This framing device is used to tell the story of the first-ever adventure of the starship Enterprise, when sabotage sends the uncommissioned (and as-yet-unnamed) vessel hurtling into Romulan space. Back on Earth, he goes through some of the letters his father George wrote while serving in Starfleet. In it, James Kirk finds himself questioning his life’s choices after sacrificing Edith Keeler during his trip through the Guardian of Forever in order to secure a Nazi-free future. When they’re done poorly, though, they can be a source of eye-rolling frustration.ĭiane Carey’s novel falls squarely into the latter category. These novels aren’t canon, but when they’re done right they can provide enjoyable speculations that help to flesh out familiar characters or otherwise unexplored aspects of the Star Trek universe. What makes them so interesting is the authors’ efforts to fill in the backstories only hinted at in the show, often by little more than a throwaway line of dialogue or a onetime appearance in an episode. When it comes to Star Trek novels, among the ones that I find the most interesting are those that are set prior to the “five-year mission” chronicled in the original series. The adventure itself was well put together and I even somewhat enjoyed the space battle scenes - the reading of which normally makes my eyelids heavy.Īll in all, it's a pretty solid story, and I'd recommend it to Star Trek fans who were willing to read about a different crew. I also enjoyed the characterization of the starship captain who gets the spotlight in this one. I became quite fond of both t'Cael and Idrys as the story unfolded. It contains perhaps my favourite depiction of the Romulans in the novels thus far (reading in publication date order). as a precursor to the Federation, a truly cringe-worthy decision to quote Ayn Rand at the end of the book, and an editor who appears to have dozed off around 3/4 of the way through the job, leaving scads of typos and misstatements scattered amongst the last quarter of the pages.īut despite all that, this novel is worth a read.

The book has its issues, including but not limited to odd references to financial issues that should no longer exist in this future, leaning far too heavily on just the U.S.

But it is definitely a Star Trek adventure. In fact, Kirk, Spock, and the gang barely appear in this book, and arguably didn't need to appear at all. I liked this one better than I thought I would considering the fact that this is not an adventure had by our usual crew.

Star Trek by Diane Carey