A review by protovulcan
The Tears of the Singers by Melinda M. Snodgrass

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The best part of this novel is that Uhura is the main character. She gets a romance and gets to put her skills to use. Her and the female Klingon Kali are well written.  The rest...yikes. Spock had a few out of character rage moments, the Klingons didn't talk like Klingons half the time, and this author thinks that tax dollars and poor working conditions somehow exist in the Federation. The plot is about a race of aliens being hunted for their crystal tears that you can only get by killing them,  and apparently it's the latest fad for Federation women. Totally mind boggling. Probably a parallel to the growing anti fur movement in the 80s but why make it the *Federation* who are mass killing aliens for fashion? And where did all this talk of money, working to survive, tax dollars. etc come from. 
If the rest of this book wasn't stupid as hell, it'd be a 4 star.