Sanctuary

Star Trek: The Original Series #61

by John Vornholt

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are trapped on a planet from which there is no escape!

The planet Sanctuary—a fabled world in unexplored space thought to be the last refuge of the persecuted, home to both the justly and unjustly accused. Though its name has been translated into every language in the galaxy, Starfleet has never known its exact location.

When the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is assigned to capture a dangerous criminal named Auk Rex, their pursuit takes them to an unexplored sector of space. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy continue the pursuit in a shuttlecraft, following Auk Rex to the surface of the planet, Sanctuary. Soon, Kirk and his crew are locked in a life and death struggle on the mysterious planet, which harbors deadly secrets and never releases its visitors.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek Original Series, Fantasy, Space, Adult

273 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

John Vornholt also writes as Caroline Goode.

Reviews

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spock: "Doctor, either you are being facetious, or you are not very concerned about my welfare."

The Andorian said, "For the immediate future, the three of you are considered a domestic unit. I hope that is acceptable?"
"Most of the time," Kirk said with a grin.

In this tale Kirk, Bones, and Spock chase a pirate named Auk Rex onto a fabled planet of refuge named Sanctuary. What they do not know is that once you arrive on the planet, you are unable to leave. Ever. The mysterious beings called the Senites provide a welcome haven for outlaws and criminals; providing them with food, shelter, and any other necessity they may require. But something dark and sinister is going on behind the scenes, and the trio must get to the bottom of it if they ever want to escape the planet and return to the Enterprise.

Even though I am relatively new to the Star Trek fandom, I can recognize a good quality story when I read one, and this one definitely falls into that category. It was well written, with lots of action, creepiness, great descriptions of the planet, character driven storylines, and a hint of romance (when Kirk is involved, isn't there always romance?).

One of the things I like the most about the original series of Star Trek is the witty banter and sassiness that occurs between Kirk, McCoy, and Spock. Imagine my delight to discover this book was all about the three of them together trying to get off the planet! It was great to watch the dynamic between the characters unfold as the story progressed. Even if you are not a huge Trek fan I think if you are just a fantasy/scifi fan in general you could appreciate this story.

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

Better than usual for this series.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the second reading, it was just as fun as I remembered. Forgettable, harmless fun. Recommended for ST fans.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best Star Trek books I've read in a while. Highly interesting and engaging. Great story, characters are true to form. Highly recommend.

[Aricia Gavriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being bored out of my gourd one time when I was down with 'flu, I pulled Sanctuary off the shelf -- largely because it has a lovely cover, extremely nice portrait work on Kirk and Spock in their youth (ahhh, those were the days...).

About two hours later, I really did begin to scratch my head, nothing to do with viral symptoms. This Trek novel is the oddest mismatch of material: an adult plot (the storyline certainly isn't at fault -- it's a very sound “driver” for a novel) paired with a sometimes painfully juvenile narrative line.

One almost assumes the book was crafted for young readers, but it can't have been, since its thematic material is mature. YA then??

Sad to say, the characterizations are frequently miles off-beam, with a thoroughly wishy-washy Kirk, who far too frequently asks other people what they think his group ought to be doing! He spends most of this book just going with the flow -- which is not the planet-kicking young Jim Kirk as I remember him ... and I remember him pretty dang well, since I was given a full set of the TOS remastered videos for Christmas a couple of year ago.

Hmm. For me -- Sanctuary scores either two or three stars. To be absolutely conscientious as a reviewer, I did go look at the ratings it attracts on Goodreads and was extremely surprised to see four and five stars and glowing referrals. Other readers either don't see the problems I perceive, or don't care. Go figure: live and let live.

This one is a fun little read, an okay way to pass a couple of afternoons when you're up to your gills with 'flu. So ... what the hey, let's be generous with a third star.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can't go home again

I picked my title for this review for two reasons:

#1 - Sanctuary describes a legendary planet called 'Sanctuary' - a place where any and all fugitives are welcomed and spared from any further persecution. Unfortunately, McCoy, Kirk and Spock discover that once you come to Sanctuary you can never leave again. Thus the main challenge of the book - how do our intrepid three break out and get back to the 'Enterprise'?

#2 - I used to be a gigantic reader of Star Trek books. In the 80's and very early 90's I had a rather large collection. In fact, my cousin and I had a complete collection if we put ours together. I was quite the fan. I ran across this book and picked it up for old times sake and discovered that 'You can't go home again'. The old magic just was not there. Not that I dislike the characters or even the basic plot idea. It was the way the book was written....

http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure "Star Trek" comfort food. The plot is serviceable, and it seems to enjoy endlessly putting Kirk, Spock & McCoy through the "Trek" version of "Survivor-meets-Deliverance"...but the warmth of the characterization makes this a, easy-going, enjoyable read, if not exactly compelling. The best scenes are in the novel are Scotty's numerous attempts to resist the charms of an ex-Orion slave girl.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comfort food. The only cringeworthy parts were Kirk + girl, otherwise, worthy without cringe. Not a bad night in.

[Saya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Encontré este libro en una librería de segunda mano cerca de mi trabajo, y pensé: «¿Por qué no?». Esta es la primera novela de Star Trek que leo, y la verdad es que me ha dejado gratamente sorprendida y bastante satisfecha. No es una gran historia con un gran trasfondo, cierto, pero mantiene el espírituo de la serie clásica, que estoy viendo ahora en inglés, y eso es para mí más que suficiente, puesto que buscaba una lectura rápida, ligera y entretenida. Y Sanctuary me la ha proporcionado, sin duda. De hecho, me ha dejado con ganas de leer más, en contreto la serie de 16 novelas publicadas por Bantam Books, sobre todo porque cuenta con dos títulos escritos por Joe Haldeman.

Los diálogos son quizá lo que más me ha trasladado a la serie de televisión, y no he podido evitar leerlos con las voces reales de Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Scott... Además, los personajes en el libro me han parecido muy fieles a los de la serie, tanto en su manera de expresarse como en su comportamiento. Un ejemplo de ello es el siguiente pasaje en la página 240 mostrando esa relación extraña entre McCoy y Spock:

Spock cocked an eyebrow and said, "I am impressed, Doctor. I should have known you would be an expert on early-twentieth-century transportation."
McCoy squinted at the Vulcan, not sure if that was a compliment or not.

No he podido evitar tampoco resaltar algunas frases:

"To be separated from the things you used to take for granted--isn't that the real definition of a prison?" (Kirk, p. 196)

"What's the matter, McCoy? Afraid of heighs?"
"Not on your life," snapped McCoy. "I'm afraid of falling." (p. 114)

Y algún que otro guiño a la serie original; en concreto, y a riesgo de equivocarme, puesto que aún no la he visto entera, al episodio titulado "Journey to Babel", de la segunda temporada:

The captain hadn't seen so many different races in one place since the time the Enterprise had transported dozens of ambassadors to an important conference. (p. 56).

Sin duda, recomendaría este libro a cualquier fan de la serie o de las películas originales de Star Trek, ya que la historia bien podría haber sido un episodio más de la serie. Por otro lado, dudo que resulte atractivo para cualquier otra persona, por muy amante de la ciencia ficción que sea, pero si aun así hay cierto interés, quizá recomendaría ver al menos la primera temporada de la serie clásica y, si ha gustado, entonces darle una oportunidad al libro.

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sanctuary is a very decent Star Trek novel. I wouldn’t count it among my favorites I’ve read, but it’s got a decent sci-fi concept, and understands the characters pretty well.

The planet Sanctuary is known as a refuge for the persecuted. A shield surrounding the planet let’s in anyone on the run and keeps out attackers. But when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy hop in a shuttle to chase down the infamous pirate Auk-Rex, they find themselves trapped on the planet by its not-very-understanding protectors, the Senites.

I really appreciated that author John Vornholt didn’t mess around with extraneous scenes. (There were a couple forced romances, but that’s very par for the course with TOS. 🙄) The pace moves swiftly, and there’s lots of action. Even the cut-aways to check in on the Scotty and Co. on the Enterprise were always purposeful.

However, the treatment of the Senites keeps bothering me. The Senites are an androgynous race, and Kirk struggles with pronouns for them, but settles on “it.” I would have preferred Vornholt to use they/them pronouns for the Senites, as “it” feels very dehumanizing it me. Although this may have been purposeful to emphasize their differences from the rest of the humanoids on Sanctuary. But as Kirk and Co. find out, the Senites reproduce by altering the bodies and minds of male humanoids (so messed up, holy shit), so they are kind of humanoid after all... I’m clearly very conflicted about this, and so is Kirk, because he starts using he/him pronouns for one of the Senites for a second at the end. Dude, make up your mind!

Overall, Santuary is a fine book. There were some fun moments. Not on the greatest hits list, but not a stinker, either.

[Reesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. It felt authentically like a classic TOS episode.

Surprisingly, I even liked the gentle, muted Kirk romance, which is usually the part of these novels I find the most taxing. The original female character was a joy to get to know, even if she did develop sudden loyalty out of the blue. However, Kirk himself seemed strangely timid and uncommanding, quite out of character for him. As not a big Kirk fan, it didn't bother me too much, but I could see how it definitely would annoy others.

I did find certain plot elements and moments to verge uncomfortably on the edge of transphobic, but I didn't get the feeling that this was intentional or even recognized by the author - it never got nasty or particularly pointed.

I also found some decisions in the ending a bit out of character - dooming a ship's complement when they could have been saved; not making efforts to rescue others trapped on the planet, or even suggesting the problem would be relayed to Starfleet to solve - but nothing any worse than the show itself might have done back in the day.

The world itself was very cool - lots of variation and myriad ways to get our beloved crew into a bit of trouble here and there.

It was a fun and exciting little adventure that made for an easy read on a lazy Saturday. 3.5 stars.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Enterprise is in pursuit of a very small ship that may contain a pirate that has been a thorn in the side of Starfleet for five years. Entering an uncharted area of space, the fleeing ship heads toward a world surrounded by several different species ships. It enters the planet's atmosphere and is followed by Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in a shuttlecraft. Once one world, the three discover none of their electronics work and their ship disappears. They are on Sanctuary, the last refuge for those that wish to escape their captors. The book follows the trio's attempts to find their prey and escape the from the world, which utilizes a force field that allows ships in but not out.

This was an okay read. The reveals of the alien world's rulers were fine, but not thrilling nor surprising. The action seemed better suited to a non-Trek sci-fi novel, as there's nothing in this book that screams Trek, save the characters.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well the premise was interesting enough but the first bit really dragged out until the plot finally got going. My biggest complaint about "stuck on the planet" stories and how the events on the Enterprise rarely contribute to the story other than padding out the length and that is mainly the case here. Scott's efforts, although written like he was doing the best he can, seemed half hearted in execution - especially the locusts part. What was that? They had a great plan and then stopped once they were shown a short video of the Captain and pals being happy for 5 minutes...I don't know. I liked Renna and the motives of those on Sanctuary were quite dark and definitely brought the feelings of frustration with them to actual desperation. A lot of the planet didn't seem too well thought out and I didn't buy a lot of what was presented. Could have been a lot better and the ending was just bonkers.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this as my read for DeForest Kelley's birthday, which just so happened to be Inauguration Day. And it's pretty coincidental that this touched on the topic of gender and meanwhile in real life I kept up with the discourse going on about gender in US news. This book actually came out several months after the TNG episode "The Outcast," and when the Senites were initially described, I had to look up whether they were the same race from "The Outcast," but they're different. I do wonder whether that episode pushed the books to put out something like this that touches on gender and androgyny, or if it was just a coincidence. And one can comment on the execution, but the story and its dialogue definitely had my attention. I probably could've read this all within a day if I wasn't so occupied with other things.

[James Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think the writer lost interest

Starts out with some good ideas but ends with balloon fan padding, Sci Fi writers who use balloons and lighter than air travel always feel the need to put so much detail about it you can basically build your own after reading it. Luckily the percentage of balloon sci Fi is small and can generally be avoided by skipping books that have pirate ships hanging from balloons on the cover.
The usual stereotypes and matchmaking are at play but not as bad as a lot of Trek books got in later years. For some reason Kirk lost about half his IQ and spends most of his time asking everything he sees where is shuttle might be so Spock is really the only one to get stuff done.
Good world building but characters are flat and the ending just feels rushed.

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Star Trek book to tick off the list. I enjoyed this a lot, probably because Spock is heavily featured. There a few moments that could have been dealt with better or removed, such as Kirk and Renna seeming to develop a relationship, but it didn't spoil the story too much. Sometimes I wonder if Kirk became a StarfFleet captain just to get into the pants of every female he meets.

The story-line is almost Borg like, with enough differences to make it unique. There is a lot of adventure, action, and sci-fi elements, also a bit of humour thrown in, especially involving some of the characters our heroes meet along the way.

All in all, this is another fun book, even for a casual Star Trek fan.

[Stasia Bruhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the better stories I have read in this genre. Cpt. Kirk, Bones, and Spock follow a pirate named Auk Rex to a planet called Sanctuary. Unfortunately they learn too late getting off the planet is not going to b easy. A race of beings called Senites control the planet . While trying to figure out a way to get off the planet they learn a shocking secret . Let's just say Cpt. Kirk wouldn't have been the same. They escape with a few others from the Senites . From another's experiment to get off the planet Spock has a idea that just might work. Quick, enjoyable read ..

[Vorik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die ersten fünfzig Seiten und die letzten fünfzig Seiten sind das Beste an diesem mittelmäßigen Star-Trek-Roman. John Vornholt nutzt eine recht einfallslose Rahmenhandlung für eine durchschnittliche Abenteuergeschichte, die er ohne Spannung und Tiefe geradlinig und vorhersehbar darbietet. Der Schreibstil liest sich leicht dahin und die Erzählweise ist manchmal sehr salopp. Die Figuren Kirk, Spock und McCoy sind gut getroffen, weshalb das Ganze von Anfang bis Ende zumindest lesbar ist. Fazit: Wer diesen Roman auslässt, hat nichts verpasst.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

In hot pursuit of the pirate Auk Rex, Kirk, Spock and McCoy follow the pirate ship into the atmosphere of the fabled planet Sanctuary. A planet from which, Spock soon finds, there is no escape.

Stranded away from the 'Enterprise', Kirk must rely on his ingenuity to save his friends and leave the planet.

Vornholt's novel captures the sense of adventure from the 'Star Trek' series and the story would not have been out of place on the screen.

[Gregory Deyss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond Excellent

John makes the characters come alive so incredibly well. He captures (in words) the environment & the mannerisms of these beloved characters, as well as how they interact with one another. It feels as if I am present looking from a top-down view. - smiling as I read.

[Katrina Veerkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one! Big three trapped on a prison planet. Scotty on the enterprise trying to get thru shields to save them. Bounty hunters. Visiting very different places on the prison planet only to discover a big secret they’re hiding. Ingenious conclusion to get off the planet using a balloon. Lots of action and wonders supporting characters.

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did: what feels like it could be a fairly dull adventure (I’ve had a lot of DNFs in this series recently) turns into an escape story really quickly. Lots of fun characters, an idyll quickly becomes horrific, and some great scenes, although the climax does feel a little rushed.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with a plot heavy on the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic. I liked seeing Scotty in command too. I was pretty ready for the resolution when it finally came, but still a fun read.

We talk all things Trek on this special episode of Howe's Things: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/st...

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Enterprise is chasing criminal Auk Rex, and find themselves near the mystical planet Sanctuary. The fabled world which is supposed to be a refuge for the persecuted. Kirk, Spock and McCoy follow Rex in a shuttle down onto the planet only to find there is no way back.
An entertaining re-read.

[taz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit more consistent and well contained than other Trek novels I’ve read, but more or less unremarkable. It’s definitely grown outdated regarding the treatment of the Senites as little more than shock value.

[Neer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 actually, rounded off to 4. Great time with the Big 3. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...

[Brian Stuhr]

Well worth the re-read!
I haven't read it since it came out in 1992...and that was a really shitty year for me so I didn't remember a thing about that 1st read!

[Andrew Beet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read nothing special it was a surprise to find that aux rex was a woman author got the characters of spock McCoy and kirk spot on

[Leif Nar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like watching an episode.

[Jade Cahoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paint by numbers Original Series plot.