The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 19 December 2013
by Jean Lorrah
The universe created by Gene Roddenberry, creator of the original Star Trek televison series and producer of much that followed, is a rich and fertile ground for fiction, and even non-fiction. Of course, Star Trek, nearly fifty years on, has become a ubiquitous part of our culture, and generates millions upon millions of dollars for its producers today. All this was less certain back in the 1970s, when it was not clear if the first Star Trek movie would even get made. Trek fans have always been dedicated. They're a somewhat different, increasingly sophisticated, crowd these days. Star Trek has been seen through all media by now, everything from video games to wedding cakes, so it is no surprise that there have been scores of novels telling further stories of the Federation and its crews. This one takes place in the universe of the original Trek series (TOS, for those in the know). After a brief battle with the Klingons, Kirk, Spock and McCoy take an injured crewman (no doubt wearing a red shirt) to planet Vulcan, where an experimental new neurological rehabilitation treatment has recently been invented. Turns out, the treatment is right now being used on Spock's mother, Amanda. The remainder of the novel takes place on Vulcan. Strange incidents start happening, medical equipment begins failing, and, one by one, patients are dying. The various Vulcans involved, and the Enterprise crewmembers, all try to find out what is going on. It has been five thousand years since the last murder on Vulcan. How could it be anything but a bizarre cascade of technical failures? The author here puts together a workable Star Trek script. The characters are familiar, as are the adventurous situations. Kirk flirts with the attractive medical students. Spock and his father, Sarek, have stiff relations. McCoy wisecracks when he can. Lorrah develops Vulcan culture, exploring its history and present assumptions and contradictions, while relating the tale to familiar Trek plots. The book is a light entertainment, but exercises three genres by setting a mystery novel in a science-fiction novel based on a TV show.
(This book, published in 1984, is number 20 in the long-running Pocket Books series of Star Trek fiction that started with a novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which is the only other Star Trek novel this reader has read, and that was thirty-four years ago.)
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