What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Trek #2
Star Trek 2
Once more, Captain James Kirk of the Starship USS Enterprise travels to unexplored galaxies and their dangers with First Officer Spock and Doctor McCoy.
On this trip, Kirk faces death by a tyranosaurlike [sic] creature whom he must kill to survive - without a single weapon; the Enterprise is declared 'destroyed' in a war waged by computers; on a world ravaged by a plague of parasitic creatures who bring death by insanity to their human hosts, Spock is their latest victim; and a deranged McCoy is the cause of a breakneck chase into the past - to save the future!
On this trip, Kirk faces death by a tyranosaurlike [sic] creature whom he must kill to survive - without a single weapon; the Enterprise is declared 'destroyed' in a war waged by computers; on a world ravaged by a plague of parasitic creatures who bring death by insanity to their human hosts, Spock is their latest victim; and a deranged McCoy is the cause of a breakneck chase into the past - to save the future!
122 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1968
15 people are currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
454 books327 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
January 10, 2023
Fans of the original show will enjoy going back over some of the episodes of the first season and enjoy them in narrative form. They are not exact transcriptions so fans can pick out some inconsistencies, but I think the stories work in their own way. Especially, when one considers the distinct medium. Just like Blish’s Star Trek 1, this is a compilation of episodes in short story form. They are not exact transcriptions, which add to the uniqueness of the books. I like both and have only been able to get my hands on 1 and 2, but I will keep an eye out for the rest. Star Trek fans horde these for the special significance they carry. An interesting little side note is the fact that Blish's secretary and his wife, J. A. Lawrence, appear to have written some of these adaptations themselves and used the Blish name, while he was ill, to continue publishing until his death when Lawrence completed some of the books Blish was working on, posthumously.
December 4, 2023
This is the second collection of original series Star Trek episodes that Blish converted into prose short story format. The episodes include Arena, Tomorrow is Yesterday, Errand of Mercy, Court Martial, Operation-Annihilate!, The City on the Edge of Forever, and Space Seed. The scriptwriter is mentioned in parenthesis below the title of each story, but not the original source, so Frederic Brown isn't credited on Arena, which was a shame. Blish includes a note before The City on the Edge of Forever (which was usually selected as the best show in the series by periodic votes by fans) that he attempted to incorporate some elements from Harlan Ellison's original script in his adaptation. Overall, he did a good job of adapting the stories, several of which were among the show's best, for literary consumption.
August 8, 2019
Like a Cliff's Notes version of seemingly randomly picked Star Trek episodes, this book relates some of the most dramatic scenes from the series, including the classic heartbreaking climax of "The City on the Edge of Forever".
However, summaries rarely, if ever, pack the same punch as an original work, so, I'd suggest watching the actual episodes instead.
Plus, one use of a derogatory (at least, in modern times) racial term was surprising.
However, summaries rarely, if ever, pack the same punch as an original work, so, I'd suggest watching the actual episodes instead.
Plus, one use of a derogatory (at least, in modern times) racial term was surprising.
May 14, 2020
good light reading
April 27, 2015
This edition of “Let’s summarize an episode of Star Trek” includes adaptations of Arena, A Taste of Armageddon, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, Errand of Mercy, Court Martial, Operation--Annihilate!, The City on the Edge of Forever, and Space Seed. I can already feel Harlan Ellison spinning in his grave.
Arena is about how I remember it from the show. Blish does a good job setting the scene of the, well, arena world and the Gorn.
A Taste of Armageddon is a brisk retelling, but the characters all feel accurate to the show.
Tomorrow is Yesterday felt like one of those really loud 1960’s computers that Kirk used to talk to death spit out a summary of the episode “BEEP BOOP” The Enterprise goes back in time, picks up a jet pilot, then returns him, then returns to the future “BEEP BOOP”
Errand of Mercy, Court Martial, and Operation--Annihilate! are all just brief run throughs of the working scripts of the episodes, nothing really impressive or groan-worthy.
The City on the Edge of Forever has this little note at the beginning stating that the author tried to stay as close to the script Ellison sent him, and except for a missing scene or two and a change to the closing lines it’s a pretty solid retelling of the episode.
Space Seed is about as quick a run through of Space Seed you could manage without actually cutting plot points. I guess the few extra pages for City on the Edge of Forever had to come from somewhere.
Star Trek 2 is a collection that is very workmanlike. Nothing fancy, get the job done and do it quickly. I can only imagine the policies Blish was working under when writing these. Unfortunately the writing situation doesn’t cound for much in the final verdict. I’m giving this one two of five stars. Only really of interest to the most die-hard of Trek fans.
Arena is about how I remember it from the show. Blish does a good job setting the scene of the, well, arena world and the Gorn.
A Taste of Armageddon is a brisk retelling, but the characters all feel accurate to the show.
Tomorrow is Yesterday felt like one of those really loud 1960’s computers that Kirk used to talk to death spit out a summary of the episode “BEEP BOOP” The Enterprise goes back in time, picks up a jet pilot, then returns him, then returns to the future “BEEP BOOP”
Errand of Mercy, Court Martial, and Operation--Annihilate! are all just brief run throughs of the working scripts of the episodes, nothing really impressive or groan-worthy.
The City on the Edge of Forever has this little note at the beginning stating that the author tried to stay as close to the script Ellison sent him, and except for a missing scene or two and a change to the closing lines it’s a pretty solid retelling of the episode.
Space Seed is about as quick a run through of Space Seed you could manage without actually cutting plot points. I guess the few extra pages for City on the Edge of Forever had to come from somewhere.
Star Trek 2 is a collection that is very workmanlike. Nothing fancy, get the job done and do it quickly. I can only imagine the policies Blish was working under when writing these. Unfortunately the writing situation doesn’t cound for much in the final verdict. I’m giving this one two of five stars. Only really of interest to the most die-hard of Trek fans.
June 4, 2016
Βαθμολογία: 7/10
Τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2012 διάβασα το πρώτο βιβλίο της σειράς, που στα ελληνικά κυκλοφόρησε με τον τίτλο "Ταξίδι στ'αστέρια", από τις εκδόσεις Φλίππερ. Αυτό είναι το δεύτερο από τα συνολικά δώδεκα βιβλία που κυκλοφόρησαν στο εξωτερικό (και ας κυκλοφόρησε στα ελληνικά από τις εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη ως "Ταξίδι στ'αστέρια 1" ή "Star Trek 1"), με τον μεγάλο συγγραφέα της επιστημονικής φαντασίας Τζέιμς Μπλις να προσαρμόζει σε διηγήματα τα επεισόδια της σειράς Star Trek που άρχισε να προβάλλεται το 1966 και ολοκληρώθηκε το 1969.
Οχτώ διηγήματα περιέχονται στον παρόντα τόμο και δεν θα κάτσω να αναλύσω το καθένα. Θα αναφέρω όμως ποια διηγήματα υπάρχουν στην συλλογή και σε ποια επεισόδια της πρώτης σαιζόν της σειράς βασίζονται: 1. Αρένα - Arena (18o επεισόδιο), 2. Γεύση αιματοχυσίας - A Taste of Armageddon (23ο επεισόδιο), 3. Αύριο είναι χθες - Tomorrow Is Yesterday (19ο επεισόδιο), 4. Παραγγελία ευσπλαχνίας - Errand of Mercy (26ο επεισόδιο), 5. Στρατοδικείο - Court Martial (20ο επεισόδιο), 6. Επιχείρηση: Εξόντωση! - Operation -- Annihilate! (29ο επεισόδιο), 7. Η πόλη στην άκρη της αιωνιότητας - The City on the Edge of Forever (28ο επεισόδιο), 8. Σπορά στο διάστημα - Space Seed (22ο επεισόδιο).
Την σειρά δεν την έχω δει, γιατί πολύ απλά δεν την έχω βρει κάπου εύκαιρα διαθέσιμη. Θα την ψάξω όμως. Τώρα, όσον αφορά τα διηγήματα, μου φάνηκαν αρκετά ψυχαγωγικά και ενδιαφέροντα, και στο ίδιο επίπεδο ποιότητας με τα άλλα της προηγούμενης συλλογής. Απλά, με βάση αυτά που καταλαβαίνω, έχω την εντύπωση ότι ποιοτικά δεν φτάνουν τα αντίστοιχα επεισόδια της σειράς, και απλώς λειτουργούν σαν μια έξτρα απόλαυση για τον φανατικό θεατή της σειράς που του αρέσει και το διάβασμα. Η γραφή είναι ευκολοδιάβαστη μα τίποτα το τρομερά ιδιαίτερο - αν και γι'αυτό ίσως φταίει και η μετάφραση, που είναι σχεδόν σαράντα χρόνων! Γενικά πέρασα καλά και θα ήταν ωραία αν έβρισκα και τα επόμενα βιβλία της σειράς. Στα ελληνικά ίσως έχει μεταφραστεί και το τρίτο βιβλίο, πάλι από τις εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη, αλλά θα είναι εξαιρετικά σπάνιο να βρεθεί.
Τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2012 διάβασα το πρώτο βιβλίο της σειράς, που στα ελληνικά κυκλοφόρησε με τον τίτλο "Ταξίδι στ'αστέρια", από τις εκδόσεις Φλίππερ. Αυτό είναι το δεύτερο από τα συνολικά δώδεκα βιβλία που κυκλοφόρησαν στο εξωτερικό (και ας κυκλοφόρησε στα ελληνικά από τις εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη ως "Ταξίδι στ'αστέρια 1" ή "Star Trek 1"), με τον μεγάλο συγγραφέα της επιστημονικής φαντασίας Τζέιμς Μπλις να προσαρμόζει σε διηγήματα τα επεισόδια της σειράς Star Trek που άρχισε να προβάλλεται το 1966 και ολοκληρώθηκε το 1969.
Οχτώ διηγήματα περιέχονται στον παρόντα τόμο και δεν θα κάτσω να αναλύσω το καθένα. Θα αναφέρω όμως ποια διηγήματα υπάρχουν στην συλλογή και σε ποια επεισόδια της πρώτης σαιζόν της σειράς βασίζονται: 1. Αρένα - Arena (18o επεισόδιο), 2. Γεύση αιματοχυσίας - A Taste of Armageddon (23ο επεισόδιο), 3. Αύριο είναι χθες - Tomorrow Is Yesterday (19ο επεισόδιο), 4. Παραγγελία ευσπλαχνίας - Errand of Mercy (26ο επεισόδιο), 5. Στρατοδικείο - Court Martial (20ο επεισόδιο), 6. Επιχείρηση: Εξόντωση! - Operation -- Annihilate! (29ο επεισόδιο), 7. Η πόλη στην άκρη της αιωνιότητας - The City on the Edge of Forever (28ο επεισόδιο), 8. Σπορά στο διάστημα - Space Seed (22ο επεισόδιο).
Την σειρά δεν την έχω δει, γιατί πολύ απλά δεν την έχω βρει κάπου εύκαιρα διαθέσιμη. Θα την ψάξω όμως. Τώρα, όσον αφορά τα διηγήματα, μου φάνηκαν αρκετά ψυχαγωγικά και ενδιαφέροντα, και στο ίδιο επίπεδο ποιότητας με τα άλλα της προηγούμενης συλλογής. Απλά, με βάση αυτά που καταλαβαίνω, έχω την εντύπωση ότι ποιοτικά δεν φτάνουν τα αντίστοιχα επεισόδια της σειράς, και απλώς λειτουργούν σαν μια έξτρα απόλαυση για τον φανατικό θεατή της σειράς που του αρέσει και το διάβασμα. Η γραφή είναι ευκολοδιάβαστη μα τίποτα το τρομερά ιδιαίτερο - αν και γι'αυτό ίσως φταίει και η μετάφραση, που είναι σχεδόν σαράντα χρόνων! Γενικά πέρασα καλά και θα ήταν ωραία αν έβρισκα και τα επόμενα βιβλία της σειράς. Στα ελληνικά ίσως έχει μεταφραστεί και το τρίτο βιβλίο, πάλι από τις εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη, αλλά θα είναι εξαιρετικά σπάνιο να βρεθεί.
April 28, 2011
This is the 2nd of Blish's adaptations of star trek episodes, taking the script and turning them into short stories. This set includes the episode that introduced the Klingons, and the episode that set up the movie "Wrath of Khan". This is Important Stuff.
Some of these match very closely with the aired episodes, some are much more changed, but I noticed the differences in every one.
In my estimation most of them have come out better than the original episodes. Everything that annoyed me, the inconsistencies, plot holes, the illogical bits that really irritated me (why yes I am half vulcan).. well basically they've been fixed. I love James Blish for this, I really do. It's about time I read one of his original novels.
See my other reviews of Star Trek novels:
← Star Trek 1 | Star Trek 3 (to read) →
Some of these match very closely with the aired episodes, some are much more changed, but I noticed the differences in every one.
In my estimation most of them have come out better than the original episodes. Everything that annoyed me, the inconsistencies, plot holes, the illogical bits that really irritated me (why yes I am half vulcan).. well basically they've been fixed. I love James Blish for this, I really do. It's about time I read one of his original novels.
See my other reviews of Star Trek novels:
← Star Trek 1 | Star Trek 3 (to read) →
July 17, 2021
Episode Spoilers
Arena by Fredric Brown and Gene L. Coon – A pretty thin script makes for a short and uninteresting story, and a pretty weak television episode. Kirk and a lizard man from Gorn are placed on a bleak planetoid by superior beings to battle it out using natural resources to try and defeat the other. Kirk shakes up some gun powder and creates a kind of shotgun that takes down the Gorn, but he refuses to kill lizard man. The deus ex machina beings are impressed by humanity’s capacity for mercy and they let the Enterprise go. One of many anti-war themed screenplays in TOS.
A Taste of Armageddon by Robert Hamner – One of my favorites. Another good anti-war story, with Kirk ignoring the prime directive once again. Two planets at war with each other for 500 years have done away with actual weaponry and their war is mathematically calculated to kill about 3 million people a year. The Enterprise is a casualty but of course Kirk won’t stand for that and disrupts their society, assuming the two planets will sue for peace rather than risk actual nuclear destruction. Clever, I thought. Plot still holds up, imo.
Tomorrow Is Yesterday by DC Fontana – Fontana’s stories are always good. This one’s about the Enterprise sling-shotting around a ‘black star’ and ending up in 1970 right before the first moon launch. (This episode aired Jan, 1967, so I guess they didn’t have faith in Kennedy’s prediction, lol). A pilot sees the ‘UFO’ but gets transported before his jet is destroyed. They have to return him, so they slingshot around the sun to go back in time then forward to their own century. One of many time-travel stories, and a pretty good one, but I’ve always wondered, if they could do this once, why doesn’t Starfleet do it all the time?
Errand of Mercy by Gene L. Coon – The first episode featuring the Klingons (“hard-faced, hard-muscled men, originally of Oriental stock” according to the novelization!). The Organians are a placid people, stuck in the middle ages. But the fight is taken out of Klingons and Kirk and Spock when the inhabitants prove to be beings of pure energy. They enforce a treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Not a bad episode, short story was very brief, more like a summary without a lot of action found in the television show.
Court Martial by Dan M. Mankiewicz (teleplay additions by Steven W. Carabatsos) – Kirk is charged with criminal negligence when his friend and subordinate, Benjamin Finney, supposedly dies when Kirk jettisons a pod with Finney in it during an emergency. Attorney Samuel Cogley (excellently portrayed in the episode by Elisha Cook) defends Kirk and it turns out (through a pretty cheesy process of eliminating heartbeats) that Finney is still alive. Pretty good novelization. Not one of my favorite stories but solid.
Operation - Annihilate! by Steven W. Carabatsos – This story could have used a better title. Carabatsos’s original title was Operation: Destroy which wasn’t much better. It’s about those weird cell-like parasites that send their tendrils into the spinal column and cause madness. Spock gets it in the back but can overcome the effects (solid acting by Nimoy, btw), and determines there is a ‘hive-brain’ out there that has to be destroyed (in the novelization, the Enterprise leaves orbit to go find the origin species). Kind of odd that some aliens have to be destroyed while other alien species Kirk decides should live. Thus the title, I guess. Anyway, a fair episode but the solution of light killing off the creatures must have developed after the script was written (which Blish used for his retellings). A good change to the story.
The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison – Blish noted that Ellison’s original story and the final script ‘differed dramatically in some respects’ and so when he novelized this episode he combined the best bits of both. The result is fair – if you hadn’t seen the TV show (an all-time great) you’d not get the wrenching impact of the destiny/free-will tension that I think Ellison (and Roddenberry et al) had in mind. Powerful story, re-telling was okay.
Space Seed by Carey Wilber – A classic episode introducing us to Khan (originally named Erickson and envisioned as a blond Nordic space pirate!). Blish’s novelization referred to him as Sibahl Khan Noonien but during production they settled on Khan Noonien Singh (played, of course, by the wonderful Ricardo Montalbán). The teleplay was reworked heavily by Gene L. Coon (credited as Lee Cronin) and Roddenberry. And there must have been quite a few changes during the shooting as Blish’s account leaves out all the exciting tension at the end of the episode. Great on TV, this version not so good on paper. Also, the story is titled: (Space Seed). Not sure why the parentheses.
Arena by Fredric Brown and Gene L. Coon – A pretty thin script makes for a short and uninteresting story, and a pretty weak television episode. Kirk and a lizard man from Gorn are placed on a bleak planetoid by superior beings to battle it out using natural resources to try and defeat the other. Kirk shakes up some gun powder and creates a kind of shotgun that takes down the Gorn, but he refuses to kill lizard man. The deus ex machina beings are impressed by humanity’s capacity for mercy and they let the Enterprise go. One of many anti-war themed screenplays in TOS.
A Taste of Armageddon by Robert Hamner – One of my favorites. Another good anti-war story, with Kirk ignoring the prime directive once again. Two planets at war with each other for 500 years have done away with actual weaponry and their war is mathematically calculated to kill about 3 million people a year. The Enterprise is a casualty but of course Kirk won’t stand for that and disrupts their society, assuming the two planets will sue for peace rather than risk actual nuclear destruction. Clever, I thought. Plot still holds up, imo.
Tomorrow Is Yesterday by DC Fontana – Fontana’s stories are always good. This one’s about the Enterprise sling-shotting around a ‘black star’ and ending up in 1970 right before the first moon launch. (This episode aired Jan, 1967, so I guess they didn’t have faith in Kennedy’s prediction, lol). A pilot sees the ‘UFO’ but gets transported before his jet is destroyed. They have to return him, so they slingshot around the sun to go back in time then forward to their own century. One of many time-travel stories, and a pretty good one, but I’ve always wondered, if they could do this once, why doesn’t Starfleet do it all the time?
Errand of Mercy by Gene L. Coon – The first episode featuring the Klingons (“hard-faced, hard-muscled men, originally of Oriental stock” according to the novelization!). The Organians are a placid people, stuck in the middle ages. But the fight is taken out of Klingons and Kirk and Spock when the inhabitants prove to be beings of pure energy. They enforce a treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Not a bad episode, short story was very brief, more like a summary without a lot of action found in the television show.
Court Martial by Dan M. Mankiewicz (teleplay additions by Steven W. Carabatsos) – Kirk is charged with criminal negligence when his friend and subordinate, Benjamin Finney, supposedly dies when Kirk jettisons a pod with Finney in it during an emergency. Attorney Samuel Cogley (excellently portrayed in the episode by Elisha Cook) defends Kirk and it turns out (through a pretty cheesy process of eliminating heartbeats) that Finney is still alive. Pretty good novelization. Not one of my favorite stories but solid.
Operation - Annihilate! by Steven W. Carabatsos – This story could have used a better title. Carabatsos’s original title was Operation: Destroy which wasn’t much better. It’s about those weird cell-like parasites that send their tendrils into the spinal column and cause madness. Spock gets it in the back but can overcome the effects (solid acting by Nimoy, btw), and determines there is a ‘hive-brain’ out there that has to be destroyed (in the novelization, the Enterprise leaves orbit to go find the origin species). Kind of odd that some aliens have to be destroyed while other alien species Kirk decides should live. Thus the title, I guess. Anyway, a fair episode but the solution of light killing off the creatures must have developed after the script was written (which Blish used for his retellings). A good change to the story.
The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison – Blish noted that Ellison’s original story and the final script ‘differed dramatically in some respects’ and so when he novelized this episode he combined the best bits of both. The result is fair – if you hadn’t seen the TV show (an all-time great) you’d not get the wrenching impact of the destiny/free-will tension that I think Ellison (and Roddenberry et al) had in mind. Powerful story, re-telling was okay.
Space Seed by Carey Wilber – A classic episode introducing us to Khan (originally named Erickson and envisioned as a blond Nordic space pirate!). Blish’s novelization referred to him as Sibahl Khan Noonien but during production they settled on Khan Noonien Singh (played, of course, by the wonderful Ricardo Montalbán). The teleplay was reworked heavily by Gene L. Coon (credited as Lee Cronin) and Roddenberry. And there must have been quite a few changes during the shooting as Blish’s account leaves out all the exciting tension at the end of the episode. Great on TV, this version not so good on paper. Also, the story is titled: (Space Seed). Not sure why the parentheses.
August 3, 2025
As Mr Spock would say, fascinating. But, I'd also add many of the changes to the original story line were to me, Not better!
Read
December 4, 2014This review also appears on my blog.
James Blish's novelizations of Star Trek episodes continue in Star Trek 2, published in February 1968. This volume includes novelizations of "Arena", "A Taste of Armageddon", "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Errand of Mercy", "Court Martial", "Operation--Annihilate!", "The City on the Edge of Forever", and "Space Seed".
Each short story is typically quite similar to the episode being adapted, though there are some differences. Notably, the ending of "Operation--Annihilate!" is very different. In the episode, they expose Spock to a massive blast of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, and believe that they have blinded him. Upon discovering that the visible light was unnecessary, they regret that they have needlessly blinded him. In the end, though, he recovers, and they save the planet using the same procedure, on a larger scale.
In the short story, the Enterprise instead seeks out the central concentration of the mind-controlling creatures and destroys it with missiles, which leaves the creatures directionless and easily dealt with.
I like the writing in this volume better than that in its predecessor, though I couldn't point at a definite reason why. It still suffers from the problem that the episodes on which the stories are based relied heavily on the visual element, and so are somewhat lacking as short stories. They don't generally have any big ideas behind them, and if they do they don't explore them very thoroughly.
I do think that some of the stories here have merit. Not much can be done for "Arena" or "Court Martial", but I can certainly see "A Taste of Armageddon" being worked into something more substantial and interesting, and of course that has already been done for "Space Seed" in Greg Cox's Eugenics Wars series, not to mention Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
Not to be too negative, I did have a pleasant surprise when reading "Tomorrow is Yesterday". After their time-traveling adventure, Spock comments, "And so we have revised Omar." Upon Kirk's request for clarification, he specifies that he means "the verse about the moving finger." This refers to The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, as translated by Edward FitzGerald:
I've only just read the Rubáiyát about a year ago (highly recommended, incidentally), so seeing this reference by Spock is a treat. Sadly, I don't recall him being quite so literary in the episode.
Given its general improvement over its predecessor, I can recommend Star Trek 2 to fans looking for a quick read, or another perspective on the episodes, and the new ending to "Operation--Annihilate!" and the incorporation of content from Heinlein's original script in "The City on the Edge of Forever" provide a little added value.
James Blish's novelizations of Star Trek episodes continue in Star Trek 2, published in February 1968. This volume includes novelizations of "Arena", "A Taste of Armageddon", "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Errand of Mercy", "Court Martial", "Operation--Annihilate!", "The City on the Edge of Forever", and "Space Seed".
Each short story is typically quite similar to the episode being adapted, though there are some differences. Notably, the ending of "Operation--Annihilate!" is very different. In the episode, they expose Spock to a massive blast of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, and believe that they have blinded him. Upon discovering that the visible light was unnecessary, they regret that they have needlessly blinded him. In the end, though, he recovers, and they save the planet using the same procedure, on a larger scale.
In the short story, the Enterprise instead seeks out the central concentration of the mind-controlling creatures and destroys it with missiles, which leaves the creatures directionless and easily dealt with.
I like the writing in this volume better than that in its predecessor, though I couldn't point at a definite reason why. It still suffers from the problem that the episodes on which the stories are based relied heavily on the visual element, and so are somewhat lacking as short stories. They don't generally have any big ideas behind them, and if they do they don't explore them very thoroughly.
I do think that some of the stories here have merit. Not much can be done for "Arena" or "Court Martial", but I can certainly see "A Taste of Armageddon" being worked into something more substantial and interesting, and of course that has already been done for "Space Seed" in Greg Cox's Eugenics Wars series, not to mention Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
Not to be too negative, I did have a pleasant surprise when reading "Tomorrow is Yesterday". After their time-traveling adventure, Spock comments, "And so we have revised Omar." Upon Kirk's request for clarification, he specifies that he means "the verse about the moving finger." This refers to The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, as translated by Edward FitzGerald:
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all they Tears wash out a Word of it.
I've only just read the Rubáiyát about a year ago (highly recommended, incidentally), so seeing this reference by Spock is a treat. Sadly, I don't recall him being quite so literary in the episode.
Given its general improvement over its predecessor, I can recommend Star Trek 2 to fans looking for a quick read, or another perspective on the episodes, and the new ending to "Operation--Annihilate!" and the incorporation of content from Heinlein's original script in "The City on the Edge of Forever" provide a little added value.
October 31, 2019
Once upon a time, Star Trek was not a cultural touchstone. It was, instead, a short-lived television series that was much beloved by a slice of the audience that would form the core of fandom, but with relatively poor ratings and considered soon to be forgotten like so many series before it. But that’s not to say it wasn’t considered a possible source of profit.
Bantam Books acquired the rights to publish tie-in books, starting with a series of short story novelization of various episodes by James Blish. Mr. Blish had a pretty good reputation already, having written the “Cities in Flight” series and a number of books exploring religious concepts in the science fiction genre. But he’d just remarried and moved to another country, so the steady paid work from these adaptations helped a lot.
At the time he wrote this second volume, Mr. Blish still had never seen an actual episode of Star Trek, relying instead on the draft teleplays (scripts) supplied by Desilu. This resulted in the stories often having details that didn’t show up on screen (Lt. Uhura’s job title is “scan engineer”!) but also missing some details that were in the final episodes. This volume has eight episodes represented.
“Arena”: Captain Kirk and a Gorn must battle to see which of their civilizations will be allowed to live. But perhaps the strength and cunning to kill your enemy is not the quality best suited to survival.
“A Taste of Armageddon”: Computer warfare has made two planets locked in a battle that neither can win, but as a result they’ve become complacent.
“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”: The Enterprise finds itself in orbit around the Earth in the Twentieth Century. They’ve picked up a passenger who now knows too much about the future to be allowed to live.
“Errand of Mercy”: The Federation tries to protect a peaceful, primitive planet from a Klingon takeover. Will mercy be shown?
“Court Martial”: Captain Kirk is accused of murder, and the computer shows evidence that this is true! Can good old fashioned lawyering save the day?
“Operation: Annihilate!”: Madness is spreading from planet to planet, leaving extinction in its wake. But how? And will finding the answer kill Spock?
“The City on the Edge of Forever”: Doctor McCoy is lost in the distant past, and seemingly has changed history. Kirk and Spock pursue, but they may need to fail to succeed.
“Space Seed”: A long-lost colony ship is found, many of its cryogenically frozen passengers still revivable. A menace from the Eugenics War is unleashed!
“City” is the best of these, as Mr. Blish was also able to see Harlan Ellison’s first draft and take some elements from that as well. “Space Seed” and “Arena” are also strong.
“Tomorrow” is the weakest of the stories, with its foregone conclusion and dubious use of time travel.
Because these are short story adaptations for the young adult market (part of the “Bantam Pathfinder” line), a lot is cut out, generally anything where Captain Kirk is not personally involved. This can leave other characters feeling shorted, especially outside the Kirk/Spock/McCoy trio.
Thanks to the magic of digital storage, it’s now easy for many fans to just watch the original episodes again, so the main value of these older novelizations is the nostalgia factor. You can probably find many of them at garage sales; the most recent reprint seems to have been in 2016 as a Barnes & Noble collection.
Bantam Books acquired the rights to publish tie-in books, starting with a series of short story novelization of various episodes by James Blish. Mr. Blish had a pretty good reputation already, having written the “Cities in Flight” series and a number of books exploring religious concepts in the science fiction genre. But he’d just remarried and moved to another country, so the steady paid work from these adaptations helped a lot.
At the time he wrote this second volume, Mr. Blish still had never seen an actual episode of Star Trek, relying instead on the draft teleplays (scripts) supplied by Desilu. This resulted in the stories often having details that didn’t show up on screen (Lt. Uhura’s job title is “scan engineer”!) but also missing some details that were in the final episodes. This volume has eight episodes represented.
“Arena”: Captain Kirk and a Gorn must battle to see which of their civilizations will be allowed to live. But perhaps the strength and cunning to kill your enemy is not the quality best suited to survival.
“A Taste of Armageddon”: Computer warfare has made two planets locked in a battle that neither can win, but as a result they’ve become complacent.
“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”: The Enterprise finds itself in orbit around the Earth in the Twentieth Century. They’ve picked up a passenger who now knows too much about the future to be allowed to live.
“Errand of Mercy”: The Federation tries to protect a peaceful, primitive planet from a Klingon takeover. Will mercy be shown?
“Court Martial”: Captain Kirk is accused of murder, and the computer shows evidence that this is true! Can good old fashioned lawyering save the day?
“Operation: Annihilate!”: Madness is spreading from planet to planet, leaving extinction in its wake. But how? And will finding the answer kill Spock?
“The City on the Edge of Forever”: Doctor McCoy is lost in the distant past, and seemingly has changed history. Kirk and Spock pursue, but they may need to fail to succeed.
“Space Seed”: A long-lost colony ship is found, many of its cryogenically frozen passengers still revivable. A menace from the Eugenics War is unleashed!
“City” is the best of these, as Mr. Blish was also able to see Harlan Ellison’s first draft and take some elements from that as well. “Space Seed” and “Arena” are also strong.
“Tomorrow” is the weakest of the stories, with its foregone conclusion and dubious use of time travel.
Because these are short story adaptations for the young adult market (part of the “Bantam Pathfinder” line), a lot is cut out, generally anything where Captain Kirk is not personally involved. This can leave other characters feeling shorted, especially outside the Kirk/Spock/McCoy trio.
Thanks to the magic of digital storage, it’s now easy for many fans to just watch the original episodes again, so the main value of these older novelizations is the nostalgia factor. You can probably find many of them at garage sales; the most recent reprint seems to have been in 2016 as a Barnes & Noble collection.
January 29, 2015
“Star Trek 2” by James Blish was the 2nd in his series of short story collections which brings together adaptations of Star Trek Original Series scripts. The eight stories included in this collection are all from season one and are as follows:
Arena
A Taste of Armageddon
Tomorrow Is Yesterday
Errand of Mercy
Court Martial
Operation--Annihilate!
The City on the Edge of Forever
Space Seed
This is actually quite a decent set of stories, which include the introduction of Khan, the Guardian of Forever and the Klingon-Federation peace treaty. It has probably been my favourite Blish collection so far but this just reinforces my belief that these books largely succeed or fail based on the quality of the episodes themselves.
On the whole, the stories are similar to the episode with minor differences that mainly occur I suspect due the fact that Blish tended to be writing from earlier versions of the scripts. It was “Operation-Annihilate!” which had the largest collection of differences with an altered ending involving the destruction of the creatures’ home planet rather than the blinding of Spock that we originally saw. Unfortunately, this version has had some important elements cut as well as Kirk’s brother and family were no longer included in the story which I felt reduced the drama.
Overall, Blish has done another competent job at adapting the various episodes and anyone looking for a bit of nostalgia probably won’t be disappointed.
Arena
A Taste of Armageddon
Tomorrow Is Yesterday
Errand of Mercy
Court Martial
Operation--Annihilate!
The City on the Edge of Forever
Space Seed
This is actually quite a decent set of stories, which include the introduction of Khan, the Guardian of Forever and the Klingon-Federation peace treaty. It has probably been my favourite Blish collection so far but this just reinforces my belief that these books largely succeed or fail based on the quality of the episodes themselves.
On the whole, the stories are similar to the episode with minor differences that mainly occur I suspect due the fact that Blish tended to be writing from earlier versions of the scripts. It was “Operation-Annihilate!” which had the largest collection of differences with an altered ending involving the destruction of the creatures’ home planet rather than the blinding of Spock that we originally saw. Unfortunately, this version has had some important elements cut as well as Kirk’s brother and family were no longer included in the story which I felt reduced the drama.
Overall, Blish has done another competent job at adapting the various episodes and anyone looking for a bit of nostalgia probably won’t be disappointed.
April 6, 2019
These books are stories adapted by from the TV shows, and are a great read. They are under 130 pages, and each short story is under 20 pages. I remember reading these as a kid, and recently got them from a book sale. My favorite from this series are "Arena" (where Kirk fights a Gorn on a planet and the loser is told they will be killed), and "A Taste of Armageddon," which could have been a Dr Who story. Even if you are not a major Star Trek fan, these are entertaining short stories that can be recommended for any age.
For an in depth review, go to: https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...
For an in depth review, go to: https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...
July 15, 2017
Before VCRs, DVDs, and streaming, the only wary to reexperience an episode of a tv show was to hope that someone did a novelization. James Blish write a series of short stories, each one based on early versions of scripts, so the aired episodes often do not match the stories. I loved these books and read them too tatters! This volume includes Arena, Operation: Annihilate, Space Seed, and one of my favorites, The City on the Edge of Forever.
February 3, 2025
James Blish's 1968 Star Trek 2 contains 8 stories adapted by Blish from the screenplays of the 1960s television series.
Credits for the original screenplays are as follows:
"Arena" by Gene L. Coon,
"A Taste of Armageddon" by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon,
"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" by D.C. Fontana,
"Errand of Mercy" by Gene L. Coon,
"Court Martial" by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos,
"Operation--Annihilate!" by Steven W. Carabatsos,
"The City on the Edge of Forever" by Harlan Ellison, and
"Space Seed" by Carry Wilber and Gene L. Coon.
As with my review of the previous book, about these stories themselves I feel I need say nothing beyond the briefest nod to each: Kirk must battle the reptile Gorn for the survival of the Enterprise but at the end shows mercy, two planets fighting a centuries-long computer war whose "casualties" march into their respective governments' disintegrator chambers learn the true meaning of war, the Enterprise gets slingshotted back to 1970 and encounters a UFO-hunting Air Force pilot, a seemingly helpless medieval-type planet comes under Klingon occupation, Kirk is accused of command errors and perjury in the apparent death of a crew member, wiggly flying-jelly creatures spreading through the galaxy attack Spock, Kirk again thrown into the past has to choose between the woman he loves and the entire future, and 1990s dictator Khan and his fellow supermen are roused from suspended animation. After all, anyone choosing the book is already familiar with the episodes of the TV show, I presume.
As usual, differences pop up here and there between what we are familiar with and the adaptations Blish gives us. Some arise from the various artistic choices needed in adaptation, others from the fact that the scripts given to Blish were not always the most finalized versions. The more familiar the individual reader is with a particular broadcast episode, the more noticeable and potentially interesting such divergences will be.
In "Operation--Annihilate!," for example, the thing that drives out the "long, almost-transparent tendrils[s]" (1968 Bantam paperback, page 79) wrapping around and controlling their host's nervous system are driven out by something besides the ridiculous notion of mere bright light (pages 83-85) that the show gives us. "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" no longer has the schtick of Kirk beaming down and ending up arrested by the USAF Air Police. And regarding Harlan Ellison's "poetic and brilliant piece," the now-famous "The City on the Edge of Forever," Blish prefaces his attempt by reminding us that the final TV "script...differed drastically in some respects from Mr. Ellison's version," so he has "tried to preserve what [he] thought were the best elements of both scripts" (page 89; emphasis original). Readers will note other minor differences of emphasis, setting, and whatnot.
It is nice to see, though, that whereas the previous book had placed the setting 5 or 6 centuries ahead of our own, here the genetic supermen of "Space Seed" "have slept two centuries or more" (page 111-12), bringing us back to the canonical timeline we are familiar with. With "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," however, there can be no fix for the basic flaw of imaging that just because the pilot will be beamed back into his aircraft "before he was taken aboard," he somehow would have no memory of the experience "because none of it will ever have happened" (page 37; emphasis original)--and, come to think of it, why would you bother to beam him out of his breaking-up ship in the first place when of course he would have a parachute?--but...oh, well.
In any event, James Blish's Star Trek 2 is not deeply probing or given to evocative or artistic turns of phrase, nor probably is it intended for an audience that has never heard of the starship Enterprise and its historic 5-year mission, but its adventures are swiftly moving and entertaining, and founded upon courage and friendship and the dignity of the individual, and for fans of the television series will be a pleasantly familiar 5-star read.
Credits for the original screenplays are as follows:
"Arena" by Gene L. Coon,
"A Taste of Armageddon" by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon,
"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" by D.C. Fontana,
"Errand of Mercy" by Gene L. Coon,
"Court Martial" by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos,
"Operation--Annihilate!" by Steven W. Carabatsos,
"The City on the Edge of Forever" by Harlan Ellison, and
"Space Seed" by Carry Wilber and Gene L. Coon.
As with my review of the previous book, about these stories themselves I feel I need say nothing beyond the briefest nod to each: Kirk must battle the reptile Gorn for the survival of the Enterprise but at the end shows mercy, two planets fighting a centuries-long computer war whose "casualties" march into their respective governments' disintegrator chambers learn the true meaning of war, the Enterprise gets slingshotted back to 1970 and encounters a UFO-hunting Air Force pilot, a seemingly helpless medieval-type planet comes under Klingon occupation, Kirk is accused of command errors and perjury in the apparent death of a crew member, wiggly flying-jelly creatures spreading through the galaxy attack Spock, Kirk again thrown into the past has to choose between the woman he loves and the entire future, and 1990s dictator Khan and his fellow supermen are roused from suspended animation. After all, anyone choosing the book is already familiar with the episodes of the TV show, I presume.
As usual, differences pop up here and there between what we are familiar with and the adaptations Blish gives us. Some arise from the various artistic choices needed in adaptation, others from the fact that the scripts given to Blish were not always the most finalized versions. The more familiar the individual reader is with a particular broadcast episode, the more noticeable and potentially interesting such divergences will be.
In "Operation--Annihilate!," for example, the thing that drives out the "long, almost-transparent tendrils[s]" (1968 Bantam paperback, page 79) wrapping around and controlling their host's nervous system are driven out by something besides the ridiculous notion of mere bright light (pages 83-85) that the show gives us. "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" no longer has the schtick of Kirk beaming down and ending up arrested by the USAF Air Police. And regarding Harlan Ellison's "poetic and brilliant piece," the now-famous "The City on the Edge of Forever," Blish prefaces his attempt by reminding us that the final TV "script...differed drastically in some respects from Mr. Ellison's version," so he has "tried to preserve what [he] thought were the best elements of both scripts" (page 89; emphasis original). Readers will note other minor differences of emphasis, setting, and whatnot.
It is nice to see, though, that whereas the previous book had placed the setting 5 or 6 centuries ahead of our own, here the genetic supermen of "Space Seed" "have slept two centuries or more" (page 111-12), bringing us back to the canonical timeline we are familiar with. With "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," however, there can be no fix for the basic flaw of imaging that just because the pilot will be beamed back into his aircraft "before he was taken aboard," he somehow would have no memory of the experience "because none of it will ever have happened" (page 37; emphasis original)--and, come to think of it, why would you bother to beam him out of his breaking-up ship in the first place when of course he would have a parachute?--but...oh, well.
In any event, James Blish's Star Trek 2 is not deeply probing or given to evocative or artistic turns of phrase, nor probably is it intended for an audience that has never heard of the starship Enterprise and its historic 5-year mission, but its adventures are swiftly moving and entertaining, and founded upon courage and friendship and the dignity of the individual, and for fans of the television series will be a pleasantly familiar 5-star read.
May 29, 2023
I have always been a big Star Trek fan. I’m old enough to have faint memories of the original series in its original run, but most of my obsession was born in the endless reruns that started soon after. I also read all the James Blish novelizations of the original series episodes back in high school and when I stumbled across this book recently, I realized I had to read them again. What surprises me is how bad the writing of these short stories is. There are two main problems with these stories, and I suspect that both were caused by a requirement that they stay within a certain word count.
The first problem is that rather than engage with the action as the series does, these stories depend on a lot of recap of how the crew got to where they were. For example, in the television episode, “Arena”, the action began with Kirk and a few red shirts landing on a planet to meet an old friend and coming under sudden and unexpected attack. People die (that’s why they’re called redshirts) before Kirk is rescued and the Enterprise begins to chase an alien ship through uncharted space. Then Kirk is snatched off the bridge and put on a planetoid to fight the Gorn commander. All of that action is covered in a couple of paragraphs in Blish’s version that frankly steals the dramatic tension out of the story. And this happens again and again in each of the tales.
The second problem is that scenes are cut from the short stories, again at the cost of increasing dramatic tension and greatly shortening the stories. This leaves us with these stories serving more as reminders of the original episodes than true novelizations of them. That’s a shame, because they could have been so much more. Still, they’re Star Trek, which is always a lot of fun.
The first problem is that rather than engage with the action as the series does, these stories depend on a lot of recap of how the crew got to where they were. For example, in the television episode, “Arena”, the action began with Kirk and a few red shirts landing on a planet to meet an old friend and coming under sudden and unexpected attack. People die (that’s why they’re called redshirts) before Kirk is rescued and the Enterprise begins to chase an alien ship through uncharted space. Then Kirk is snatched off the bridge and put on a planetoid to fight the Gorn commander. All of that action is covered in a couple of paragraphs in Blish’s version that frankly steals the dramatic tension out of the story. And this happens again and again in each of the tales.
The second problem is that scenes are cut from the short stories, again at the cost of increasing dramatic tension and greatly shortening the stories. This leaves us with these stories serving more as reminders of the original episodes than true novelizations of them. That’s a shame, because they could have been so much more. Still, they’re Star Trek, which is always a lot of fun.
February 15, 2020
After spending several months reading "heavy weight" texts by 20th century philosophers, I was very happy to return to Trek. Like returning to a well worn, but comfortable sofa at your parents' house, returning to read the novelization of several classic Trek stories was great fun.
Blish is a competent writer, even gifted at times. This text held eight, short "not quite novellas," retelling classic tales from the original series: Arena, A Taste of Armageddon, Tomorrow is Yesterday, Errand of Mercy, Court Martial, Operation: Annihilate, The City on the Edge of Forever and Space Seed.
I started reading Blish's adaptations to hopefully glean some additional detail of stories I felt I knew. Sadly, they are generally considerably less detailed than I would have preferred. City on the Edge of Forever is the exception, however. Originally written by Harlan Ellison, Blish offers a greatly condensed, but still very engaging version. Well worth the 20 minutes it takes to read. Operation: Annihilate! differs slightly from the television version, but not in any way that detracts from the story. It also offers a few additional details concerning the space-parasites who act as the primary antagonist.
I read these stories to relive the joy of youth and remind myself of pleasant days gone by. If you've seen the show, your time is probably better spent reading some of the later original stories, but the versions offered here are so short, they're easy to finish quickly. If you're a "true fan" or a nostalgia-junky or if you haven't seen the original TV show, it's well worth the time.
Blish is a competent writer, even gifted at times. This text held eight, short "not quite novellas," retelling classic tales from the original series: Arena, A Taste of Armageddon, Tomorrow is Yesterday, Errand of Mercy, Court Martial, Operation: Annihilate, The City on the Edge of Forever and Space Seed.
I started reading Blish's adaptations to hopefully glean some additional detail of stories I felt I knew. Sadly, they are generally considerably less detailed than I would have preferred. City on the Edge of Forever is the exception, however. Originally written by Harlan Ellison, Blish offers a greatly condensed, but still very engaging version. Well worth the 20 minutes it takes to read. Operation: Annihilate! differs slightly from the television version, but not in any way that detracts from the story. It also offers a few additional details concerning the space-parasites who act as the primary antagonist.
I read these stories to relive the joy of youth and remind myself of pleasant days gone by. If you've seen the show, your time is probably better spent reading some of the later original stories, but the versions offered here are so short, they're easy to finish quickly. If you're a "true fan" or a nostalgia-junky or if you haven't seen the original TV show, it's well worth the time.
July 19, 2024
I devoured these books as a kid in the 70's. At that time the only other Star Trek around was the animated series and a couple of books and we were at the mercy of the 3 channel universe still!
Basically all twelve books follow the t.v. episodes pretty closely, just with literary filler to make it flow better. Nowadays we would just read a Wiki entry and ignore the books.
The biggest difference is that in some of the earlier books, up to around Star Trek 5 or 6, James Blish would change a few things for narrative flow, and in particular remove the unnecessary death of a the occasional Red Shirt. (Awwwwww!) But by the end of the run he was just basically going through the motions and just writing the script as it was, dead Red Shirts and all (Yeah!).
My one complaint though is that JB would write Scotty's speaking parts in a Scottish Brogue and more often than not I couldn't make head or tales of it.
Still, would have not missed reading them for anything. I was an avid Trekkie after all. And for JB it was a nice gig for an over the hill sci-fi writer.
Best part of all was that in grade 9 and 10 high school our English class had a 6 or 12 (I forget which) book reading requirement. And it being a Technical Vocation high school, that requirement caused a furor with so many students who had never read a book in their life. Thank you James Blish and Star Trek. Within a month I already had my 12 book requirement covered. LOL
I decided to up my rating from 3 to 4 stars when I remembered just how much enjoyment these books gave me.
Live Long And Prosper.
Basically all twelve books follow the t.v. episodes pretty closely, just with literary filler to make it flow better. Nowadays we would just read a Wiki entry and ignore the books.
The biggest difference is that in some of the earlier books, up to around Star Trek 5 or 6, James Blish would change a few things for narrative flow, and in particular remove the unnecessary death of a the occasional Red Shirt. (Awwwwww!) But by the end of the run he was just basically going through the motions and just writing the script as it was, dead Red Shirts and all (Yeah!).
My one complaint though is that JB would write Scotty's speaking parts in a Scottish Brogue and more often than not I couldn't make head or tales of it.
Still, would have not missed reading them for anything. I was an avid Trekkie after all. And for JB it was a nice gig for an over the hill sci-fi writer.
Best part of all was that in grade 9 and 10 high school our English class had a 6 or 12 (I forget which) book reading requirement. And it being a Technical Vocation high school, that requirement caused a furor with so many students who had never read a book in their life. Thank you James Blish and Star Trek. Within a month I already had my 12 book requirement covered. LOL
I decided to up my rating from 3 to 4 stars when I remembered just how much enjoyment these books gave me.
Live Long And Prosper.
February 29, 2024
This collection of 8 novelizations of Original Series episodes is - probably obviously - the second such set written by James Blish. The novelizations are workmanlike and largely pretty accurate to what aired, although there are differences. While Blish is a solid writer, there's only so much you can do with roughly 12-15 pages per episode, so there's nothing especially brilliant here. Still, I'm reasonably impressed that Blish was able to get as much depth of character and introspection into the stories as he did - it can't have been an easy task. Nevertheless, there's a better way to get at these stories ... just watch the episodes! A book-length novelization gives the author the opportunity to get into the thoughts and motivations of the characters in a way that the movie or episode(s) can't do ... but with such a short space available, the novelizations here are really more like transcripts than more full-length novelizations. I can't recomment reading this unless you are a completist of either Star Trek or Blish. If you do pick it up, highlights of the collection include a couple of the best episodes of the Original Series run - The City on the Edge of Forever, and Space Speed (complete with a misspelling of Khan that was used throughout the story and a since-retconned, very early date of 2018 for the first warp flight!). But again ... even better, go watch those episodes. They're great!
December 21, 2024
The second adaptation of Star Trek original series episodes. The syndicated Star Trek was omnipresent throughout my childhood, as it was for many of my generation. Huddled in front of the TV at 4:00 on a weekday afternoon, my friends and I would play a version of Name The Tune that involved identifying an episode by title as fast as possible. A musical cue and the particular coloring of the planet that the Enterprise was orbiting was often enough to provide the answer. Being so familiar with the texture of the show, it is difficult to evaluate these books purely as literary exercises. James Blish had a significant challenge. He was writing from the scripts and had not, I believe, even seen the show at this point. He was also tasked with adapting eight episodes Into a slim volume. This required him to cut to the conflict and use a lot of exposition. The result is not quite satisfying as a book and definitely not satisfying as a showcase for Star Trek at its best. Nevertheless, it satisfies as a nostalgic artifact from childhood because every paragraph and line of dialogue sparks vivid memories of the show. I do not recommend it otherwise.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
February 5, 2018
Zippy, enjoyable read, as eight episodes from the original Star Trek are turned into short stories. This volume covers some of the best episodes as well - "Space Seed" and "The City on the Edge of Forever" included.
I was reading, yesterday, the novelisation of The Empire Strikes Back, which I gave two stars. And I was wondering, as I read today, why I find the Blish retellings more entertaining than the Star Wars novelisations. Both are fairly thin, not digging that far below what was onscreen, and I think in the end it comes down to length. Each Blish story runs about 15 pages, representing 40 odd minutes of television programme, whereas the movie retellings are about three times the screen length and about 13 times the page length. It doesn't match up, and it seems that in the absence of depth I have an increased appreciation for pace.
I was reading, yesterday, the novelisation of The Empire Strikes Back, which I gave two stars. And I was wondering, as I read today, why I find the Blish retellings more entertaining than the Star Wars novelisations. Both are fairly thin, not digging that far below what was onscreen, and I think in the end it comes down to length. Each Blish story runs about 15 pages, representing 40 odd minutes of television programme, whereas the movie retellings are about three times the screen length and about 13 times the page length. It doesn't match up, and it seems that in the absence of depth I have an increased appreciation for pace.
May 22, 2017
This anthology collects together the season 1 TOS episodes:
• Arena
• A Taste of Armageddon
• Tomorrow is yesterday
• Errand of Mercy
• Court Martial
• Operation -- Annihilate!
• The City on the Edge of Forever
• Space Seed
There are some differences from the screened versions as these are based on the shooting scripts.
Overall I loved this one as it features some of my favourite episodes including the wonderful Wrath of Khan prequel: Space Seed.
While I've never found James Blish to be one of the best Trek writers, he gets the job done and I found this volume more fluid and less rushed than Star Trek #1 - Although part of this could simply be that it features better stories.
• Arena
• A Taste of Armageddon
• Tomorrow is yesterday
• Errand of Mercy
• Court Martial
• Operation -- Annihilate!
• The City on the Edge of Forever
• Space Seed
There are some differences from the screened versions as these are based on the shooting scripts.
Overall I loved this one as it features some of my favourite episodes including the wonderful Wrath of Khan prequel: Space Seed.
While I've never found James Blish to be one of the best Trek writers, he gets the job done and I found this volume more fluid and less rushed than Star Trek #1 - Although part of this could simply be that it features better stories.
June 8, 2024
Another volume of Bliss's translations of TOS episodes into short stories. They are based on earlier drafts, so the stories are different. It's interesting to see how earlier scripts played out and you see why they had to be changed. While A Taste of Armageddon is the most faithful, Operation Annihilate has a better ending in Bliss's version than the one on the show. Space Seed is also faithful, except for a few details like Khan's name, Subuhal Khan Noonien. Most of them were shortened, so deleting the B stories took out the fun in some of the stories like Tomorrow is Yesterday. TIY best scenes were the crew visit 1968 Earth, or 1970 in this version. Overall, if you're a trekkie, it's worth reading.
May 17, 2021
The stories don't stand on their own very well, but for fans of the series they're some great extra content, with some interesting theories on aspects of the franchise that had not yet been answered. Bit of a time capsule also - moments of sexism (to modern audiences) are perhaps more overt in prose than they were on screen, which is not exactly comfortable to read, but considering the time period I won't let that overly affect my opinion. Certainly, an attempt was made to be inclusive to all people, and while that doesn't work in the same way today, the attempt is to be respected
Read
December 21, 2020Jouney into the unexpected with the crew of the Starship Enterprise and discover a world where war is fought by computers - a world inhabited by great lizardlike creatures of conquest - a world ravaged by a relentless plague of madness and death - a world where life has developed beyond the need for physical bodies - and more....
May 3, 2024
Although I find these little stories quite entertaining in themselves, being a big Star Trek fan I notice that some of the dialogue by certain characters just don't ring true. I often find myself thinking "Spock would never have said that" since his character is the best example of the discrepancies. But for anybody new to the franchise I do not think this would be noticeable.
September 9, 2020
As part of this year's Star Trek Day activities, I sat down and finished reading this book.
It is a collection of novelizations of some of the more memorable Star Trek Episodes - City on the Edge of Forever, Space Seed (#KHHHHAAANNNNN!!!!!), Errand of Mercy and others.
It is a collection of novelizations of some of the more memorable Star Trek Episodes - City on the Edge of Forever, Space Seed (#KHHHHAAANNNNN!!!!!), Errand of Mercy and others.
December 28, 2021
When Star Trek was new, there was no such thing as home video. Later, even when beta and vhs existed, Trek was not available for years. Thus, if you wanted to enjoy episodes on demand, Blish's adaptations were the only game in town. This volume contains, among others, "City on the Edge of Forever" (the tragic fate of Edith Keeler) and "Space Seed" (the origin of Khan).
November 10, 2023
This one has adaptations of Space Seed (starring Khan) and City on the Edge of Forever, two of the more excellent TOS episodes. The other stories were above average too.
Highly recommended for Star Trek TOS fans.
Highly recommended for Star Trek TOS fans.
October 29, 2024
As I feared, once some of the best stories were used in volume 1, the quality would start slipping. There are a couple good stories in this one, but more than half I didn't really care for, and the novelization didn't add too much either.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews