Death's Angel

Star Trek Adventures #15

by Kathleen Sky

When ambassadors on a sensitive Federation diplomatic mission are murdered one by one, Kirk and Spock realize they are dealing with a being of seemingly supernatural abilities. Now the entire crew of the Enterprise is at the mercy of this mysterious, self-proclaimed Angel of Death, which the most sophisticated Starfleet technologies are powerless to stop.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek Original Series, Ebooks, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy

Paperback

First published April 1, 1981

About the author

Kathleen Sky is the pen name of Kathleen McKinney Goldin, an American science fiction and fantasy author.

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

God in heaven these early Trek novels are full of preposterous entries...and that's being diplomatic. This one creates the ultimate Mary-Sue experience while trying to replicated the TOS episode "Journey to Babel" to the power of 10. The main characters are so mischaracterized as to be offensive, and the entire story reads like fan fiction that is so poor it gives a bad name to other examples of poor fan fiction. The early Pocket Books TOS novels are positively Tolstoy by comparison to this insanity.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that went downhill fast!
For the first third of DEATH'S ANGEL, it seemed Kathleen Sky had learned from her mistakes in writing the atrocious VULCAN! and fashioned herself into a capable STAR TREK author. Unfortunately, however, that impression was short lived.
The instant Act II begins, Ms. Sky reverts to the same storytelling techniques that made VULCAN! so painful. After setting up an intriguing little murder mystery aboard the Enterprise, Ms. Sky switches focus to a new female character who instantly reduces the story to the level of bad fanfic. Because, as with VULCAN!, the addition of the new character smacks of poorly disguised wish-fulfillment fantasy. This character is gorgeous, intelligent, highly capable, and intensely desirable. All the Enterprise crew fawn over her, despite the fact she holds the entire ship at her mercy.
Good grief, where to start with this book?
First of all, Ms. Sky seems unable to portray alien races without basing them on Earth animals. We have a koala bear alien, a snake alien, a rabbit alien, even a vampire alien... It gets old quick. Next, she is prone to altering the STAR TREK universe in ways that don't make sense. In DEATH'S ANGEL, for example, she introduces an entirely new organization called the Special Security Department (SSD), the members of which outrank even Star Fleet officers. Who knew! We also learn that, in the future, marriages are only temporarily binding and must be regularly renewed. Perhaps that makes it more excusable for Kirk to hit on a married woman--I mean, since her marriage contract is about to expire, where's the harm?
Speaking of Kirk, Kathleen Sky once again portrays him as a high-functioning horndog who cares more about getting laid than performing his duties properly. When the SSD officer threatens to blow the Enterprise to smithereens if Kirk doesn't comply with her murder investigation, his response is to...wine and dine her?
And Spock... Spock basically exists in this story to make Kirk look stupid. He constantly points out--in public, I might add--how illogical or unreasonable Kirk is behaving, and Kirk never seems to mind. (Apparently, Spock also gets pretty rapey in this book, but I didn't stick with it long enough to find out.)
Suffice it to say, DEATH'S ANGEL winds up being pretty terrible. Which is too bad, considering it was off to a good start. Ultimately, though, it's another case of "What was Bantam thinking?!"

[Reesha · Rating 1 out of 5]

A truly terrible book. Not quite as bad as Vulcan! (same author) but only barely. I'd give it 1.5 stars if I had the option.

The main character is clearly the author's avatar-of-perfection (i.e. Mary Sue); the whiny husband is an uncharitable avatar of the author's ex (same number of years in the marriage and everything!); Dr. M'Benga is a mass murderer; Dr. McCoy is a rude letch; Spock is a rapist - oh, but it's okay. Because it's POSSIBLE that MAYBE the unconscious woman LIKED IT. (???!?!?!?!?!)

The only main cast member that could be said to be in character was Kirk, throwing himself at anything vaguely feminine that walks by as usual. ...Of course, then he cried about it, so never mind.

Like Vulcan!, this story is packed with internalized misogyny so glaring and obvious that it makes one sick to read it.

The only reason I rate this one higher than Vulcan! is that some of the ambassadors are silly and fun and enjoyable to read about. They're all equally ridiculous, but that happens in Star Trek sometimes and can be a good time. But neither they nor the recycled plot of Journey to Babel are anywhere near enough to save the book.

I'm reading every Star Trek novel in the order it came out and I'm just crossing my fingers that this is the last one this person wrote. Bleh!

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoilers:

It's 'Journey To Babel' on a bigger budget with ambassadors from every phylum and species: lobsters, pandas, kitties, snakes. I love 'J To B', so well done. It's a murder mystery, Sarek is back, and so is a severe, driven Mary Sue from (essentially Section 31) the SSD. She's a beautiful multiracial black-clad judge, jury and executioner with a failing term marriage. She seems rational, so I preferred her to Ms. Sky's other Mary Sue, the Vulcan hater in 'Vulcan!'.

The unstoppable killer who vanishes through walls and ends each ambassador opposed to peace with the Romulans is, coin a phrase, facinating.

How do I fathom the canonicity? M'Benga murdered in his sleep while on SPACE POPPIES and is sent to rehab on Vulcan. But plenty of other stories used M'Benga since then without mentioning this tiny indiscretion.

I like the story, so in my personal canonicity, somehow rehab went so well that he soon returned to duty on Enterprise.

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosmico. Insidioso. Particolare.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Enterprise is carrying ambassadors on a diplomatic mission to meet with the Romulans. Then the killings start.
Anentertaining re-read
Star Trek trek Adventures 10

[James Herring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Kathleen Sky's 'Vulcan!' book and this one also does not disappoint. I like how she uses our favorite characters but doesn't make the book about them. Also, she highlights great organizations and expands the Trek universe in a logical sense. This is truly for the lover of the original series. If you want J.J. Abrams lens flare or whatever this latest atrocity STD, you probably won't appreciate her style.

In any case, she introduces us to another diplomatic mission the Enterprise has to undertake. Also a bevy of unique and interesting ambassadors that Sarek (who else) is riding herd on. And like before, a murder happens. Then another. The ambassadors call for the Special Security Division (SSD); something akin to the Texas Rangers, to protect them and find out what's going on. We meet beautiful and intelligent Colonel Elizabeth Schaffer. She is having some personal marital issues, and seems to be a step behind whoever is murdering the ambassadors. Yet, she is a strong and likable character because she is not perfect.

I can not say enough good thing about this book. Her books are among my most favorite as it lets you put yourself into the story as one of those other characters; you know, the ones you see our favorite primary characters strolling by in the corridors.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very light read, too light really. The characters were only "alive" because I've seen the show, not because of the writing. I also felt there was too much focus on the writer's character (basically imagine a toe-headed Tolkien elf) not the actual crew. Heck, aside from Kirk (who of course falls in love with our O.C.), the crew felt like wallpaper. And the invention of a secret service I've never heard of in canon threw me off, to the point I wondered if the author miswrote Section 31.

Spock having mind sex with a unnamed lieutenant then seeking comfort in the the arms of the O.C.? Oh please! The second Spock realized he was having an unauthorized out of body experience he'd have gone straight to the Captain or McCoy. The whole thing made me scratch my head. Then she lectures Sarek? Completely dodges McCoy and his scans? Uhhhh, yeeeahh, nooo. The premise would've made for a good episode of the show though. Oh wait, it was an episode, the author even mentions it.

Funny, the more I write, the more I realize I don't care for this book. I wouldn't recommend it. I did, however, love the cover art by Bob Larkin. It's gorgeous (not the cover pictured on this app), shows Death holding the Enterprise in an hour glass.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is definitely a taste of the old school TOS in the writing and there are parts of the story that are quite creative. Perhaps if I had first read this in 1981, I would have enjoyed it more. Sadly the Judge Dredd SSD is an insult to the “affirmative, shining, positive view of the future” that George Takei described as Roddenberry’s future. It is also possible that in the early 80s the inherent misogyny, even with a female co-lead in the story, tinged with a bit of racial/species superiority may not have been as evident to most audiences. But it has not aged well. Finally, the frequent disregard for veterinarian studies…. Are you serious? How is that like the science-loving Federation we have grown to love? Sadly, this story has not aged well and I would not recommend it for a modern reader of the Star Trek franchise.

[Wren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was bad. Like, so bad it makes you wonder how this got published. I believe most of my thoughts on the book can be summed up by the phrase "he wouldn't do that"

I knew we were in for trouble when Ambassador Sarek, a Vulcan, shook Captain Kirk's hand. Sure, I'll give Ms. Sky the benefit of the doubt, the lore around Vulcans and physical touch either wasn't as developed by 1981 as it is now, or wasn't easily accessible. REGARDLESS, we have seen Sarek and Kirk meet, in S2 E10, "Journey to Babel" and they did not shake hands then. Instead, Sarek gave Kirk the Vulcan salute, as Vulcans do when they meet people.

Actually, scratch all that. I knew we were in for trouble when McCoy used the phrase "as helpless as a five year old with Down's Syndrome" which is just not how his idioms were in the slightest. It would've been something more Southern, like "as useless as a steering wheel on a mule" or what have you.

Honestly I feel clickbaited by this book. The cover has this absolutely gorgeous painting of an astral grim reaper holding an hourglass with the Enterprise trapped inside, the book has a banger title, and the synopsis on the back indicates a McCoy-centric book as he tries to save Kirk and Spock.

The general plot of the book revolves around ambassadors being transported by the Enterprise to peace talks with the Romulans, when they mysteriously begin to be murdered one by one. It's like Journey to Babel, only worse. Far worse. Despite the fact we've seen how Kirk acts in a situation like this, he instead generally seems to show no real concern about the fact multiple ambassadors have been murdered on his ship and reluctantly calls in Schaeffer for help at the behest of one of the ambassadors.

Elizabeth Schaeffer, what I can only assume is Kathleen Sky's self-insert, shows up as a part of an elite Federation security force that operates as judge, jury, and executioner (something we are reminded of time and again due to Elizabeth's habit of threatening to kill people for not telling her things, including threatening to blow up the entire Enterprise immediately on arrival, which Kirk is just...fine with) and is described as a sensual mixed race woman who immediately has every male member of the crew a babbling wreck before her irresitable charms. Her competency is shown only by making everyone else around her extremely incompetent, and even then you never really get the impression she has any idea what she's doing. Elizabeth is also dealing with a failing marriage to a whiny, immature man named Alexis, which I'm sure wasn't related at all to the fact she was working through marital troubles herself at the time. Anyway, I hope you get to care about their marriage quickly, because we spend pages on it pretty much every chapter.

Speaking of incompetence, every single actual Star Trek character has been boiled down to a one-note parody of their original selves, with two out of three dimensions and all competency stripped away entirely. Kirk is a relentless, immature womanizer who quite literally tells an ambassador to her face he would like to have sex with her. (Again, he wouldn't do that). Spock is both overly logical and overly emotional, disagreeing with Kirk in favor of bolstering Elizabeth's points and also essentially having an emotional breakdown in front of Elizabeth, but don't worry she helps him through it. The cause of said breakdown is the fact that he, while astral projecting, RAPED A YOUNG LIEUTENANT IN A DREAM. But don't worry, because "she enjoyed it" and also it's all good because he wiped her memory after. I cannot stress enough how Spock would not do that.

Even Sarek isn't spared, being reduced to a feeble wreck wracked with personal guilt over the murders who, once again, is only made to see the logical side of things by Elizabeth.

Beyond my gripes with Kathleen Sky's treatment of the existing characters, I wasn't fond of her aliens either. I've seen a few people laud her creativity in their design, but I would disagree heavily. For the most part, they're just anthropomorphized Earth animals. We have a cat, a koala bear, a lamprey, a lobster, a beetle, a snake, a crocodile, and then a mermaid, a vampire, and a pyramid. It reads like a collection of fursonas and OCs rather than aliens. Also the pyramid was named Hotep and I find that incredibly lazy. I also had to read the name "Fuzzybutt" in a Star Trek novel with my own two eyes and frankly I didn't like that.

Overall, I can't say I recommed this book to anyone. If I could give it 0 stars I would. Even if you're not a fan of the series, it's just not a good book. Elizabeth isn't likeable. Characters who were likeable in the show are made incredibly unlikeable. It just sucks, and I'm sorry to Bob Larkin that such a cool cover image was wasted on such an awful book. This was the last of Bantam's Star Trek novels, and I suppose in that case it's fitting that it was Death's Angel that killed them.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 1981, Kathleen Sky's "Death's Angel" tries to be a decent early Star Trek novel with what technically could be 2 books instead of 1. The beginning of the book has Kirk & Spock barely surviving an encounter with spores on the planet Delta Gamma Four with a mystery that confounds McCoy. Jump a couple of weeks into the future and the crew of the Enterprise is tasked with transporting a myriad of species of ambassadors to Detente Station One to work on a detente with the Romulans. When the ambassadors start to come up dead with visions of an Angel of Death, Sky's novel turns into a mystery at times means well until the introduction of Elizabeth Schaeffer out of the SSD which adds a character with problems of her own. It's nice to see a novel out of this era actually use the Romulans even though we never formally see them and also the use of Sarek and the reference to Babel is a plus. Additionally, the variety of species that are mentioned in this book is something that makes these characters perfect for a novel or something that "Star Trek: The Animated Series" could've done as well. The book though is hindered by Schaeffer's character & drama which could've been left out of it as well as an ending that almost seems too convenient and feels rushed. This is not the worst of the Bantam era Trek novels & technically is one of the better ones.

[Robert D · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Enterprise is again tasked with transporting Federation Ambassadors to a possible peace conference with the Romulans. Leading the ambassadors is Sarek, Spock's father. During the journey ambassadors that oppose the detente start dying, for no apparent reasons but with strange circumstances. When one of the ambassadors claims to have been visited by the Angel of Death, warning him to change his vote, it looks like murder. The ambassadors demand that the Special Security Division be called in to investigate.

I don't mind when an author brings in a new character to the Star Trek line up in order to tell the story. But when said character forces all the usual Star Trek characters to be mostly sidelined and only used to add a bit of color or even point to as suspects, then the story starts to feel less like a Star Trek story. Sarek was underused so much that he really should not have been introduced. Everything shifted to the focus of the new branch of the Special Security Division that came out as a cross between the Texas Rangers and Judge Dredd.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started superbly, feeling like a reworking of Journey To Babel but with a bigger cast and with higher stakes. But it goes south pretty quickly. The guest character is an agent of what is obviously going to become Section 31 (I hope Ms Sky got a royalty from that), and then equally quickly takes over the telling of the story. And this is a great way to look at the characters, but the tone of the story is completely off. What should be a dramatic, tense thriller becomes a rather jolly spoof on cozy locked room mysteries. One character even dresses up as Sherlock Holmes to help in the investigation of the murder, and they are supposed to be a damned diplomat! It just feels all over the place, and when the only storyline that is treated with any kind of seriousness is the one where the guest character has issues with her marriage and is considering a relationship with Kirk, then you know the story is in trouble. Oh, it also features a mental duel involving Spock, for those that have been following my cliche list in other reviews.

[Jason Fawkes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well it's better than her other trek novel, the shockingly awful "Vulcan!" It actually starts ok, apart from making the common mistake of these pretty amateur early Trek novels and emphasizing the redshirt nature of everyone not an established character, though it breaks this rule at the end. Then the impossibly gorgeous and gifted in every way (genetically engineered and raised as a security agent, just mull that one over) Colonel Elizabeth Schaeffer turns up, part of a disturbing, incredibly resourced Federation security force that operates outside the law - like the version of Section 31 seen in Discovery. However, she is as emotionally stable as a drunk 13 year old, as is everyone else, for that matter, much given to deep conversations about their feelings and psychology with people literally just met.
This version of the Federation is Love Island with Fascist Security Police.

[STU · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a murder mystery but not a great one.
The main investigator was not overly well written. Built up as being a complete hard-ass from the particular agency with augmented skills that can't be talked about. But then proceeds to be perfectly ordinary and friendly and vulnerable and falls into a tantrum when the stress of the answer just falling into her lap doesn't seem to occur. Does not appear to have any special investigative skills at all.
James Kirk portrayed as a very shallow womaniser but somehow this investigator falls completely for him and seriously considers a marriage proposal. This romantic development was a bit cringeworthy how it developed.
I also found it reasonably predictable how it would mostly go.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Following the best in the Bantam run with just about the worst. Kathleen Sky continues in her second book with a ton of internalized misogyny, a literal menagerie of weird aliens, and more references to the "Sigmund" (without explanation this time because she assumes you've read the previous book). None of the established characters speak or act in any way like they do on the show. And the less said about the random unspeakable act that "Spock" is involved in, the better.

I'd almost rate it up slightly for being a sort-of-interesting detective story, but somehow the badass omega-detective still manages to be a prisoner to helpless "but I'm a li'l lady" cliches that are beyond tiring as the book drags on.

[Karen Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder on the Enterprise! More than one, as ambassadors opposed to peace talks with the Romulans are being killed by an assailant who can seemingly vanish into thin air. Kirk, just getting over being put into a coma by mysterious spores during the exploration of a new planet, is forced to stop his ship dead in space while an iron-willed security agent hunts for the killer. The Enterprise crew takes a back seat to the agent in the story as her manhunt (or alien-hunt) as well as a marriage on the rocks take up a lot of the book. It is a good story, but may turn off long time Trek fans. Journey to Babel meets Agatha Christie.

[Dave Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the mystery and the cast of characters/ambassadors but the writer's handling of the stand-in for the reader (Elizabeth Schaeffer) was hard to stomach. The soppy love story regarding Kirk and the pages devoted to her failing marriage were so out of place. She did a great job with the ambassadors and the big reveal was satisfying. But the rest of it was a messy romance novel.

[James Hearn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like aspects of it.

Like the mystery, like some of the characters. The actual murderer is quite a surprise.

The romance angle is irritating. Way more time invested in the main character's relationship than I care about. But, I'm forced to admit the the conclusion would not be possible without it.

[Danny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worse than Vulcan! from the same author. It's bad. let's just leave it at that.

[GB · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disliked this book just as much as the first time I read it.

[Michelle Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a mystery novel, when several ambassadors are murdered the enterprise must call the specail ops in, the lady chosen must act as a detective trying to solve who did it.
Interesting read for sure.

[Tom King · Rating 1 out of 5]

while technically readable, it is hard to believe the author has anything but barely-vailed contempt for the Star Trek world, its ideology, and its recurring characters.

[John Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I heard that the original title to this was "Working Through My Personal Problems By Writing Bad Trek Fanfic", but was ultimately changed because Bantam couldn't fit it on the cover.

[Kory · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucks.

It really lost me when Spock rapes a crew member.

Also, the federation having a Judge Dread style police force was ridiculous.

Please do not read this book.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been a tight little mystery, but it's laden with nonsense on all fronts. I'm going to take a breather for a day or two, focus on non ST books.

[Denise Dion]

This book was written in 1981. I bought this book when I was probably in my early 20's. I didn't remember a thing about it. Now 20 years later I picked it up and read it...and loved it. I think the author did a great job with the character Col Elizabeth Schaffer. She is tough as nails, strong capable, doesn't take any shit from anyone. Plus she stands toe to toe with the Captain.

This book is 30 years old, and you can scream Mary Sue all you want but to have her husband as the insecure spouse wanting his wife to come back to him, to save their marriage, I think it was a welcome change. He is such a child. Just adored her character so much.

The ambassadors on board are pretty cool, all different, and have a unique culture of their own...and what they believe to be the Angel of Death.

The only thing that did surprise me was the killer. And I won't say who it is, if you haven't read it.

Great book. I recommend it.

[Tim Ristow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Starts out ok but really drops off about a third of the way through when Sky introduces her female security character. That character takes over most of the storyline at that point and - worst of all - is just not interesting. The cast of Trek regulars plays second fiddle to her, which is a shame because the story does start with promise and I was starting to get drawn in to it. Its a shame. I pity Sky's view of her own gender as she has a tendency to create females characters that are just plain annoying (the Vulcan hater in her other Trek novel, "Vulcan!", is perhaps the most annoying character ever created in Trek fiction - and not in an interesting way but in a way that makes you want to stop reading the book immediately). The best thing about this book is the cover art, which in the case of the original Bantam edition, is one of the most intriguing artistic depictions of that early Star Trek book line.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lord, what a mess!

So little here that actually feels like Trek.
If they'd changed the names of the Enterprise crew, you'd have a decent bit of old fashioned space opera, but as a story that's supposed to be Star Trek, it fails miserably.

The mystery is weird and never quite works, the guest stars are treated as more interesting then the Trek crew, and they are, as none of the Enterprise crew feel on model.
The romance is shoveled on and is pretty painful to read.

While I was annoyed that the author didn't use any recognizable Trek aliens in her diplomatic conference, some of her aliens were really interesting, especially as a novel has no make up restrictions, so they could be weird and non-human.

and the author basically invented Section 31, 30 years before that ever appeared on a TV screen.


There are good parts here, but they make an incredibly uneven whole.

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would have been three stars, but it started slipping with a bit too much focus on Kirk-as-Lothario, and then lost me when Spock admitted to raping another crew member...and then it was written off as "not really" rape because he was being influenced and she enjoyed it, even though she was asleep and he used his telepathy to keep her that way and remove her memory afterwards). With some judicious editing, it could be a solid three star, but as it is, being written thirty-five years ago and before there was much actual oversight over the books really shows.