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vortimer's review
3.0
One of the better of the very early, pre pocket Trek novels. Less mil sci fi than I expected from Haldeman. I have read his early early trek novel, but have no memory of it, so can't remember if that was similar.Yet another different interpretation of Klingon culture, with a theocratic dimension.
Slight oddity in one reference has a foot note about a TOS episode "the Tholian Web" when talking about different societies - this referencing is a feature of these early novels, but makes no mention of "The World is hollow..." Which also features the crew encountering a generational vessel whose denizens have long forgotten they're on a ship.
Slight oddity in one reference has a foot note about a TOS episode "the Tholian Web" when talking about different societies - this referencing is a feature of these early novels, but makes no mention of "The World is hollow..." Which also features the crew encountering a generational vessel whose denizens have long forgotten they're on a ship.
deranged_pegasus's review
5.0
A strange tale in an alien world that leaves you still curious. It is a wonderful example of the space adventures taken by the crew of the enterprise.
david_agranoff's review
3.0
These days there are probably several hundred Star Trek novels but in the seventies, the ST novels were the only way the franchise was moving forward in the dark days between the Animated Series and the first movie. The early days of Star Trek are much more exciting in terms of crossover to very respected authors in the field of Science Fiction. In the Orignal series, there were episodes by several respected genre authors Jerome Bixby, Richard Matheson (I am Legend), George Clayton Johnson (Logan's Run), Harlan Ellison (Dangerous Visions), Norman Spinrad (Men in the Jungle)and Theodore freaking Sturgeon. Ellison was responsible for the Guardian of Forever, Spinrad the Doomsday Machine, and Surgeon invented the crazy way Vulcans reproduce. Larry Niven wrote for the far weirder Animated Series.
So it was not that big a stretch when respected science fiction writers like James Blish, Greg Bear, and the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Joe Haldeman wrote Star Trek novels. Blish most adapted and deepen the actual episodes. The 70's early Bantam novels were short and aimed to be like a single hour episode of the series. The later Pocketbooks had more epic novel feeling to them.
If you are not familiar with Haldeman he is a Vietnam vet who wrote what I consider to be the ultimate military sci-fi classic The Forever War. Yes, even over Starship Troopers which the novel was clearly a response too. Haldeman is a genius writer with decades of fantastic books but the Forever War is a must-read classic. I was really interested in his two attempts at Star Trek both in the 70's. I already reviewed the first Planet of Judgement.
One thing that makes these early books interesting is the authors were not working with the enormous canon we have come to know. They also tend to take more seriously the actual space elements of the setting. I like that this novel really plays with science fictional ideas. The Enterprise encounters a ship that was designed to fool it's inhabitants that they were on a world. The set-up is similar to the TOS episode "The World is Hollow and I have touched the sky." Unlike that story, Haldeman does all the neat Sci-fi things his mind and no need for budget make possible.
The small manufactured planet has a low gravity which leads to scenes of the crew flying around with little wings, that was probably my favorite example. Also, the planet survives by sucking the energy of passing ships, like a vampire planet. When the enterprise becomes low on energy only Scotty remains. This provides some funny and really on-point character moments, but it also gave Haldeman to take seriously that the enterprise is a spaceship. Lots of Trek writers in TV, movies, and books forget that simple factor.
Haldeman does a great job with the characters, Scotty and Spock most of all. There is a scene that was my favorite when a Klingon boards the nearly drained of energy Enterprise. Scotty has converted a transporter room for his last stand. Of course, he gets the Klingon drunk.
Is it great, or mind-blowing? No. But if you are like me a fan of Trek and Haldeman you should check it out. By the way Joe Haldeman just took part in the Facebook group "Science Fiction Book Club"'s Q and A. I asked the Author about writing this book. He said this: "They gave us a thick stack of mimeographed notions, most of which I more or less ignored, and
then they turned the ms. over to some underemployed secretary to critique. That was lots of fun. Like,
I had Spock say "by Occam's Razor," and they warned me "Spock does not swear."
So it was not that big a stretch when respected science fiction writers like James Blish, Greg Bear, and the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Joe Haldeman wrote Star Trek novels. Blish most adapted and deepen the actual episodes. The 70's early Bantam novels were short and aimed to be like a single hour episode of the series. The later Pocketbooks had more epic novel feeling to them.
If you are not familiar with Haldeman he is a Vietnam vet who wrote what I consider to be the ultimate military sci-fi classic The Forever War. Yes, even over Starship Troopers which the novel was clearly a response too. Haldeman is a genius writer with decades of fantastic books but the Forever War is a must-read classic. I was really interested in his two attempts at Star Trek both in the 70's. I already reviewed the first Planet of Judgement.
One thing that makes these early books interesting is the authors were not working with the enormous canon we have come to know. They also tend to take more seriously the actual space elements of the setting. I like that this novel really plays with science fictional ideas. The Enterprise encounters a ship that was designed to fool it's inhabitants that they were on a world. The set-up is similar to the TOS episode "The World is Hollow and I have touched the sky." Unlike that story, Haldeman does all the neat Sci-fi things his mind and no need for budget make possible.
The small manufactured planet has a low gravity which leads to scenes of the crew flying around with little wings, that was probably my favorite example. Also, the planet survives by sucking the energy of passing ships, like a vampire planet. When the enterprise becomes low on energy only Scotty remains. This provides some funny and really on-point character moments, but it also gave Haldeman to take seriously that the enterprise is a spaceship. Lots of Trek writers in TV, movies, and books forget that simple factor.
Haldeman does a great job with the characters, Scotty and Spock most of all. There is a scene that was my favorite when a Klingon boards the nearly drained of energy Enterprise. Scotty has converted a transporter room for his last stand. Of course, he gets the Klingon drunk.
Is it great, or mind-blowing? No. But if you are like me a fan of Trek and Haldeman you should check it out. By the way Joe Haldeman just took part in the Facebook group "Science Fiction Book Club"'s Q and A. I asked the Author about writing this book. He said this: "They gave us a thick stack of mimeographed notions, most of which I more or less ignored, and
then they turned the ms. over to some underemployed secretary to critique. That was lots of fun. Like,
I had Spock say "by Occam's Razor," and they warned me "Spock does not swear."
thomcat's review
3.0
Of the two Star Trek adventures written by [a:Joe Haldeman|12476|Joe Haldeman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1630694226p2/12476.jpg], this is the better one - probably because he wasn't working from another author's manuscript. The characters feel right, the situation is interesting - even if the ending is a bit rushed.
Fitting a full story into 150 pages may have some similarities to fitting a story into a single episode - without the advantage of imagery. A very interesting setup and unusual complications are followed by a rapid-fire conclusion with some out-of-place humor.
This is the 90th book finished this year, and coincidentally the 9th (of 12) in a "Star Trek reading challenge" on the website WorldsWithoutEnd. I've already completed three other challenges, reading 3 science fiction and fantasy books more than 100 years old, reading 9 sequels, and reading 12 books by female authors I haven't read before. Pretty sure I can squeeze three more of Bantam's Star Trek Adventures in this year - I read this one in about 3½ hours.
Fitting a full story into 150 pages may have some similarities to fitting a story into a single episode - without the advantage of imagery. A very interesting setup and unusual complications are followed by a rapid-fire conclusion with some out-of-place humor.
This is the 90th book finished this year, and coincidentally the 9th (of 12) in a "Star Trek reading challenge" on the website WorldsWithoutEnd. I've already completed three other challenges, reading 3 science fiction and fantasy books more than 100 years old, reading 9 sequels, and reading 12 books by female authors I haven't read before. Pretty sure I can squeeze three more of Bantam's Star Trek Adventures in this year - I read this one in about 3½ hours.
taaya's review
5.0
By now the best Star Trek novel I've read. Funny, exciting, giving some inside in Vulcan thought processes, and quite a good story. The end is maybe a bit too abrupt, as if the author had to give a solution in only two pages because he was writing down too much details before and only had a certain amount of space, but it wasn't bad as such, so no star taken away in this review.
birdmanseven's review
4.0
I was so fascinated with the life aboard the vessel that I would have read a whole book just on that. Great Trek story.
I was lucky enough to chat with the author about this and his other work over at the All the Books Show podcast. Find the Joe Haldeman episode here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-159-interview-with-joe-haldeman
I was lucky enough to chat with the author about this and his other work over at the All the Books Show podcast. Find the Joe Haldeman episode here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-159-interview-with-joe-haldeman
daringpeg's review
5.0
A strange tale in an alien world that leaves you still curious. It is a wonderful example of the space adventures taken by the crew of the enterprise.
reeshadovahsil's review
4.0
One of the better old Star Trek novels, with most characters in-character most of the time, a sideways nod to the expendability and interchangeability of red shirts, a humourously drunk Klingon, an intriguing planet, unusual alien culture, mystifying technology, and of course oncoming, seemingly inescapable doom. I enjoyed it!
arbieroo's review
3.0
This is Joe Haldeman's second Star Trek novel. I haven't read the first, but in the light of this one, I would.
Comparing this to Blish's Star Trek efforts is interesting: Haldeman handles the characters just as well, introduces interesting SF ideas just as deftly and gives some secondary characters more to do than they have in the TV show - which Blish also does. Yet you'd never mistake this for a Blish novel; no plot points hinging on James Joyce or knowledge of molecular biology here. Haldeman manages to dump the crew of the Enterprise in an extra-ordinary pickle. The thing is not whether they will get out of it, you know they will, but how are they going to get out of it? Further, there is more than one source of danger. This always seems to work better. For instance, in the film Alien, a considerable part of the troubles for the Nostromo's crew come not from the Alien but from the android and that is, for me, a considerable factor in why it is widely considered one of the greatest monster movies ever made.
Fun.
Comparing this to Blish's Star Trek efforts is interesting: Haldeman handles the characters just as well, introduces interesting SF ideas just as deftly and gives some secondary characters more to do than they have in the TV show - which Blish also does. Yet you'd never mistake this for a Blish novel; no plot points hinging on James Joyce or knowledge of molecular biology here. Haldeman manages to dump the crew of the Enterprise in an extra-ordinary pickle. The thing is not whether they will get out of it, you know they will, but how are they going to get out of it? Further, there is more than one source of danger. This always seems to work better. For instance, in the film Alien, a considerable part of the troubles for the Nostromo's crew come not from the Alien but from the android and that is, for me, a considerable factor in why it is widely considered one of the greatest monster movies ever made.
Fun.
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