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bears_bears's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
scotty's accent in the book is horrible to read. Honestly made the reading experience much worse, and I had to take a star away for that.
other than that it was like reading an episode of TOS. The pacing was generally good, and I liked the portrayal of the characters (for the most part), and how they interacted with each other. a pretty good book đź‘Ť.
other than that it was like reading an episode of TOS. The pacing was generally good, and I liked the portrayal of the characters (for the most part), and how they interacted with each other. a pretty good book đź‘Ť.
vizirli's review
3.0
I liked this book, I really did. However... in what UNIVERSE does a federation which includes beings that are PURELY LOGICAL deem a PIECE OF TECH to be 'FOOLPROOF'?!?! My primary gripe with this is that having a way for this item to be setup manually would have ZERO IMPACT ON THE PLOT!!!! The author just put it in SPECIFICALLY to HURT peopel like ME who are IN THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR!!!
Anyway, the book is really enjoyable and well written :)
Anyway, the book is really enjoyable and well written :)
daisydoolie's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not my usual read, but as I’m knee deep in Star Trek at the moment this clicked all the right buttons in my brain.
Was it well written? Meh. Was the storyline good? It felt like an episode of TOS tbh.
Seen other people say the characterisation was bad, but apart from the painful way they attempted to write Scotty’s accent, I thought it worked
Was it well written? Meh. Was the storyline good? It felt like an episode of TOS tbh.
Seen other people say the characterisation was bad, but apart from the painful way they attempted to write Scotty’s accent, I thought it worked
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Abortion and Death of parent
david_agranoff's review
3.0
A Star Trek novel written in the 70's by the author of Forever War. Short read and fun. I liked how sci-fi the idea was but it felt like a episode. Fun. Full review...on my blog.
gon8go's review
4.0
I've read a few of these trek novels and have mostly been disappointed. This one though, really read like an episode of tos, Great story. There were a lot of spelling errors like Spock being called speck.
thomcat's review
2.0
An interesting situation, a too-strong villain, impossibilities with physics and dumb choices by the crew make for mixed bag of a novel. It's a quick read, but unsatisfying.
Haldeman was asked to write a Star Trek novel when James Blish bowed out, and that author was referenced in one of the minor characters (Professor Atheling, a pen-name used by Blish). He hadn't seen the show or read any other materials, and ended up using a discussion with Roddenberry and a few photocopied scripts as reference. The characters aren't bad, though they make some un-starfleet choices when dealing with impossible physics.
It does make me wonder whether technicians do transporter "tests" on new worlds first - the crew steps on the pad here and... nothing happens, which is a lot better than other types of failure!
The world itself is a bit mad, with tall grass and a ridiculous biome - but that is nothing compared to the violations of physics. The transporter doesn't work, phaser "stun" is fine but not "kill", the shuttles can land fine but the engines then cease to function; and worst of all, no communications? Yes, in the end this comes back to a too-powerful alien species who "doesn't like the noise", but seriously? The world itself is ridiculous, not part of a planetary system and orbiting a somewhat controlled black hole. I can't see star fleet that we know of dipping a toe into that planet before they understood the physics of the space around it, and that includes the prime directive. An author more knowledgeable of the canon could have had their too-powerful alien "hide" information and fool the sensors, etc.
That's the first 3/4 of the book, and then everything changes and the story finally connects to the title (which Haldeman states on his blog "wasn't his title" - so where did it come from?). This second section has nothing to do with the first, and has the too-powerful alien "testing" a portion of the crew. "Q" anyone?
Was this ending handed to Haldeman to incorporate (badly) into his story? Did someone make liberal "edits" with the ending after he submitted the manuscript? I've read Haldeman before and while the first part feels true, the ending doesn't. Did Roddenberry have some sort of a fascination with god-like powers testing the crew?
I look forward to more from this author, but not the later Star Trek book he wrote ([b:World Without End|21630|World Without End (Star Trek Adventures, #10)|Joe Haldeman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630183092l/21630._SY75_.jpg|22763]). To quote the author from his blog, "But once I'd proved that I could write a novel with somebody else's characters, the prospect of doing it a second time was not attractive. I'd signed a two-book contract, though, and Paramount wouldn't let me buy it back. The second took three times as long and was a little less painful than pulling your own teeth."
Haldeman was asked to write a Star Trek novel when James Blish bowed out, and that author was referenced in one of the minor characters (Professor Atheling, a pen-name used by Blish). He hadn't seen the show or read any other materials, and ended up using a discussion with Roddenberry and a few photocopied scripts as reference. The characters aren't bad, though they make some un-starfleet choices when dealing with impossible physics.
It does make me wonder whether technicians do transporter "tests" on new worlds first - the crew steps on the pad here and... nothing happens, which is a lot better than other types of failure!
The world itself is a bit mad, with tall grass and a ridiculous biome - but that is nothing compared to the violations of physics. The transporter doesn't work, phaser "stun" is fine but not "kill", the shuttles can land fine but the engines then cease to function; and worst of all, no communications? Yes, in the end this comes back to a too-powerful alien species who "doesn't like the noise", but seriously? The world itself is ridiculous, not part of a planetary system and orbiting a somewhat controlled black hole. I can't see star fleet that we know of dipping a toe into that planet before they understood the physics of the space around it, and that includes the prime directive. An author more knowledgeable of the canon could have had their too-powerful alien "hide" information and fool the sensors, etc.
That's the first 3/4 of the book, and then everything changes and the story finally connects to the title (which Haldeman states on his blog "wasn't his title" - so where did it come from?). This second section has nothing to do with the first, and has the too-powerful alien "testing" a portion of the crew. "Q" anyone?
Was this ending handed to Haldeman to incorporate (badly) into his story? Did someone make liberal "edits" with the ending after he submitted the manuscript? I've read Haldeman before and while the first part feels true, the ending doesn't. Did Roddenberry have some sort of a fascination with god-like powers testing the crew?
I look forward to more from this author, but not the later Star Trek book he wrote ([b:World Without End|21630|World Without End (Star Trek Adventures, #10)|Joe Haldeman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630183092l/21630._SY75_.jpg|22763]). To quote the author from his blog, "But once I'd proved that I could write a novel with somebody else's characters, the prospect of doing it a second time was not attractive. I'd signed a two-book contract, though, and Paramount wouldn't let me buy it back. The second took three times as long and was a little less painful than pulling your own teeth."
taaya's review
4.0
Both the weirdest and the best Trek novel I know. Creep, fun and action in a good mixture.
nwhyte's review
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2719310.html
I picked up a few Star Trek novels by well-known SF authors a few years ago, and this was one of them. Trek isn't one of my core fandoms, but I like it enough to appreciate some of what Haldeman does here (alien intelligence with some good wrinkles, spooky bits where key members of the crew are presumed dead and have to convince others that they are alive, some very nice characterisation of McCoy in particular) and also to spot the standard elements (throwaway characters introduced to be killed off, back-stories invented for regulars which will never be used again). Enjoyable enough for what it is is, which is 150 pages that cost me ÂŁ2.
I picked up a few Star Trek novels by well-known SF authors a few years ago, and this was one of them. Trek isn't one of my core fandoms, but I like it enough to appreciate some of what Haldeman does here (alien intelligence with some good wrinkles, spooky bits where key members of the crew are presumed dead and have to convince others that they are alive, some very nice characterisation of McCoy in particular) and also to spot the standard elements (throwaway characters introduced to be killed off, back-stories invented for regulars which will never be used again). Enjoyable enough for what it is is, which is 150 pages that cost me ÂŁ2.