Crossroad

Star Trek: The Original Series #71

by Barbara Hambly

The crew of the Nautilus, a battered Starship of mysterious origin, is beamed aboard the Starship Enterprise™. The group claims they are freedom fighters from the future working to save the Federation from the Consilium, a group of corrupt power-seekers. The Nautilus crew members then seize control of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and a Starship from the future arrives to arrest the renegades. Kirk must separate his true allies from those who wish to destroy the Federation.

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

274 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

aka Barbara Hamilton

Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.


"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly

Reviews

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

A fun adventure featuring the original Enterprise crew!

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things that makes some Star Trek novels stand out above other more routine books in the series is an author’s ability to take a member of the cast and develop the character in a way that is true to the original series and yet adds depth and breadth to the characterization. Everybody tries to do this with Kirk and Spock—they’re the stars and it’s expected—but Hambly lavishes this extra attention on Nurse Christine Chapel and her efforts here alone make this novel worth reading.

On top of that, there’s a good storyline with a decent mystery attached to it and when the answer to the puzzle was finally revealed it made perfect sense—even though I didn’t figure it out on my own. This one is definitely in the better half of the couple of hundred Star Trek books I have read.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. A bit draggy at times. Not one of my favorites but decent.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

While engaged in the exploration of the treacherous Crossroad Nebula, the U.S.S. Enterprise detects a vessel that shouldn't exist: a Constitution-class starship with more advanced design elements, yet bearing signs of considerable age and wear. With the ship on a course for Tau Lyra III, a planet with a pre-warp civilization, Captain James Kirk beams aboard the half-dozen members of the ship's crew and detains them for their evident intent to violate the Prime Directive. But the crew soon escapes captivity and takes over the Enterprise, holding it hostage until their ship is repaired and their voyage to Tau Lyra is resumed. As the crew struggles to retake control, the mounting evidence makes it clear that the anomalous ship is indeed from the future and that its crew is waging a war against the greatest tyranny in their galaxy: the Federation.

Barbara Hambly's novel is one that I looked forward to reading for two reasons. The first was the back cover description, which promised a rare Star Trek time travel novel involving interaction with the future. It's always interesting to me to see where authors project the future of the Star Trek universe as heading, especially at a relatively early stage in the franchise before the shows locked in the canon. Here Hambly doesn't disappoint, fulfilling every expectation she set for me with her previous contribution to Pocket Books's Star Trek novels, Ishmael (which I still retain fond memories of despite having read it decades ago). Indeed, she provides a very rare bird indeed: a future Federation corrupted by a sinister organization that uses plagues, psionics, and advanced FTL travel to dominate the Alpha Quadrant.

The richness of Hambly's premise and the development of her characters (both from the series and her own creations) are undeniable strengths of her book. And yet I found elements of her plot cripplingly tiresome. Far too much of the story follows the predictable patterns of a series episode: alien crew escapes detention and takes over the ship, the crew faces a threat at odds with lofty Federation ideals, and a daring plan involving phaser fire is needed to save the day. To be fair, there are a couple of unexpected twists and turns, but by the end of the novel I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by the overall result. While Hamby's book is definitely in the better half of the novels in the Pocket Books series, it nonetheless fall short of what it could have been given the material with which Hambly gave herself to work.

[Jonathan Harbour · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely give 1 star to a book but this one was especially bad. The writing just doesn't work at all. Seems like an acquisition editor should have flagged this before it went to print, because it's so hard to follow along. The writing is a total slog. Familiar Star Trek characters do not behave like themselves--only partially, with a few tropes and cliché remarks, but generally not as expected. The story is just dull. 80 pages in and I started skipping ahead and after a few more chapters of nothing else happening, I just had to quit. I generally enjoy these Pocket Trek books but this was a rare exception. I realize it gets better in the second half, but by the time I got there I no longer cared.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

While surveying the Crossroad Nebula, the 'Enterprise' crew rescue the crew of the 'Nautilus', a battered and blackened former Constitution Class vessel of which Starfleet has no record. It's captain, Dylan Arios, warns Kirk of impending trouble in the region, but is unable to explain what will happen.

Hambly's novel is dark, gloomy and has some horrific scenes, but there is still a sense of the 'Star Trek' universe with excellent characters and a fine plot.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Crossroad" in the title of this book refers to a nebula that is partially at the center of this rather odd book from September 1994. The Enterprise crew taking a closer look at the Crossroad Nebula which lies near the off limits world of Tau Lyra III comes across a ship that comes out of the nebula & heads straight at this pre-warp world. That ship is the Nautilus which claims to be outrunning the Consilium & is from the 26th century. While stories involving the future & time travel usually work this one of renegade time travelers per se falls flat on its face because the characters themselves aren't believable at all. From a ship in distress to their takeover of the Enterprise to the arrival of the Consilium to the revelations about the future (including a nod at TNG), Hambly badly bumbles & fumbles her way through this story in ways not seen in a while. By the time all is said & done with the ending flat out makes you wish you hadn't read the book & honestly put this into the category of perhaps one of the worst time travel stories of all time.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better ST serializations. Hambly is remarkably good at creating believable, if not always likable, characters that raise what would be otherwise cliched plots above the average.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark for a Star Trek story and above-average writing. I keep a stash of Trek novels for comfort food but this was more than cookies. With grungy spaceships.

[Andrew Beet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book story was good supporting characters were well written as well

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirk, Spock, Nurse Chapel, Time paradox

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah I didn't care for it but I didn't hate it. First off, if you don't want to stay within the parameters of Star Trek then don't write Star Trek. This is Discovery levels of canon-breaking here and pretty much equal with nonsense creatures making them teleport anywhere.

I don't like Hambly's writing style. She takes the most roundabout approach to describing a simple scene that I found myself having to read entire paragraphs over to understand what she was saying and then other times there was so little information that I didn't realize something crucial happened.

I now know how the original series crew would interpret the events of the TNG episode "Clues". It would be "Oh even though there is substantial evidence that something happened here it looks like we wanted to forget what happened so... let's do that. Moving on!"

Well with the underutilization of the main crew who have fleeting moments of inclusion the one thing I liked about the book is that it's 3 months before the end of the five year mission and everyone is contemplating what they are going to do after with a particular emphasis on Chapel and her career path.

Other than that, story was kind of dumb, the villain(s) were... nerfed, I didn't care for the characterizations of the crew and there were a ton of potholes.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why did I give a Barbara Hambly Star Trek book another shot after that train wreck that was Ishmael. Maybe it's because the premise seemed interesting. I have to admit, there are some really interesting concepts here. The idea of making Nurse Chapel a lead in the story was a cool idea.

But the story itself was sort of just bleah. I don't blame her though. Not entirely. While Richard Arnold was out the door at Paramount's licensing department in 1991, many of the directives he created remain in place until later 1997. A lot of the neat concepts introduced here just couldn't be done justice under such restrictions. And at the time, lots of Star Trek books were written 8-12 months before release.

So instead of an exploration of the cool stuff we got time travel cliches and the ending ripped out of a TNG episode that first aired 3-4 years before the book's release. So in spite of the books few good points it still felt like a bit of a waste of time,

[Deborah Janik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't typically read much sci-fi because I skew toward aphantasia and have difficulty visualizing what imaginary spaces look like, even with a description. This is my first time reading a Star Trek novel, and what was nice about it is that I already had a conception of what the Enterprise looks like. While I still can't imagine what a yagghorth looks like or how another ship would be laid out, this book was still easier for me to process than most sci-fi novels.

The story line was paced well at the beginning, then got very slow in the middle. It look me several months to finish this one mainly because it wasn't terribly engaging. But toward the end it picked up again, and I enjoyed reading the last few chapters.

[Millstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read quite a lot of Star Trek spin offs and this is, so far, the best of them by a long way, hence the slightly inflated rating. The plot was excellent, the continuity seamless and the bonus 'who dunnit' element a welcome surprise. The feeling is similar to the one I experienced after seeing the first of the JJ Abrams films: that's how it should be done!

[Pam Hurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for book club ... This is my second Star Trek novel by Barbara Hambly. It is quite different than my first (Ishmael). While Ishmael is still my favorite this one has a whole !ot more action, characters and surprises in the plot. I have not read many sci-fi serial novels but it was a surprise to find, at least these two, most enjoyable.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stargare 6251.1 While patrolling a sector of space called the Crossroad Nebula the Enterprise meets the starship Nautilus who beam abroad the Enterprise claimingto be from the future, fleeing the Consilium. Then members of the Consilium arrive. Who is telling the truth and how will all their actions affect the future.
An entertaining re-read

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It borders on notTrek occasionally but is good enough that it doesn’t matter when the author allows some cosmic and body horror in. I also wonder if the producers of Discovery read it as well as there some stuff in here that pushes very close to that show’s first season.

[KathySmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ultimately a fun book to read and spend some time with the OG crew from Enterprise. Ms Hambley has an interesting take on time travel. Another time travel ST OG she wrote was Ishmael- one of my favorites.

[Monica Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read with a new twist on the typical time traveling plot.

[Tony Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's pretty much a given...if it's a Star Trek novel...I'll like it...

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept is great but the execution is lacking.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give this 2 stars for the first third and 4 stars for the rest. It takes a long time to get going but once it does it’s a really good classic trek novel

[Robert Paterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good

Not the greatest Star Trek book I have read! An incoherent mess the premise is solid but is all over the to place and is difficult to follow.

[Sunday Hollis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story, I really enjoyed this. Definitely one of the more unique tales I've read in the Star Trek universe

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better Star Trek books. An enjoyable read.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average novel unfolds at a clumsy pace with a plot borrowing from ST:TNG’s fourth season Clues and resembling Doctor Who’s Warrior’s Gate. Hambly unwisely dumps a load of new characters (with names that aren’t exactly easy to keep track of) unceremoniously offering little to distinguish them, despite the characters harboring some big differences amoung them. In contrast no detail is spared in describing both the Enterprise and the Nautilus as well as the scorched remains of the planet Tau Lyra III, often sacrificing potential character and plot development for exposition on the color of the wafers onboard the starship. Hambly infuses the book with several themes but few of them are explored fully, especially that of nearing the end of the five-year mission for the crew. Aside from a few mental notes in Kirk’s head, Hambley uses Nurse Chapel as the conduit for this theme, an odd choice indeed although making for some poignant moments as the obvious detachment from the core crew Chapel experienced in the show is repeated here, making her character a very sad one indeed. The scenario involving telepaths navigating starships through space and how they are bred is explained in a very muddled manner and I suspect that my watching of Warrior’s Gate has more to do with my grasping it then the author’s own explanations for it. Perhaps in an attempt to steer the book away from falling into the quicksand of fan-wank, very little of the future is revealed and little or no continuity is established between both times however Hambly sabotages the potential for a truly epic story, confining to the Enterprise and the other two ships. An apparent last-minute filler erupts in which Ensign Lao, a character which Hambly keeps trying to portray as some kind of heir to Kirk yet offers no evidence of, goes crazy with the knowledge of the future and tries to blow up the Enterprise in a manner convenient to padding out the novel (he can’t just blow the ship, he wants it to blow up when Kirk beams over allowing the obvious scenario of Kirk not beaming over). The finale in which the crew realize something has happened and they themselves have covered it up and their decision not to uncover it is laughable not only in that it seems such an atypical response for this crew, but also for it is the most suited to that of the TNG crew not this one. As the title implies the novel deals with crossroads both real and metaphorical, Hambly being more adept in portraying the crossroads of life that Nurse Chapel has arrived in rather then those in the rest of the story

[Stephen Fender · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author weaves a convince time travel tale into TOS, and she does a masterful job at it. I found that this one was one of those Trek novels you don't want to put down.

The primary characters are true to form, while the secondary characters are dimensional and non-robotic. The detail which she describes "Nimo" and others like him is exquisite.

I also enjoyed that she brought a derelict Constitution class (but yet, NOT a Constitution class) back in time. She made it mysterious and dark, while keeping it very familiar. I could almost smell the decay and abandonment of the vessel, feeling as if I needed a shower after walking its dimly lit and grimy passageways.

There were a few loose ends that were never quite tied, but that's how it should be in a time travel story. All things considered, you never know what events you may change, and a few dangling ends should be expected.

Very well done. I highly recommend.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an incredibly dark & intense look at a possible future, but I'm not sure it's as enjoyable as it could have been. There are a great many supporting characters, but many of them get lost in the pile-up of names and situations. The opening chapters treat the Crossroad Nebula as something the reader should already know about, and much of the first quarter of the novel feels like playing catch-up on details of an anomaly that could have been introduced in a far more straightforward manner. The re-set of the Enterprise crew at the end has some nice loose ends, but I'll be damned if I could explain the climax of this story as something other than "a hint of TNG's Yesterday's Enterprise". Overall, it's a book that I admire for its complexity, but I wish I could have loved far more than admired. What I do appreciate is that it's a story that also ends with the Spock-honed sentiment that "there are always possibilities"...and that's why it's still solidly "Star Trek".

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a great premise and I really did enjoy reading it. I often felt like I did not "get it" though and I think it is because the author and I have very different ways of thinking. I just could not get into her thought process and for that, i struggled through what I know is a really good story.