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duparker's review against another edition
3.0
It was a quick read. Felt like a mediocre episode of the show. It took just slightly longer to read than it would have to watch :). Some of the Star Trek books are really worth seeking out, and as I age, I find that a book like this one, which I would have loved as a twelve year old, I tolerate as a 37 year old.
vesper1931's review
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Stardate 4769.1 The Enterprise has been ordered to transport a team of specialists to Ammdon, to prevent a war with theirnneighbouring planet. But on the way they receive a distress signal and retrieve Lorelei, a Speaker from Hyla. Then their situation gets even worse.
An entertaining story and another re-read.
An entertaining story and another re-read.
crimsonfloyd's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
taaya's review against another edition
4.0
The story made me suffer for almost 150 pages, because it took way too long for Kirk to get a grasp on his own theory (and to communicate it with Spock). Even if we take into credit that his state of mind was altered, he behaved exceedingly stupid.
But the end was - though expected - redeeming the book in parts. It lacked a deeper level of moral and legal discussions, but it was fine altogether.
But the end was - though expected - redeeming the book in parts. It lacked a deeper level of moral and legal discussions, but it was fine altogether.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
3.0
This adventure of the Enterprise has all the action and philosophical thought as original series episodes. The crew is convinced absolute pacifism is the way to go, but it puts them all and a mission in danger. It was interesting, and I enjoyed seeing how everything worked out.
djwudi's review against another edition
2.0
Most Trek books get a pretty standard 3-star rating. Not great, not bad, but good mindless escapism. This is one of the few to drop below that. Very poor characterizations for most of the main characters, a clumsy story with too many things going on, and some very odd and occasionally uncomfortable scenes (the discussion between Kirk and Lorelei in her quarters, with it's repeated instances of "the pose would be sexual if she didn't look so much like a child," culminating in Kirk starting to come on to her, just ends up being icky).
octavia_cade's review
2.0
The crew of the Enterprise gets brainwashed and mutinies. With a description like that it should be exciting, but my reaction is pretty much "eh". There's nothing terribly wrong with this, and to be fair there are some interesting parts. I particularly liked the planet that was a single living organism - that's a concept compelling enough to build an entire story around, and not just a relatively isolated excursion. But for the most part I found this book pretty unconvincing. I don't find Lorelei that believable, nor do I think it credible how very easy her takeover was. I think perhaps this story suffers a little from loss of focus - it seems like it should have been a tightly focused psychological piece, concentrated by a sense of claustrophobia slowly growing aboard the ship. Instead it wavers off to the interesting planet, and spends too much time on the travelling ambassadors, who seemed fairly unbelievable themselves. A case of trying to fit too much into a relatively short novel and not really doing any of it justice, I think.
joelshults's review
4.0
I liked the planet they got stranded near. There could've been an entire book about that place.
reeshadovahsil's review
3.0
2.5 stars if I had the option.
The best thing about this novel is the fascinating planet that the crew ends up trying to mine. The entire book should have been about that planet; it would have been a much better book!
The original character started off a bit wrong (we're never informed as to why she suddenly picked the name she picked, after stating that her people do not have personal names), got vaguely interesting, then went way off the rails. Though the plot could have been much better handled, I still enjoyed the general idea of Kirk and Spock running around trying to save their ship while their crew turned against them one by one.
It's odd that the idea of "peace at all costs" was not more fully explored, because this, strictly speaking, was not actually pacifism. Our "pacifist" was willing to kill to avoid violence. There was no good explanation as to why she believed so strongly that the mission the Enterprise was on was going to lead to war when its purpose was to mediate a peace.
And the ending. Oh, goodness me, the ending is a problem! There is nothing right or sensible about letting this psychotic faux-pacifist loose with free rein and total leverage over the situation she was dropped into. It made no sense at all that Kirk would agree to this extreme form of manipulation. If nothing else, she deserved to be tried for her crimes against the Enterprise that lead to multiple crew deaths.
That said, the story was very easy to read and zoomed by in a few hours. While I can't recommend it, I've definitely read worse Star Trek novels.
The best thing about this novel is the fascinating planet that the crew ends up trying to mine. The entire book should have been about that planet; it would have been a much better book!
The original character started off a bit wrong (we're never informed as to why she suddenly picked the name she picked, after stating that her people do not have personal names), got vaguely interesting, then went way off the rails. Though the plot could have been much better handled, I still enjoyed the general idea of Kirk and Spock running around trying to save their ship while their crew turned against them one by one.
It's odd that the idea of "peace at all costs" was not more fully explored, because this, strictly speaking, was not actually pacifism. Our "pacifist" was willing to kill to avoid violence. There was no good explanation as to why she believed so strongly that the mission the Enterprise was on was going to lead to war when its purpose was to mediate a peace.
And the ending. Oh, goodness me, the ending is a problem! There is nothing right or sensible about letting this psychotic faux-pacifist loose with free rein and total leverage over the situation she was dropped into. It made no sense at all that Kirk would agree to this extreme form of manipulation. If nothing else, she deserved to be tried for her crimes against the Enterprise that lead to multiple crew deaths.
That said, the story was very easy to read and zoomed by in a few hours. While I can't recommend it, I've definitely read worse Star Trek novels.
markk's review
2.0
One of the most prevalent tropes of the Star Trek franchise is the disruptive effect of the outsider to the smoothly-functioning operations of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The ship picks up a person or small group of people, these people introduce some foreign values to the crew, and then a few leaders (usually, but not always the captain) address the disruption caused and reassert Starfleet order. It's a recurrent trope in part because of its versatility and the number of variations possible, but that doesn't make it any less of a trope.
It's no surprise that the trope would appear eventually in a Star Trek novel, and Robert Vardeman's book seems to be the first employment of it in print. Yet for the first use in a novel with all of the greater possibilities the medium entails, his use of it is surprisingly unimaginative. Picking up after the events of his previous contribution to the series, [b:The Klingon Gambit|216650|The Klingon Gambit|Robert E. Vardeman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1290002309s/216650.jpg|2042161], Kirk and company are assigned to transport a small team of ambassadors to a system where two planets are on the verge of conflict. Along the way they rescue Lorelai, a woman of an unknown species from her disabled craft. Once on board her pacifist philosophy and powers of persuasion quickly sow dissent among the crew. Though Kirk and Spock attempt to battle her influence, they soon find their mission in jeopardy in the face of the resistance of the crew, who are following Lorelai's siren song (get it?) instead of the orders of their superiors.
It's fair to note that just because a trope isn't terrible just because it's a trope, and the subsequent use of it in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Enterprise, and other franchise media demonstrate some of the creative possibilities still possible with it. This is why Vardeman's novel is so disappointing; rather than take it in rich new directions possible thanks to the freedom inherent in a novel, he prefers to deliver instead what could have been just another warmed-over episode of the original series. There is little development of the plot and even less of the characters, as Vardeman relies upon the work of the series and what limited effort he put into his previous contribution to coast through. Even his main antagonist is defined more by her powers rather than any inherent motivation beyond "It's her job," and her employment in the story's resolution is predictable from the moment her abilities are defined. To be fair it's an improvement over his previous novel, but that reflects more the very low bar set by his earlier effort than a dramatic improvement in quality between the two books. Perhaps a subsequent novel would have been even better, but I can't say that I'm regretting that he never wrote another one for the franchise.
It's no surprise that the trope would appear eventually in a Star Trek novel, and Robert Vardeman's book seems to be the first employment of it in print. Yet for the first use in a novel with all of the greater possibilities the medium entails, his use of it is surprisingly unimaginative. Picking up after the events of his previous contribution to the series, [b:The Klingon Gambit|216650|The Klingon Gambit|Robert E. Vardeman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1290002309s/216650.jpg|2042161], Kirk and company are assigned to transport a small team of ambassadors to a system where two planets are on the verge of conflict. Along the way they rescue Lorelai, a woman of an unknown species from her disabled craft. Once on board her pacifist philosophy and powers of persuasion quickly sow dissent among the crew. Though Kirk and Spock attempt to battle her influence, they soon find their mission in jeopardy in the face of the resistance of the crew, who are following Lorelai's siren song (get it?) instead of the orders of their superiors.
It's fair to note that just because a trope isn't terrible just because it's a trope, and the subsequent use of it in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Enterprise, and other franchise media demonstrate some of the creative possibilities still possible with it. This is why Vardeman's novel is so disappointing; rather than take it in rich new directions possible thanks to the freedom inherent in a novel, he prefers to deliver instead what could have been just another warmed-over episode of the original series. There is little development of the plot and even less of the characters, as Vardeman relies upon the work of the series and what limited effort he put into his previous contribution to coast through. Even his main antagonist is defined more by her powers rather than any inherent motivation beyond "It's her job," and her employment in the story's resolution is predictable from the moment her abilities are defined. To be fair it's an improvement over his previous novel, but that reflects more the very low bar set by his earlier effort than a dramatic improvement in quality between the two books. Perhaps a subsequent novel would have been even better, but I can't say that I'm regretting that he never wrote another one for the franchise.
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