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angrybooklady's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of listening to my Nerd Ramblings about Jim Kirk knows that I have a particular fascination with him, largely because I feel that the Carefree Playboy Kirk that permeates pop culture is an egregious misreading of the character. That fascination has led to an interest in Jim's best friend Gary Mitchell, the navigator who was killed in the series pilot. I always imagined Gary to have quite an influence on a younger Jim Kirk and on that front this trilogy didn't disappoint. We see Gary's hand in transforming Jim from an uptight lieutenant to a...slightly less neurotic captain. The fact is, Jim never really lightens up. He's far too critical of his abilities and always blames himself for things that go wrong, even (and especially) the things he can't control.
If anyone actually embodies the popular culture's interpretation of Jim, it's Gary as the incorrigible skirt chasing adventurer. The "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy is about Jim's friendship with Gary and the lessons he learns from it. If the first book was about Jim learning to trust Gary, and the second was about learning to lean on him, the last book is fittingly about learning to let Gary go. Gary doesn't feature quite as prominently in this book, which works because the character focus is on Jim's need to stop being so dependent on his best friend. (I won't even get started on Jim Kirk's knack for codependency or we'll be here all day.)
I wasn't terribly impressed with the actual plot for this book. It wrapped up a tie to the other two books that I never felt was terribly important. The conflicts from the "Republic" and "Constitution" were centered largely around duty and when a leader should accept protocol or buck the system. After that, generic plotlines like genetically modified Klingons loose on the ship don't seem as interesting. The best part of the end, naturally, is not the resolution of Jim's emotional state or the defeat of the Klingons, but Bones and Spock's meetcute at Gary's funeral.
If anyone actually embodies the popular culture's interpretation of Jim, it's Gary as the incorrigible skirt chasing adventurer. The "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy is about Jim's friendship with Gary and the lessons he learns from it. If the first book was about Jim learning to trust Gary, and the second was about learning to lean on him, the last book is fittingly about learning to let Gary go. Gary doesn't feature quite as prominently in this book, which works because the character focus is on Jim's need to stop being so dependent on his best friend. (I won't even get started on Jim Kirk's knack for codependency or we'll be here all day.)
I wasn't terribly impressed with the actual plot for this book. It wrapped up a tie to the other two books that I never felt was terribly important. The conflicts from the "Republic" and "Constitution" were centered largely around duty and when a leader should accept protocol or buck the system. After that, generic plotlines like genetically modified Klingons loose on the ship don't seem as interesting. The best part of the end, naturally, is not the resolution of Jim's emotional state or the defeat of the Klingons, but Bones and Spock's meetcute at Gary's funeral.
frakalot's review
5.0
I enjoyed this conclusion and was glad that it wrapped up the threaded mystery. It was a good end to a great series.
I must have been too caught up in the drama during book one to notice but when Kirk thinks about what drove him to leave Phelanna back then I was a bit disappointed to realise it was such a shallow move.
This series did a lovely job of illustrating the relationship between Kirk and Mitchell and adds a great deal of depth to the one episode we had featuring Gary Mitchell.
I must have been too caught up in the drama during book one to notice but when Kirk thinks about what drove him to leave Phelanna back then I was a bit disappointed to realise it was such a shallow move.
This series did a lovely job of illustrating the relationship between Kirk and Mitchell and adds a great deal of depth to the one episode we had featuring Gary Mitchell.
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