Surak's Soul

Star Trek: Enterprise #5

by J.M. Dillard

In this thrilling and eye-opening Star Enterprise novel, T’Pol finds herself torn between the teachings of Vulcan and the regulations of Starfleet.You are alone in the dark reaches of space, surrounded by aliens who do not understand who you are and what you are, and who will not accept your beliefs. Under such circumstances, an emotional human would feel lost, cut off, adrift, but Sub-Commander T’Pol is a Vulcan, and Vulcans control their emotions. However, no other Vulcan has served for longer than a few weeks on a human ship. Has she, as others imply, lost her way? Pulled, once again, into one of Captain Archer’s dangerously impulsive attempts to make first contact, the sub-commander finds her life threatened. T’Pol reacts, draws her phase pistol and kills. It was a simple act of self-defense. But is killing ever simple? Has she forsaken the teachings of Surak? Determined to be true to her heritage, T’Pol forswears violence. She tells Captain Archer that never again will she kill—even if ordered. Is she, as Archer suggests, endangering the entire ship?

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek Enterprise, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Tv

171 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

J.M. Dillard is the pseudonym under which Jeanne Kalogridis (b. 1954) publishes her Star Trek novels.

Reviews

[Chris Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather liked this story. I don't have a lot to say about it except that it didn't go in the direction I expected. I don't want to ruin anything if you haven't read it, so I won't elaborate. T'Pol is my favorite character from Enterprise and it centers on her quite a bit. Archer too. The writing was mediocre in places, but, overall, a solid, though a bit brief, Enterprise story.

3.5 out of 5.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pre-Read; UGH! A T'Pol-centric book? Really???

Post-Read: I forced myself to plow thru this as quickly as possible. And I have just one word for it.. MEH.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not entirely what I expected, Surak's Soul doesn't exactly deliver on what the back-cover blurb says it is about. There is some interesting examination of T'Pol's philosophy and the choices it leads her to make, but that exploration is dropped rather quickly for a fairly routine alien threat story. Still, not all bad; there are some interesting elements that remind me a lot of classic Star Trek.

Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2018/10/SS.html

[Lyndon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. "Surak's Soul" is a fair first contact story that involves an encounter with a dangerous (but misunderstood?) sentient energy being that is feeding off Captain Archer's Enterprise crew's metabolism. It's message heavy (with a surfacy handling of issues such as non-violence and what marks actual life), but it does tie in well to T'Pol's backstory and the Surak legend, who was like the Ghandi of Vulcan's rise from barbarism. Quick airplane read on a recent trip, not a keeper.

[David King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst it is a reasonably well written original Star Trek story, the overall plot isn't that complex, deep or really anything we haven't seen before. It actually reminded me of the type of plot we would have seen on the original series. In fact, I could easily visualise the talking alien energy life form, present within the story, in Technicolor glory like we would have seen on the TV show! It also wasn't helped by the fact that, as with the previous Star Trek books I have read during this challenge, I was able to figure out what had happened very quickly thereby destroying any suspense that may have been built up.

Anyway, in regards to the story, it follows the Enterprise responding to a distress signal that leads them to a civilization on the brink of extinction due to a mysterious illness. As the crew explores the planet, T'Pol is forced to kill the last remaining survivor to ensure the survival of Hoshi. This leads to a type of identity crisis for T'Pol as she begins to suspect that spending her time with humans was leading her to go against the teachings of Surak regarding non-violence.

As T'Pol tries to get to grips with her thoughts and choices, the Enterprise remains to investigate what happened to the planet's inhabitants. As the investigation progresses, a mysterious energy based life form known as the Wanderer turns up and offers to assist, which is greatly appreciated by the crew. Especially when they also begin to fall foul of the same illness that claimed the inhabitants on the planet below.

My biggest disappointment with the story though was actually the very little attention actually given to T'Pol and her inner struggle to come to terms with what she did and if is really against Surak's teachings. She just seems to meditate once and then decide that she is going to give up all violence, even if it would save a member of the crew. It was a big let down as the book synopsis had left me thinking it would be a good character driven story exploring T'Pol's character and the guilt she was suffering which it really wasn't.

The little bit that did focus on T'Pol's thoughts was something that I did actually enjoy and it was quite nice to see her comparisons between Surak & Gandhi. However, besides this comparison there is nothing really in this book about Surak at all. It really appears to me that, with this and what I highlighted in the last paragraph, this book should be 'done' for false advertising! Or maybe it was my own fault for reading too much into the title and synopsis.

Now that I have got my disappointments out of the way I will talk about some of the merits. The story does move at a good pace and whilst the story isn't anything special it is entertaining enough. I also think that the author's characterizations were probably the best I have seen so far in an Enterprise novel although I would expect this to be the case as it is currently the latest one that I have read.

Overall "Surak's Soul" was another reasonable Star Trek Enterprise novel that won't win any awards but kept me entertained enough. It was especially nice to see an author really capture the characters form the show well. It is a shame that the book didn't really live up to what I was expecting in regards to really going into T'Pol's soul searching or give us some more information on Surak as I think that I would have really loved the book had this been the case.

This and other reviews, along with book related discussions can be found on my blog: Books & Things

[Crystal Bensley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cool Enterprise story! Reads just like a good episode. It's so nice to read a self contained adventure!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this one had potential but I think fumbled the ball a few too many times. The idea of coming up on and a dead and dying population for first contact and Hoshi learning and studying about them through their recordings was a cool idea but relegated to the background. The title of the book and what T'Pol is dealing with personally is at the beginning, glazed over in the middle and then comes back in the end but what is missed is that this entire story SHOULD have been told from her perspective. The Wanderer would have likely been seen as more benevolent in the book leading to a bigger twist when it was revealed not to be and the reveal child have been more impactful. Alas, twas not to be and we are left with this short middling novel which had neat ideas just executed poorly.

[Jack Vasen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells a complete episode within the Enterprise series. Some familiarity with the crew is helpful but not necessary. There are no unresolved threads. It is not clear where this would fit within the TV series timeline, but it is definitely not during Season 3. It feels like it would fit easily into Season 1 after a few episodes. Because of the lack of well developed comradery, it is probably not after Season 1.

This book is not long as full length novels go. In paperback it is 240 pages. It is a fairly quick read.

When watching the TV series, I frequently thought "These people are far too trusting." That thought reoccurred early in my reading of this book. A couple of explanations for the mystery occurred to me throughout the story, one of which turned out to be entirely true.

T'Pol's quandary didn't resonate with me, but I'm sure that there are many who believe that non-violent solutions are always available to any problem.

Aside from T'Pol's quandary, there is no long term character development and I wouldn't even count that.

Mature themes - not really. I would say there was no sex at all, but Malcolm experiences some thoughts during decontamination that seemed exploitative and out of place. There is some minor Sci-Fi violence and death.

[Ky Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not comfortable with what appeared to be T'Pol's sudden philosophical crisis without adequate background support. It did not seem "logical". T'Pol's decades of training as a scientist and a member of the High Command would not have permitted her to put the crew in danger while she wrestled with her Vulcan conscience. Not a favorite at this point.

[Jane K. Stecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting Concepts

This book talks a lot about pacifism and when it can work and when it can't. The characters are pure Starfleet and the Nobel is typical of a Star Trek episode. Very enjoyable to read.

[Alex MacKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsure of what to make of this. While attempting to rescue the inhabitants of a planet, the Enterprise makes first contact with an Entity that it tried to save them too. T’Pol has a crisis of conscience that could endanger the ship and the crew.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty quick read. T’Pol’s backstory makes one think but can also be kind of depressing.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

no surak involved

No surak involved. Name mentioned a few times in reference so totally lame I would not even do this on unlimited

[Jim Arrowood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surak's Soul is a Star Trek novel set in the Enterprise timeline.

***Warning: Spoilers Ahead***

I found this story entertaining and engaging, featuring characters that are familiar to viewers of the Enterprise television show. This is a fast and easy read at 240 pages and is full of action and suspense to keep the reader involved in the story.

The Enterprise, NX-01, encounters a beautiful Earthlike planet with a small population. Capt. Archer is eager to make first contact with the people, so he and an away team take a shuttle pod and land. What they find is a dying civilization that goes extinct before their eyes. T'Pol, Enterprise's Vulcan first officer, believing a member of the landing party is about to be attacked, fires a phase pistol on the stun setting which kills one of the aliens. T'Pol is disturbed by what has transpired and informs Archer she will no longer use violence to defend the ship.

Back on board the ship, Dr. Phlox studies two of the corpses, while Hoshi works to interpret the planet's medical records to discover the reason for their extinction.

They discover an entity made up of energy claiming to know what happened on the planet. The entity, known only as "Wanderer," is brought aboard Enterprise and the crew finds themselves fighting for their own survival.

I found all the characters of the Enterprise crew were familiar, as written by Dillard. She showed a good familiarity with them as well as their indosyncracies. I had no trouble recognizing their voice in the prose and felt as though I were there observing them.

The entity called Wanderer is a twist on a familiar Star Trek trope. Wanderer can travel through space without a ship; it has no form, but can change form at will, and can only communicate with T'Pol through telepathy.

When the crew first encounters Wanderer, it would seem to be a benevolent being, ready to help the crew answer questions. As time goes on, a misunderstanding of philosophies and the definition of sentience place the crew, except for T'Pol, in danger. According to its own philosophical point of view, it is not a malicious being, but is only behaving according to its nature.

I didn't identify a favorite plot point in this story. It was simply a fun romp in the Enterprise timeline moving at a brisk pace.

Surak of Vulcan put forth the philosophical point of view that violence is illogical under all circumstances. Even when one's own life is in danger, the use of violence is not an option. T'Pol found herself in a situation where a fellow crew member was being threatened. She reacted by drawing her phase pistol and firing on the offending being. Even though the weapon was set to stun, the alien's health was so poor, her action resulted in the death of another. Upon reflection, T'Pol found her action in conflict with her adopted philosophy and decided she would no longer resort to violence in any form for any reason. When she informed her commander of this, he worried that her choice would endanger the Enterprise and her crew.

My takeaway from this story is never say never about anything. While Surak's philosophy is admirable, in the Star Trek universe, it is also impractical. We have seen numerous times over the years where a race of aliens live for violence. T'Pol's reaffirmation of Surak's teachings are illogical when one thinks about it. Even Spock realized this when faced with his own mortality on many occasions.

J.M. Dillard packed a lot into a few pages and came up with a complete fun little story that follows the practice that everything is back to normal at the end of a book. It is a fast-paced, action packed tale of the folly of Capt. Archer's often times foolhardy desire to make first contact with nearly every alien race Enterprise encounters.

I recommend this for readers who enjoy a decent Trek novel with familiar characters set in a challenging situation.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Enterprise crew responds to a medical emergency but are too late to save the planet's population and have almost no idea what killed them. But once Doctor Phlox falls ill himself, the crew is faced with a race against time to find the source of the illness and stop it before Enterprise becomes a ghost ship!

What begins as an interesting medical mystery, eventually sort of devolves into a standard sort of "threat of the week" plotline. Disappointingly, there really wasn't a lot of mystery to this story once it gets moving. It's really pretty easy to figure out where the narrative is going, and while a solution is offered, it really doesn't make total sense to me.

The most interesting aspect of this novel is in the sub-story. T'Pol accidentally kills one of the last survivors on the planet and her guilt has her examine the tenants of non-violence and just how far to take it. Ghandi is brought up often in the book and his philosophies are bandied about when discussing the lengths of non-violence. The pacifistic race who died did little for their own survival once they were told a microbe was the cause of their illnesses - they believed ALL life to be sacred and so refused to kill even a microbe that was threatening their entire species. T'Pol herself decides she should no longer carry a weapon or use violence in defense of herself or even her shipmates. Other crew members provide counter-arguments and a sort of debate goes on throughout the book. interesting, if a bit heavy-handed.

Nothing outstanding here - I was hoping for some revelations about Vulcans or more on their philosophies as presented in this era, but that didn't happen. We don't get a lot of character development at all as no one really has any great moments.

A solid read, but nothing that should compel new readers.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having finished "Surak's Soul", I am left with the feeling that we've been here before. Having watched "Enterprise" I can say this is very similar to the season two episode "The Crossing." The story in "Surak's Soul" starts innocently enough, answering a distress call of a world with a disease. Once there, they discover a tropical paradise inhabited by a completely pacifist culture, one that will not defend themselves against even the deadliest bacteria. Needless to say, Enterprise arrives during the death throes of the civilization and T'Pol has to make an ethically ambiguous choice involving the last survivor.

Having left the dead paradise, Enterprise encounters a strange energy-based being. It's at this point "The Crossing" begins, instead of many beings masquerading as friends, think a single powerful entity, instead of body-snatchers, think body consumers, instead of hiding in the catwalk, the crew hides in engineering. This energy being also has a special connection with T'Pol who is viewed as being superior to everyone on Enterprise. Ultimately, T'Pol studying the British Empire pulling out of India and Gandhi saves the crew, and Earth, from a rather unpleasant fate.

"Surak's Soul" is not part of the Enterprise relaunch and can be read at any point. What starts off as a potentially interesting mystery involving a never-before-seen alien race, changes into a "Been there, done that" story intermingling aspects of T'Pol and her take on Vulcan philosophy. This is, however, not a bad book in that it does dive into the inner workings of T'Pol's rebellious side and provides context on the Vulcan culture in regards to violence.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this novel started out rather promising, it was ultimately not the story I wanted. It started out as a simple yet compelling moral conflict: when is it ethical to sacrifice one life form to save another? The fact that this conflict centered around T'Pol made it all the more interesting to me. While she is drawn to somewhat rebellious behavior, T'Pol is very traditional at heart. And for someone as traditional as her, who has been violated by a rogue but trusted member of her own species, forced to relive one of the most traumatic moments of her long life, killed the last of a species in self-defense, and lived among strangers hostile to her culture for a year, it makes sense that she would find solace in the extreme pacifistic code followed by some of her most respected elders.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her moral dilemma after about the first third of the book. It quickly turned into a book about Archer and his feelings of inadequacy. While I certainly don't have a problem with that story, it wasn't the one that pulled me into this book. Sure, T'Pol took center stage near the end. But by then it was too late to convince me that her narrative hadn't been dropped in favor of a less complex one.

[Kiri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from this. The plot premise is quite good but the reactions from the crew were (I felt) simplistic and out of character. They literally walked into the problem without their usual raising of potential problems. I also discovered a distinct christian theology that jarred and felt out of place in the dialogue - the characters were making exclamations they wouldn't have normally done. This isn't a drawback it is just not usual for the ST Universe.

About Surak while the comparison of his teachings and early behavior to a historical earth personage are interesting, I think it might have been better to contrast them in context a bit more and the character who was working out the "internal conflict" over behavior adnd outlook - has settled this in the series already. I'd rather have experienced Surak's life somehow in this book it would have made more sense.

[William Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I had lofty expectations for this novel. However the primary storyline seems to have several plot holes and narratives that the author seems to expect the audience to just accept. My biggest complaint is that the entire novel seemingly revolves around Archer and his inner dialogue. T’Pol is regulated to a supporting character in what one would assume would be a story that revolves around her and her perceptions. I did find her thoughts on Passive Resistance interesting and wish this had been explored more. Instead of the 5 or 6 paragraphs it was mentioned. Overall this book felt like a missed opportunity to actually explore Vulcan culture, Surak’s teachings, and T’Pol as a character as well as her development.

[Kris Tell · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I randomly found this book by my office because there is a Book Crossing location near my office. This is not a book I would have read but I'm glad that I picked it up. It was an exciting murder mystery that was also science fiction genre. It was non stop action from the very first page and I had to know what was going to happen. It was an easy read and really entertaining. You don't have to know any back stories or follow any Star Trek book in order to understand what is going on or in order to enjoy this book. Thanks to this book I would like to read more star trek books.

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge Star Trek fan, though I will admit the reason I started watching Enterprise is I love beagles. T'Pol is an interesting character on the show, and I managed to pick up a used copy of this book for a decent price. Along with an interesting storyline and adorable moments featuring Porto's, this book also raising the interesting questions on how much violence is not enough. The writing style stayed true to the characters as I know them - I'm only through the first season so far - and only one detail required knowledge of the series.

[Jordan Scrivner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically an episode of the TV show (the creepy mist vapor means us no harm.... or does it??????) and, what's worse, Surak is barely in it. There are some parallels to Gandhi and the debate of pacifism in the face of the murder of your species. T'Pol, the goofball, is refusing to carry a phase pistol because Oops I've killed again... Echoes of the good season 4 Kir'Shara Arc. All and all, only for obsessives who like to read anything with the words Star Trek in it.

Coming Soon: Daedalus

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty clear this author mostly writes for TOS. The plot is very TOS...I could just picture Wanderer as a big glowing orb floating out in space in ridiculous 1960's technicolor, haha. it was also clear that the author did not really know the characters all that well. Sometimes I thought we were just replacing the name "T'Pol" for "Spock". But still, as much as i'm complaining about that it really wasn't all that bad. I think I'm just particular.

[Jeremiah Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like it belonged in the Star Trek universe, but unfortunately that doesn't mean it was a good book.
T'Pol's struggles with violence on others bugged me. I understand the idea of non-violence but the extreme it was taken to here was absurd. A race of people that wouldn't hurt a microbe? Come on...
The writing here was sub par also. There were a number of metaphors that either made no sense or were completely out of context.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read, though I do not think it is as good as the earlier Enterprise book, What Price Honor? While the book felt like it could be an actual episode, the way they resolved the problem was not as satisfying as I'd like. From the cover, you would think this story would be T'Pol heavy. Yes, she does have a larger role, but the book does a good job bringing in the other crew members in and following their perspective.

Overall, a decent read for any fan.

[Benjamin Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does a species that wouldn't hurt a microbe survive? How do they eat? Build things? Do they not get sick? I don't get it.

It was pretty good beyond the silliness of the pacifist species. T'Pol's struggle with nonviolence struck me as a little odd at first - self defense seems like a given acceptable response even to Vulcans, but including Ghandi as an example made it feel like a more complete thought.

[Erica Naone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Star Trek book I’ve read recently, by a lot. The description on the back doesn’t do it justice. To me, the gripping plot stuff to hook a person is “an entire planet’s population has been mysteriously wiped out, and the crew of the Enterprise must solve the mystery of what happened to a peace loving people - and what they themselves might be up against.” Nails all characterizations. Very interesting story.

[Taaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einiges am Anfang wurde über den Rest der Serie Lügen gestraft (weshalb ich finde, dass Serienautor*innen und Romanautor*innen zusammen arbeiten sollten und die Werke der jeweils anderen nutzen und nicht obsolet machen sollten). Und die Übersetzung ist teilweise wirklich holprig. Aber insgesamt eine schöne Geschichte mit interessanter Moral - und Gedankenanstößen, die die Menschheit mal als Ganzes beschäftigen sollten.

[Elliot Zath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite and formative book for me as a teen. It is at once a character study of first officer T'Pol, an adventure story about a fraught rescue mission, and a deep dive into hard-hitting philosophical questions. I feel this is a good read for those exploring questions about in what cases violence is justified and what qualifies an entity as sentient. The author also does an excellent job with world-building and with captivating descriptive imagery.