Windows on a Lost World

Star Trek: The Original Series #65

by V.E. Mitchell

While Kirk, Spock, Chekov and an archaeological team are exploring the ruins of an ancient civilization on the uninhabited planet Careta IV, they discover strange devices that appear to be simple windows. But the windows prove dangerous when Kirk and Chekov enter them, and disappear. Now, while the two struggle to survive, Spock struggles to unravel the mystery--while fighting off aliens.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek Original Series, Audiobook, Ebooks, Space

275 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Victoria "Vicki" Estelle Mitchell Gustafson is a science fiction author specializing in Star Trek novels.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing and quite outrageous concept, with an execution that becomes a bit of a snoozefest.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Star Trek as I've come to expect it. I almost felt like I was watching the original series.

[Clay Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the audio book with Walter Koenig.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on xenophobia

[J.D. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Out of tons of ST books I own and read, this one cries DO NOT READ. thankfully it's not canon.

[Cheryl Landmark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually these books are comfort food, brain candy, imaginative and fun reads for me. I'm a Trekkie fan from way back when, especially of the original series with Captain Kirk and company. And, while this one fit the bill in many ways, it was also not one of my favourites.

I thought the author did a fairly decent job of describing the ancient civilization of the Kh!lict, crab-like aliens who were both fascinating and horrifying. Their depictions of brutal sacrifices and annihilation of other cultures were very reminiscent of the Aztec society. But, after a while, these descriptions became a little too repetitive. We get the picture already! These creatures are repulsive, xenophobic, ruthless and dangerous. We just don't have to be told this repeatedly throughout the whole book.

The book was quite technical and seemed to drag in places to the point where I almost became bored. I get that it's science fiction and, of course, there will be technical aspects that have to be explained, but my eyes kind of glazed over after a while.

Kirk and his gang of intrepid space explorers will always hold a place in my heart and, most of the time, I enjoy their adventures. This one just fell a little flat for me.

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very frustrating novel that has many interesting and original concepts which are left unexplored for some reason.

The book is almost solely composed of the inner dialog of people trapped inside alien bodies. One would think that such a premise would allow for some good character content through the subjective point of view of someone experiencing world through unusual stimuli. These potential elements are touched upon in the most superficial of ways and ultimately left with way too little attention.

“Windows in a Lost World” isn't exactly bad, and the way Mitchell describes the workings of our favorite character's scientific minds feels accurate enough. It's just very sad to see so many obvious opportunities missed.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's my least favourite of V.E. Mitchell's "Star Trek" novels. The plot feels as though it drags on for much longer than it should (I almost lost interest at the half way mark), and I find the ending rather abrupt & overly dour. That said, once again Ms. Mitchell creates a fascinating & detailed alien culture...I just wish the story surrounding it had been as adrenaline pumping as "Enemy Unseen".

[Kathleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I even got half way through with this book before I completely gave up on it, which is sad. I don't like giving up on books, and I really wanted to know what happened to Chekov, but I just couldn't bare myself to finish it. The story obsessed over the alien life form that had taken over Kirk and although it was interesting to see how he'd manage it, it was just too heavy. Much more could have been explored.

[Andrew Beet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good star trek novel reading this novel it would've have been good as an episode of the TV series I like star trek novels that have all the characters featured author got the characters spot on I liked the idea that when you go through one of these artifacts that was mentioned you inhabit the body of an alien species (in this case the khillict) overall a good read

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something appealingly basic about Victoria Mitchell's second contribution to the Pocket Books series of Star Trek novels. In it the Enterprise takes a team of archaeologists to a deserted planet. There they uncover evidence of an even older civilization than the one they were sent to investigate, one that left behind mysterious "windows" that are still active and were subsequently buried by their successors. An accident sends Kirk, Chekov, and one of the archaeologists into the window, where they vanish . . . and the Enterprise suddenly detects alien life on a previously uninhabited world.

What struck me about Mitchell's novel as I was reading it was how well her book captures the essential structure of an episode of an original series: the Enterprise explores something, encounters a problem that jeopardizes some of the crew, and then the rest of the crew works together to unravel the mystery and save the crew members in jeopardy. For this comfortingly familiar structure Mitchell provides a story that would have been impossible with the budget and effects of the series, with a refreshingly original alien species unlike any that had been envisioned beforehand. And even if the the the character traits and skill sets of her new characters are a bit too convenient for the story, overall the combination makes for one of the better Original Series novels, one that synthesizes well the best elements of the show and the possibilities of the written page.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Enterprise and a group of researchers have arrived on the uninhabited planet Careta IV, and have discovered strange devices. Accidentally Chekov, Kirk and Djelifan researcher Dr Talika Nyar along with two security guards go through the transit device and emerge as Kh!lict creatures, the long extinct inhabitants of the planet.
An entertaining re-read.

[Aaron Eichler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the abridged audiobook years ago, and I am not sure what was left out, but I loved that Captain Kirk did his best to protect his people.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was a struggle....I had picked this off the bookshelf just as a bit of light reading before moving onto something maybe a bit more substantial...a kind of stop gap bit of reading I have to say however that this took more of an effort to read than I had thought.
This wasn't due to the story being particularly complex or interwoven with any hidden subtext...I just found as tales go this one was rather boring.
I have read through a few Star Trek novels so far as I picked up a load of them once at a charity shop generally they have either had the feel of the original series or they have shown unfettered imagination and gone beyond the scope of what could have been achieved on TV at the time...this was a different beast!!...the characterisation seems about right the sniping between Bones and Spock was within and Kirk also strives for a surprise(and amusing)love scene however the pace of the book was meandering and plodding....almost like the crab like creatures found within the book!!
This wasn't therefore an essential read all I can say for it is that it may have made a decent short story but as a full blown novel it struggled....it had its moments but to be honest the only good thing I can say is its off the bookshelf now!!

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I haven't read a "Star Trek" novel in a couple of years...most are pretty good, some are amazing such as David Mack's "Destiny" trilogy...but I have to pick "Windows on a Lost World" as just about the worst one! I read it a few years ago and was so disappointed. I admit to judging this book by its cover as I thought that the windows must have belonged to a mysterious race called the Iconians...but I was wrong to do so. The crew of the Enterprise is called to assist a research team that discovers a portal to another world and Chekov is assigned to assist a particularly arrogant scientist. Okay so far. The portal is uncovered and Chekov, the scientist, Captain Kirk and two security guards (you can guess what happens to them!) are not only transported to another world but transformed into the likeness of that planet's former inhabitants...basically space lobsters. The next 200 pages is filled with Kirk learning how to use his lobster body and Spock trying to rescue the missing. Oh, well.

[Lois Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was rather interesting. It's a take on the well known idea of someone from the regular cast switching bodies or otherwise finding themselves or their consciousnesses elsewhere. Here, instead of a humanoid type of body, it's a crab like being. Very bigoted, xenophobic, warlike crab like beings that no longer exist. It's not something I'm likely to listen to again, but it is an interesting story to read once. Part of me does wish this was an episode of any generation at some point - it might not have been one of the best episodes, but the visuals to actually see it would have been interesting, and not just the alien bodies that the couple of crew members inhabited, but also how Kirk figured out how to communicate with Spock, since that was a very visual thing as well.

[Peter Rydén · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fönstrena påminner delvis om konceptet med iconianernas portaler, även om skillnaden är stor när den väl används. Jag gillar grundtanken, men ser flera grundläggande fel i både design och berättelse, de flesta av dessa är sådana som jag inte kan tydliggöra utan att spoila innehållet. Det allvarligaste felet som jag ser det är att tekniken är 100.000-tals år gammal men ändå fungerar i det närmaste perfekt. Det kvittar hur bra en teknik är, det kan inte hålla så länge.

Negativt: Framsidan visar Kirk och Chekov vilket får en att tro att dessa personer är huvudkaraktärerna i boken. Endast Kirk kan ses som en huvudkaraktär, med Spock som bikaraktär. Inget fel med det, kanske, men det är lite fel marknadsföring och väldigt vanligt i pocketbokssammanhang från 1990-talet.

[Steven Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is typical of the Trek novels of its time—formulaic. I certainly don’t fault the author, and not really even the editor. Paramount licensing had a very rigid definition in the late 80s and 90s of what Star Trek was, and it ran a steamroller over creativity. The result is the regular characters could never grow, and it was damned hard for the guest characters to shine. Anyone who got a novel through that wringer deserves respect! The idea of placing Kirk et al in alien bodies reminded me pleasantly of the animated episode “The Ambergris Element,” and of some of the weird happenings of the novels of the 70s.

[Donavon · Rating 3 out of 5]

For years, this book sat there on shelf and I "knew" it was about a dinasaut planet. Started reading and I am about halfway through when I realize there will be no dinasaurs and instead crew are being turned into crabs! I looked at cover, the dinasaur I was sure was on cover is now gone and I am left with second half of book thinking "TOS did this before Voyager!"

Story is okay, very much like watching a 3rd season TOS or maybe a TAS episode. The POV thoughts of transformed is done really well (i.e. why they suddenly find crabs of other genders just so beautiful).

[Katrina Veerkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a terribly hard time getting though this book. Kirk and a few others turned into barbaric crab like creatures. So much description of the terrain and them scrambling along on it trying to get somewhere. Took so,long for this. Took forever for Spock to determine an answer to this. I began to skim through the description of their travels and the rocks etc. why in the world does Kirk have to do everything first? He’s the captain! Isn’t there something against regulation against him going first….anyway not a favorite and I felt it was hard to read

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the book started out interesting but then devolved into borderline ridiculous. I couldn't get on board with the idea that the book proposed and Kirk and Spock's decision making processes were absurd. "Risk is our business" does not mean that Kirk was reckless and made dumb decisions. Spock's decision straight up killed a crew member. The rest of the story was just dragging out the mystery to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Also I think the author really liked McCoy saying "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" but who doesn't really?

[Emma L.B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than I expected - I was actually hooked the whole way through! If it was because of the story, characters or Walter's super smooth narration I don't know, but it kept me listening. Was listening to it each night before I slept and each time I started with a timer at 15 minutes, but often I was awake at least 40 minutes extra to continue to listen to it!

Very fantastic Star Trek story to start my Star Trek-books journey with! Can't wait to hear more.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirk gets turned into a crab which is pretty gnarly.
Pretty classic sexism(?). Like a character is from a matriarchal society and her whole arc is that maybe we should listen to men sometimes at the risk of becoming a genocidal maniac. Other than that, pretty interesting read. Not super Spirk-y but not NOT spirky if you know what I mean. Nobody knows them like each other and that’s relevant here as well.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An archaeological expedition goes badly awry when a technological artefact has an unintended effect on the crew, leaving Spock and McCoy struggling to find a cure.

Mitchell's novel has a grand concept and readers are given a strong sense that there is a real civilisation being explored in the course of the story.

[Lauren Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was like getting to watch another episode of the too-short series again. For that reason, I loved being "back" on the Enterprise with her original crew. Would I say it was my favorite episode? No, but the characters were consistent with the show, had me laughing at points, and it was overall enjoyable.

[María · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
After reading Yesterday's Son and The Entropy Effect I thought I was done with Star Trek novels, but then I read this one and the characters were well written and it was like an episode from the TV show and now I'll have to find more Star Trek novels like this one.

[Cait · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listen to me. I love Star Trek. Absolutely love it. And this book was really bad. Like really bad. It took me almost a year to finish it because I just didn’t want to read it but I had so much hope it would get better. It really didn’t. Just don’t read it. It’s really not worth it.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this story. It felt like an episode of the show only expanded out. I will admit to being slightly disappointed that the author chose the path they did with the portals, but I got over it. The entire crew was in character, and the plot was engaging. I quite enjoyed it.

[Roz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The crab aliens are a nice touch, and there’s some fun world building but on the whole pretty unremarkable fare

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story wasn't bad , It was just weird. Alien Teleporters can make a person Crabby. This was a Good Read.