Ex Machina

Star Trek: The Original Series

by Christopher L. Bennett

An intense “missing” tale from the beginning of the Star Trek movie era, when the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise was first reunited and confronting issues of both nature of God and artificial intelligence.

Following the events of Star The Motion Picture , the reunited crew of the Starship Enterprise revisits a loose end from their earlier the resettlement of refugee colonists from a destroyed planet, whose lives have depended so long on the godlike artificial intelligence that guided them through space, they ability to survive without it is now in doubt. At the same time, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, back together now after almost three years, must relearn how to work together in a story that examines this iconic relationship as never before.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks, Star Trek Original Series, Novels, Space

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Christopher L. Bennett is a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, with a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in History from the University of Cincinnati. A fan of science and science fiction since age five, he has spent the past two decades selling original short fiction to magazines such as Analog Science Fiction and Fact (home of his "Hub" series of comedy adventures), BuzzyMag, and Galaxy's Edge. Since 2003, he has been one of Pocket Books' most prolific and popular authors of Star Trek tie-in fiction, including the epic Next Generation prequel The Buried Age, the Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations series, and the Star Trek: Enterprise -- Rise of the Federation series. He has also written two Marvel Comics novels, X-Men: Watchers on the Walls and Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder. His original novel Only Superhuman, perhaps the first hard science fiction superhero novel, was voted Library Journal's SF/Fantasy Debut of the Month for October 2012. Other tales in the same universe can be found in Among the Wild Cybers and the upcoming Arachne's Crime, both from eSpec Books. His Hub stories are available in two collections from Mystique Press.
Christopher's homepage, fiction annotations, and blog can be found at christopherlbennett.wordpress.com. His Patreon page with original fiction and reviews is at https://www.patreon.com/christopherlb..., and his Facebook author page is at www.facebook.com/ChristopherLBennettA....

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the sad tales of Ex Machina is that it didn't sell as well as it should have. Chalk this up to an (unfortunate) aversion that many fans have to the post-TMP period, or poor timing of release... I don't know. I do know that Ex Machina is extremely well-written, and after reading most of Chistopher L. Bennett's Star Trek work, I have become a huge fan of his. His Star Trek bibliopgraphy is extensive and impressive, and his first original novel, Only Superhuman, hits bookshelves this October (2012). I intend to check it out, and I urge you to as well! As for this novel, I highly recommend Ex Machina to any fan of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the status quo established by that film. In fact, even if you aren't a fan of that period of Star Trek history, Ex Machina might just make you one.

Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2012/07/e...

[Luke Sims-Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. This novel has everything I want in a Star Trek book. A great story which works so well as a sequel to For The World Is Hollow... and TMP, not only amazing characterisation of the Enterprise crew, but actual character arcs and growth that's totally in keeping with the characters. There are nice continuity flourishes, action and excitement, hard science and times of great introspection. Themes of science and religion, society trying to move forward stumbling then ultimately succeeding.

I could go one, but I'll stop right here. Ex Machina by Christopher L. Bennett isn't just an amazing Trek novel, its the best one I've read to date. To find out this novel didn't sell to well is disheartening, because I would have loved some followups to this one. My highest recommendation.

[Chris Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I recently discovered there were 12 years in-story between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan, I immediately set out to find all the books in this period. This was the first book I picked up. It serves as both a sequel to The Motion Picture and the TV series episode For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. Mr. Bennet does a fantastic job with it. I felt like I read a brand new movie 40 years later.

What makes this novel so much different than other books in the timeline is the effect on the characters of the prior stories and how this book allows so much character development and universe expansion. Most of the older Star Trek novels were designed to be so stand-alone that they added nothing to the universe. As a result, even if the stories were good, they were so generic that you could easily forget the era in which the story took place. Ex Machina solves all that and, as far as I'm concerned, set the standard for how a Star Trek novel should be used to expand the universe.

5 out of 5.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek and religion have an interesting relationship. Gene Rodenberry was proudly an atheist and believed that the future would result in people "outgrowing silly superstitions." Others in the franchise, like Ron Moore, made Deep Space Nine one long rebuttal to anti-religious science fiction.

Some authors have come in one one side or the other but few have tried to deal with the issue from a secular point of view. How does religion impact the lives of people who don't have miracles from the Bajoran prophets to justify their faith? What is the importance, if any, of religion when the deities they worship are confirmed as false?

Shockingly, this isn't just what Ex Machina tackles. It also discusses, in a somewhat off-hand manner, the nature of the Singularity. The Singularity, much like the Tao, cannot be described because both are entities which are indescribable by their very nature. The Singularity is when we reach a point technologically or socially we cease to be able to be understood by normal humans.

Christopher Bennett tackles the Singularity-like event of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and questions what this would mean for individuals seeking religious answers in the cosmos. In short, if you're looking for a god, what happens when a being is created who might as well be one? All of these questions and more get asked during the novels and answered with a somewhat reasonable extrapolation of facts.

The novel's premise is Captain James T. Kirk is still recovering from the events of TMP. Having witnessed William Decker sacrifice his life to become one with V'ger, he's left with a crew which (rightly or wrongly) blames him for their former Captain's death. Spock, meanwhile, is struggling with his recent decision to abandon the pursuit of pure logic to rediscover his long-suppressed Vulcan emotions.

James McCoy is regretting his decision to return to Starfleet. As a result, they are all eager to answer a distress call from a 'Hollow Earth' planet they destroyed the machine god of many years before. This happened in the 3rd season TOS episode, "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky."

Once there, they find the planet is rocked with religious strife as the discovery their machine god was false has not gone over very well with the populace. Likewise, the former high priestess' attempt to indoctrinate them all into a modern secular worldview (we can even say atheist) has only made things worse.

Were this an episode of TOS, Kirk would resolve it by finding the terrorist leader and punching him or convincing everyone that they need to work together with a single speech. Things are a bit more complicated here and Christopher Bennett ties Kirk's cautious approach to events with his recent experiences. He even deconstructs Kirk's rather causal way of dismantling cultures as well as the crew's habit of having once-an-episode life-changing romances.

Part of what I enjoyed about this work is the "new" characters, only barely glimpsed in TMP. The crew of the Enterprise, meant to be the cast of Gene Rodenberry's Phase 2, includes many more aliens than we're used to. Rhaandites, Betelgeusians, and other ones barely glimpsed in the later canon. My favorite of the new crew members, however, was Reiko Onami. A woman who has spent her entire life around aliens, she finds "regular humans" like Doctor McCoy petty and bigoted.

I also was a huge fan of the contrasting characters of Natira and Rishala. Two high priestesses, they could not have more contrasting opinions. Natira embraces her new atheism and Federation agnosticism, feeling it has liberated her from a repressive evil religion. Rishala, however, holds to deep spiritual truths while expressing many of the Federation's highest virtues.

They are twin sides of the same coin but deadly enemies due to how differently their experience with their planet's religion shaped them. In-between them are many characters of varying beliefs, shaping the complicated narrative of the book.

In conclusion, Ex Machina is an excellent story. It's a bit more complicated than most TOS stories and a good deal more cerebral. However, this doesn't mean it's boring. Indeed, I found it incredibly engrossing. Deep characterization mixes with an in-depth analysis of an interesting subject. I recommend all fans of the original series as well as the movies.

9/10

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up reading original Star Trek novels, and there are always bad within the good. Unfortunately, this novel was hard to get through as it combined the worst film and my least favorite episode from the series into a story. The novel takes place after Star Trek The Motion Picture as they go to help the people from the episode, For the world is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. Too many new characters are forced upon the reader as a more diverse alien crew of the Enterprise. The storyline gets bogged down with too many subplots that I really didn’t care how it ended, and it seems to go on far too long. I made it to the end, but just felt I rather be reading some of the older Star Trek novels again.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short refit and shakedown after the V'Ger crisis leads Kirk's crew to Lorini, the final destination of the ship 'Yonada', where Dr. McCoy had married their High Priestess Natira years before.

Lorini is finding its way as a new planetary society, but a faction is desperate to return to the security of the old ways and is willing to kill to achieve its goals. Kirk must integrate his new crew quickly to save a budding society.

Bennett's assured and confident grasp of the 'Star Trek' universe makes this an excellent novel. He has skillfully woven many cross references into his narrative (including a cheeky 'Babylon 5' touchstone), but never loses sight of the story he is trying to tell.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Read this to get the bad taste of Spock Messiah! out of my brain and it’s as bad or worse. Set immediately after ST:TMP it starts with a good premise, a return to Yonada, but buries it with soul-numbingly boring writing. Endless pages of internal dialogue from literally every character, including several “NPC’s” who are added for no apparent reason. The completely un-fascinating sociological mission is about as action-packed as an academic seminar; Spock’s thrilling task? Historical archive research! None of the main cast felt authentic, particularly Kirk. Very not recommended.

[LordSlaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Until reading his Star Trek novel Ex Machina, I'd only known author Christopher L. Bennett as a commenter on the Tor.com website, primarily on the various Star Trek re-watches to be found there. Bennett's comments on Tor are regularly insightful and thoughtful. Sometimes, too, those comments can be overly long and pedantic, as is Ex Machina. Using two Star Trek productions as its source material, the mediocre and muddled third-season episode "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky," and the tedious and overblown first movie, I guess the odds were stacked against Ex Machina being a novel I was going to like very much. Ex Machina has long, too long, didactic passages about history, about philosophy, about religion. Bennett's insights into the psychologies of Star Trek's main characters are deeply thought out, but the long passages of psychological insight are frequently placed to interrupt the flow of the infrequent action sequences. On the plus side, Bennett writes science well and is very good at inventing alien species that are truly alien and not just humanoids with forehead ridges; most notably, the Megarite named Spring Rain Upon Still Water has a refreshingly non-human way of communicating and of viewing and interpreting her surroundings. Overall, Bennett does write very well. And he is apparently a thoughtful and insightful writer. But Ex Machina reads very much like a series of dissertations on various academic topics, at the same time also reading very much like a think piece, like a mental exercise to rewrite the "For The World Is Hollow..." episode to reconcile and explain its various plot problems. I enjoy Star Trek for various reasons, one of which is its blend of philosophy, science, action and adventure, and humor. Bennett's novel contains this blend but it is off-balance, with too much teaching, too many talking heads, and too little leavening with action and humor.

[Christopher Backa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A radical atheist, a religious zealot, and people who just want to practice their faith in peace. The people of Yonada from the episode For the world is hollow.. have finally arrived at their destination. Tensions are running high as the government cracks down on religious freedoms, trying to extinguish it altogether. The leader, Natira calls starfleet for help in putting down terrorists. In comes the Enterprise hot off their mission to stop V'Ger. With V'Ger's evolution being seen as a religious event in some circles of the Federation, and Kirk's reputation as a "God Killer" the Enterprise is sent to help the situation. What could possibly go wrong? This book is definitely worth the read. It is a very Star Trek style book exploring science, religion and history, and can this society continue on the path it is currently on. The book also explores Kirk, Spock and McCoy dealing with the ramifications of the events as seen in Star Trek The Motion Picture. The crew is still undecided on what to think of their new Captain, the ship is still going through its shakedown cruise. The book is pretty relevant given what is going on with Islam in the Middle East. In the book the Enterprise team has an honest discussion about the religion of Yonada, while we can't even have an honest discussion here on earth. if you like the motion picture era of Trek, this book won't disappoint.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just didn't do it for me. While it did add some depth to Decker and Spock, it felt more like a sequel to the TOS episode "For the World is Hollow" than a bridge between TMP & Khan. I haven't seen that episode so it was a little hard to care about the characters or follow all of the references. This wasn't what I'd hoped it would be.

[Alexandru · Rating 1 out of 5]

No more star trek romantic happy-endings for me.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really isn’t a full on review of the novel as I don’t have that kind of time right now, so I’m just going to leave the notes I took while reading the book. In the notes I mention how much Christopher L Bennett ties into canon and officially produced non-canon sources (it’s really a lot) and if you are like me and recognizing a call-out without fully understanding the whole context drives you up the wall, please go to the Memory-Beta fan site and look up Bennett’s entry. From there is an annotation list that covers 99% of what you are looking for. Now my notes…


Not kidding about picking up right after the V’Ger incident—only a few weeks if that much has passed. The young officer with the really big forehead lobes that Uhura talked to on the bridge near the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture gets a name (Zaand) and is fleshed out a bit. A large part of this novel is dedicated to the crew and ship still trying to find equilibrium after the end of STTMP. Also, we get easily accessible names for many of the species that were created specifically for the film. Additionally there are also lots of asides to a few Star Trek: The Original Series episodes (especially “For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky”) and events that give a really nice “lived-in universe” feel. The only downside to all the asides and the close continuity to TMP is that the first quarter of the book can be a little daunting to the casual reader (but fortunately I am not).

Tensions remain all through out the crew. Some of the crew feel that Capt William Decker got short shrifted by Jim Kirk when Kirk assumed command during the V’Ger incident and blame him for what ultimately happened to Decker and Ilya at the end of the movie; Chekov seems to have a few issues settling in his new appointment to head of security; Dr Christine Chapel and Dr McCoy kind of bump heads in Sick Bay; and Chief DiFalco—who assumed Ilya’s seat in TMP—wonders if she’s fit to remain in place now that the V’Ger crisis has passed and Kirk now has the opportunity to hand pick a permanent Ops officer.

Kirk struggles with fostering the same kind of crew unity he enjoyed on his first five year mission and is concerned he might not be able to achieve it again. And he has an occasion to re-examine his actions during that 5 year mission and questions whether there was more he could have done and where his ultimate responsibilities for his actions lie

Spock’s has discovered he is no longer completely the same individual he was before his encounter with V’Ger and begins a journey of self-discovery in hopes of regaining a sense of equilibrium. He is both aided and hampered by his interactions with his fellow Vulcans—frequently at the same time.

McCoy’s journey takes him to some dark places as his reunion with former High-Priestess turned Governess Natira goes extremely sour, which touches off a series of events that lead him to a botched medical intervention with Spring Rain, a cetacean like crew member (Megaran). Not the first time he’s been unprepared for a nonhuman member (as Spock could attest), but this time he doesn’t have the aid of Dr M’Benga or another specialist on hand to help out.

A couple of nice touches in the novel are when we are introduced to Rishala, current High Priestess of the Yonandan faith, who despite being built up as a fiery hellfire and brimstone fanatic turns out to be quite reasonable and insightful and then there is a throwaway in-joke where Dr Chapel asks McCoy “…do I look like someone’s mother?” (For those perhaps unaware Majel Barrett-Rodenberry played both Chapel in TOS and Deanna Troi’s mother later on in Star Trek: The Next Generation). We also find out a secret motivational technique that Uhura likes to employ.

A security officer dies near the end of the book that was supposed to be a surprise but was basically a cliche—I had the unfortunate officer pegged for death very quickly at the beginning of the story but hoped I was wrong. My annoyance over this is what stopped me from giving the book five stars. With this death we have lost a connection to explore a culture of a canon race in Trek that is so obscure tgat it is not likely to ever get a second POV character and that bugs the hell out of me (Bennett’s apparently solitary dive into this culture begs further exploration)

By the end of the novel we have a satisfactory climax including a classic Ship In Danger twist worthy of the best TOS episodes (the final scene is very TOS and I love it dearly). Bennett also nicely ties together numerous plot points thematically as well. Definitely one of the best novels the Trek franchise has produced thus far

[Chad]

I would say that this book hits and misses for me. Some areas that I particularly liked was in seeing the characters genuinely struggling to define and understand their roles following the V’Ger incident. We never got much material dealing with what happened between TMP and TWOK so this was nicely placed.

I loved seeing Kirk’s internal struggle with his decision to replace Decker in the center seat as well as seeing reactions from some of the crew as they push back against him a little out of loyalty. From the film, you get the sense a little that most of the crew are immediately on board so I appreciated seeing some of them feeling the need to come to the defense of their captain.

I also appreciated seeing Spock struggling with his new perspective on the balancing act between logic and emotion following his mind meld with V’Ger. And while I thought his displays of actual emotion didn’t work as well for me and maybe went a little too far I did appreciate getting some insight into his challenges.

I didn’t care for how McCoy is written here, presented for much of the book as having no confidence in himself, unsure of how to treat an increasingly non-human portion of the crew and frequently at odds with the people he works with. I think the idea was that he would be more bitter towards Starfleet after being dragged out of retirement and put back into service but I think they went too far with it. McCoy may be known to knock back a drink with his captain but that’s not all he is. I will say that McCoy’s interactions with now Doctor Chapel are done well.

There is also a lot of focus on characters and new technology on the ship that we never really hear about again. Stuff like transporters that remove and replace clothing. Or a medical scanner that makes the skin transparent. There seems to be a new social structure developing on the ship but this doesn’t really go anywhere.

I have read that this was originally intended to be the launching of a novelized second five year mission but that those plans were scrapped for the most part so I have to include that in my evaluation. After all, these pieces that seem to be left behind in this book were likely intended to lead to more books.

This is also a nice follow up to the classic episode, For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. One of my favorite parts of the book is seeing Kirk actually grappling with his actions on previous missions, depriving civilizations of their essential building blocks and then disappearing. He seems to reflect more on his responsibilities to these planets and it makes for some interesting conversation.

The book does maybe try to do too much and at times is a bit on the dry side. Spock’s extensive research into Fabrini society probably could have been condensed a bit but still, overall I would rate this book as successful. It’s lasting legacy will likely be one of unfinished plans as we never got that final connecting point to where Wrath of Khan begins and while I would have liked to have seen this, this book still does nicely with exploring the moral ramifications of events in the Motion Picture and offers an engaging examination of Kirk’s legacy and morality of his intentions.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is kind of a cheat because I already read this book, but because of a writing project I’m working on for some friends I want to read it again. I remember very much enjoying it the first time though.

Actually, the first time I read the book is was for the same writing project, but I never got around to finishing the project - plague and all that - so this time I’m reading it both for pleasure and the writing project.

And man am I enjoying the hell out of it. It’s like watching a movie that has plenty of ‘Easter eggs’ that only you know about. It so nice that someone besides you remember these details! More than that there are so many amazing details that have been added to the book.

New characters with new insights. Old characters with new outlooks, but whose voices are so exacting and accurate that makes it so enjoyable to spend the time with them.

This books effortlessly tells the tale but so well that while it could be a movie it would lose so much detail that it would be a shame.

Chapter 7 is an amazing discussion about the nature of faith, the Prime Directive, James Kirk’s culpability, truth and philosophy and is one of the most amazing pieces Star Trek writing I’ve ever read.

The beginning of Chapter 8 is hysterical.

I’d really forgotten just how good this book is. There’s a wonderful character “Spring Rain” whose outlook is inspiring and unusual. All the aliens are treated as unique individuals.

There’s also a great discussion of how some Vulcan’s could look at Spock as betraying them, even with his stellar reputation. Great meaty food for thought if you like that kind of thing - and I do.

Chapter 11 gives Chekhov some great characterization and even explains how Khan knew him in ‘Wrath of Khan’. I’m always impressed with this author’s deep knowledge of Star Trek and that he’s cared enough to throw things in that only die hards will likely understand.

Chapter 12 has some wonderful depth with McCoy and does a lot to explain some of the weirdness with the original episode.

I never figured out what “STO craft” meant however (p. 257).

Some great inventions with the otherwise terrible aliens of Star Trek the Motion Picture, making them unique and valid in the multi-dimensional Star Trek universe.

Hard to believe this was a first novel, but it’s one of my favorite Star Trek novels and a wonderful edition. I give it 5 stars and keep it.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a rough movie to connect with for a bunch of reasons I won't go into here. There are great character moments, or at least opportunities, in the film but there's not enough. This book does a fantastic job of giving a much needed emotional core to the events of TMP and actually deals with the aftermath of the book. You have Kirk's guilt, Spock's uncertainty, McCoy's loss of footing, a crew's confusion as to what has happened and how to deal with this captain who shoe horned his way into command. Also the diversity of the crew in opinion and in species. It's a veritable cornucopia of potential conflict that matches the actual conflict here.

We revisit Natira, the Fabrini, and the world they have settled after the events of the episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky." This of course makes things quite awkward for McCoy and makes Kirk have to deal with the consequences of leaving a world once he has 'enlightened' them. In this case there is a deep chasm between the old ways and the new and Natira isn't the most understanding of the other side.

It's really fabulous. There's conflict, awesomness, everyone's issues being dealt with or at least confronted, and everyone finding as much of a next step as possible. It really makes TMP that much more worth it as a film and you can tell the author cares and cares so hard about this film and the characters to. Most Star Trek books avoid this era in Trek but I think they avoid it for a different reason since this book came along.

[Bron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this because we had just watched the tv episode For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky. I went to Memory Beta to see if there was any more information about Yonanda, it this book was suggested.

It is set just after the events of The Motion Picture, with a refitted Enterprise still needing a lot of attention from Scotty and his team, and a largely new crew, chosen by Will Decker, now having to serve under James Kirk. In the middle of this time of adaptation and settling down, they are called to Lorina, to help the situation there.

Lorina is the planet where the inhabitants of Yonanda landed. They've been there a few years by now, but learning to live on an open planet in a free society hadn't been easy for all of them, conflict is waxing between those who wish to keep the old ways, those who embrace the new, Federation style ways, and a few groups in between. There's a lot of debate in this book about exactly how to build a fair and balanced society.

It's a slow read if you like a lot of action and heroics in your sci fi but for me it was worth it because you get a lot of information about some individual members of the crew, especially the non-humans, and quite a lot of science about how the Enterprise works (reads like possibly real science anyway)

[John Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite star trek novels I've read so far, I totally agree with the author that this is a very interesting era and there should be a longer series about it. The main cast all have strong arcs, its fun seeing the personal and ship changes that came with the enterprise refit and how everyone acclimated, and the book itself is a more interesting and engaging story than the classic episode its sequelizing, even if you don't like "World is Hollow..." I did have a couple problems, like how the author has a tendency of going on long explanations of things that don't always feel like they need to be explained, one particularly painful example was when two characters start a conversation, then one of them reflects for five pages in his own head on his entire starfleet career history up to this point, then the conversation continues from where it left off. But I would say the character work in this book is so strong and just leaves you wanting for more so it mitigates the problems the book had. Shame the writer was only able to write a couple other books in this era instead of a full series, but I will definitely be checking them out.

[Paul Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A follow up of a sorts to Star Trek: The Motion Picture sounded an appealing idea - but this novel, for me, fumbles it. The writing generally shows sparks of real promise, with an attention to detail and a laudable predilection for hard SF, but it's as if the choice of story focus lets it down. It's really a sequel not to TMP but to the weak Classic Trek episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", returning to the world of Yonada, and hence exploring the nature of religion in its different aspects - from dogma to dangerous fundamentalism to spirituality, thematically linking it with the first movie. The characters act believably - Bennett writes the Big Three very well - and in particular the thought process of Spock who is engaging with emotion and openness after his V'ger experience. And where the novel features the Enterprise and its various different life forms featured only in TMP such as Betelgeusians and Megarites, it is markedly more enjoyable. Sadly, much of the book is taken up by the uninteresting Yonadan culture and tedious treatise on its past.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel does a wonderful job at looking at two aspects of Star Trek. First, the aftermath of The Motion Picture and the fallout that Kirk had to face (both good and bad) not only with how he is perceived by the Federation at large but his crew, a majority of whom are still fiercely loyal to Decker. This part of the novel also ahs McCoy and Spock dealing with their own flaws and how they fit in a world that is seeming to outpace them.
The second aspect is a reflection on society at large as the novel brings a conclusion to the episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky." It is the age old battle of religion versus science and if those two can co exist. I think this book does a wonderful job of bringing depth to characters and showing their battle with their own mortality as well as belief systems.
Wonderful book, highly recommend.

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Bennett's TOS novels but this one is a miss for me. Too much time is spent on either the main plot of what's going on on Yonada and with different members of the crew and with endless discussions about religion. Just pick one, not all three. The religious fanatics were boringly stereotypical though the new alien species were not. But while there was an admirable attempt to get inside wholly alien minds, these characters were only peripheral to the main story, put there, it seemed, to provide counterpoint to deeper characterisations of the usual main characters. I couldn't remember the TOS tv episode this book was following up, which may have helped, but as it was, I skipped quite a lot. Three instead of two only because Bennett is a good writer and obviously puts a lot of effort into continuity, characterisation, etc.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a Trekkie who is a fan of The Original Series, I strongly recommend you check this one out. It takes place two weeks after the events of 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture and serves as both a sequel to it and the 1968 TOS episode "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" (which is also the longest episode title in the entire franchise, fyi).

It's really kind of impressive how elegantly Bennett weaved together the two unrelated storylines and made them naturally serve the story's theme. It also explored some similar themes as DS9 regarding the roles of belief/science in society, but did so in a completely different way that was still just as universally-respectful.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good Star Trek story - one that reprises a story from the 3rd season of the show: For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. It also takes place directly after The Motion Picture, so it provides a nice little bridge between that movie and Star Trek II. I thought the story was engaging, Kirk was not over-written as some blowhard full of braggadocio and instead showed tremendous character growth - something that's rare in both a Star Trek book and in characterizing Kirk in general.

[Elliot Weeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that significantly follows up on a TOS episode as well as provides crucial character insights to Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Mr. Bennett provides connection from the end of TOS to post TMP, showing us how these characters grew into the people they were by the time of TWoK. I really enjoyed his character work. I felt like I was at home spending time with old friends, which is something I’ve always felt about the TOS characters as I’ve watched them onscreen my whole life. It’s nice to have a novel that truly provides that feeling!

[Katie Eckhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

This book just seemed to endlessly discuss the religious beliefs of all the factions of a surviving group of people whose planet destroyed itself. It also discussed (too much imo) the history and secret history of these people as they attempted to start again on another planet. I was excited to go back to where McCoy had his one day marriage, but honestly got so bored I just kept skipping ahead. I just didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t horrible or badly written, just boring to me.

[Andy Stjohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a better read than some of Bennett’s later books such as Greater than the Sum. This books feels like nothing really happens, but it’s a great character study and sets up decent arcs for all the main cast. The new crew is also interesting. Also focusing on the personal aftermath of TMP was nice as it helped developed the characters. But also, when does Spock mention wanting to experience exploring emotion fully in TMP after the mindmeld with V’yger? Also, learning more about the Farbini was interesting and Kirk coming to term with pass actions is good

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a wonderful combination of events after TMP and the original ep "For the World is Hollow..."

Events from both situations play a big part for the crew of the Enterprise, especially for Kirk, Spock and McCoy. I think that Mr. Bennett did a great job with this story. I think it's definitely a worthwhile read. Though the beginning started off slow the story really picked up as time went on and I didn't want to put it down.

[Kosar7480 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good: Bennett has a great handle on the characters. He fills in the gaps of character evolution in the movies quite well. Nice follow up to both the Motion Picture and "For the World is Hollow..." from the original series.

The Bad: It's dense, too dense at times. Pages upon pages of internal thoughts from characters, including minor members of the Enterprise crew. Could have been 100 pages shorter.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow so this is CLB’s first published novel. It takes place after the events of TMP, and I really like the introspective dialogue, especially a moment where Uhura talks with Sulu about how he is as a leader. I did think it was weird when McCoy said Spock is in the closet so to speak due to his emotions, something that kinda shows its age but I don’t think is mean here. There was also an interesting moment where the absence of Archer’s Enterprise in a display is absent by mistake, which is funny.

[David Overstreet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture

A surprisingly deep and emotional journey for all the characters and how they recover from TMP while reconnecting with the characters from “For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky”
Highly recommend for fans of both.

[John Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book from MR Bennett - in depth look at Kirk, Spock and McCoy's characters. Good story telling. Interesting look at religion and fanatics woven into a science fiction world of star trek.