Star Trek - the Captain's Daughter

Star Trek: The Original Series #76

by Peter David

When Demora Sulu, an exemplary young Starfleet officer, suddenly attacks her commanding officer, who kills her in self-defense, everyone is stunned. No one is more grief-stricken than her father, Captain Hikaru Sulu of the "U.S.S. Excelsior." Determined to learn the truth behind his daughter's bizarre death, Sulu goes to the planet where she was killed, and finds himself confronted by an old enemy eager to destroy Sulu's reputation -- and his life!

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek Original Series, Media Tie In, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space

Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great adventure!


DEMORA IS WHAT?!!!

Captain Hikaru Sulu, commanding officer of the USS Excelsior gets terrible news...

...Demora Sulu, her daughter and helmswoman of the USS Enterprise-B got violent without any apparent reason and she attacked her captain, John Harriman, and he was forced to defend himself and killed her...

...what?!!!

And that's just the beginning of the adventure!

Captain Sulu is devasted and he revises the life of Demora since she was born until she graduated from Starfleet Academy, but he can't accept what happens, something must be behind of this and he takes the Excelsior against orders to the planet where the disastrous event happened.

Captain Sulu, against Starfleet, against orders, against all odds, he will be the last hope to save the crew of the Enterprise-B...

...but what about her daughter?

The human adventure is just beginning!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any ST book there are nits one could pick. I don't mean in the 'historian' view, because I'm so out of the loop I didn't even know that Kirk was dead (I looked that up, and Harriman, and recommend you do the same if you don't have that background understanding). But these are far from perfect in the literary sense, because, after all, they are genre books.

But still! So much fun, and, yes, thought-provoking. What would you do if presented with a daughter you never knew you had? How would you address the demons of guilt that haunt you because you were responsible for the death of a living legend? How do you choose between obedience and honor?

I do think this is one of the better ST novels I've read. Of course, two problems with that statement: I've not read a whole lot & I don't remember them all, either, and, I often say that when finishing one of them. Recommended for anyone interested, perhaps especially for casual fans like me.

[Dana (Dana and the Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sulu was always one of my favourite Star Trek characters so how could I resist reading a book about him? Still bitter that we didn't get a Captain Sulu spin off!

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 5 star with some reservations so maybe it's a 4.5. I think the final act of the novel is a little rushed. I wish there was just a bit more in the present for Captain Sulu to have undergone. However the rest of the novel - the flashback sequences were absolutely delightful (so was the sequences in the present I just wanted more!) the heavy hitting theme occupying center stage is the dichotomy of family life and the call of duty, but love is a very very powerful bridge and despite his mistakes Hikaru Sulu isn't a bad dad.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter David is among the best sci-fi/fantasy writers out there. Even his novelizations of blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man 2 blew me away. In the case of this book, his writing is as excellent as usual...but, the out of order chronology and weird storyline muddled things a bit. Still, this is much better than usual for this series.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a routine Away Mission, Ensign Demora Sulu goes crazy and attacks her fellow officers, forcing Captain Harriman to kill her. Her father, Captain Hikaru Sulu, needs to find out the events that led to her death.

David's excellent novel opens an important part of Sulu's back story and is a worthy addition to the 'Star Trek' series.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's about time the Star Trek spotlight centered on Sulu (played by George Takei) -- especially since in the original television series, all of his best lines were stolen by William Shatner (Captain Kirk.) Sulu speaks my favorite movie line (I just love the poetry of it), from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, "We are crossing the terminator into night."



Anyway, this is a nice book for Sulu to feature in. It does get really silly at times, but does have a decent balance of serious life-threatening action with some levity. The big problem for a casual reader or someone coming across this book 1,000 years in the future is that this is not a stand alone book. You do have to know quite a bit of Star Trek history in order to get the full impact. It also doesn't quite jibe with this quote in Star Trek Generations:

"When did Sulu find time for a family?"

For all of his swashbuckling on the original series, Sulu never struck me as someone who left parenting (even single parenting) to someone else. Also, if he loved someone (even after a one-night stand), I think he was smart enough to find her before she died and left him a kid.



I'm sure there are other books out there featuring Sulu but I do not know of any. Can anyone point me to these other books? Thanks in advance. Live long and prosper and all that.

[Matt Piechocinski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was vacillating between 2 and 3 stars for this book, and opted for 2 because Peter David can do better than the generic plot that led up to the big reveal (as written in the synopsis on the back of the book). You knew who the antagonist was gonna be, thereby catalyzing the whole "revenge" angle. I just think Peter David is a better writer than that. The rest of the book is great, I think ... the flashbacks, the exchanges between Sulu and Demora, etc. The one thing is that it's hard to visualize Captain Harriman as anything but Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to Peter David to produce a REAL post-STVI/Captain Sulu/Excelsior novel. It's a book that knows it characters, expands on their strengths and weaknesses, and manages to give the reader not only a wonderful adventure, but a beautiful back-story to Demora Sulu...to say nothing of enhancing Hikaru Sulu himself AND breathing new life into Enterprise-B Captain Harriman.

Apparently, this wasn't a great seller for Pocket Books...which tends to confirm my cynicism about human nature.

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty solid Trek book. I was entertained the whole time but there’s this big chunk that’s like Sulu as Indiana Jones—entertaining but I wanted more of Sulu and friends dealing with his grief. I liked how the author weaves Demora into the background of the movies. I admit I got teary in some parts. There were some funny parts too. A couple times I winced, a casual threat of assault and descriptions of Demora’s maturing into a teenager—which seemed odd.

[Kim Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thrilling novel from start to finish, punctuated with so many powerfully emotional moments. I'm pleasantly surprised as I usually lean towards books with the entire crew and not specifically focused on one character but the author is so true to the character it was a pleasure to read.

[Abraham Smiles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so badly wanted this book to be great. I've heard about it for a few years and had high hopes for it since it was about captain Sulu and his daughter, in a period I'm fascinated with.

Unfortunately the way this book has been written leaves a lot to be desired. Cheesy references to future events that happen elsewhere in the TV series and movies used over and over again do not come across as cute or funny just droll and frustrating.

The characters and story were great and were a pleasure to read about but the settings and previously mentioned references made this book read like a TV soap.

2.5 stars

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I guess this is the way Peter David likes approaching Star Trek books: dividing it up into disparate eras, then jumping around them. Somewhat similar to his last effort, The Rift, in that sense (that was the name, right? Dammit, I just read it recently.) There are some really good and really bad things about this.

The good:

It's Peter David, so you know it's going to read well overall. Though a little more on that later.
David found something to do in the post-Kirk's death era that is fairly original and interesting.
The antagonist was surprising, and I really liked the way he tied it into existing canon.
The first section is just amazing, the section that deals with Demora, Captain Sulu's titular daughter, and her experience on a planet that kicks the whole plot off.
It was nice seeing a fairly throwaway character (Harriman) from the movies become a pretty central character here.

The bad:

This has the hallmarks of David's earlier writing, where a lot of things are really overwritten. Sometimes his little tangents with characters nearly breaking the fourth wall with their navel-gazing felt incredibly on-point, and other times it felt tiresome. It really depended more on my own mood than the quality of the writing, I think.
There's a section where we see Sulu raising Demora. Because of what's been going on up to that point, this section felt INCREDIBLY pointless.
I love how David will often have characters just straight-up spew their innermost fears, thoughts, feelings, with little to no provocation. For Star Trek, it mostly works, but it's disjointed at times.
Despite having one of the most original "evil plots" I've seen in genre fiction, it's relegated so far to the background that it loses most, if not all, of its punch, sadly.
Sulu didn't "sound" like Sulu to me. Usually not a big deal, but since he's the main character ...

Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's not going to stick with me.

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bafflingly plotted novel, which kills off a minor character in the first third, then traces her life in the second third (focusing mostly on her childhood), and resolves the mystery of her death in the last third, which is almost treated like an afterthought. There is a kludgy, rather uncompelling and unbelievable romance.

[Dirk Wickenden · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this book but I then picked up pace. Sulu's dialogue didn't really come off for me and the final reel, if we were talking a film, was too pulpy and obvious. It basically undid the first part of the book. I guess some of it did speak of the swashbuckling Sulu only hinted at in the series. Not the best Trek novel but not the worst.

[Shaun]

Definitely pulp, definitely obvious. But if you like Sulu, it's a fun exploration of the swashbuckling at its best.

[Aron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Peter David can do alot better. Was a little disappointed.

[Vanillabear · Rating 5 out of 5]

just read it man. you gotta.

[A.J. Blanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book for a while but kept putting off reading it because I was skeptical about the story and characters involved. Wow, did Captain's Daughter blow my expectations out of the stars! It's not a perfect book by any means, but the good parts FAR outweighed the bad, so much so that it tipped the scales enough to rate it as highly as I did. I suppose I shouldn't have doubted Peter David.

While I am a fan of Sulu, I had my doubts he could carry a story largely on his own; and almost anything that reminded me of Generations makes me leery to say the least. Well, I was wrong... for the most part. Hikaru was a bit chattier than I remember him from TOS and the movies, but he held his own just fine in carrying the plot. Our introduction to John Harriman didn't make a great first impression, though some great strides toward redemption was accomplished here. Demora was downright excellent, and I wish there were more stories available about her and the Enterprise B.

Despite all that, I do have a few nitpicks; what kind of Trekker would I be without them? In a flashback to where Sulu meets his "mystery woman", we learn that since the Enterprise is undergoing a refit their communicators were taken away, and their only way to call somebody is in their room. This doesn't make any sense. The copywrite for this book is 1995, and while cellphones weren't anywhere near as common as they are today, they still existed; particularly car phones. To say that people in the 23rd century wouldn't have means to communicate on their person at all times is ridiculous, not to mention the fact that they were still using money which breaks continuity even when this was written. There are other nitpicks; like the predictable behavior of Starfleet admirals, but that's generally all my criticisms of this book. The even bigger nerd in me wants to see if the timelines covered here mesh up, though I'll refrain from that on this occasion.

The Captain's Daughter impressed me more than I thought a ST book could anymore, and I recommend it to any fans who want a good one-off from the typical setting on a starship or space station the series is named for. Almost all the emotional, dramatic, and action scenes hit me right where they were intended. The biggest downside to this book is that we're probably not going to get more like it, as those in charge of the franchise now are only focusing on the current shows in hopes of bolstering their popularity. Well, there's still a lot of older books for me to explore!

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Trek: TOS: The Captain's Daughter by Peter David - 73rd in the series

Adventurous, challenging, emotional,
hopeful, inspiring, mysterious, reflective, sad,
and tense.

Medium-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? Yes

4.25 Stars

Like so many Star Trek novels, they pull back the curtain on a certain period of time, and give us a story...that glimpses something we didn't know about a character's backstory and life. This was so well crafted, and gave us a look at Captain Sulu's personal life (and also his daughter's - not giving away spoilers...it IS in the title).

This was a non-linear story...that jumped back and forth (for a time), to lay the groundwork for the ultimate story, that was the present. This narrative choice is one of my favourites, but it isn't always handled that well. I am glad to report, that Peter David (the author) has a deft hand, and it worked very well.

The characters of note, in this story are:

Hikaru Sulu
Demora's mother
Demora Sulu
...the usual suspects:
Uhura and Chekov
...and a certain Captain of note, and not the one you are thinking of (at least I don't think so).

Another trope that I love, is the "found family" trope. When done well, it is a heartwarming story, that allows the individual to gain strength from the bond of others. Star Trek, in a sense...especially on the Enterprise...is a found family. People that you will die for, or more often, PREVENT from dying...because of your love.

In this story, it hit all the notes that I love.

There were "bad guys", some in your face, and others more subtle. There were failures and successes. 

I really loved this story, and I hope that you give this novel a try. Once you are IN the story, I believe it will grab you...and not let you go...till you've had a great time.

[Oleta Blaylock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is almost entirely about Hikaru Sulu and his daughter Demora. The book is divided into sections, current day and then the time Sulu met Demora's mother, when he finally meets Demora and raises her. Now this is an interesting book it was nice to see some history on Sulu. It is sad that the only other original characters are Uhara and Chekov and Uhara only plays a very small part in the story. There is more of Chekov because Sulu and Chekov are friends and therefore spend more time together. I was a little disappointed that the other characters weren't involved. Most of the story is set after STAR TREK: GENERATIONS. Captain Kirk has died and everyone is still grieving his loss. Scotty has retired and McCoy is ill and awaiting a transplant of some sort.

The story is well written and I love the part were Captain John Harriman, now captain of the Enterprise, and his father go head to head over what to do about the Excelsior and her crew. Harriman's portrayal in GENERATIONS was not an impressive one in fact he came off as weak and ineffective and inexperienced. While he has his moments of self doubt in this story he always rallies and does the right thing. I think his father needs a nice stay in a rehabilitation facility. The man completely loses his cool. It was sad actually.

I am not going to say more because it would give away too much of the plot and I think that you the reader should find out how the whole story plays out. Yes there is a happy ending.

[Andy Stjohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOS #76: the Captain’s Daughter by Peter David

Another Lost Era (technically) novel! And written by Peter David. This book gives us the background on Demora Sulu, who only appeared in Generations and Beyond. Both of there were very brief and we didn’t get to know the character in depth. But here we find out about her mother, how her and Sulu met, and where she was during the course of the movies.


This was a very fun book and it felt like it embraced the swashbuckling side of Sulu we’ve seen briefly on the T.V shows and movies. It felt like one big adventure novel and made me realize how underrated and undervalued Sulu has been. You could have easily done a Captain Sulu show in the 90s but I digress. This book also features John Harriman and I was very pleased to see the aftermath of Generations and the supposed death of Kirk had on him. The biggest criticism I had of the Lost Era novel that starred him is that we didn’t get to see how the supposed death of Kirk affected him and how it shaped his captaincy. But here we see that in full force, as he struggles with the legacy of Kirk. It was very brief, but a nice touch.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book but another criticism I have is this. Having read a bunch of David books recently with NF, he always ends the book in the same fashion. A big, explosive finale with cosmic forces or some bonkers moments. This is fine, but it’s very repetitive after having 5 books in by him. I’ve also seen authors do it in a far better way. Anyway, this was still a great book.
8/10

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant read that opens with the death of Demora Sulu just after the events of Generations. The story weaves between the past and the present. In the past the reader meets Demora's mother and learns how she and Hikaru met, how Demora ended up with her father, and how events from films wove their way into the young Sulu's life. In the present Hikaru does something improper after the death of his daughter, but completely in line with his character.

The characters in this book were absolutely perfect! Every word they spoke rang true. Every action was appropriate. I loved the background given on Demora, I loved how Captain Harriman became the captain the fans wanted him to be, and the ending was pure Trek gold. I teared up in several places--it's that good. Big thumbs up to the crewman speaking to Demora at the opening. If you're a comic book fan this name will be very familiar.

This is a must read for Star Trek fans.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t the book I was expecting at all - and that’s a good thing!

Many Trek TOS books focus on the big three (Kirk, Spock, & McCoy) and, as a result, don’t have a lot of room for significant backstory that is new. Because this book focuses so much on Sulu, though, it is able to tell an unfolding story through the use of flashbacks to earlier times in Sulu’s life. Yes, there’s some of the “let’s be cute and cross over other events/places/people from other Trek adventures,”but it really worked for me here.

Through this unfolding adventure we learn a lot more about the relationship between Sulu & his daughter, Demora. It’s great stuff that feels real throughout.

… and then the last 30 pages happen. Things are wrapped up in a quick, neat, and simple way that feels just a little too unearned. It knocked an entire star off for me, but I’m still glad I read this. For a TOS Trek book, it was GREAT and 4 stars feels perfect from that POV.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do NOT read the description or the cover of this book. It spoils everything. I caught a glance of the description in the front and it ruined the book.

The book is a history of Sulu, his daughter and how that all came to be. A lot of the book is in the past and maybe 1/6 of it is in "present" of when Demora is serving on the Enterprise and Hikaru on the Excelsior.

It was great seeing the events of the Original Series movies through her eyes and gives an actual answer as to why Sulu's career kind of stalled out from II to V.

The nostalgia bit and memberberries were a little much at times but my biggest gripe is near the end and what Sulu does and the whole time I was wondering why the Enterprise-B didn't do that thing (without spoiling anything I hope).

David has his certain style of writing which infuses a lot of humour but sometimes can be...a bit much and has the tone wrong. Regardless, still a good read and provides background to where Demora came from, hence the title.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter David is so good at developing appealing plot and characters from existing material--in this case, drawing mostly from the Star Trek Original Series movie era. There are plot connections to almost all the movies here. Demora Sulu who was a minor character in Star Trek: Generations gets a fascinating backstory thanks to David. Also Hikaru Sulu is fleshed out substantially. It is unusual to get a ST TOS novel without Kirk, Spock, and McCoy as the main characters which makes this one rare and special. The only thing that disappointed me was the gimmick of the villains behind Demora's "death."

[Dogue DeBordeaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always wished Star Trek had continued with a Captain Sulu/USS Excelsior TV show. And this book shows why. The Captain's Daughter takes place in the the wake of the Enterprise B opening of Star Trek Generations, and it answers many questions (such as Sulu's daughter and some fallout Catpain Kirk's death), as well as its own A plot. The book juggles all of this very well. As a reader who treats each Star Trek book like another episode, this is one of the best ones I have read and makes me wish that Star Trek had done more with "The Lost Era" between Kirk and Picard.

P.S. The Frasier cameo made my day.

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

On re-read, there are signs this is a 90s book but it's still an entertaining tale. It has all of David's trademark humour. ("How do you break a starship?"..."They shot the hamster running on the little treadmill that makes it go. I don't know what they did!") But at its core is fleshing out the backstory of Sulu's daughter and her relationship with her father. Also gives much needed redemption for Captain Harriman from Generations. I was planning on adding it to my giveaway pile but after this re-read, I just can't. Bravo, Peter David.

[Lungkisser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this and am currently reading Forged in Fire as some preambles to The Lost Era series of novels. I enjoyed it fairly well. Story moves through time but is interesting. Never made sense that Sulu had a daughter and didn't talk about it (and Spock having a sister, but I won't go there right now) but since Generations already made the claim I think they made it work fairly well.

If I could give it 3.5 Stars I would.

[Lukáš · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. I liked the flashbacks reminding of the movies in a new way used for the characters of this particular book (and showing development of some future characters - in particular on academy grounds). It was sometimes sappy, probably too romantic and depicting some characters probably a bit too harshly, but nevertheless, it was a good read.