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caffeine_books's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
What I love about Star Trek it that it has the ability to hold a mirror up to society and on a personal level, and force people to evaluate themselves. This book tried to do that but was very heavy handed in the effort to do it, tried too hard to make a moral point, and failed. By doing so it also forced characters to act in a way that wasn't 'normal'.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
3.0
So I'm trawling my way through the early Star Trek books, and my goodness are the writers obsessed with Mr. Spock and Vulcans in general. They're clearly presented as superior beings here, while Kirk goes through an inferiority crisis after being relieved of command and being made to answer to Spock - the relationship between them is drawn quite well I thought. The story itself is based on that hoary old sci-fi staple of realising you're in an experiment conducted by aliens, and the authors actually do it fairly reasonably, although it's a bit heavy-handed and the phrase "Hell's Kitchen" is repeated ad nauseam. The book gets points for its determined stand against animal abuse, though, and it's genuinely disturbing when it describes (modern day, and by Kirk's time historical) experiments on such.
joelshults's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this story, but I think Spock was a bit over-powered. In some of these stories he is so smart, fast, strong, and tough; he should be a one-man landing party. He probably doesn't even need a starship, he could just jump from planet to planet.
reeshadovahsil's review
2.0
It's a foreboding sign when a 190-page Star Trek novel takes me 6 weeks to read.
These authors... were just not any good at creative writing, I'm sorry to say. This is their third collaboration on a novel (so, excepting both The New Voyages fan fiction compilations and non-fiction works like Star Trek Lives!—each of which had their own problems, also connected to these authors). Whereas the second novel was slightly better than the first, this third effort took several steps back.
The general idea of the plot is good, interesting, sci-fi-worthy, Star Trek-y one might say. But the execution is just awful. (The same as their previous efforts.)
The writing is done in half-measures, as if they cannot be bothered to fully explore their own ideas or the thoughts of their characters, or as if they believe what they really mean to say but don't will be absorbed from the page by the reader through osmosis without them having to actually write. It comes across as if they believe they are far more poignant and profound than their writing truly is. Their characterization is all over the place, half the conversations make no sense, and their OCs are painfully unrealized.
I'd be willing to read the same story idea properly written by a better writer, but I'll never touch this one again. I looked this writing team up and am dismayed to see there is yet another collaborative novel only the next year (I'm reading all Star Trek novels in order of publication). One last chance, I suppose, but my hopes are not high.
Unless you are a completionist like me, or you actually enjoyed these authors' previous works, give this one an easy miss.
These authors... were just not any good at creative writing, I'm sorry to say. This is their third collaboration on a novel (so, excepting both The New Voyages fan fiction compilations and non-fiction works like Star Trek Lives!—each of which had their own problems, also connected to these authors). Whereas the second novel was slightly better than the first, this third effort took several steps back.
The general idea of the plot is good, interesting, sci-fi-worthy, Star Trek-y one might say. But the execution is just awful. (The same as their previous efforts.)
The writing is done in half-measures, as if they cannot be bothered to fully explore their own ideas or the thoughts of their characters, or as if they believe what they really mean to say but don't will be absorbed from the page by the reader through osmosis without them having to actually write. It comes across as if they believe they are far more poignant and profound than their writing truly is. Their characterization is all over the place, half the conversations make no sense, and their OCs are painfully unrealized.
I'd be willing to read the same story idea properly written by a better writer, but I'll never touch this one again. I looked this writing team up and am dismayed to see there is yet another collaborative novel only the next year (I'm reading all Star Trek novels in order of publication). One last chance, I suppose, but my hopes are not high.
Unless you are a completionist like me, or you actually enjoyed these authors' previous works, give this one an easy miss.
brettt's review
1.0
Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath played large roles in the initial stages of officially published Star Trek fiction. Together they edited both New Voyages collections (one of which contained one of their stories) and they produced four of the first dozen or so novels, among the few authors who put out work in both the initial Bantam Books and the later Pocket Books groups. They were prominent members of the initial fan communities that began to produce the first fan conventions.
And they offer solid proof that bad Star Trek fiction wasn't limited to the later glut years, as all four of their books have a text-to-subtext ratio that resembles an iceberg and depend heavily on characters who may share names with those we saw on the screen but resemble them little otherwise. It's hard to say which of their four books is the least successful, but 1982's The Prometheus Design makes a strong case for itself out of the four.
A rising tide of senseless violence seems to be gripping the known galaxy, with formerly peaceful people and stable diplomatic relationships deteriorating across the Federation. The Enterprise is investigating the way these phenomena have been seen on the planet Helvan but the survey team itself falls victim. James Kirk is separated from the team and only recovered after being exposed as an alien by the Helvans; his recovery is incomplete as he has significant memory loss that leads to irrational outbursts. Starfleet Admiral Savaj boards the Enterprise to examine the situation and continue the mission, and he demotes Kirk in order to replace him with Spock as captain. Spock tries to deal with the deteriorating situation by invoking "Vulcan code of command," a codicil that Vulcans demanded in return for Starfleet participation. A Vulcan who invokes this code demands instant and unquestioning obedience to every order given. A later return to Helvan with both Spock and Savaj as part of a survey team puts them in danger as the truth behind the mystery and its actors is finally revealed.
As with all Marshak-Culbreath Trek stories, the key plot point turns on weakening, even feminizing Kirk in the face of the true alpha male of the crew, Spock. At one point Kirk is even something of a prize fought over by the two Vulcans, who have been mysteriously enlarged by the antagonists so that the Marshak and Culbreath Kirk is even smaller and weaker than usual compared to Spock. The "Vulcan code of command" device is, no pun intended, illogical and the pair's vision of what Vulcans are like is never seen again in the history of Trek fiction.
Prometheus winds up in a tangle of discussions and monologues meant to either obliquely or directly explore ideas that the two authors consider important, such as objectivism, libertarian philosophy, sociobiology and genetic determinism. It's pretty heady stuff for a show that once had its lead fight a man in a lizard suit amongst a set of papier-mâché rocks, and it is done with little effort at making it a vital part of the narrative. Marshak and Culbreath may have had something to say, and it might even have been something worth saying and good to hear -- but it's been stuck in such a lumpy, clumsy and bizarre novel that it never gets the chance to be properly introduced and judged on its own merits.
Original available here.
And they offer solid proof that bad Star Trek fiction wasn't limited to the later glut years, as all four of their books have a text-to-subtext ratio that resembles an iceberg and depend heavily on characters who may share names with those we saw on the screen but resemble them little otherwise. It's hard to say which of their four books is the least successful, but 1982's The Prometheus Design makes a strong case for itself out of the four.
A rising tide of senseless violence seems to be gripping the known galaxy, with formerly peaceful people and stable diplomatic relationships deteriorating across the Federation. The Enterprise is investigating the way these phenomena have been seen on the planet Helvan but the survey team itself falls victim. James Kirk is separated from the team and only recovered after being exposed as an alien by the Helvans; his recovery is incomplete as he has significant memory loss that leads to irrational outbursts. Starfleet Admiral Savaj boards the Enterprise to examine the situation and continue the mission, and he demotes Kirk in order to replace him with Spock as captain. Spock tries to deal with the deteriorating situation by invoking "Vulcan code of command," a codicil that Vulcans demanded in return for Starfleet participation. A Vulcan who invokes this code demands instant and unquestioning obedience to every order given. A later return to Helvan with both Spock and Savaj as part of a survey team puts them in danger as the truth behind the mystery and its actors is finally revealed.
As with all Marshak-Culbreath Trek stories, the key plot point turns on weakening, even feminizing Kirk in the face of the true alpha male of the crew, Spock. At one point Kirk is even something of a prize fought over by the two Vulcans, who have been mysteriously enlarged by the antagonists so that the Marshak and Culbreath Kirk is even smaller and weaker than usual compared to Spock. The "Vulcan code of command" device is, no pun intended, illogical and the pair's vision of what Vulcans are like is never seen again in the history of Trek fiction.
Prometheus winds up in a tangle of discussions and monologues meant to either obliquely or directly explore ideas that the two authors consider important, such as objectivism, libertarian philosophy, sociobiology and genetic determinism. It's pretty heady stuff for a show that once had its lead fight a man in a lizard suit amongst a set of papier-mâché rocks, and it is done with little effort at making it a vital part of the narrative. Marshak and Culbreath may have had something to say, and it might even have been something worth saying and good to hear -- but it's been stuck in such a lumpy, clumsy and bizarre novel that it never gets the chance to be properly introduced and judged on its own merits.
Original available here.
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