Crisis of Consciousness

Star Trek: The Original Series

by Dave Galanter

The crew of the USS Enterprise is completing a diplomatic mission with the Maabas, an alien race with whom they'd been sent to sign a treaty. The Maabas are a peaceful people who are not native to the star system they now inhabit, but were refugees from a great war long ago. Several hundred thousand took shelter on their new planet, and have been there for thousands of years. While they have warp capability, they do not travel the stars, but seek to explore within. The Federation's interest is in the Maabas's great intellectual resources. Their science, while behind Federation standards in some areas, excels in others. They are highly intelligent, with unique approaches, and their philosophy is in line with that of the Federation. But just as the pact is signed, the Enterprise is attacked by an unknown ship. They manage to show enough force to keep the alien vessel at bay...but a new danger arises, as their mysterious foes are the Kenisians -– a race that used to inhabit this planet thousands of years ago, and now want it back.

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

390 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 28, 2015

Reviews

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

Getting a jump start on my Star Trek reading marathon...which officially starts on Sunday!

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel that makes a definitive statement about what "Star Trek" stands for: the action, the thrills, the shooting all come in-between the talking, the debating, the contemplating, the diplomatic maneuvering...and it's all done magnificently. My only complaint about this novel is the fact that it stretches the delay tactics near the end a bit too long...in order to keep the Enterprise from initiating the climax too soon. But that quibble aside, this is exactly the kind of intelligent entertainment I want from my classic "Star Trek".

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a long 'n' plotty story full of interesting new aliens, moral dilemmas, Kirk being an overprotective Captain, and Uhura and Scotty getting some great character moments.
Oh, and Spock being sneaky. Highly recommended!

[Aron · Rating 4 out of 5]

One the best TOS novels I've read to date! David Galanter's words are captivating & imaginitave, plus his grasp of the characters we all know & love is nothing less than perfect. I thought the plot was excellent, I loved the idea of a splinter group of ancient Vulcan's, or possibly a splinter group of what would become the Romulan's fracturing off & developing a society with practices unique to themselves. A skillfully written TOS adventure,....highly recommended!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very solid entry in the Original Series line of Trek novels, and one of my favorites to date! The novel delves into some very interesting concepts and ideas, and the crew of the Enterprise is in top form here as they work to solve the mystery and save the galaxy once again. Dave Galanter's work has quickly become some of my favorite Trek fiction, and I hope that we can get more of his work soon!

Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2015/05/C...

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely well done "Star Trek" novel that places the crew of the "Enterprise" in an entirely new story, but maintains all that is great about "Star Trek". The concept of a Vulcan-esque species which carries hundreds of katras in its head is a truly fascinating concept. It was a well done book, and well worth your time.

[Tim Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my comfort reads is a Star Trek novel and this one by author Dave Galanter, copyright 2015, did quite nicely. Firmly in the galactic politics/military adventure plot type, the story has the Enterprise at the start of the novel on a mission to the Maabas, a formerly isolationist alien species, a treaty mission as the Maabas are joining the Federation. The Maabas are not native to the star system they currently inhabit, having fled an aggressive conquering species apparently unknown to the Federation, but have lived on the planet for millennia. In return for protection and trade, the Maabas seem poised to offer to the Federation a lot of technological advantages, some from their own efforts, others coming from Maabas research into the sophisticated technology left on the planet from its previous inhabitants.

And while the Enterprise is there, those previous inhabitants, the Kenisians, show up and would the Maabas leave their planet, please and thank you. Though Kirk and company quickly figure out the Maabas knew this was likely to happen soon, a treaty is a treaty, so the Enterprise, all by herself, has to defend the Maabas. Kirk and crew would strongly prefer a peaceful, diplomatic solution to the benefit of all parties, so they get to work to find out what the Maabas knew, what the Kenisians really want, and why, and if the Kenisians won’t listen respond to diplomacy, how to defeat them.

One of the main characters of the Enterprise crew is off by himself most of the book, that worked well both to highlight the character and to also give some spotlight to the characters that had to fill in back on the Enterprise, so a win-win in my opinion. The author has several new characters of importance, notably an Ambassador Pippenge of the Maabas who figures prominently in the story, Lieutenant Carolyn Palmas (the ship’s archaeology and anthropology officer, important at first for details relating to the Maabas and the treaty mission, later becoming important in other ways), and Ensign Chris Jolma (very new to his job, learning the ways of Starfleet and determined to do better). Scotty late in the book gets some nice attention, largely because of interaction with the one of the characters I just mention, and Uhura has some great scenes, though I think depicting Jolma to an extent took away time for Sulu and Chekov, not that the “new ensign who is uncertain in his job” role would work well for either Sulu or Chekov. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy figure very prominently in the novel.

Not a bad story, not one of the best I have ever read, but it moved along nicely and the characters seemed true. The Maabas weren’t especially interesting and I don’t think terribly well described, but the Kenisians were interesting and had a species trait that was both vital to the story and was a really interesting extrapolation of something preexisting in Star Trek lore.

Dave passed away December 12, 2020 from cancer. He was 51. This is the first book of his that I have read and I plan to read more.

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strong 4.5 stars. The Kenisians were a most enjoyable adversary to explore in this novel and the late Dave Galanter crafted an exquisite plot around them. The Spock side of the story was thrilling if slow at times, Kirks and the Enterprise was the action packed portion that balanced well with Spock's mental gymnastics on Zhatans ship. The relationship between Kenisians, Vulcans and perhaps even Romulans would be an interesting area to explore in the future.

[Infosifter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good premise, writing clunky in places

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good ST book! It felt very canon and had an intriguing plot that was written really well. The author really captured the personalities of everyone, and he gave each of them a strong voice. The story read very much like a day in the life of the Enterprise in many ways, as we got to see all the interworkings of the crew from various perspectives! Whether there are diplomatic missions to be undertaken or crises to be adverted, we got to see how all the crew members have their important jobs to play and how they work together to make the Enterprise what she is. It was very Star Trek Beyond in that way, but in novel form we got to see it in even more detail. It was even surprisingly moving at times as we see what McCoy has to deal with, in having to sometimes watch crew members die, only able to do so much to save them. (McCoy's bed side manner is so sweet! It was so sad!)

The main plot had a lot of intriguing aspects as the Enterprise must prevent the genocide of thousands of races as one race, the Kenisians, are hell bent on vengeance at the cost of everything. Spock plays a major role in this, and is a surprisingly intense and moving dilemma for our favorite science officer. As always he struggles to walk the fine line between his Vulcan and human sides in order to achieve his goals. In this story he goes through a heavy trial. I also loved his relationship and rapport with the maabas ambassador, who was hilariously more emotional and expressive. It was a fun contrast, as they both become captives and have to work together. For a character who is so controlled and aloof, he certainly makes a lot of friends and gains trust easily! ;-)

And to make me happy, definitely a lot of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy bromance moments! Where they secretly worry about each other or find comfort and guidance in the other, but of course never say anything out loud! ^_^

Definitely recommend this for all OST fans! Spot on novelization.

[Andrew Beet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the Kenisian race having all these consciousness's
Inside a human host and the consciouness' making all the decisions
In regards to the character of zhatan. I also liked when captain Kirk
tries to convince zhatan to settle on another planet and to make peace
with the mabbas and she says "peace does not interest us" and also Dave
Galanter has done it again with a brilliant star trek novel that I would
definitely read again

[Christopher Backa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. The author captures the original series characters. The conflict revolves around a group of aliens who can't let go of their past or their hate since the personalities are all incorporated in their progeny. Their past is not history it's always in their present.

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all. Started off a bit slow, and there were points during the story that seemed a bit cliche, but overall this was a better-than-average Star Trek novel. Closer to three stars than five, still it was an enjoyable read and made some interesting points.

[V · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this book suffered a bit since it's the third diplomatic mission gone wrong type of story that I read in a row. On top of that the pacing for the first half of the book is pretty slow, and there are a few other choices that made me raise my eyebrows.

In Crisis of Consciousness, the Enterprise is escorting a Maabas ambassador back to his world from a meeting on a Starbase to arrange a treaty for his people to join the federation when suddenly a people calling themselves the Kenisians show up and demand to get the Maabas homeworld back since it was originally their planet long enough ago that all their settlements are ruined.

After a bit of a fight the Kenisians agree to send an ambassador to to the Enterprise to work out an agreement. Turns out that they are another offshoot of Vulcans with a twist: each Kenisian hosts multiple consciousnesses, the more they have the more status they have. I don't really want to hash through the whole plot this time, because eh it was okay, but basically the Kenisians aren't even interested in their planet, they want an ancient weapon they can use to destroy the society who had conquered them to make them leave their first home in the first place. The story ends up being a race against the clock to stop the Kenisians from taking their weapon, mines based off warp technology with the power to destroy the whole galaxy in a chain reaction, and using it against their former conquerors.

In what I felt was a kind of out of place scene that disrupted the flow of the story, Kirk fights some space pirates and finds out that the Kensisians' conquerors don't even exist anymore. Spock saves the day by forcing himself on pretty much everyone on the Kensisan's ship. Yep. Spock uses a weaponized mine meld to incapacitate the Kenisians' who conquered him and save their captain from the group consciousness that were trying to control her and make her go on this completely unnecessary, dangerous revenge mission in the first place.

Then everything is happy. The Kenisians and Maabas decided to form a treaty and live on the same planet together and the Kenisian captain can once again be happy with her gf.

The very end of the book sees Spock considering kolinahr after what he did to protect the lives of the many. I feel like it was... so weird. Spock gets absolutely up in the Kenisian captain's face for trying to force a meld on Kirk to make him do what she wanted and then he spends a good chapter running around and forcing a meld on everybody and their mom. I know he uses the mind meld as a tool in the show but not to this extent. It's clearly left him somewhat traumatized, and he refuses to let anyone help or know about that. That's in character I guess but it's so sad. I'm not sure that it was intended to be that sad but honestly I found it to have horrific implications and I can't really get past it to enjoy this book.

How is the McCoy though? He's good. He gasps in wonderment at one point when Spock agrees with him which I found completely adorable. He doesn't really have a lot to do though until the Enterprise takes a beating so he has to kick into full gear, and then he's too busy to really be present.

All the characterization was good even if Spock was kind of like worrying. I have to say that Scotty probably stood out to me most this time. I liked him connecting with the archaeologist and being so obviously in love with the ship it hurts.

I feel like this review is even more disjointed than usual because my heart really isn't in it so much with this book. I liked the concepts but I don't know.

[Nicholas Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good Star Trek novel. Was there anything wrong with it? Let’s find out.

The story opens with the Enterprise playing chaperone for an ambassador from the new race that has just signed a treaty with the Federation. The starship is bringing him home to his home world (which is really their adopted home). The race is called the Maabas and they were xenophobic before they decided to take a chance and become allies with the Federation.

The Enterprise is attacked (of course) by an unknown enemy who is threatening the Maabas to leave the planet because it actually use to belong to them. Fortunately, Enterprise survives the attack and Kirk decides that this may be an opportunity to try to strike a peace accord with this other race called the Kenisians. The two big questions are: Why did this race leave the planet in the first place and why have they returned at this time?

While this story involves all of the main characters of the franchise, it really is very focused with Kirk and Spock. McCoy’s banter and typical self is on full display here, but the three leads are mainly down to two. While I didn’t mind it I would have liked to have seen more of him and the rest. Sulu and Chekhov have some lines. Scotty gets featured quite well. I was also glad to once again see Uhura get more to do than sit and take phone calls.

The book moves at a pretty fast pace and there isn’t a dull moment anywhere. When some characters get split from the Enterprise I found Mr. Galanter does a good job of balancing both ends.

The story has some ideas about identity that is very interesting to read about. This isn’t only on an individual level, but on a whole group or people scale. The questions of pronoun use is definitely relevant at this time (the book was published in 2015). Furthermore, I love Star Trek stories that like to analyze the mind, especially when it involves Spock.

The only thing that caught my attention is that even though it was done to show certain indecision on a character’s part and add drama to the whole affair, the later-on attack scenes with the Enterprise felt a little more like reasons to extend the novel than the aforementioned.

Overall, though, I enjoyed reading this story.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The crew of the Enterprise have been assigned to escort Pippenge, ambassador for the Maabas people, back to his homeworld, after successfully negotiating a treaty with the Federation. The Maabas are a refugee species, having settled their planet after a great war many years (and light-years) away. Their world has traces of an older, presumably extinct, population on it.

However, upon their arrival in the Maabas system, the Enterprise is attacked by the Kenisians, a race who claims the planet and system as their own. They turn out to be a Vulcanoid race that practices an extreme form of katra transfer, wherein the spirits of many generations of ancestors exists within each modern Kenisian. The Kenisians demand that the Maabas leave the world to them.

Dave Galanter, another long-time Trek writer, starts from an interesting premise here. The idea of generations of minds existing within one physical body is exactly the kind of conceit upon which many episodes of the original Trek series thrived. The commander of the Kenisians, Zhatan, has more katras in her than most others, which proves her merit, but also makes her more troubled. Every decision she attempts to make creates an internal debate between the generations of Kenisians within her, many of whom are still locked into the politics, struggles, and bigotries of their own ages. They see only through the lenses of their own prejudices, and not with objectivity or the capacity seemingly to look at new ideas.

The story employs a familiar action/adventure framework, with Spock and Pippenge kidnapped by the Kenisians, space battles, etc. But eventually the crisis will come down to a question of the relative value of the individual vs. the collective - and whether one being has the right to self-determination or should bow to the will of their ancestors. If you've seen any episodes of TOS, you can guess how things wind up.

But the joy is in the journey, not in the destination. Galanter handles the characters relatively well and writes a novel that very much feels like whole cloth with TOS. And that nostalgic vibe is a big part of the reason I read these books in the first place so . . . mission accomplished!

[Nicky2910 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Trek: The Original Series: Crisis of Consciousness by Dave Galanter Enterprise is on the way to negotiations with the Maabas when a Kenisian ship attacks and claims the Maabas' homeplanet as their long lost homeworld from which they were driven off millennia ago by unknown conquerors - the same ones which centuries later attacked the Maabas and caused them to settle down on the now abandoned planet. Kirk tries to forge an agreement, and the Maabas even suggest that they are willing to share the planet, but it turns out that the Kenisians are more interested in a research facility that they left behind... and waging war on their erstwhile conquerors because the Kenisian mind contains the consciousness of their ancestors.
 
This is an interesting novel on more than one level. As with Galanter's previous entry "Troublesome Minds" this reads like a TV-episode, everybody had something to contribute and the portrayal of the "species of the week" (in this case plural), especially contrasting their different coping mechanisms concerning the same events in their pasts, was engaging. Another distinct plus is the fact that the plot was unpredictable enough with twists and turns to keep me on my toes. Things are not what they seem to be, and mere scanner data turns out to be unreliable when only viewed through the prism of fear and hatred.
 
Essentially, this novel focuses on the question of how different cultures react to one and the same event. Both the Maabas and the Kenisians were attacked and driven off their home planets. Whereas the Maabas reacted by focusing on themselves, essentially closing themselves off for a long time, just now reaching out to other species (although I couldn't quite see the xenophobia that is mentionned throughout, a certain wariness perhaps, but at least the characters we saw were open-minded and pleasant towards new species, even the attacking and threatening Kenisians), the Kenisians cultivated their hatred for the conquerors. Not surprising really, given the fact that the minds of the then attacked people reside within the consciousness of the now acting parties. The Kenisians are described as Vulcanoid, and indeed, they share their looks but also their telepathic abilities (When exactly did they split off the Vulcans? Before or after the Romulans?) - and they developed their own use of "katras" in a kind of amalgamation of the Trill symbiote giving every new host the experience of a previous one, and of course, the Vulcan-style katra. But in both cases the person carrying the katra/symbiote is a clear individual - he or she decides what to do. In the Kenisian case, though, it's a constant struggle between katra and the person carrying them, in the book the person is called a "multividual", up to the katras imposing their will, sort of continuing to live their life, just in another body. Which is what leads to the continued fear and oppression of the erstwhile conquering species and the inability to distance themselves from past and painful events - something which you see every day even in people not influenced by past lives... I'd like to revisit the Maabas and Kenisians on their now shared planet at some point in the future, see how their different views of the world are influencing each other. This point, sharing a planet, having vastly different attitudes should perhaps have been more than merely an afterthought, though. And speaking of katras: Since this novel is set before TWOK or TSS, Galanter treads a fine line revealing this Vulcan custom to the rest of the crew, just remaining inside the canon knowledge.
 
The second facet of this novel is Spock's role in preventing the Kenisians to deploy a weapon that could essentially rip whole solar systems apart. He gets kidnapped to help them work out some kinks with the device (which they were after on the Maabas homeplanet), and essentially finds himself alone with the Enterprise as uncertain backup. When convential means such as delaying tactics or faking information don't work he resorts to using his mental powers, essentially forcing mindmelds and reinforcing the internal struggle within every Kenisian after showing them means to separate the individual from the various katras. As logical as that decision was, Spock is revolted... and takes the first steps to learn about Kolinahr, to purge his logical mind of those feelings of unease and disgust. Actually, we see a Spock later on in "The Undiscovered Country", arguably doing a much more harmful sort of mind-rape for the "greater good", but then again, before that one he had abandoned Kolinahr, died and been resurrected... and no one bats an eyelid about his actions. Which disturbed me greatly, and some novels tried to show the aftermath of and reactions to his actions. Galanter's Spock is pretty straight-forward, his decision-making process relatable which makes his "solution" palatable and his moral conflict certainly sensible. And his struggle is reinforced by the fact that the Kenisian leader early on in the story uses a mindmeld on Kirk which he didn't consent to to get her way... an act by which everyone was horrified. Granted, the circumstances of and the reasons for these acts may not be comparable but it's interesting that Galanter chose this as one reason for Kolinahr, especially in the context of canon usage of mind-melds later on.
 
The downside of this novel is the Enterprise-side of things. They rush to Spock's rescue, but get delayed by every means possible, attacks, mines, even space pirates (which reminded me a bit of those Pakled, with a touch of Ferengi, I guess)... which gets a bit repetitive and drags out too long. There are a few nice scenes, and everyone gets their opportunity to shine (although why McCoy should diagnose someone who just hit his head and has a bleeding head wound with an aneurysm instead of a concussion, or why Scotty should suffer from noteworthy "internal bleeding" in his broken wrist - since every bone has blood circulation, a broken bone means that there's blood in the surrounding tissue - with nothing indicating a damaged radial/ulnar blood vessels compromising the circulation in his hand, remains a mystery to this medical mind), but it's just not the most interesting part of the story, just a tactic to force Spock to do things by "any means necessary", as ordered by Kirk.
 
Overall, Galanter again tells an intriguing story, introduces an interesting moral dilemma and shows that he has a great handle on the TOS-characters and their interaction. Unfortunately, especially in the second part it all gets weighed down a bit by passages that could have easily been shortened or even cut without damaging the integrity of the plot. Still an enjoyable read - and I'm definitely on the look-out for more TOS books by this author.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Believe it or not, this might have been the first Star Trek book that I have actually read. I know, I know... How much of a fan can I be if I haven't read any of the books? Well, ummm....

Anyway, Crises of Consciousness is a story set in The Original Series timeline. Kirk and the crew are off on what appears to be an easy mission, returning delegates home after treaty negotiations. However, once they enter the home system, they are attacked by an unknown race that claims the planet. From there, Spock and one of the delegates gets separated from the rest of the Enterprise and must attempt to stop the Kenisians from completely destroying an entire arm of the galaxy in their quest for revenge against an ancient invader.

Throw in too many near misses space battles, and a race that carries others around in their heads, literally, and you have a recipe for an ok Star Trek book. I found the space battles a little beyond believable. We see only one person die in three major battles. The Kenisians are interesting as a species; they cannot let the past die and it nearly destroys their future. The moral of the story was only a tiny bit heavy handed, and that was because the author had the characters talk about it during the climax of the story.

The climax and denouement feel a bit rushed. I would have liked this part of the story to last longer than two chapters. I would also have liked to read more about how his actions affected Spock, when he felt required to do something morally objectionable. How will these acts affect him further on? There is a glimpse, but I would have liked to read more.

Overall, something to read, regardless of your level of fandom.

[Don Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a Star Trek fan for more than 40 years, I have watched all of the TV series and all of the movies but I have never read any of the novels. Out of the hundreds of novels written, I randomly selected this one to read.

Stardate 3458.2 When I read the back cover of this book, I thought it was going to be a book about property disputes. A race called the Maabas have colonized a world only to find out that another race called the Kenisians also colonized that same world thousands of years earlier. They were forced to leave this world due to an invasion from a third race. The USS Enterprise is sent to meet with the Maabas to admit them into the Federation only to find out that they may be forced to mediate the dispute between the two races. The novel then takes a turn which involves a weapon of mass destruction and a race where several minds/souls inhabit the same body creating a never ending conflict.

For fans of the series, this novel is a quick page turner. As I read it, I could hear the voices of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the crew. Based on this enjoyable read, I will definitely start another Star Trek novel.

[David Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of Star Trek TOS novels, and other than the Crucible trilogy, this is my favourite. The writing is crisp, which I've come to expect from TOS writers, but more importantly, the story itself was a fresh. This is not just another mission. The concept of the multividual appeals to me. Like a lot. The non-Federation characters were intriguing too, and the links to other Star Trek novels, movies, etc., were there (although only the true trekkie will find them all).

I must admit I was skeptical before reading this because I didn't particularly like Galanter's "Troublesome Minds", but this one... yeah. Fans will love it. Marginal fans will appreciate it too.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining Star Trek:The Original Series novel.
Just as Kirk and the crew of The Enterprise are completing a treaty with a peaceful alien race, they are attacked by another race, which lays claim that the planet...
Kirk and crew have to figure out a peaceful solution.
This one was interesting, in that we see The Enterprise take battle damage, and we see the crew deal with it, and the human toll as well.
Spock (who's been kidnapped) stalls for time, and that does get a bit old at times...
But fans of Spock and Vulcan should enjoy this one.

[Kristina Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting tale that in part examines early Vulcan culture and the nature of katras and mind melding. It provides an explanation for Spock's incentive to undertake Kolinahr. In a broader sense it looks at retribution and how actions of one race can affect another seemingly distant species.
Overall this is an intriguing read providing food for thought as well as tension and drama in the plight of the Enterprise. My only complaint would be the suddenness of the conclusion.

[Alex Ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting name for a narrative that revolves around the idea of a people having the tradition of having multiple consciousnesses stored within a single individual, allowing their ancestors to live on inside the psyche of their progeny. I like how the author addresses the distinction between the individual self and desires with the collective personalities that share the same head space, along with the internal conflict that ensues whenever they are not of the same mind.

[Peter Rydén · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jag gillade farten i boken. Samtidigt var det just farten som gjorde att boken fick ett lägre betyg. Tillåt mig förklara... Med en mycket god fart somnar jag inte som läsare och jag kommer snabbt in i ett sammanhang utan att behöva vänta för länge och utan att behöva lära känna samtliga karaktärers alla... karaktärer. Men ibland får jag känslan av att jag missat något viktigt och i de sammanhangen är ju en kortare hastighet en av flera möjligheter för en författare att hålla kvar läsaren.

[Laurie Kazmierczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was ready to read another Enterprise adventure and this one was great. It explored the depths of revenge and bitterness as well as gave insight to the relationship that Scotty exhibited in the episode 'The Lights of Zetar". Mr. Spock is pushed to his diplomacy limits as well as pushing his morals. A fine balance overall. I recommend it.

[Angraecus Daniels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical Star Trek story. Nothing fancy, but moderately entertaining.

Unfortunately, the book has too many view point shifts. And the sections written from Palamas and McCoy's point of view do absolutely nothing for the story. The author could have cut 1/3 of the chapters and made the story better.

[Alastair Toft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old school Star Trek story with themes and new ideas that feel relevant in the present day. Great depiction of the characters and world of the Original Series, although the prose is a bit plain sometimes.

[emil · Rating 5 out of 5]

“you piece of shit Trekkie” —my friend

[Douglas Graney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off really good, tickling where my Star Trek zones like to be tickled. But towards the end went in a number of directions which did nothing other than make the book longer.

[Melvin Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really solid story

Enjoyed this book a lot. Lots of action from beginning to end and lots of interpersonal drama as well. And a morality subplot too. Classic Trek.