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hemlockreads's review
3.0
Vulcan's Glory is a prequel sort of novel that takes place on Pike's Enterprise. There's a lot of enjoyable action but also so many plot threads happening the result seems kind of unevenly paced. I found the first half of the book with all the set up to be kind of slow and then everything happened in the last twentyish pages or so.
I liked the worldbuilding bits where Spock was on Vulcan in the beginning and then when Number One and the Chief Engineer were playing some antigravity ball game. The interactions between the senior officers was nice. Pike and Number One's UST was understated and it was nice to see Number One being mature about things and not letting her feelings get in the way. Very relatable to be like "I like this person so now they must never know."
I liked Scotty's still adventure to a point but I felt like it made the story drag a little. In a short book with two away party missions AND a murder mystery it felt a little shoehorned in to have a comedic little misadventure as well. I feel like if this plotline had been given its own room to shine it could have been an interesting study into the engineering department and Scotty's feelings of responsibility to the ship and embracing the higher standards his new boss wants him to embrace.
Another thing I felt wasn't really developed was Spock and T'Pris's relationship. (Was that her name even? Now I can't even remember.) This wasn't the worse romance in a Star Trek novel I've ever read but not good either. I find it hard to believe they fell so deeply in love in like less than a week that Spock was forever changed and openly emoting everywhere without really trying to hide it. This woman's only personality trait is she was nice to Spock unlike T'Pring who hides her lover off in the trees and plots to steal Spock's money.
The last thing I didn't like too much was there was too much exposition towards the end. We didn't really get a chance to see the emerald mystery be solved or get any of the clues to try to solve the mystery on our own. We just got the hint that somebody was a secret Vulcan with no foreshadowing and a villanous monologue to reveal all the motivations. I fund it hard to believe Vulcans would cast out a woman who had been raped. They prize logic. They would know it's not her fault. I needed more justification for this beyond a shock value reveal.
Despite the negatives this was a fun romp despite taking place in a McCoyless era and thus receiving a 0 on the most important scale of how much I liked the good doctor in a Star Trek novel. (Tried to tempt me with friendly CMO Boyce though so kudos for that.) I think it just suffered from too much going on. I would have liked to see Pike's solo midlife crisis mission trying to negotiate trade and save the young lovers who didn't need to be saved split into its own book, perhaps with young Scotty's new in engineering adventures as the B-side adventure subplot to provide contrast and some lightheartedness to Pike coming out of his lonely angst. I feel like more attention should have been placed on the mission to recover the Vulcan's Glory emerald. Then the author could have explored tensions between Vulcan clans, tensions between logic and honor and emotion, tensions between Vulcans and non-Vulcans, the inherent tension Spock feels being half human but from a high ranking house! It didn't really feel like the emerald was a mysterious artefact at all, just some knickknack they picked up without much trouble and then stowed away that only the pushy geologist showed any interest in it.
Maybe this all would have worked together better visually as an episode, but as a book it was too short and mixed up to develop any of the interesting ideas it presented enough. I realize this is a Star Trek novel and not High Literature, but hey, that doesn't mean something can't be taken from good to great.
I liked the worldbuilding bits where Spock was on Vulcan in the beginning and then when Number One and the Chief Engineer were playing some antigravity ball game. The interactions between the senior officers was nice. Pike and Number One's UST was understated and it was nice to see Number One being mature about things and not letting her feelings get in the way. Very relatable to be like "I like this person so now they must never know."
I liked Scotty's still adventure to a point but I felt like it made the story drag a little. In a short book with two away party missions AND a murder mystery it felt a little shoehorned in to have a comedic little misadventure as well. I feel like if this plotline had been given its own room to shine it could have been an interesting study into the engineering department and Scotty's feelings of responsibility to the ship and embracing the higher standards his new boss wants him to embrace.
Another thing I felt wasn't really developed was Spock and T'Pris's relationship. (Was that her name even? Now I can't even remember.) This wasn't the worse romance in a Star Trek novel I've ever read but not good either. I find it hard to believe they fell so deeply in love in like less than a week that Spock was forever changed and openly emoting everywhere without really trying to hide it. This woman's only personality trait is she was nice to Spock unlike T'Pring who hides her lover off in the trees and plots to steal Spock's money.
The last thing I didn't like too much was there was too much exposition towards the end. We didn't really get a chance to see the emerald mystery be solved or get any of the clues to try to solve the mystery on our own. We just got the hint that somebody was a secret Vulcan with no foreshadowing and a villanous monologue to reveal all the motivations. I fund it hard to believe Vulcans would cast out a woman who had been raped. They prize logic. They would know it's not her fault. I needed more justification for this beyond a shock value reveal.
Despite the negatives this was a fun romp despite taking place in a McCoyless era and thus receiving a 0 on the most important scale of how much I liked the good doctor in a Star Trek novel. (Tried to tempt me with friendly CMO Boyce though so kudos for that.) I think it just suffered from too much going on. I would have liked to see Pike's solo midlife crisis mission trying to negotiate trade and save the young lovers who didn't need to be saved split into its own book, perhaps with young Scotty's new in engineering adventures as the B-side adventure subplot to provide contrast and some lightheartedness to Pike coming out of his lonely angst. I feel like more attention should have been placed on the mission to recover the Vulcan's Glory emerald. Then the author could have explored tensions between Vulcan clans, tensions between logic and honor and emotion, tensions between Vulcans and non-Vulcans, the inherent tension Spock feels being half human but from a high ranking house! It didn't really feel like the emerald was a mysterious artefact at all, just some knickknack they picked up without much trouble and then stowed away that only the pushy geologist showed any interest in it.
Maybe this all would have worked together better visually as an episode, but as a book it was too short and mixed up to develop any of the interesting ideas it presented enough. I realize this is a Star Trek novel and not High Literature, but hey, that doesn't mean something can't be taken from good to great.
birdmanseven's review
5.0
Great Spock story. This is one of my all-time favorite Trek books.
Tune in here for my discussion on some favorite Trek books and comics: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-48-all-the-books-beyond
Tune in here for my discussion on some favorite Trek books and comics: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-48-all-the-books-beyond
cathepsut's review
2.0
In my Star Trek reading hayday I had over 100 ST paperbacks crowding my shelf. I read everything I could lay my hands on. I started losing interest somewhere in the mid to late 90s, so there is a good chance I've read this before. Not sure.
The first 100 pages are mostly set-up, getting all the main characters introduced and in place. The style feels pretty dated. Women are first defined through their looks and they are all beautiful, obviously. Which is a little annoying, especially when written by a female author, but probably a sign of the times.
The story is told in the third person, first by Spock, but switches to various other POVs as well. There isn't a lot of internal monologue or emotional depth. The story flowed fairly well and there was enough suspense to keep me interested. However, I had several issues with it.
The romance is very predictable, with the usual clichee of potential lovers not talking to each other.
The storyline with Chris Pike on the planet, the nomads, townspeople and mutants did not interest me at all. It lacked suspense or any kind of tension.
Then there is the story surrounding Vulcan's Glory, which I found slightly more interesting up to the point of finding it. The murder mystery was very schematic, again no suspense. The explanation of the biological points at the end made no sense. And the culprit and Spock giving long monologues at the end with all the salient points, Poirot style, never made for exciting reading for me.
Both plotlines are not connected at all. It feels a little like reading two seperate short stories, that are loosely held together by a common setting.
Add to that the slightly antiquated feel of the writing style and the simplistic ideas represented here, plus a little vague sexism... This novel did not age well.
The first 100 pages are mostly set-up, getting all the main characters introduced and in place. The style feels pretty dated. Women are first defined through their looks and they are all beautiful, obviously. Which is a little annoying, especially when written by a female author, but probably a sign of the times.
The story is told in the third person, first by Spock, but switches to various other POVs as well. There isn't a lot of internal monologue or emotional depth. The story flowed fairly well and there was enough suspense to keep me interested. However, I had several issues with it.
The romance is very predictable, with the usual clichee of potential lovers not talking to each other.
The storyline with Chris Pike on the planet, the nomads, townspeople and mutants did not interest me at all. It lacked suspense or any kind of tension.
Then there is the story surrounding Vulcan's Glory, which I found slightly more interesting up to the point of finding it. The murder mystery was very schematic, again no suspense. The explanation of the biological points at the end made no sense. And the culprit and Spock giving long monologues at the end with all the salient points, Poirot style, never made for exciting reading for me.
Both plotlines are not connected at all. It feels a little like reading two seperate short stories, that are loosely held together by a common setting.
Add to that the slightly antiquated feel of the writing style and the simplistic ideas represented here, plus a little vague sexism... This novel did not age well.
hemlocket's review
3.0
Vulcan's Glory is a prequel sort of novel that takes place on Pike's Enterprise. There's a lot of enjoyable action but also so many plot threads happening the result seems kind of unevenly paced. I found the first half of the book with all the set up to be kind of slow and then everything happened in the last twentyish pages or so.
I liked the worldbuilding bits where Spock was on Vulcan in the beginning and then when Number One and the Chief Engineer were playing some antigravity ball game. The interactions between the senior officers was nice. Pike and Number One's UST was understated and it was nice to see Number One being mature about things and not letting her feelings get in the way. Very relatable to be like "I like this person so now they must never know."
I liked Scotty's still adventure to a point but I felt like it made the story drag a little. In a short book with two away party missions AND a murder mystery it felt a little shoehorned in to have a comedic little misadventure as well. I feel like if this plotline had been given its own room to shine it could have been an interesting study into the engineering department and Scotty's feelings of responsibility to the ship and embracing the higher standards his new boss wants him to embrace.
Another thing I felt wasn't really developed was Spock and T'Pris's relationship. (Was that her name even? Now I can't even remember.) This wasn't the worse romance in a Star Trek novel I've ever read but not good either. I find it hard to believe they fell so deeply in love in like less than a week that Spock was forever changed and openly emoting everywhere without really trying to hide it. This woman's only personality trait is she was nice to Spock unlike T'Pring who hides her lover off in the trees and plots to steal Spock's money.
The last thing I didn't like too much was there was too much exposition towards the end. We didn't really get a chance to see the emerald mystery be solved or get any of the clues to try to solve the mystery on our own. We just got the hint that somebody was a secret Vulcan with no foreshadowing and a villanous monologue to reveal all the motivations. I fund it hard to believe Vulcans would cast out a woman who had been raped. They prize logic. They would know it's not her fault. I needed more justification for this beyond a shock value reveal.
Despite the negatives this was a fun romp despite taking place in a McCoyless era and thus receiving a 0 on the most important scale of how much I liked the good doctor in a Star Trek novel. (Tried to tempt me with friendly CMO Boyce though so kudos for that.) I think it just suffered from too much going on. I would have liked to see Pike's solo midlife crisis mission trying to negotiate trade and save the young lovers who didn't need to be saved split into its own book, perhaps with young Scotty's new in engineering adventures as the B-side adventure subplot to provide contrast and some lightheartedness to Pike coming out of his lonely angst. I feel like more attention should have been placed on the mission to recover the Vulcan's Glory emerald. Then the author could have explored tensions between Vulcan clans, tensions between logic and honor and emotion, tensions between Vulcans and non-Vulcans, the inherent tension Spock feels being half human but from a high ranking house! It didn't really feel like the emerald was a mysterious artefact at all, just some knickknack they picked up without much trouble and then stowed away that only the pushy geologist showed any interest in it.
Maybe this all would have worked together better visually as an episode, but as a book it was too short and mixed up to develop any of the interesting ideas it presented enough. I realize this is a Star Trek novel and not High Literature, but hey, that doesn't mean something can't be taken from good to great.
I liked the worldbuilding bits where Spock was on Vulcan in the beginning and then when Number One and the Chief Engineer were playing some antigravity ball game. The interactions between the senior officers was nice. Pike and Number One's UST was understated and it was nice to see Number One being mature about things and not letting her feelings get in the way. Very relatable to be like "I like this person so now they must never know."
I liked Scotty's still adventure to a point but I felt like it made the story drag a little. In a short book with two away party missions AND a murder mystery it felt a little shoehorned in to have a comedic little misadventure as well. I feel like if this plotline had been given its own room to shine it could have been an interesting study into the engineering department and Scotty's feelings of responsibility to the ship and embracing the higher standards his new boss wants him to embrace.
Another thing I felt wasn't really developed was Spock and T'Pris's relationship. (Was that her name even? Now I can't even remember.) This wasn't the worse romance in a Star Trek novel I've ever read but not good either. I find it hard to believe they fell so deeply in love in like less than a week that Spock was forever changed and openly emoting everywhere without really trying to hide it. This woman's only personality trait is she was nice to Spock unlike T'Pring who hides her lover off in the trees and plots to steal Spock's money.
The last thing I didn't like too much was there was too much exposition towards the end. We didn't really get a chance to see the emerald mystery be solved or get any of the clues to try to solve the mystery on our own. We just got the hint that somebody was a secret Vulcan with no foreshadowing and a villanous monologue to reveal all the motivations. I fund it hard to believe Vulcans would cast out a woman who had been raped. They prize logic. They would know it's not her fault. I needed more justification for this beyond a shock value reveal.
Despite the negatives this was a fun romp despite taking place in a McCoyless era and thus receiving a 0 on the most important scale of how much I liked the good doctor in a Star Trek novel. (Tried to tempt me with friendly CMO Boyce though so kudos for that.) I think it just suffered from too much going on. I would have liked to see Pike's solo midlife crisis mission trying to negotiate trade and save the young lovers who didn't need to be saved split into its own book, perhaps with young Scotty's new in engineering adventures as the B-side adventure subplot to provide contrast and some lightheartedness to Pike coming out of his lonely angst. I feel like more attention should have been placed on the mission to recover the Vulcan's Glory emerald. Then the author could have explored tensions between Vulcan clans, tensions between logic and honor and emotion, tensions between Vulcans and non-Vulcans, the inherent tension Spock feels being half human but from a high ranking house! It didn't really feel like the emerald was a mysterious artefact at all, just some knickknack they picked up without much trouble and then stowed away that only the pushy geologist showed any interest in it.
Maybe this all would have worked together better visually as an episode, but as a book it was too short and mixed up to develop any of the interesting ideas it presented enough. I realize this is a Star Trek novel and not High Literature, but hey, that doesn't mean something can't be taken from good to great.
caffeine_books's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, great plot, added depth to the character of Spock, and understanding to his stoic nature. Loved it! Stayed true to the characters of Star Trek while expanding the Star Trek universe. It probably helped that one of the screenwriters for the original show wrote this novel. Glad I bought this novel - almost didn't because of the horrible cover art.
hopeevey's review
5.0
So, not too long ago I watched "The Enterprise Incident", one of my favorite Original Series episodes. While looking into the costuming for the episode (I want to make the Commander's dress), I read a little about the making of the episode, including the creative differences between how Mr. Roddenberry wanted to handle the romantic bits and how Mr. Nimoy and Ms. Fontana thought they should be done. Thankfully, the latter's vision was aired, and made for a very compelling (read: hawt, at least to this nerd girl's heart) scene.
That same reading mentioned this book, saying that it explored how Ms. Fontana envisioned Vulcan romance to play out. So, of course, I had to read it.
Think Star Trek romance novel, without the cheese factor usually involved in the romance genre. The story was good, the writing excellent, and the Vulcan smut alone was worth the price of admission. Mind you, there wasn't anything terribly explicit; all nudity was implication and allusion. But Vulcans are touch telepaths; the imtimate yet not at all explicit possibilities are delightfully vast.
Since I've marked this as containing spoilers, I won't just hint at the bit I didn't like. I saw T'Pris's murder coming from so far away it was amazing. My dog saw that coming, and she can't read. It was terribly, terribly trite. I fussed about it, but kept reading. Ms. Fontana did manage to make that death work as part of Spock's development as a character. It was a good bridge between Spock of "The Cage" and Spock of the rest of the series.
All in all, a very good read :)
That same reading mentioned this book, saying that it explored how Ms. Fontana envisioned Vulcan romance to play out. So, of course, I had to read it.
Think Star Trek romance novel, without the cheese factor usually involved in the romance genre. The story was good, the writing excellent, and the Vulcan smut alone was worth the price of admission. Mind you, there wasn't anything terribly explicit; all nudity was implication and allusion. But Vulcans are touch telepaths; the imtimate yet not at all explicit possibilities are delightfully vast.
Since I've marked this as containing spoilers, I won't just hint at the bit I didn't like. I saw T'Pris's murder coming from so far away it was amazing. My dog saw that coming, and she can't read. It was terribly, terribly trite. I fussed about it, but kept reading. Ms. Fontana did manage to make that death work as part of Spock's development as a character. It was a good bridge between Spock of "The Cage" and Spock of the rest of the series.
All in all, a very good read :)
markk's review
4.0
I always enjoy reading the rare Star Trek novels written by writers from the original series, as well as ones set during Pike's tenure as captain of the Enterprise. In this respect D.C. Fontana's book is a double treat, as she lends her considerable experience as a writer and script editor for the show to tell the story of Spock's first mission aboard the starship. Her characterization is assured, as she adds to the existing base of characters from the original pilot several new creations that provide greater depth to her tale. This crew soon finds itself involved in a series of events — some related, others not — that range from the important to the amusingly mundane, all of which combine to provide the rare sense of the complex interactions taking place in a vessel as large as the Enterprise. It's a testament to Fontana's skills as an author that she makes it all work as well as it does, and when I finished the book I did so with considerable regret that she never returned to the precursor she created for further adventures, for she demonstrated the fresh storytelling possibilities that exist with an Enterprise that contains within it a unique mix of the familiar and the new.
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