What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Trek: The Lost Years #4
Recovery
The long awaited final book in the Lost Years Saga!
It began with The Lost Years: the story of what happened to Captain Kirk and the legendary crew of the U.S.S Enterprise when their original five-year mission ended. The saga continued in A Flag Full of Stars and Traitor Winds. Now, in Recovery, J.M. Dillard brings to an end one of the most exciting chapters in STAR TREK history!
Admiral James T. Kirk, former Captain of the U.S.S Enterprise and now Chief of Starfleet Operations, is at a crossroads in his career. When he is assigned to supervise the testing of the U.S.S. Recovery, an experimental new rescue vessel, he begins to realize how tired he is of being trapped behind a desk, away from the action. Fully automated, the Recovery is a high-speed transport vessel capable of evacuating large populations without risking the lives of Starfleet personnel. But when its creator falls under alien influence, the Recovery becomes a pawn in a deadly game that could lead to interstellar war. Trapped in the bowels of the ship Admiral Kirk's old friend Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, who is being hunted by a homicidal madman determined that no one on the ship will survive. Taking command of a starship, Admiral Kirk must find a way to save Dr. Mckoy's life—and save the galaxy from deadly chaos!
It began with The Lost Years: the story of what happened to Captain Kirk and the legendary crew of the U.S.S Enterprise when their original five-year mission ended. The saga continued in A Flag Full of Stars and Traitor Winds. Now, in Recovery, J.M. Dillard brings to an end one of the most exciting chapters in STAR TREK history!
Admiral James T. Kirk, former Captain of the U.S.S Enterprise and now Chief of Starfleet Operations, is at a crossroads in his career. When he is assigned to supervise the testing of the U.S.S. Recovery, an experimental new rescue vessel, he begins to realize how tired he is of being trapped behind a desk, away from the action. Fully automated, the Recovery is a high-speed transport vessel capable of evacuating large populations without risking the lives of Starfleet personnel. But when its creator falls under alien influence, the Recovery becomes a pawn in a deadly game that could lead to interstellar war. Trapped in the bowels of the ship Admiral Kirk's old friend Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, who is being hunted by a homicidal madman determined that no one on the ship will survive. Taking command of a starship, Admiral Kirk must find a way to save Dr. Mckoy's life—and save the galaxy from deadly chaos!
277 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
14 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Dillard
48 books114 followersJ.M. Dillard is the pseudonym under which Jeanne Kalogridis (b. 1954) publishes her Star Trek novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 29, 2019
[Note: this review may contain spoilers] Overall, I found this fairly mediocre --- occasionally entertaining, but having inconsistencies in it that I found grating.
You have to get about 1/3 of the way into this book before it starts getting interesting. Too much time, in my opinion, is spent on past romantic relationships between Star Fleet characters, none of whom I'd heard of before, and, frankly, could care less about. It reads like a space soap opera. Is this Star Fleet or a space version of "Days of our Lives"?
Also, there's too much time spent on Kirk's misery about being promoted to flag rank (i.e. admiral). It really became annoying after several pages of this. Give me a break --- there's definitely a lot of folks who've been done a lot worse in life. You do a good job, you get promoted so that you can apply that good leadership and experience for the good of the service and its people, and make way so that the next generation of leaders can get their shot at command --- deal with it --- or get out so that someone else can rise to the challenge. But, instead, in this book, get ready for a lot of Kirk's kvetching about how he was happier on the bridge of a starship. I just found this contrived and increasingly irritating the more I read it.
If you can stomach that bilge, then you can finally get to the part that's interesting, but, for even that, I had to suspend disbelief. Just before the military exercise testing USS Recovery through her OPEVAL, Adm. Kirk offers to take temporary command of the USS Paladin so that its CO can visit his love interest in one of the other Star Fleet vessels participating in it ----(oh, fricking great --- more of the soap opera crap). Maybe, it's my prior naval service background, but, having been under several COs, I honestly cannot think of a single one that would ever vacate their command during a critical phase of operations like that --- not no way, not no how.
At any rate, letting that ride. The OPEVAL of Recovery goes fine --- at first. But then Adm. Kirk decides to freelance the simulation --- he's unfamiliar with the weapon system being tested, doesn't even bother to check with the Recovery's designers to see if its capabilities could be exceeded, and never bothers to work out a fail safe on when to abort the freelanced simulation if, during it, things go south. And that's how things like Chernobyl happen.
Which is what happens here, more or less. Long story short, the simulations leads to disaster, and severe damage to Federation vessels ensues, Star Fleet service members die --- and the malfunctioning Recovery then proceeds to attack the observer vessels from the Klingons, Romulans, and Tholians --- thereby creating the possibility of an intergalactic war, costing the lives of billions --- again, the result of Kirk's original actions.
The rest of the story on how the protagonists work to salvage the situation is somewhat entertaining, but I've seen better sci-fi certainly. I think that the most interesting character in the whole book was the Klingons commander, Qodar, whose Bushido-like courage and decisiveness along with that of his warriors ultimately are what end up saving the day.
Notwithstanding the absurdity, its obvious that the author considers that he had successfully shown again Kirk's heroic credentials with, towards the end, Kirk considering demanding from Star Fleet an operational command. In reality, based upon what I'd read, I think it far more likely that Adm. Kirk would have been suspended from duty, pending completion of a formal Court of Inquiry investigating his actions.
I think this book may have some appeal to some hardcore Trekkies who read these books one right after the other. For others like me, it's ok --- maybe, like the book version of junk food --- but, not great, and probably better to use their limited reading time for some of the likely better books in the Star Trek franchise.
You have to get about 1/3 of the way into this book before it starts getting interesting. Too much time, in my opinion, is spent on past romantic relationships between Star Fleet characters, none of whom I'd heard of before, and, frankly, could care less about. It reads like a space soap opera. Is this Star Fleet or a space version of "Days of our Lives"?
Also, there's too much time spent on Kirk's misery about being promoted to flag rank (i.e. admiral). It really became annoying after several pages of this. Give me a break --- there's definitely a lot of folks who've been done a lot worse in life. You do a good job, you get promoted so that you can apply that good leadership and experience for the good of the service and its people, and make way so that the next generation of leaders can get their shot at command --- deal with it --- or get out so that someone else can rise to the challenge. But, instead, in this book, get ready for a lot of Kirk's kvetching about how he was happier on the bridge of a starship. I just found this contrived and increasingly irritating the more I read it.
If you can stomach that bilge, then you can finally get to the part that's interesting, but, for even that, I had to suspend disbelief. Just before the military exercise testing USS Recovery through her OPEVAL, Adm. Kirk offers to take temporary command of the USS Paladin so that its CO can visit his love interest in one of the other Star Fleet vessels participating in it ----(oh, fricking great --- more of the soap opera crap). Maybe, it's my prior naval service background, but, having been under several COs, I honestly cannot think of a single one that would ever vacate their command during a critical phase of operations like that --- not no way, not no how.
At any rate, letting that ride. The OPEVAL of Recovery goes fine --- at first. But then Adm. Kirk decides to freelance the simulation --- he's unfamiliar with the weapon system being tested, doesn't even bother to check with the Recovery's designers to see if its capabilities could be exceeded, and never bothers to work out a fail safe on when to abort the freelanced simulation if, during it, things go south. And that's how things like Chernobyl happen.
Which is what happens here, more or less. Long story short, the simulations leads to disaster, and severe damage to Federation vessels ensues, Star Fleet service members die --- and the malfunctioning Recovery then proceeds to attack the observer vessels from the Klingons, Romulans, and Tholians --- thereby creating the possibility of an intergalactic war, costing the lives of billions --- again, the result of Kirk's original actions.
The rest of the story on how the protagonists work to salvage the situation is somewhat entertaining, but I've seen better sci-fi certainly. I think that the most interesting character in the whole book was the Klingons commander, Qodar, whose Bushido-like courage and decisiveness along with that of his warriors ultimately are what end up saving the day.
Notwithstanding the absurdity, its obvious that the author considers that he had successfully shown again Kirk's heroic credentials with, towards the end, Kirk considering demanding from Star Fleet an operational command. In reality, based upon what I'd read, I think it far more likely that Adm. Kirk would have been suspended from duty, pending completion of a formal Court of Inquiry investigating his actions.
I think this book may have some appeal to some hardcore Trekkies who read these books one right after the other. For others like me, it's ok --- maybe, like the book version of junk food --- but, not great, and probably better to use their limited reading time for some of the likely better books in the Star Trek franchise.
January 29, 2022
Okay, so, I haven't read all of the previous books in the Lost Years saga.
However, I still enjoyed this finale.
However, I still enjoyed this finale.
March 15, 2023
Continuing the quest to read ever Star Trek novel ever written. Here with the final book in the Lost years series. Book 2 still my favorite of the 4. I was happy to read about Spock’s time on Vulcan in this during his Kohlinar and how JM Dillard was able to give his character a little involvement in the plot. Now on to The Motion Picture novelization!
February 27, 2023
‚Doch Sarek war mit Argumenten nicht beizukommen; er hatte Spock zum vrekasht, zum Ausgestoßenen, der nicht länger sein Sohn war, erklärt.
Spock kam nicht umhin, bemerkenswerte Parallelen zwischen der Begegnung an diesem Abend und jener vor zwanzig Jahren zu ziehen. Nur war diesmal er derjenige, der bereit war, die Beziehung zwischen Vater und Sohn zu trennen, während nun Sarek den Standpunkt vertrat, Spock solle sein menschliches Erbe nicht verleugnen.
Wäre es möglich, überlegte Spock und starrte dabei das Mandala an, als suche er dort nach einer Antwort, daß mein Bestreben, Kohlinar zu erreichen, dem Wunsch entspringt, meinem Vater zu gefallen?‘
Spock kam nicht umhin, bemerkenswerte Parallelen zwischen der Begegnung an diesem Abend und jener vor zwanzig Jahren zu ziehen. Nur war diesmal er derjenige, der bereit war, die Beziehung zwischen Vater und Sohn zu trennen, während nun Sarek den Standpunkt vertrat, Spock solle sein menschliches Erbe nicht verleugnen.
Wäre es möglich, überlegte Spock und starrte dabei das Mandala an, als suche er dort nach einer Antwort, daß mein Bestreben, Kohlinar zu erreichen, dem Wunsch entspringt, meinem Vater zu gefallen?‘
May 27, 2012
The last book in the Lost Years series is definitely the worst of the four.
We get a book that- unlike it's predecessors- doesn't use the potential of the characters being out of a starship and in their own separate lives and situations. The plot of "Recovery" might as well have been used for any regular TOS novel. I was also bothered some continuity questions that the book raises by introducing a 100% automated "hospital-ship", that would be a technological marvel even in the era of Enterprise-E and Voyager in the 24th ceuntury.
The story is kind of tedious and predicteble, beyond saving by the good writing of Jean Mary Dillard who has written so much better books in her career that it's a real surprise to find her ending the series like this. The book isn't really closely related to the other books of the series, actually, which in intself is disappointing. Why write a mediocre standallone when you're closing a series?
It has been reported that the Lost Years concept faced a lot of heavy editorial rewrites that at least left Brad Ferguson disapponted by the final version of his "A Flag Full of Stars". Maybe this is also behind the problems with "Recovery".
We get a book that- unlike it's predecessors- doesn't use the potential of the characters being out of a starship and in their own separate lives and situations. The plot of "Recovery" might as well have been used for any regular TOS novel. I was also bothered some continuity questions that the book raises by introducing a 100% automated "hospital-ship", that would be a technological marvel even in the era of Enterprise-E and Voyager in the 24th ceuntury.
The story is kind of tedious and predicteble, beyond saving by the good writing of Jean Mary Dillard who has written so much better books in her career that it's a real surprise to find her ending the series like this. The book isn't really closely related to the other books of the series, actually, which in intself is disappointing. Why write a mediocre standallone when you're closing a series?
It has been reported that the Lost Years concept faced a lot of heavy editorial rewrites that at least left Brad Ferguson disapponted by the final version of his "A Flag Full of Stars". Maybe this is also behind the problems with "Recovery".
August 2, 2010
The plot expands on the Tholian race as an enemy of the UFP, and overall the plot works fine. The primary weakness for this book is the 'uber-ship' itself (AKA USS Recovery). To me it's beyond any stretch of imagination that such a massive ship (which is easily the size of a starbase) could exist in the time period the book is set, let alone be an un-manned vessel and completely computer-run.
December 21, 2024
The series ends pretty strong, I liked a lot about this story but there were a few little quirks I'll try to recall.
Recovery is about a fully automated ship of that name, which should remind you of Kirk's experience with one of those in TOS. That story was about a wargames exercise whereas this one is about an automated rescue operation but when it all goes wrong the distinction is moot.
Kirk is well known for his position on computers making command decisions and so is chosen to observe the Recovery's first mission. Due to the location of the operation, neighbouring hostile powers are also invited to observe for their own peace of mind. One of those is the Tholians which was great, this may represent one of the earliest attempts at expanding the lore around their culture.
Of course, inevitably, Recovery goes awry and with enemy observers in such close proximity all hell may be about to break loose in the quadrant.
For me some of this was a bit too obvious or overt and Riley seems to take a big step backwards after a good character arc through the first 3 books. One major quirk which seemed to disconnect this story from at least the previous book, if not both the previous books was that Riley is said to not know of Kirk's connection to him from the Tarsus IV massacre. The author may not have read the other books in this series which is a shame, because Riley did discover that he was rescued by a young Kirk along the way.
The tension between Kirk and McCoy seemed a little heavier than you'd expect and at least a half dozen times they were given lines that didn't seem to fit.
But overall this was a good story. It managed to connect Spock even though he was off preparing for the Kolinar, which I quite enjoyed. I think the whole series does a quite good job of letting us know where the key players were when they were off our screens.
Recovery is about a fully automated ship of that name, which should remind you of Kirk's experience with one of those in TOS. That story was about a wargames exercise whereas this one is about an automated rescue operation but when it all goes wrong the distinction is moot.
Kirk is well known for his position on computers making command decisions and so is chosen to observe the Recovery's first mission. Due to the location of the operation, neighbouring hostile powers are also invited to observe for their own peace of mind. One of those is the Tholians which was great, this may represent one of the earliest attempts at expanding the lore around their culture.
Of course, inevitably, Recovery goes awry and with enemy observers in such close proximity all hell may be about to break loose in the quadrant.
For me some of this was a bit too obvious or overt and Riley seems to take a big step backwards after a good character arc through the first 3 books. One major quirk which seemed to disconnect this story from at least the previous book, if not both the previous books was that Riley is said to not know of Kirk's connection to him from the Tarsus IV massacre. The author may not have read the other books in this series which is a shame, because Riley did discover that he was rescued by a young Kirk along the way.
The tension between Kirk and McCoy seemed a little heavier than you'd expect and at least a half dozen times they were given lines that didn't seem to fit.
But overall this was a good story. It managed to connect Spock even though he was off preparing for the Kolinar, which I quite enjoyed. I think the whole series does a quite good job of letting us know where the key players were when they were off our screens.
September 26, 2017
This story starts off a little slow and with a problem that has been unresolved through all four of the Lost Years books. What is that problem you might ask? It is that James T. Kirk should never have accepted a promotion to Admiral. His talents are wasted at a desk and he is terribly unhappy with what he is doing. This is Star Trek after all where everyone is doing what they are best at doing.
Mr Riley finally comes to terms with what he wants to do with the rest of his life. There is a later book, PROBE, that covers the change in careers. McCoy is still retired from Starfleet and is determined to never return unless he is drafted. Most of us know what happens next with him. Spock is in the final stages of Kolinahr. He is having trouble purging his connection with Kirk and McCoy. There is also another entity that is just out of reach that is trying to get in touch with him. Kirk ends up having to take command of the ship is visiting during a demonstration of a ship that recover large numbers of people in a planetary evacuation, Recovery.
As with so many of the Star Trek books the demonstration goes terribly wrong and it is all cause by an old enemy that has been invited to watch the demonstration. It was a surprise to me that this enemy appeared so far from that home space, especially when the are so xenophobic and protective of the space and identity.
This is an exciting read. I finished the book in a day which is unusual. It isn't often I get that involved in a story especially with other things going on that require my time and attention. I just couldn't stop reading until I found out what was going on. I guess that is always the best indication that a story is very good.
Mr Riley finally comes to terms with what he wants to do with the rest of his life. There is a later book, PROBE, that covers the change in careers. McCoy is still retired from Starfleet and is determined to never return unless he is drafted. Most of us know what happens next with him. Spock is in the final stages of Kolinahr. He is having trouble purging his connection with Kirk and McCoy. There is also another entity that is just out of reach that is trying to get in touch with him. Kirk ends up having to take command of the ship is visiting during a demonstration of a ship that recover large numbers of people in a planetary evacuation, Recovery.
As with so many of the Star Trek books the demonstration goes terribly wrong and it is all cause by an old enemy that has been invited to watch the demonstration. It was a surprise to me that this enemy appeared so far from that home space, especially when the are so xenophobic and protective of the space and identity.
This is an exciting read. I finished the book in a day which is unusual. It isn't often I get that involved in a story especially with other things going on that require my time and attention. I just couldn't stop reading until I found out what was going on. I guess that is always the best indication that a story is very good.
October 24, 2024
The Lost Years saga is finally ended for me. It was a fun ride.
J.M. Dillard is still my favorite Star Trek author to date. This is the third book I've read by her, and probably the worst out of those.
First I thought the book was crap. An embarrassingly stereotypical scientist-gone-mad villain was at first so disappointing, but thank god it was turned around later. The reason the mad scientist hates Kirk, is because Kirk criticized the scientist's creation Recovery in an academic paper. That is kind of a hilarious premise in itself, but also because Kirk of course has to be among Starfleets top academics, on top of being the best admiral and captain.
So I disliked the initially boring villain. And the cult of personality surrounding Kirk. And also that Dillard for some reason randomly uses first name and surnames when refering to characters, even if there are five minor characters in a scene. It's not confusing, but annoying and so unnecessary. If you take a break from the book for a day or two things like that stop the flow and forces you to look up who is who.
The good thing is the twist. I thought Dillard was gonna let me down, but in the end she wasn't. It is a fun, exciting and easy story that could have been a good TOS episode (just like Bloodthirst - my favorite book by Dillard so far).
The Spock story was very good. I was a little bit disapointed it wasn't expanded upon more.
J.M. Dillard is still my favorite Star Trek author to date. This is the third book I've read by her, and probably the worst out of those.
First I thought the book was crap. An embarrassingly stereotypical scientist-gone-mad villain was at first so disappointing, but thank god it was turned around later. The reason the mad scientist hates Kirk, is because Kirk criticized the scientist's creation Recovery in an academic paper. That is kind of a hilarious premise in itself, but also because Kirk of course has to be among Starfleets top academics, on top of being the best admiral and captain.
So I disliked the initially boring villain. And the cult of personality surrounding Kirk. And also that Dillard for some reason randomly uses first name and surnames when refering to characters, even if there are five minor characters in a scene. It's not confusing, but annoying and so unnecessary. If you take a break from the book for a day or two things like that stop the flow and forces you to look up who is who.
The good thing is the twist. I thought Dillard was gonna let me down, but in the end she wasn't. It is a fun, exciting and easy story that could have been a good TOS episode (just like Bloodthirst - my favorite book by Dillard so far).
The Spock story was very good. I was a little bit disapointed it wasn't expanded upon more.
March 18, 2021
To be clear, there were things I liked about this book: it's a Motion Picture era book which touches on a lot of the same themes as the novelization of that movie and some other novels around that time period such as aging, the limits of artificial intelligence, politics (Covenant of the Crown & Ex Machina to name two). The setting, in fact, is just prior to the events surrounding the Vger incident.
Unfortunately this novel kind of misses the mark where the Motion Picture hit it squarely, namely, the larger ST scope, the diverse intergalactic crew, the hard Sci-Fi story, the Spock angle. There is a compelling story here that J.M. Dillard builds. And builds. And builds. And then it just kind of bottoms out. It was an idea without execution.
Unfortunately this novel kind of misses the mark where the Motion Picture hit it squarely, namely, the larger ST scope, the diverse intergalactic crew, the hard Sci-Fi story, the Spock angle. There is a compelling story here that J.M. Dillard builds. And builds. And builds. And then it just kind of bottoms out. It was an idea without execution.
November 12, 2021
I would easily push this up to 3.5 stars. The plot is an exercise in (1) inevitability, as the players need to be put into place for their roles in "Star Trek The Motion Picturee", and (2) fanwank, as this ends up being a sequel to both "The Ultimate Computer" and "The Tholian Web". It has far too many characters for its own good, and it started to become a bit tiresome trying to keep track of all of them. On the flip side, JM Dillard once again shows her mastery of handling the TOS era characters, and the plot moves at an incredibly fast pace. Best of all is the development of Commander Sonak and his budding relationship with Admiral Kirk. JM Dillard successfully milks the potential here that was only hinted at by Sonak's fleeting (and tragic) role in the first Trek film.
June 14, 2025
Der Prolog ist nicht besonders aufregend, danach entwickelt sich aber im Mittelteil des Romans eine recht unterhaltsame Geschichte mit nostalgischen und melancholischen Momenten, die in alten Zeiten schwelgen lassen (der Roman spielt ja nach Kirks Beförderung zum Admiral). Die Wendung zum Ende hin ist dank des deutschen Titels leider vorhersehbar, und auch das Finale fand ich nicht so überzeugend. Insgesamt ist das Buch also von durchwachsener Qualität, gehört jedoch unter den durchschnittlichen Star-Trek-Roman eher zu den etwas besseren. Wer sich einige wenige Hintergründe zum Kolinahr-Ritual anlesen oder mehr über die Zeit wissen möchte, in der Kirk, Spock und McCoy getrennte Wege gingen, kann gern zu dieser Lektüre greifen.
October 18, 2017
I came to like some of the minor characters in this miniseries, how they develop to be where they are in the Motion picture and later on. Actually I think it was one of the better things about the series. While the story of Recovery was not a total cliché, it lacked some originality and consistency with up to date technology (super computer run ship, which is virtually unbeatable, why don't we see more of them in the future). Because of these small missteps, I would give 3 stars if it were not for the characters.
December 31, 2022
Well definitely ended the series on a good note. Lots of action, lots of great moments and a great story to follow. Enjoyed the bit of a running joke of Riley getting the crap kicked out of him throughout the whole story and all the great moments with the crew aboard the Paladin - especially seeing how well Kirk worked with Sonak which makes his death hit a little harder in the film now. For a series that was middling at best I enjoyed this ending on a strong note even if the twist was ruined a little bit by the cover.
July 1, 2023
This is the first book I’ve read in the Lost Years series and I had a lukewarm response to it. I thought it would be a cautionary tale about relying to much on technology but it ended it being a superficial story that didn’t quite know where it wanted to go. I bought this book because I thought it would focus on Kirk and McCoys relationship post five year mission but that did not happen. (I was disappointed because McCoy is my comfort character )
July 31, 2023
I just finished this book! It was action all the way through. I did not figure out what was wrong until the end and it was a big surprise. Loved the McCoy story. Kirk working with the cadets on the Paladin was excellent. It’s a good Star Trek novel for sure. Only thing I didn’t like was Spock resisting helping his old friends. Some good new characters top.
July 10, 2018
This was a solid Trek story with a unique premise. I would have liked more of the original crew involved and it didn't feel like much of a conclusion to the Lost Years saga, but those are small complaints
March 30, 2024
Admiral Kirk is assigned to supervise the testing of an experimental rescue ship - the U.S.S. Recovery - the simulation of a rescue mission with be watched by the Klingons, Romulans and the Tholians. When Kirk decides to do he own testing what could go wrong.
An entertaining re-read.
An entertaining re-read.
November 4, 2024
A book with excellent pacing and characters and a plot that just rips along. However, it did feel like it had been cribbed heavily from the episode The Ultimate Computer, which it references as well, just to be sure that you know what’s happening. Really exciting, though, despite that.
February 23, 2023
Probably the best book of the Lost Years tetralogy.
Read
April 27, 2025tack gode gud att min polare j. m. kom tillbaka och avslutade serien! de två i mitten var osammanhängande, politiskt omedvetet kaos, men nu är vi som de säger So Back!!
August 21, 2025
Great ending to the Lost years novels!
January 16, 2017
I enjoy Star Trek novels more than the TV shows or movies. After seeing so much of the show, reading the novels creates an almost psychedelic, immersive experience. Recovery by Dillard was a fun read. As not much harm can come to our favorite Star Trek characters, a lot of the drama stems from the additional characters and the hard choices the regulars face. Recovery has both these elements. I wasn't too familiar with the episodes that are referenced but I was still able to follow the story. It's always fun to read about Kirk the bureaucrat.
September 17, 2011
Recovery is difficult to rate for me.
There’s a lot to like about it on hand, but on the other hand it’s often enough the same that made me at times dislike the story.
On the plus side I would put the fact that Recovery is firmly build around one of the classic episodes (“The Ultimate Computer”), constantly referred to as The Daystrom incident. But here’s also already my first problem with the way Dillard tells the story, as much as I otherwise enjoyed the way the author constantly drops little bonbons for Trekkies by referencing bits and pieces from the classic series, in this case it’s highly annoying to have to constantly read about something I wouldn’t have had much of a clue where to put, much less what the back story here is, if it wasn’t for the fact that I happen to go through a re-run of the series at the time.
Another important episode the book refers to is “The Tholian Web”, but unlike the former named, Dillard here takes the time to explain at appropriate points what went on in that episode.
Further to point out is Dillard’s way of rehashing information over and over again, changing viewpoints are often introduced by recapitulating things we already know, we’ve already “seen” through the eyes of a different character, adding nothing new.
Kirk is increasingly troubled by being earth bound due to his promotion to Admiral, we get it, and Sonak, the Vulcan science officer on board the Paladin reminds him of his old friend Spock, we get that too, there’s no need to reiterate it in every chapter. Same as with the way Dillard uses “The Ultimate Computer”, I’m torn about the way Kirk is getting characterised: on one side we get to see him as the old warrior, prejudiced to new ideas and unable to think of Klingons and Romulans as anything other than enemies, but a man that thrives on action.
That’s very close to the idea Roddenberry himself gave.
Yet, put under pressure this Kirk still finds the time to futilely long for Spock when the situation calls for quick responses (not to mention go on and on about how he misses space).
This Kirk on the verge of a nervous breakdown, felt honestly annoying after a while.
Speaking of Spock, he happens to appear in the book in a role that has no the least bearing on the story, it’s as if he was just written in to appease fans.
A last, but minor problem I had with the novel is the unfortunate similarity of the dilemma Kirk has to face here, namely to lead a ship full of trainees into battle against an enemy bearing a personal grudge against him, to the one he would have to face in “The Wrath of Khan” which would chronologically follow after it.
I guess in the end the good and the bad equals out, and overall I did find it to make for an entertaining read, albeit one I would recommend even to Trekkies with reservations only.
There’s a lot to like about it on hand, but on the other hand it’s often enough the same that made me at times dislike the story.
On the plus side I would put the fact that Recovery is firmly build around one of the classic episodes (“The Ultimate Computer”), constantly referred to as The Daystrom incident. But here’s also already my first problem with the way Dillard tells the story, as much as I otherwise enjoyed the way the author constantly drops little bonbons for Trekkies by referencing bits and pieces from the classic series, in this case it’s highly annoying to have to constantly read about something I wouldn’t have had much of a clue where to put, much less what the back story here is, if it wasn’t for the fact that I happen to go through a re-run of the series at the time.
Another important episode the book refers to is “The Tholian Web”, but unlike the former named, Dillard here takes the time to explain at appropriate points what went on in that episode.
Further to point out is Dillard’s way of rehashing information over and over again, changing viewpoints are often introduced by recapitulating things we already know, we’ve already “seen” through the eyes of a different character, adding nothing new.
Kirk is increasingly troubled by being earth bound due to his promotion to Admiral, we get it, and Sonak, the Vulcan science officer on board the Paladin reminds him of his old friend Spock, we get that too, there’s no need to reiterate it in every chapter. Same as with the way Dillard uses “The Ultimate Computer”, I’m torn about the way Kirk is getting characterised: on one side we get to see him as the old warrior, prejudiced to new ideas and unable to think of Klingons and Romulans as anything other than enemies, but a man that thrives on action.
That’s very close to the idea Roddenberry himself gave.
Yet, put under pressure this Kirk still finds the time to futilely long for Spock when the situation calls for quick responses (not to mention go on and on about how he misses space).
This Kirk on the verge of a nervous breakdown, felt honestly annoying after a while.
Speaking of Spock, he happens to appear in the book in a role that has no the least bearing on the story, it’s as if he was just written in to appease fans.
A last, but minor problem I had with the novel is the unfortunate similarity of the dilemma Kirk has to face here, namely to lead a ship full of trainees into battle against an enemy bearing a personal grudge against him, to the one he would have to face in “The Wrath of Khan” which would chronologically follow after it.
I guess in the end the good and the bad equals out, and overall I did find it to make for an entertaining read, albeit one I would recommend even to Trekkies with reservations only.
Read
October 6, 2022The whole premise of the Lost Years saga has been to draw a connecting line between the end of the five year mission and the characters as we see them in The Motion Picture. And while books two and three are entertaining, they kind of drift away from that point. But as this final installment was also a return to the original author from the start, we see a brilliant return to that theme and an amazingly great job at crafting this.
I can’t say it enough. Reading the novelization for the Motion Picture, you would never guess that these books were written over a decade apart from each other. I know these books aren’t part of the official canon but they fit so seamlessly into TMP that it’s hard to not see this as what the story has been all along. Turns of phrase like “quartermaster breed” are used in both books and does a great job at connecting them.
In this book we get awesome references to the original series and you are definitely rewarded for having that knowledge. Dillard is brilliant as always in her ability to play in this sandbox and you feel like this story was done out of love and passion for these characters.
Trust me, if you’re thinking about reading the novelization for TMP, before you do, take the time to read The Lost Years, followed by this book. The two volumes make for an outstanding prequel to the movie. It makes The Motion Picture feel like it has much more emotional depth and complexity to it. This is highly recommended.
I can’t say it enough. Reading the novelization for the Motion Picture, you would never guess that these books were written over a decade apart from each other. I know these books aren’t part of the official canon but they fit so seamlessly into TMP that it’s hard to not see this as what the story has been all along. Turns of phrase like “quartermaster breed” are used in both books and does a great job at connecting them.
In this book we get awesome references to the original series and you are definitely rewarded for having that knowledge. Dillard is brilliant as always in her ability to play in this sandbox and you feel like this story was done out of love and passion for these characters.
Trust me, if you’re thinking about reading the novelization for TMP, before you do, take the time to read The Lost Years, followed by this book. The two volumes make for an outstanding prequel to the movie. It makes The Motion Picture feel like it has much more emotional depth and complexity to it. This is highly recommended.
November 15, 2011
This is the final book in a subseries by J.M. Dillard about the "Lost Years", the years between the end of the original Star Trek 5-year mission and the first movie. All of the books in this series have done an at least reasonably plausible job of filling in the blanks for the "Trek History" buffs, and the writing has been quite good. Unfortunately, the period in which the books are set is, by definition, a "down" period in which Kirk is an admiral with a desk job, McCoy and Spock have left the fleet, and the other main characters are scattered, which is a severe handicap for the writer to work with in terms of coming up with interesting, plausible stories. Occasionally, even Dillard can't overcome that handicap. But in this book, in spite of the plot on the face of it being merely a rehash of a (not terribly good) original series episode, which it is actually a sequel to, the action moves well, the book far outshines the episode that it is based on ("The Ultimate Computer"), the characterization is excellent, and as usual with Dillard, the writing is on the high side of competent. Definitely worth the read for any fan of the original series, and possibly worth reading for someone sufficiently unfamiliar with the series to not know of the episode that inspired it.
October 24, 2012
The finale to the Lost Years Saga, J.M. Dillard's "Recovery" is a book that starts out relatively weak, but finishes strong enough to allow for a decent conclusion to this trilogy. In this final installment, Admiral Kirk is tasked with supervising a simulation involving the U.S.S. Recovery which is an experimental vessel capable of thinking for itself & rescuing entire crews & ships with its transporters. The head of this experimental project is Dr. Myron Shulman who is responsible for doing a test run of the ship in a fictitious training exercise near Zotos Four. Unbeknownst to Kirk & company, there's more to Shulman that meets the eye & Dr. McCoy is along for the ride as observer in the book as well. Things go relatively well until the Recovery starts attacking the other ships in the convoy for real & Shulman's behavior gets erratic. Dillard's tale is uneven in a lot of spots & the use of Spock is almost an unnecessary plot device. Granted the tie-in to Spock's pursuit of Kohlinar is helpful along with the references to "The Tholian Web", but at times the story which isn't strong to begin with gets caught up in itself. Overall, though, it's still a good conclusion to this trilogy & a nice precursor the events seen in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".
June 14, 2013
I haven' read this book for about 15 years, and I was a bit reluctant to read it again. Sometimes you remember a book as brilliant (and maybe it really was when you were 15 or 20), but when you read it again years later, you're asking yourself why you ever liked it at all. (Happened to me with Karl May for example.)
Thankfully, this book was as good as I remembered. Taking place after Kirk was made Admiral, there are a lot of original characters, and it's mostly about Kirk and McCoy. There's also a little bit of Spock, who apparently signed up to absolve the "Kolinahr", and Sarek also makes an appearance.
The original characters were a small problem for me, because... Well, it just wasn't the usual Enterprise crew. I knew that before, of course, but I hoped that the others would at least be mentioned, but no such luck. It really revolves a lot around the new characters and I just didn't find them that interesting. More Kirk and McCoy would've been great.
I still liked the book, because it was a very good story, I always wanted to know what's going to happen and I've always been a Bones girl, so no complaints here.
Thankfully, this book was as good as I remembered. Taking place after Kirk was made Admiral, there are a lot of original characters, and it's mostly about Kirk and McCoy. There's also a little bit of Spock, who apparently signed up to absolve the "Kolinahr", and Sarek also makes an appearance.
The original characters were a small problem for me, because... Well, it just wasn't the usual Enterprise crew. I knew that before, of course, but I hoped that the others would at least be mentioned, but no such luck. It really revolves a lot around the new characters and I just didn't find them that interesting. More Kirk and McCoy would've been great.
I still liked the book, because it was a very good story, I always wanted to know what's going to happen and I've always been a Bones girl, so no complaints here.
January 16, 2014
I can understand some Trekkies comparing this book to the Original Series episode, "The Ultimate Computer". There are a lot of similarities. As a novel, I found the book to be a fast-paced thriller with a lot of great plot twists and Admiral Kirk stuck in the middle of it all again. This is the 4th and last book in the "Lost Years" series of books that detail the events between the end of the Original Series 5 year mission and the start of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, when they are all reunited. Spoiler Alert: Kirk accepts an assignment to go back out into space again, but this time as an observer of a new experimental ship that will be only used for rescue missions. This ship soon develops a mind of it's own and starts attacking everyone. It's not long before we find out that someone is pulling the ship's strings which is where the story picks up. I liked this one and the first story of the Lost Years, which was also written by Dillard. It seems that all this series taught us was that these people all belong together in space, because they have horrible misfortunes on land.
November 25, 2020
Set in The Lost Years, after their original five year mission, this story sees Admiral James T. Kirk supervising the test of an experimental new vessel: The USS Recovery. This fully automated ship is capable of evacuating large populations without risking the lives of Starfleet personnel. It’s not all plain sailing however, as the onboard computer becomes corrupted and is on the brink of starting an interstellar war.
There are better Star Trek books out there, but like all obsessive, I know we like to read the entire series in chronological order. If you’re a Trek fan, you’ll enjoy it. If not, this won’t be a good introduction for you.
There are better Star Trek books out there, but like all obsessive, I know we like to read the entire series in chronological order. If you’re a Trek fan, you’ll enjoy it. If not, this won’t be a good introduction for you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews