be part of the reason for the upcoming directive to focus the novels more on the original series characters.

This book was also part of the upswing in sales, brought about in no small part by the presence of the Next Generation series, in its first season. The character of Worf and John M. Ford's depictions of Klingons in his novels appear to have equal infulence in the creation of Korsal. This is a good book set in the Star Trek universe, but not focused directly on the seven main characters.

Final Frontier by Diane Carey (Star Trek Giant Novel #3, January 1988)

Commander George Kirk is the head of security at a starbase. He's not very imaginative, but he is dependable, and he loves his two boys back home on Earth even if he doesn't get along very well with his wife, or visit them very often. Kirk and his lieutenant, Drake Reed, are kidnapped, but soon find themselves in the company of StarFleet Captain Robert April, an Englishman with a gentle manner and an odd habit of wearing a cardigan sweater over his uniform. April has had Kirk brought to Earth spacedock to become first officer of something completely new: a starship!

Just off the drawing board and untested, the new starship is needed to rescue a shipload of space colonists caught in an ion storm. No current ship can make it through the turbulence, but the new ship with its state-of-the-art warp engines and massive computer can do the trick. Or so they think. When the warp drive is activated, the ship hurtles out of control, and all power is shut down right in the middle of Romulan space. Captain April is an explorer, not a warrior, so it is up to Kirk's battle experience to get the newly-christened Enterprise back to Federation space safely, to rescue the helpless and dying. That won't be easy with a group of Romulans fighting what they see as an incursion on their territory.

Carey makes a much better effort here than her two previous novels, "Dreadnought!" and "Battlestations!" (complete with overwrought exclamation points) both starring her "Mary Jane" character, Piper. No Piper here, thank goodness, although Doctor Sarah Poole comes a bit too close for comfort, but has a small role. More likely that Captain April is patterned after Carey's husband and collaborator, Peter Norwood. A cardigan sweater over a StarFleet uniform? And someone so pacifist in a quasi-military organization like StarFleet? Unlikely. Especially not at captain's rank. There are improbabilites here, but there are also many things right with the story.

While I think including Kirk's father was a cheap gimmick, as he would seem more likely to be at home in Iowa on the farm, it does provide a character of interest to the casual reader. Using Robert April, a glimmer in Gene Roddenberry's eye as captain in early proposals for the TV series, was a good idea. April's stepping aside at the end of the book for Robert Pike, the captain of the original series pilot, is also a nice touch.

Not sure why the Romulans were deemed necessary here, but Carey wisely uses the structure set up by Diane Duane in her Rihannsu books for the other culture. The characters here are all original, as the time frame is before the original series. The only reference to established characters is the framing sequence, set just after the episode "The Guardian of Forever" as Kirk mourns Edith Keeler and ponders leaving space and raising a family. It oddly foreshadows the episode of Next Generation when Picard visits Earth in the aftermath of being taken by the Borg. That is only a small part of this book, though.

The characters here are a bit two-dimensional, especially the secondary characters. George Kirk never really emerges as a full person, and Reed is mostly comic relief. Oddly, Captain April and Romulan Field Primus T'Cael are the most fully-formed characters in the book. Perhaps it is their authority that defines them.

Not a great book, but not a bad one. An interesting look at early Federation history. Most has been superseded by the current series "Enterprise," which I always thought should have used April as the captain. Oh well.

Bloodthirst by J.M. Dillard (Star Trek #37, December 1987)

The Enterprise receives a distress call from Tanis, a research outpost. Dr. McCoy and Security Officer Stanger beam down and search a dark, unusual lab. They find two dead researchers, and one barely alive. The records of the facility are infected by a virus that wipes them as soon as examination is attempted.Only fragments are recovered.

The survivor, Dr. Jeffery Adams, is infected with an unusual virus. His blood count is very low, he is extremely sensitive to light, and his condition is worsening. Star Fleet admiral Mendez, in charge of weapons research, wants Adams delivered for trial for murdering his two colleagues. Captain Kirk senses something wrong in Mendez' manner and desire to rush Adams to justice. Then Adams, seemingly very weak, breaks free from isolation and escapes, infecting Christine Chapel. He must be found before he can infect others. Chapel sinks into coma as the med lab furiously searches for a vaccine and a cure. Then Stanger is infected. The situation becomes more and more desperate.

There is little humor in this book, just a building sense of foreboding. Dillard has written a vampire story for Star Trek, and evokes a mood of terror and despair. Kirk and McCoy are the featured characters, along with Dillard's previously used security officers, particularly Chief Tomson and Lisa Nguyen plus newcomers Stanger and Lamia. It is good that Dillard pays attention to security, an often neglected area of the ship, but she does not always use it to good effect. While Diane Duane can write a story that makes a number of characters seem like exceptional people who deserve to be in space, Dillard writes security people who mostly appear incapable or incompetent at turns. Surely a security chief as unsuccessful as Tomson, as written by Dillard, would soon be replaced.

The plot is decent enough, but is often ignored. We quickly set up the situation, and pay only as much attention to it as is necessary to keep events moving along. Key plot elements are explained quickly, or sometimes not at all. The writers' goal is to set that horror movie mood. It is effective, but not to my liking. It took a long time to read this book. I simply did not get absorbed. Fans of vampires or horror movies may be more interested.

As is fitting for a science fiction series, the vampirism is given a scientific explanation, the viral infection creating a simultaneous anemia and hunger for blood. This is the explanation often given for individuals who exhibit behavior similar to fictional vampires. No supernatural powers here.

I can't say I liked the book. It succeeds at what the author was trying to do, which is something. Others may find this more enjoyable than myself.

After three novels (Mindshadow, Demons, and this one) in short order, Dillard disappeared from the regular series of books until #73. She also would write the "giant novel" The Lost Years, and became the writer of choice for the novelizations of the movies, penning the final three movies of the original cast as well as the ones featuring The Next Generation.

How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford (Star Trek #36, October 1987)

A StarFleet resouces exploratory vessel finds a planet that promises to be the richest source of dilithium known. This valuable mineral that powers all kinds of energy systems including warp drive is sought throughout the galaxy by space-travelling races, and as luck would have it the Klingons are not far off. The Enterprise comes quickly in response to a distress message, and by the terms of the Organian peace treaty the Federation and Klingons will each present their case to the planetary natives. But the natives are acting oddly, and misunderstandings ensue. A fortune stands to be made by someone.

Ford's previous novel, "The Final Reflection," was a deadly serious look at Klingon culture that was a marvelous depiction of an alien society, even if it was ignored by the visual artists of the series as the character of Worf was developed. This novel plays on Ford's Klingon background a bit, but here all is played for comedy right up to a classic slapstick climax. If you ever wanted to read a story about Kirk in a pie fight, this one is for you.

Ford is obviously a fan of old movies, and uses the devices of those pictures a lot. He also pairs Enterprise and Klingon characters together to great effect, all in the name of diplomacy. The humor in the book starts from the beginning with blue-colored orange juice (which seems to occur on all three ships) and keeps going to the final page. Spock is off center stage for most of the book, which suits the character. As is usual with comedy adventures, he is best used as a straight man.

This book invites more difference of opinion than just about any other Star Trek novel, as the use of the characters for such broad humor is often met with disdain by the serious fans. I found it funny from beginning to end. It has many of the qualities of the musical comedy, and is based in part on Gilbert and Sullivan operettas as well as classic film comedy.

This is Ford's last Star Trek novel to date, and that's too bad.

The Romulan Way by Diane Duane and Peter Norwood (Star Trek #35, 1987)

A StarFleet deep cover agent is posing as a servant in the home of a Romulan government official. She is a trained sociologist, and has been in the household for a number of years. She has been surgically altered to exist as a Romulan. Her mission is not to gain military secrets, but to observe Romulan society to aid Federation understanding of the Romulans. Her position is peaceful and secure, under Dr. McCoy is captured and brought to the home where she serves.

This is the plot followed by the storyline, but it is only half the book. The other half serves as a Romulan history lesson, but the foremost Romulan ST novelist, Duane. It is a shame this work was not used as background for the recent movie Star Trek: Nemesis, which could have used the help.

Duane's work on the "Rihannsu" is now considered classic, and this and her previous novel, "My Enemy, My Ally," have been reprinted and have also gotten sequels. These books have helped established Duane, working here with help from husband Peter Norwood, as the best of the novelists, at least in my opinion.

This was the second straight release to do little (or in this case, nothing) with the supporting characters of Scott, Sulu, Chekov and Uhura. This trend was one of the things that unfortunately led to the overediting of the novels a few months hence. Soon it would be required to have only the "Magnificent 7" in featured roles, with little work by anyone else, and the universe in the balance. Right now, however, the creativity of the novel series was hitting an all-time high.

Diane Duane is my favorite ST novelist not because of her plots, which are usually pretty simple, but because of her fluid, sweeping writing style and her intimate grasp of the characters. Everyone is a Diane Duane book seems to be a close acquaintance of hers, and some of them her closest friends, she knows them so deeply. You just don't get an undeveloped character in a Duane novel. Her stuff doesn't seem to translate as well to other media, as the TV script she wrote for "The Next Generation" fell flat. This may be more due to rewriting than Duane's shortcomings, rewriting being a major problem during the series' Season 1.

This book is highly recommended, as are all Duane's novels.

Strangers From the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno (ST Giant Novel #2, July 1987)

Mankind knows that historically, Earth first encountered aliens when a spaceship reached Alpha Centauri, and some years later warp drive was discovered. An alliance between Earth, Andor, Tellar, and Vulcan provided the basis for the Federation a short time later. But a new book challenges that. It says that two Vulcans landed on Earth years before the first contact, and those aliens came on a ship powered by warp drive. After reading the book, Admiral James Kirk begins to have nightmares about the book's characters, who lived years before he was born. The dreams become so disturbing Kirk is committed for psychiatric evaluation, when Captain Spock returns to Earth from a training cruise and tells his commanding officer that he has had the same dreams.

To discover the reason for the shared memories, Spock mind-melds with Kirk and reveals suppressed memories of a mission in the early days of Kirk's command, when Gary Mitchell, Lee Kelso, and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner also served on the Enterprise. That group and Spock had been pulled through time to the Vulcan contact incident, and had to set it right and get the Vulcans headed back home. Spock must restore Kirk's memory of the incident before the repressed thoughts become a danger.

In many ways this is the book that "Enterprise," Vonda McIntyre's novel of the first adventure of Kirk and crew, should have been. McIntyre used the typical crew and ignored the original group from the second pilot. They are used to good effect here, as Kirk's friendship with Mitchell and with Kelso, his unease with Spock, and the counterpoint of Dr. Dehner are used to good effect. It was good to see the characters of Mitchell and Kelso in particular fleshed out. Mitchell as the controlled maverick and Kelso as "Old Reliable" are in fine form, and feel like three-dimensional characters. Bonanno's device of the character "Parneb," a Merlin-type, falls a bit flat.

In many ways this plot parallels the story of the Next Generation movie "First Contact," with Vulcans landing on Earth first. To be truthful, I like what Bonanno presents as the "accepted" story, as it makes more sense for Earth to reach out first. If the Vulcans can invent warp drive and other things themselves, why do they need humans? It makes more sense for the Vulcans to seek an alliance because humans can provide that spark of creativity that logic does not always allow.

The story itself works well. Once again, Bonanno spends most of her time on the Kirk-Spock dynamic, as before she examined in different characters in her novel "Dwellers in the Crucible." This time out she looks both at where they are just prior to the second movie, and how they developed that relationship in the very early days together on the Enterprise.

Dr. McCoy has a small part, but the other characters are little seen here. It's a good book, as Bonanno always writes well. The author has stated that only seven of the words from her manuscript were editorially changed for this book. That would be very different in her next effort, more on that story in a later essay.

It's a good solid novel and character study, holds up well over time. Of more interest to Star Trek fans than others.

Dreams of the Raven by Carmen Carter (Star Trek #34, June 1987).

The Enterprise visits a trading post on the edge of Federation space, but is called away by a distress signal. However, the ship they go to rescue instead initiates a sneak attack on the Federation vessel. The Enterprise is badly damaged, warp engines broken beyond repair. In gravity fluctuations during repairs, Dr. McCoy is hurt, and suffers amnesia, losing the last 25 years of his life, back to his first year of residency.

Captain Kirk is without his chief medical officer and trusted friend, and an unknown menace is out there. Spock and the science team must examine clues for this apparent new and beligerent species, while Scotty repairs the engines sufficiently just to reach the trading post again. Help is days away, and the menace is still out there....

In Carter's first novel, and only Star Trek novel, we find a character study of Dr. McCoy set against a backdrop of suspense and foreboding. Carter is a sociologist and educator by training, but has worked in publishing and especially technological publishing. Carter resume' can be viewed online at .

The book is an interesting exercise. There is action here, but not a lot. The author does a good job of keeping the suspense palpable in what is largely a character novel. I am not sure this is how I picture McCoy, but it is an interesting study of a man who recedes into his past when faced with the mistakes of his life, from a failed marriage to a daughter left behind, and dreams of family practice at home in Georgia fading into the service and starship life.

While stories have focused on how Kirk relies on Spock, this one looks at how much Kirk relies on McCoy. Spock's logic provides a needed point, but McCoy's humanity provides the counterpoint of the relationship. That relationship is well explored here. McCoy's reluctance to mix it up with Spock, and discomfort with authority figures, is done well here. The good doctor even enters a relationship with a junior staff member, who is about the age he remembers himself to be.

The flow is good, the language is good, and the plotting works. The new alien race, the Ravens, is interesting and fulfills the series' horror quotient. I can feel good recommending this.

Deep Domain by Howard Weinstein (Star Trek #33, April 1987)

The Enterprise is scheduled for a visit to the planet Akkalla, to evaluate a science research outpost. The ship is then called away for a rescue mission, but Spock and Chekov are sent to Akkalla in a small shuttle to begin the evaluation process. Upon their arrival, the officers come upon a large “harvest ship” taking large gulps of the Akkallan ocean waters and the teeming life in them. Their shuttle crashes, and then they are taken prisoner by a small band.

When the ship arrives, Captain Kirk has difficulty getting information out of the planetary government, and is told the shuttle must have been destroyed in route to the planet. The Enterprise crew must find Spock and Chekov, complete the science mission, and deal with a recalcitrant government that resists them at every turn, even though Akkalla is a Federation member.

This is Weinstein’s second outing as a Star Trek novelist, six years after his first outing (#4, The Covenant of the Crown). Weinstein again shows his familiarity with the characters and ease with science fiction milieu. If there is a fault here it is that Weinstein tries to do too much. He has SO much going on, from the missing crew members, the new science officer Maybri, the corrupt Akkallan government, the scholars of the Collegium, the rebels of the Cape Alliance, and an unknown race in Akkalla’s vast oceans. All that doesn’t fit very well into 275 pages. But it’s better to have 350 pages of plot in 275 pages, than the reverse.

Pacing is a problem here. Spock and Chekov are captured, and then we leave them for several chapters. Stories are started and then abandoned until much later in the same fashion, only to be picked up in a haphazard fashion later. A better organization of chapters and switching off of scenes would have helped the book considerably.

For those faults, the book is still a good one. It serves as a prequel of sorts to Star Trek II, as at the end Kirk decides to return to Earth, Chekov receives his promotion to first officer of the Reliant, and Spock and most of the senior officers mention staying on the Enterprise as teaching faculty for cadets. It also puts into print the often-proposed second five-year mission of the Enterprise crew, fitting into the time period between the first and second movies. This is sometimes used as a proper time period for many of the novels and comic book adventures by chronologists of the series.

This novel bears some thematic resemblance to Star Trek IV, and in his introduction Weinstein makes mention of his pitching a similar idea in a story conference leading up to the film. The whales (or actually whale-like “triteera”) and the conservation themes are seen in this novel. It is an enjoyable work in spite of its faults.

Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese (Star Trek #32, February 1987)

Newly equipped with a set of improved sensors for measuring gravitational anomalies, the Enterprise and passenger Dr. Jason Crandall head for an area of the galaxy where several anomalies have recently been reported. Crandall is the head of the project, but mostly an administrator rather than a research scientist. While using probes to investigate the phenomenon, the Enterprise ends up inadvertantly transported through a portal, and on the other side of the galaxy, or perhaps another galaxy altogether.

While the belligerent Crandall makes trouble, Captain Kirk orders a survey of the surrounding area to try and find the portal or another like it. All the crew can find is a series of dead worlds, entire planets killed by some warlike race. Eventually they contact a race that attacks them on sight, then another just as aggressive. The alien weapons are much less effective, but even lesser weapons in a massed attack can be potent. Kirk must find a way to get the ship back home through hostile aliens, and deal with the ever more desperate Crandall.

DeWeese writes a competent if unimpressive novel here. The setup with Crandall is suggestive of the many times "paper-pushers" made life more difficult for the Enterprise crew, and the plot itself is good but not terribly original. The contacts with new species are nicely handled, and trying not to overpower races with lesser technology is shown to good effect. There is limited characterization here, as the only characters that really shine through are Dr. McCoy and Crandall. Spock does get a nice scene, but he is also a bit of a deus ex machina, although that is certainly nothing new.

There's really nothing exceptional here either way. The story works, the situations are not overly contrived, the storytelling is competent. It's just not a particularly sterling example of writing, more a workmanlike job. DeWeese would write more Star Trek novels, both for the original series and for Next Generation.