Star Trek

Harm’s Way by David Mack

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74/2024 – ⭐️⭐️

Though officially a TOS adventure, this is really mostly a part of the Vanguard spinoff book series, which I read so long ago as to have forgotten both characters and key points. As a result, it felt like I was reading a mid-series book, and missing much of the necessary context. The primary foe is so overwhelmingly powerful that there’s an extended battle sequence in the latter half of the book that feels very out of place; perhaps it works within the greater Vanguard storyline, but to me, it was just troubling and very un-Trek. Klingon characters include pre-“Day of the Dove” Kang and Mara, which does expand their characters in interesting ways and hints at background motivations for future Federation/Klingon developments, but also doesn’t really mesh with what I remember of Kang and Mara’s actions in the episode (though, admittedly, it’s been a few years since I watched it, and I’m relying partially on Memory Alpha’s plot summary here). All in all, an uneven Trek adventure, and not one of my favorites.

Me holding Harm’s Way

Asylum by Una McCormack

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72/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As always, Trek is at its best when it’s looking at modern issues through an SF lens. On the surface, this is about Pike and Number One at Starfleet Academy, paired with a later mission that ties back to those experiences. But when dealing with minority ethnic groups reacting to years of oppression, there’s a lot more there as well. Plus, of course, some very entertaining ties to wider Trek lore.

Me holding Asylum.

Living Memory by Christopher L. Bennett

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69/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A mysterious and dangerous astral phenomenon threatens the Earth, and Spock, Uhura, and Chekov must try to solve a mystery that ends up being tied to Uhura’s forgotten past. Meanwhile, Kirk, overseeing Starfleet Academy, has to deal with some problematic new cadets. The Kirk-centric B-blot is okay, mostly interesting for fleshing out more of Kirk’s time between the films. The primary plot is more interesting, especially as it picks up the thread of how Uhura was affected by her loss of memory during the Nomad incident, something never (or very rarely) explored. That part of the story I very much enjoyed.

Me holding Living Memory

A Contest of Principles by Greg Cox

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67/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one was a particularly interesting and on-the-nose bit of “exploring today’s issues through SF”. Published in 2020 (and so, assumedly, written in 2019), the Enterprise is called into to observe the voting process for a planet having its first democratic elections. The contest is between a hardline conservative near-fascist military general whose followers use intimidation and assault, and a liberal reformist challenger who (minor spoiler) eventually steps down after a controversy and turns their candidacy over to a younger candidate. There’s a separate, more standard Trek adventure where Spock has to try to rescue McCoy and Chapel from other planets in the system, but reading the primary political plot just over a week before our election (between a hardline conservative fascist and a more liberal challenger who took over from the prior candidate) was an interesting experience. I can only hope we handle our election as successfully as this fictional planet does.

Me holding A Contest of Principles

No Man’s Land by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson

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64/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Somehow I missed the bit in the blurb telling me this was a script for an audio play, so that was a bit of a surprise, though not a bad one. Short and quick, this follows Seven and Raffi just after season one of Picard as they deal with saving artifacts and a senile historian from a Romulan…though it’s really more about the first steps of their relationship. Fun to read, and I’m somewhat tempted to find the audio production to see how some of the more visual elements of the script translate.

Me holding No Man’s Land

The Higher Frontier by Christopher L. Bennett

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57/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Set between TMP and TWoK, this adventure primarily ties together three threads: The Medusans as introduced in TOS, the Aenar as introduced in ENT, and the New Humans as introduced in Roddenberry’s novelization of TMP. Those three threads are woven together with elements, references, and in-jokes from throughout the Star Trek screen and literary universes, as Bennett so often does in his books. It’s also interesting when reading these more recently written books that are able to find ways to drop in references to the newer shows. All in all, another good adventure with some really neat approaches to tying together previously unrelated parts of Trek history in unexpected ways.

Me holding The Higher Frontier

Lost to Eternity by Greg Cox

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52/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Almost four stars…but not quite. There are three connected storylines (it’s not a spoiler if it’s in the back cover blurb, right?): A modern-day (2024) true crime podcaster investigating the mysterious disappearance of one Gillian Taylor in 1986, Kirk and company in the third year of their original voyage rescuing an abducted scientist, and Kirk and company escorting envoys to a conference shortly before the events of The Undiscovered Country. Of the three storylines, I found the latter two to be fairly standard Trek adventure, and would occasionally get confused as to which point in time I was in for a moment when I switched chapters. However, the first storyline, as the podcaster tracks down various minor characters from The Voyage Home to try to figure out what happened to Gillian is great. I really enjoyed the glimpse into what happened on Earth after the events of the movie, and it was a lot of fun to build on many of the gags from the film. That storyline is by far the strongest, and the middle story is the weakest, with yet another “landing party beams down to a pre-industrial society and — surprise! — makes a complete hash of the Prime Directive” situation.
Still, even the weaker parts are entertaining, and Cox ties in lots of little nods to a lot of Trek true canon and beta (book) canon.

(This reaches my goal of 52 books read this year, nice and early! We’ll see how many I end up with in a few more months.)

Me holding Lost to Eternity

The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett

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45/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Set over the course of a few years, just before and after Kirk takes command of the Enterprise. An interesting take on Kirk, not quite the captain he will become, still somewhat finding his footing. Plus some good pointed commentary on refugees and the assumptions that get made when they arrive in a new place.

Me holding The Captain's Oath