Harm's Way

by David Mack

An all-new Star Trek novel—continuing the legacy of the critically acclaimed Vanguard series!

SOME SECRETS SHOULD STAY BURIED

HIDDEN AGENDAS

Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew race to save a missing Federation scientist, only to become trapped between the Klingons’s infamous Captain Kang and Starfleet’s mysterious Operation Vanguard.

ANCIENT TERRORS

In eons long past, alien hegemons known as the Shedai ruled thousands of worlds in the Milky Way Galaxy. For millennia, their former thralls thought the Shedai were all dead and gone. They were wrong.

UNLIKELY ALLIES

For a Starfleet landing party and a Klingon strike team, a race to capture the long-buried secrets of the Shedai turns into a fight for survival—one that can be won only by putting aside their conflicts and working together…

™, ®, & © 2022 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Space Opera

368 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2022

About the author

David Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of 39 novels of science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies.

Beyond novels, Mack's writing credits span several media, including television (for produced episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), games, and comic books.

Follow him on Twitter @davidalanmack or like his Facebook page.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, though quite shocking.

This is surprisingly violent and even gory, especially for a Trek story, as the crew of the Enterprise faces the demon like Shedai metagenome (introduced in the Vanguard series) and does bloody battle with (nay massacre) hordes of natives that have fallen under their influence. The Enterprise crew reluctantly find themselves in a kill or be killed situation from which there are apparently no alternatives. Certainly this is a rare departure, though I suppose not without some precedent, though none quite to this scale. The story ties in well with the incredibly tragic and catastrophic events from The Doomsday Machine episode, which chronologically occurs just a week beforehand and which still weigh heavily on both Kirk and Spock. The Shedai are described as "eldritch terrors from before the dawn of history" and represent chilling parallels to the doomsday machine itself, both seemingly abject evil with the potential to wreak incalculable devastation, and are beyond the ability of rationality or logic to grasp.

Also notable is the Enterprise crew's unlikely cooperation with a group of Klingons on a similar mission who are portrayed as surprisingly sympathetic and even rational. Though possessing a starkly different sense of morality they succeed in finding some common ground and breaking down some of the barriers between them, at least for a time.

Readers might benefit to some extent from having previously read the Vanguard series, though not having done so myself I still found this a thoroughly engaging standalone read. Mack did an admirable job filling in necessary background details and context when needed, and as always demonstrates his mastery of all the intricacies of the relationships between the characters and the dynamics of the Trek universe.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've waited a few days after finishing to collect my thoughts and to be honest, I'm not sure that I have them all collected yet. However, if I sit on it too long I'll end up not saying anything. So here goes.

David Mack is certainly one of the best Trek writers, and having read at least a dozen of his, I'm well aware that he often brings a darker element with his writing. He's notorious for making you fall in love with a character before he proceeds to kill them right there on the page, in front of your eyes. A real cold cat. But there was something "next level" (for lack of better terminology) about this book.

It sure is a darker theme. Kirk and his crew find themselves in a kill or be killed situation. I enjoy that more challenging philosophical conundrum. However. I found the general language in this story was a bit too aggressive. More so at the beginning of the story as we meet the characters and learn their relationships with each other. It cools down quite a bit in the second half, but I must admit that I was distracted by it initially.

Anyway. That's about all I really want to comment on. Other than that the characters were mostly in fine form. Kirk was maybe the most distant, dealing at the start with emotions from previous missions. Spock gets the leading role and is excellent in this story.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deadly game of cat and mouse begins when Captain Kirk is ordered back into the Neutral Zone near the Taurus Reach to retrieve survivors of a survey team with knowledge of the Shedai meta genome.

This is a great addition to the 'Star Trek: Vanguard' series, which follows up on the fallout from the Shedai incursion into the Taurus Reach. Mack has researched and written his characters believably and ties the ongoing story into the wider 'Star Trek' universe.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly dark exploration of the Original Series universe, with a great deal of moral angst evident in many characters. It does help to be a bit familiar with the story of "Operation Vanguard" but there's enough here to keep a newcomer going. One of those unexpected surprises that keeps your engaged.

[reherrma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seit sehr langer Zeit habe ich mir mal wieder einen Star Trek Roman gegönnt, nach dem traumatischen Ende des Post-Nemesis-Star Trek Kanons, der mit der "Coda"-Trilogie brutal beendet wurde, wollte ich eigentlich keinen Star Trek Roman mehr lesen. Aber David Mack, einer der, neben Peter David, profiliertesten Star Trek Autoren hat mich dazu animiert, diesen Roman zu lesen; und ich habe es nicht bereut. Interessant ist, dass dieser Star Trek Roman der Original-Serie mit der Vanguard-Serie verknüpft ist, mit der CrossCult seine Star Trek Publikationsgeschichte im Jahre 2008 begründet hatte. Dort hatte ja auch die ENTERPRISE unter Captain Kirk ein kurzes Intermezzo auf Sternenbasis 47 (genannt Vanguard). In diesem Buch empfängt man einen Notruf von einem Planeten in der neutrale Zone und die Enterprise wird damit beauftragt, das haverierte Wissenschaftlerteam auf diesem unwirtlichen Planeten zu retten, zumal es sich um Wissenschaftler geht, die mit dem Meta-Genom der Shedai zu tun haben. Genau den gleichen Auftrag erhält der Klingonen-Commander Kang, dem es auch um Rache gegen Kirk geht, jedoch geht es den Klingonen auch um das Meta-Genom. Das ganze gipfelt mit den Außeinandersetzungen der beiden Suchteams auf dem Planeten, zuerst gegeneinander, danach miteinander, da sich das Shedai-Genom selbstständig gemacht hat und alles Leben auf dem Planeten zu unterjochen droht...
Es gibt viele Dialoge, die z.B. Spock mit anderen Charakteren hat, die sich mit tiefen moralischen Themen befassen, die ich faszinierend fand. Die Art und Weise, wie Spock das reine Streben nach Wissen in Frage stellt, fand ich faszinierend.
Der Autor siedelte die Geschichte kurz nach der Begegnung der ENTERPRISE mit dem Planeten-Killer (Star Trek: Planetenkiller) an, die Besatzung und Kirk selbst, sind davon noch immer psychisch geschwächt, die Stimmung des Romans ist dieser Tatsache sehr wohl bewußt, ich fand dass Mack das gut beschreibt. Toll fand ich auch die Geschichte um das Ehepaar von Commander Kang und seiner Frau, Leutnant Mara, hier sieht man schön, wie die Geschichte der Aussöhnung zwischen Förderation und Klingonen zu beginnen scheint. Ein Roman, der mich ein bischen wieder mit Star Trek versöhnt, was aber wohl nur für die Prä-Nemesis Timeline zutrifft....

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek: Harm’s Way is the newest novel set in the Original Series era by David Mack. It was released by Simon and Schuster’s Gallery Books imprint in December of 2022.

David Mack has a long and storied career with Star Trek books. He has written over 30 in his tenure there, making him one of the most widely published authors along with Peter David and Dayton Ward. Along with Peter David, Mack is the one other author I’ve heard many many people call their “Favorite Star Trek Author”.

And for good reason, because he turns in amazing books!

I should preface this review by saying that this book ties into the Vanguard Series. That series was completely written and published from 2004-2012, and was for all intents and purposes finished until now. However, Mack and the editorial team have decided to bring back the Vanguard storyline and series for another adventure in this book. If you haven’t read the Vanguard series, I think you can still enjoy this book. If you have read the Vanguard series, you’ll especially enjoy the connections in this book.

While I haven’t enjoyed the Vanguard series (I’ve read 4 out of 8 of the books), I was still excited for this book for no other reason than it was a brand new Star Trek novel. Interestingly, this novel is now by far my favorite Vanguard novel yet! This book now makes me excited to go and finish the rest of the Vanguard books on my shelves.

One thing that makes this book particularly special is the way it deals with tone and pacing. This book actually feels like one of the Original Series movies. I mean that as an absolute compliment, because I love the pacing of the Trek movies more than I enjoy the pacing of the Original series episodes (heresy, I know). The pacing in this book started a little slow, but that was fine as it is setting up the rest of the plot. The second and third acts went by fairly quickly and kept me on the edge of my seat.

This book really reminds me of “Search for Spock” more than any other Trek material. The third film in the Star Trek universe isn’t necessarily my favorite, but it is the one I think is the most underrated. I cannot get into detail of how this book reminds me of that movie without spoilers, but suffice it to say the Klingon elements in this book gave me all the feels.

That being said, as a Science Fiction story, this is quite entertaining. The Sci-Fi worldbuilding and alien elements were masterfully done and felt totally plausible in universe while also feeling like they were borrowing from 60s and 70s styles. I’d love to pick Mack’s brain to find out some of his inspirations.

There were a few choices in this book that I particularly enjoyed, especially with the Klingon commander. Klingon’s often talk about honor, but the Klingon commander in this book makes one comment saying that Klingon’s care about Honor and Glory, but they care more about Duty. This perspective from this character was interesting and gave the book a freshness and added depth that other authors might not include.

Some of the twists and developments in the book were predictable, two in particular that I was happy I guessed, but that does not speak to David Mack’s inability to tell a good story, but rather tells of his ability to utilize storytelling elements to lay out his story well.

I enjoyed the character of Doctor Babitz, who gave strong Bones/McCoy vibes. I also thought the idea of pairing Spock with Sulu and (Spoiler characters) was well done! A unique take indeed.

There are many dialogues that Spock has with other characters, that deal with deep moral issues that I found fascinating. As someone who has only seen bits and pieces of the Original Series, I did not know everything about his background and found these developments highly informative and also served as an excellent way to drive Mack’s themes in the story. The way Spock questions the pure pursuit of knowledge was just tremendous. A very “Star Trek” like discussion indeed!

Characters like Uhura, Chekov, McCoy and Scott get sidelined in this book, but that’s ok because they have major roles in other Trek novels. There were many opportunities that Mack could have cut away from the main storylines to give a fluffy C-plot for those little used characters, but Mack demonstrated the maturity to recognize that it wasn’t needed here.

If I have one potential quibble with the book, it could have used more flashback POVs from the “macguffin” characters and also could have used POVs from the indigenous characters from the planet in this book. This isn’t a huge problem, but certainly could have been fixed.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. I don’t have any major complaints, and the themes, tone, and pacing were all done wonderfully. It’s not necessarily a favorite Trek book for me quite yet, but I can’t look back on this book with anything other than positive feelings. This was exactly the sort of adventure we needed and Mack handled all of the elements rather well. 5 out of 5. Well done David Mack!

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOS era Trek can occasionally be hit and miss for me, but David Mack tends to always produce something of a rather high quality. I appreciated in this case the chance to get some Sulu and Chekhov action (and Spock).

It was also my first engagement with Starbase Vanguard, and I am sure I will revisit those folks in the future.

[Michael Vetor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was actually going to give it two stars, right up until I saw the term "FUBAR." Modern language terms and phrases, and enough TOS characters written out-of-character, were enough to make this story less than enjoyable.

[B.J. Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm fresh to the "Vanguard" series, having just finished Vanguard: Harbinger, and thoroughly enjoyed the Enterprise's second encounter with Operation Vanguard in Star Trek: Harm's Way. David Mack does a fantastic job of fusing the Vanguard characters with the TOS characters. In terms of characters, Kirk and Spock are the most developed in Harm's Way. Commodore Matt Decker's recent death torments Kirk as he struggles with drafting a condolence letter to Decker's family. Spock attempts to reconcile his Vulcan and human emotions following his first pon farr, in which he nearly murdered Kirk.

There's a lot plotwise going on in this story, which directly relates to the Vanguard series' storyline. The Klingons intertwine into the narrative with their search for a Klingon scientist, Doctor Chunvig, who has become a "Godhead," linked to the Shedai "metagenome."

Overall, Star Trek: Harm's Way was a fantastic read. David Mack is a gifted writer, and his passion for Star Trek is evident in this book. ╌★★★★★

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Vanguard tie-in

I'm A big fam of the Vanguard novels and this combines TOS and the concepts built for those books. Its a lot darker than your typical Kirk adventure. Basically sometimes it is better to shoot first but that's a nice contrast.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in Oxford because I finished the book I brought for reading right away and had yet to find another reading book. Since I’m glad to take this one back home I might as well start reading it.

And it was on sale. Cause that’s how I roll.

“He remained distracted by melancholy as he entered the officers’ mess an made his way to the food synthesizers. At an open slot he inserted his meal card, which, like those of all Star Fleet personnel, was programmed to create meals he would enjoy that would also satisfy his nutritional needs, in portion sizes appropriate to his recorded physical activity profile. This morning he had a choice of three options for breakfast. He choose meal number one: three scrambled eggs, wheat toast with butter and jam, a fruit cup, and a mug of hot black coffee.”

“Why is there always a missing scientist? And why don’t we ever let them stay missing?”

So in this 352 page paperback, both Captain’s Kirk and Kang are sent to find a missing scientist that may have valuable information.

The teaser from the first chapter lets us know that the planet they are potentially on is both dangerous, weird and rainy.

There is a part of this book that feels as if it is continuing a story of the Star Trek: Vanguard. Whatever the heck that is. Certainly you are given some - and truly enough - background on it, but introduces a LOT of characters that the reader seems expected to either know or like right away. It’s a little annoying, but certainly something that could have been researched ahead of time if I had wanted to.

It is however, interesting that they ‘re-use’ characters and give them some depth. Clark Terrell and Admiral Nogura show up and I appreciate an author using these guys instead of making up new guys.

The story is a rush to rescue the missing scientists who may have top secret information and two ships have been sent to rescue them while a third Klingon ship is on the way to ‘rescue’ them as well.

“It wasn’t possible to use a cargo transporter to move either the probes or the torpedoes because it wasn’t safe to use a transporter on munitions whose warheads contained small packets of antimatter, or on long-research and reconnaissance probes whose miniaturized warp propulsion units were powered by antimatter. The electromagnetic fields needed to keep antimatter stable and secure were so delicate and precise that even the seemingly infinitesimal interruption they might experience at the quantum level during a transporter cycle was enough to disrupt the containment field and unleash nightmarish blasts of chaotically released energy.”

I have to say that I am greatly enjoying the way the author does the Klingon personalities. He does a great job balancing the clever and intelligent Klingons from the original series with the dumb-assess from Next Generation (“We want Honor and Blood, even if it gets us all killed!”). “I want you to take Mister Chekov, Doctor McCoy, and three security personnel as your search team.” McCoy frowned and shook his head. “Why do I always win a seat on this ride?”

“Salvashon came in the guise of a quick buzz of his door’s visitor signal. At the sound of it he sat up and propped himself in place by resting his weight on his elbows. ‘Come.’”

There are lots of neat. Character moments for all concerned. And a tense cat-and-mouse game while the landing crew is on the planet searching for the scientist, the Klingons are searching for the landing crew and Kang and Kirk are hiding out from each other in space.

“Hideki, get me some ablative carbon mesh from reactor supply. If it’s good enough to hold the heat of an impulse core, it should do nicely as a thermal shield for the Kepler.” He aimed a curious look at Sulu. “Could you still fly it if I yanked out half its inertial dampeners?”

Sulu gave Scott a reproachful sidelong smirk. “Please. I once pulled ten gees making an Immelmann turn at half impulse. I can handle a bumpy ride.” “Good, that’ll let me fit two extra tanks of hydrox.” “Isn’t hydrox unstable?”

“No more than any other binary liquid fuel. Are you having second thoughts, lad?”

“No, but do we really need to pack that much hydrox onto the shuttle?”

“Afraid, so. Look at these interference patterns. That’s a disaster waitin’ to happen. What if one o’ them hits the Kepler while it’s headin’ for orbit?”

“It would knock out the primary controls and the impulse coil for up to a minute, maybe more. We’d drop like a rock”

“I can insulate the fly-by-wire system if we pull some of the redundant comm circuits, but the impulse core? Not a millimeter to spare on any side. No way to shield it, so we have to make sure you can fly without it, at least for a couple of minutes.”

“Will that be enough?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“What about the rest of this? Is any of it going back in?”

“Likely not. Had to pull most of it to bring down the overall mass.”

“Let me guess: Part of making sure we can reach orbit on thrusters alone?”

“Aye. But don’t go losin’ sleep over it. I only pulled out backup systems.”

I’m enjoying this book a great deal. The story is kind of old fashioned — the landing party is captured at spear-point for example — but still a lot of fun.

The pursuing Klingons are all fully developed and manage to just barely creep out of the idiot-warrior stereotype of TNG Klingons.

The non-Enterprise crew members, who some readers have probably met before in other books are well developed and entertaining too - especially Dr. Babitz.

The tech speak is believable rather than technobabble and the details are remembered later to reinforce the tension, so it’s all the more engaging.

“Sirs? If we need to restore contact with the Sagittarius, why not have them. Dock with us, like they did before?”

“Don’t even think about it, lass. With our comms jammed, our computer can’t talk to theirs. Trying to dock two starships without computers is just asking for trouble.”Kirk added, “He’s right. At a minimum, we’d be looking at damage to one or both airlocks. Most likely, we’d breach both hulls.”

“Why not just beam over to the Sagittarius? Or beam some. Of their people over here?”

“The same reason we can’t dock the ships. Ship-to-ship beaming involves letting the two ships’ transporter systems share data. That’s not possible while our comm and data frequencies are being jammed.”

“So don’t beam platform to platform. Transport directly to some other part of the ship.”

Scott raised his eyebrows in reproach. “Laddie, the whole reason we’re sitting behind this moon is to stay off the. Klingons’ sensors. A transporter uses a lot of energy—enough for them to pick up from half a million kilometers away, moon or no moon. But even if that weren’t a concern, how do you think a transporter knows when it’s done its job correctly? It needs sensor data—the exact kind. Of data we presently can’t get from our probe. What do you think’ll happen when a transporter tries to convert a signal back to matter without a control channel?”

The young officer looked queasy. “I’m guessing it would be bad.”

“Chekov followed closely behind Spock as they entered the wreckage of the Klingon civilian vessel—a category of ship that Sulu had never before known existed.” There are also some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Star Trek humor to be sure, but funny nonetheless.

Okay, now I’m thinking that Mara (the only classic Klingon woman) is now my favorite Star Trek character. Sorry Tilly!

“We would know the position of every Chwii if not for the fact that their hearing can pick up subsonic and ultrasonic emanations from our tricorders, even when they are in passive mode.”

“Logic can tell us what is advantageous, Spock. But it can’t always tell us what’s right.”

“Mara had no time to tell Spock that Klingon disruptor rifles had no wide-beam setting.”

At a certain point though I have to agree with the Klingons. Non-lethal settings against hundreds of mind-controlled natives is a bit silly in this situation. Not logical at all.

This is an exciting roller-coaster ride of a book!

“The Keplers forward viewports were again protected by their closed blast shutters, which meant Sulu was once more piloting by instruments alone.”

Nice bit of writing to tie the just read adventure with the ‘just experienced’ episode this takes place after.

That was a lot of fun in all the ways a Star Trek book should be and definitely an must read book. I’m still a little bit annoyed by the Vanguard tie-in but the book was so well written that I’m very likely to start reading the Vanguard books!

5 stars, a keeper and I’m even putting it in the Star Trek timeline!

[Christopher Valin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great combination

As a fan of The Original Series, the Vanguard books, and David Mack, this book has a lot going for it. Mack, as usual, captures the personalities of the characters perfectly, and it's as if I'm watching a lost episode of the show. And since 'Day of the Dove' has always been one of my favorite episodes, Kang and Mara are pleasant additions as well.

[Al Menaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too close in plot to The Galileo Seven, a TOS episode. Klingons and federation team up on a planet to stop a threat. Lots of action, but almost all of it fighting. The body count is horrific. The threat is taken out by brute force, no finesse. Very little Kirk. Held my interest, but that's about it.

[AJA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes. Well the first half was surprisingly good with a rather tense moment or two. Yet the second half went downhill quickly with a bunch of endless (and identical) fire fights with an apparently endless enemy. Plus largely interchangeable and unmemorable characters. Disappointing on the whole but some parts were indeed enjoyable.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t feel like Star Trek. Lots of easy reading with not much happening. Not great.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

These days, with no regular publishing schedule for TOS novels, I pay more attention to the ones that are released. This one lured me in with the cover image, with Spock looking pained and introspective. I’m a sucker for a good Spock story. If you know of one published in the last 5 years, let me know. I’m still looking.

What follows is a partial list of what I thought was wrong with this book. Yeah, it makes me seem like one of those people on Trek message boards or Facebook groups who post long screeds about why the latest aired episode sucked… but I assure you, I’ve never written one of those. Aired Trek is canon, and while there are elements of canon I dislike and disagree with, it’s still canon. Novels are not canon, and are fair game for comment if they seem outside the letter or spirit of established canon.

I am a nerd who knows what she likes.


--I’m looking for a good classic Trek novel, not a crossover with a print sub-series about a Starbase we never heard about in an aired episode. This is a crossover with the Vanguard series, of which I know nothing, and care nothing about. They seem to be a less malign version of Section 31, in that they follow their own set of rules, and are evidently able to ignore orders from a ranking Admiral not affiliated with Vanguard.

--I’m looking for a character driven story, not action adventure. This novel features an endless battle with large, spear-throwing minions acting in defense of the big baddie, lots of phaser/disruptor fire, and derring-do. Sigh. This brings me to my next gripe.

--My, this sounds familiar. Spock is commanding a rescue party traveling by shuttlecraft, which ends up getting spears hurled at them by the large hostile residents of the planet they have landed on. There’s a reason this mission used a shuttle named Kepler, not Galileo, but the dots were still easy to connect.

--Klingons. I wish someone could explain the fascination with them (and if you try, please don’t use the word “honor”). I am immune to their supposed charms.

--McCoy is virtually absent, aside from a throwaway scene playing shrink to Captain Kirk. Yet there’s an irascible, argumentative doctor in the landing party. Granted, McCoy wouldn’t have thrown the tantrums Lisa Babitz did, nor would he have dreamed of telling Sulu how to fly. She makes one particular comment to Spock that was way out of line, but no one calls her on it. The Klingons had better manners than Babitz. In this book, though, it’s okay to be a complete jerk as long as you’re a bad-ass action hero at some point.

--Amanda sends a message to her son to chew him out for not inviting her and Sarek to his wedding, even as she admits they were off world at the time. This seems uncharacteristically harsh, especially since she knows very well what happened. Sarek is the bad-cop parent. Amanda is the good-cop parent.

--I don’t understand why Kirk is fixating on Matt Decker’s death. He’s in a perfect position to understand Matt’s utter despair and guilt over having made a command decision designed to save the lives of his entire crew that instead resulted in their deaths. Tying himself in knots over writing a letter to Decker’s family seems highly out of character for a man who thinks on his feet and is a top-notch extemporaneous bullshitter. But I guess he had to have something to do in this novel, since he can’t leave the ship so Spock can have his big crisis leading the landing party. Which leads us to…

--I’m all for the idea that the events of Amok Time affect Spock deeply, and that he has been working diligently to put his mind back into perfect logical order with extra meditation and constant review of the tenets of his Vulcan upbringing. I can imagine a compelling novel that describes that process, but this isn’t it. If there’s one thing Spock can do, it’s compartmentalize, and I don’t buy that his logic fails him in the middle of a life-threatening moment in a critical mission. What I would buy is that the psychic onslaught from the big baddie, who tried to break through his defenses and invade his mind, temporarily messed with his head. That’s not the way the author chooses to present it, though. Also, I’m not sure Spock’s inability to vaporize a naked, unconscious female who, at that precise moment, is completely harmless, is a bad thing, or an indicator that Spock’s logic has failed him.

There’s more, but that’s the worst of it. The book ends with a line from Spock: “I suspect we have not seen the last of Starbase Vanguard.” Perhaps the Enterprise hasn’t, but I have. Secretive, morally dubious, frequently rogue arms of Starfleet are not my thing.

There’s a lot of talk about fiction written by artificial intelligence these days. I’d rather have my fiction written by humans, thanks, but if an AI could read a book, then tell me if I’m going to like it or not, that would be a great time saver.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarcely five days after the Enterprise barely escaped an encounter with a giant machine capable of devouring entire planets, a rattled Jim Kirk has another foul assignment land on his desk. A scientist has gone missing on a planet within the Neutral Zone, and his team was pursuing a lead that, should it fall into any hands — not just the wrong ones – -could create genetic weapons of enormous destruction. The last time something like this appeared on the radar, Starfleet and the Klingons both glassed the planet involved with torpedoes to ensure its destruction. How dangerous does something have to be for Starfleet to choose the nuclear option? Now, Enterprise and a Klingon ship are racing toward an encounter that could disrupt the fragile peace between the Federation and the Empire, and potentially unleash a nightmare into the Alpha Quadrant. No rest for the weary, captain!

In Harm’s Way pulls off a nice trick in creating an ST TOS novel that intersects a bit with Vanguard (a series authored in large part by David Mack, with Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore also contributing), but without being a Vanguard novel and thus allowing Jean-Luc-off-the-street to pick this up and enjoy the story without knowing any of the background. The novel is rich with story: the primary thread is that of the away team, led by Commander Spock, who are attempting to find the missing scientist and recover his data while avoiding any prime directive violations. Said team is also try to avoid the Klingons, who landed their own away team and couldn’t care less about prime directive violations as they merrily shoot anything that looks like it might fry up nicely. If two large away teams trying to find the same thing without finding each other sounds like an impossible task, well — you’re not wrong. In orbit, Enterprise is playing hide and seek with the Klingon ship, captained by Kang, because neither party is supposed to be in the Neutral Zone. Kirk, who is psychologically worn out by the haunting death of Captain Decker in “The Doomdsay Machine”, isn’t coping with the additional stresses of this mission very well, and has determined that it’s best just to avoid the Klingons — especially since there’s another Starfleet ship in the area, a secret one dispatched by Station 47 itself, which has a crew of officers with Lower Decks style personalities: they’re not The Right Stuff, but they’re fun to read, especially as they try to work with the more straightlaced Enterprise officers. Evidently they’re in their own Seekers series, so don’t be surprised to see that show up next year. The humor is particularly welcome given that Harm’s Way shifts to horror towards the end, as Starfleet and the Klingons both battle against an Eldrich abomination with an army of murderous mind-controlled natives. It’s unusually gory for a Trek novel, when most people tend to die in nice sanitary ways.

David Mack delivers yet again, which is no surprise: I’ve never failed to thoroughly enjoy one of his books. He knows how to create an action tale in a vivid background, with humor and character drama thrown in. The dialogue is especially interesting, and I liked Mack’s treatment of the Klingons: there are several in here, and they’re not all the bloodlusty Space Vikings they tend to get reduced to.

[Tim Ristow · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’ll written and darker take on a Star Trek tale. Enjoyable enough for a one-off read. I liked the way the effects of The Doomsday Machine episode of TOS still lingers over Kirk, Spock and crew. I like the concept of Starfleet and Klingon shuttle teams competing, then cooperating, on a mission toward a shared goal.

However, I’m not convinced this story is as great as other reviewers here find it. The story feels like a good Bantam-era novel that has been padded and stretched-out to a much longer length than needed. Frankly, I’d have enjoyed a simpler, more straight-forward approach to telling this tale - and less of the extraneous character moments that, in some cases, really go nowhere. Our favorite Enterprise crew are familiar yet in some cases a bit out of character. Sulu and Chekov primarily, who act a bit too naive and inexperienced. Kang is almost wasted here as a character but I enjoyed seeing him again. The graphic violence is a bit strong at times too for what we’ve come to expect from a Star Trek adventure, but it fits the tone and demands of the story. It leads to a fine character moment for Spock by story’s end.

I’ve never read any Vanguard series books, though I’ve been curious - and this story does make me want to pick one up and give it a go. However, I’m not impressed with the often annoying character of Dr. Babitz.

Ultimately I came away feeling like it was a good one-time read. Enjoyed it but would not ever again pick it up for a re-read.

[Thaddeus Tuffentsamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, I wish to thank Gallery Books for the advanced copy of Harm’s way, by David Mack, for the purpose of this review.

Secondly, this book review does contain minor spoilers.

The official blurb for the book is as follows:
Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise go in search of a missing Federation scientist—only to become trapped between a Klingon warship and Starfleet’s mysterious Operation: Vanguard.

The book starts off one month after the events of the episode Amok Time, and roughly a week after the events of the episode, The Doomsday Machine.
Here Mack went on and on about the doomsday machine. He likewise went on and on about Amok Time and T’Pring’s logical treachery against Spock. He went on so much about these events that it seemed to be written for someone who has no idea whatsoever about these episodes and needed to be caught up to speed about them, so as to understand the events in this story. It immediately becomes redundant for the reader, and as they go on for several pages, it likewise becomes weary as well.

Kirk is on edge and is tasked with writing the condolence letter to Matt Decker’s family and has no idea how to begin it, let alone write it. (Tough it would, in reality, be the admiralty’s responsibility to perform this task)
The Enterprise is quickly dispatched to Kolasi III where they are following up on the Vanguard events from previous novels.
When they arrive, they find that a small 14-person-manned super Federation scout ship, highly maneuverable and stealthy is there as well, manned by Captain Nassir. This immediately sets Kirk on edge.

Chapter 5 begins with Kirk wanting to know why a smaller Federation exploratory vessel was in the Klingon neutral zone and reads as follows. Kirk bellowed, “I just want to know what you and your ship are doing in this system!”

Kirk’s frustration darkened into anger, and for a moment Nassir really had to wonder whether Kirk was the sort of man who would order his crew to fire on and destroy a fellow Starfleet vessel.
The captain’s fear turns abruptly and now we see him trolling Kirk. Another excerpt; Around him, Nassir heard his bridge officers doing their best not to laugh as he made sport of tweaking Kirk’s infamous temper.
Shortly afterward they decide to send a landing party to the surface, and Scotty needs to strip a shuttlecraft to not much more than bare bones so that it can be re-outfitted with the shields and ablative armor necessary to make it through the hostile environment so as the land on the planet’s surface.

Some of Nassir’s crew join the landing party with Spock and co, and some of the Enterprise’s crew join the small science vessel to fill in the gaps that are left as a result.
They soon see a Klingon Vessel, commanded by Kang, en route to the planet as well and decide to speed things up to get the shuttle safely off the ship before the Klingons can come in and destroy them. Kirk decides to hide the Enterprise behind a nearby moon so as to avoid detection.
Spock leads the team, as well as Sulu, Checkov, and supernumerary officers while Scotty assumes the temporary role as the first officer on board the Enterprise.
On the planet’s surface, Klingons, led by Mara, Kang’s wife, have also landed and, like the Federation, they are looking for Doctor Chunvig, a Klingon scientist who has genetically modified herself and has become the ‘Godhead’.

She is controlling the Shedai threat, which includes the Chwii who become the local soldiers.
After both the Federation and the Klingon teams have been bested by the threat, they run into each other, and by necessity, they join forces and work tother to eliminate it.
The book then flips between chapters of the landing party on the planet trying to defeat the threat and being bested by the natives, and then back in space with Kirk still hiding behind the moon. And still hiding behind the moon, and still hiding behind the moon.

The story itself was interesting and the Federation-Klingon co-op was handled well. However, many of the lead characters were not depicted in the book as they were portrayed on TV.
In addition to Kirk’s well-known temper and his shouting at the captain of another Federation vessel, we also see him dressing down Scotty, who, acting as the first officer, makes a suggestion that he doesn’t agree with.
We also see Nogura hurtling insults and personal attacks at a superior officer, telling him that he’s irrelevant and that the entire Admiralty knows he’s a joke, so he has no qualms about being rude to a court-martialing degree.

The Klingons talk and act like human teenagers. Telling jokes, making snide comments, and rude chides against each other while on the surface of the planet.
A female Klingon tells her counterpart that he’s had too much blood wine, and his reply is “I’m not as think as you drunk I am.”

Spock is free climbing a mountain and installing anchors for the rest of the crew to climb up behind him, realizing that it may be a technical prime directive violation, he decides not to enter it in his report.
Later when he and the Klingons are in a prison cell, Mara asks him if he’s telepathic and his Vulcan heritage does not allow him to lie, so even though he doesn’t wish to disclose the information, he does.

There were many modern-day (20-21st century) idioms that pulled you out of the book.
The situation had become a total FUBAR.

Spock was starting to ‘suss’ out patterns and predicates.

Trying to explain a point to a particular crew member was as pointless as a vegan barbecue.

The book was interesting and while the ‘stranded on a planet and forced to work with the enemy’ trope has been done many times over, it was well-written and enjoyable.

However, the things that pull you out of the story, really pull you out. It breaks the fourth wall; sadly, however, it does not intend to.

If you’ve read the previous books in this series, you’ll want to read this one as well. If you’re a fan of David Mack’s you’ll likely enjoy this book.

It was a typical if predictable adventure. I give the book 3.5 stars.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is almost hard to believe that it has been 29 years since the very first book in the Star Trek: Vanguard series was written so it's always a nice treat to get to revisit for what has always been for this reader one of my favorite spin-off series. "Harm's Way" is set just after the events in episode "The Doomsday Machine" and has Kirk as well as Spock feeling guilt about the events Commodore Decker took as well as for Spock even the continued aftermath of his actions in "Amok Time". When the ship is sent on a rescue mission into the Taurus Reach the significance of this mission as well as the classified nature of Vanguard itself which as a station is still there. David Mack continues his mastery over the characters on board the Enterprise, Sagittarius, Starbase 47 & Kang's ship the SuvwI'. This story is full of humor & drama that will keep you guessing up until the final scenes which will take your breath away. I have no idea when or if we'll ever revisit this series either during the station's mission & existence or afterward but in a time when new Star Trek fiction of any kind is at a premium, it's nice to come back to a series that is as much fun as this one always has been and for that thank you David Mack.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been making my way through the Vanguard series and the author David Mack suggested this book as it is definitely part of that larger story and features the crew of the Sagittarius along with the Enterprise crew in the plot. This was a fantastic book. It reminded me a bit of the TOS episode Galileo 7, one of my favorite episodes from TOS.

Some highlights. There is a briefing scene early in the book on the Enterprise. I love how the author lets all of the crew we know and love truly participate in the briefing. Along those lines, this and a later scene allow Uhura ‘s technical and tactical savvy to be on full display, allowing us to see something other than her being a glorified switchboard operator. There is a fantastic scene between two admiral’s that would be awesome to have seen acted out in an episode of television. There is also a hilarious scene describing Dr. Babits vomiting that genuinely made me giggle. The action is nonstop in the latter half of the book and is visceral in the violence and carnage needed to achieve the mission. And the Klingons are definitely fleshed out characters in this novel. We get to see something beyond JUST the warrior. Definitely one of my favorite recent Trek reads!

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating = 4.5

I also randomly saw this book on the library's new books shelf. Seeing that it's from one of Star Trek's best writers, I had to read it and it did not disappoint.

It reads just like an episode of TOS. The author gets the characters and setting bang on. There's lots of nostalgia here. The plot was excellent too. A cat and mouse strategic game between Kirk and Kang in orbit, and an action filled adventure between the two landing parties on the surface. The only part I thought was a little too far-fetched was when Sulu and that doctor take the shuttle to rescue the badly injured, drowning Mara who's in a white-water river ending in a waterfall. But I loved everything else. I find the author is great and making a situation seem like it's totally tilted in someone's favor, and then writes something creatively surprising that lilts it in the other person's favor. Overall, an interesting action packed story!

[Chris Friend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek trade paperbacks are predictable. That’s the appeal—familiar characters, story structures, and outcomes. The routine nature of the genre means an author’s storytelling makes all the difference. Little flourishes, rhetorical choices, and narrative turns separate mediocre Trek novels from truly enjoyable experiences.

Thankfully, this book is of the latter variety. Mack tells a normal, predictable tale with uncommon skill. Turns of phrase and colorful descriptions make it an interesting read, and his effective, purposeful use of key character traits turns the familiar into the essential. This book is what happens when someone who knows intimately the universe in which he’s operating also knows how to write well. That’s a rare pleasure of a combination for these trade paperbacks.

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most frequent criticisms of episodic Trek is that characters rarely had on screen opportunities to reflect or recover from one adventure to the next. Here, Mack gives Spock and Kirk some space to wrestle with the events of “The Doomsday Machine” and “Amok Time.” These moments are interspersed with a lot of violent action in a new adventure.

The body count in this novel is enormous. It’s not something we’re accustomed to our Starfleet heroes being involved in. Though Spock and Chekov are given moments of pause and discussion I would have appreciated more time to reflect on these events and how they affect the participants’ mental well-being.

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well-written, well-conceived story. The plot is good, the characters handled well, with good pacing and an excellent concept. The only complaints I have are that, for one, Kang and Mara are used as antagonists for Kirk and company, but their previous encounter with Kirk is barely mentioned, and the lessons that would have been learned from that encounter are ignored and seemingly need to be re-learned from scratch, and two, Kirk's "gotcha" strategy to defeat Kang is treated as a "gotcha" to the reader as well. There was no reason why the reader couldn't have been "in the know" on that, rather than being left to be surprised.

[Ed Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic novel in its universe, Constructed in the way that is classic or new. There is the mission. It's split into 3 parts: preparations, the mission and the conclusion; and the narration follows with world building, action and characters.

As noticeable as it is, every character provides his/her own narration on story piece they're leading in. Something that, I'm noticing, is exclusive to these novels. Noticeable, perhaps, because it is done very well here. And the final summary, the captain's log, at the end, is super good too. I wish scheme like this was adopted by more novels.

[John Keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of the Vanguard novels, so I was definitely looking forward to the idea of a return to that storyline. And for me, it was a successful return. This is also a bit more of a war novel than one might be used to from the franchise, but it's very well done. The characters are pitch perfect and the action is compelling. Highly recommended for fans of the Original Series!

[Tim Balasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Mack does it again. Bringing us back to Vanguard and its little corner of the Star Trek universe. Mack is able to bring a complicated battle sequence to life like no other. He manages to capture the characters and the interplay between the crew as well as some unexpected allies. The Original Series keeps giving us new and exciting adventures. No spoilers here, if you enjoyed a thrilling adventure with the original crew, this is it!

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, David Mack is one of the better authors Star Trek has to offer!
Harm's Way is a perfect example of how the writing since TOS has implemented itself and stories set in Kirk era are able to be read by younger fans like myself.

ASAP two things:
- Vanguard Series will be mine;
- a review will be published on my personal blog.

[Matt Fontaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but found a lot of it didn’t really feel like a Star Trek book. All of the stuff on the planet felt like another genre with Star Trek characters in it. It’s my first TOS book though and I grew up on TNG so maybe I didn’t like it as much as I would if I had watched more of the original series.