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ame_'s review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
octavia_cade's review
2.0
Blish does his best as always, but the episodes of Star Trek he adapts in this volume are indifferent at best - I remember watching those episodes and being largely unmoved, so I'm disinclined to make him shoulder the blame here. "The Apple" is particularly dire, with its magic moving village (initially 17 kilometres distant, shifting to a few thousand metres away the next time they mention it). Both "The Savage Curtain" and "The Cloud Minders" had elements that I enjoyed when watching (Surak and Vanna, for instance) but one successful element does not a successful episode make, and the compelling gravitas of Surak doesn't really come across in the adaptation. I can't help but think that a sub-par episode might make an average novel, if that novel were allowed to really explore the issues at hand, but it doesn't make for particularly good short stories.
rosenectur's review
3.0
James Blish is the best Star Trek author as far as I'm concerned. He really stays true to the plots, characters, and moods of the episodes he adapts. We've read all but two of the 12 books of adaptations that he did.
arbieroo's review
3.0
So, if Blish is like chocolate and Star Trek is like relatively cheap but still tasy chocolate (see my review of [b:Star Trek 4|76750|Star Trek 4|James Blish|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184738283s/76750.jpg|2330757]) then four volumes of Blish Star Trek adaptations in quick succession is like binge eating your favourite chocolate bars until you feel nauseated...I'm taking a break from this series for a while...
There's another issue: Blish, in one of his prefaces ([b:Star Trek 3|76749|Star Trek 3|James Blish|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184738234s/76749.jpg|2893168] I think), mentions that he is choosing which scripts to adapt based on the number of requests he receives for given episodes. Now, assuming that the general mass of Star Trek fans who were also readers willing to write to the author had some discernment, then the best episodes will appear early in the series and the quality will therefore go down in the later books. This is evident across the books 3-6 that I've read. Should one conclude that being a Star Trek fan, being a reader or being willing to write fan mail implies discerning character? Or any combination or permutation? Studies should be conducted!
There's another issue: Blish, in one of his prefaces ([b:Star Trek 3|76749|Star Trek 3|James Blish|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184738234s/76749.jpg|2893168] I think), mentions that he is choosing which scripts to adapt based on the number of requests he receives for given episodes. Now, assuming that the general mass of Star Trek fans who were also readers willing to write to the author had some discernment, then the best episodes will appear early in the series and the quality will therefore go down in the later books. This is evident across the books 3-6 that I've read. Should one conclude that being a Star Trek fan, being a reader or being willing to write fan mail implies discerning character? Or any combination or permutation? Studies should be conducted!
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