Devil World

Star Trek Adventures #12

by Gordon Eklund

An exciting new adventure of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise. This time the threat comes from Heartland, a planet populated by small but terrifying demons. The moment you need to be really cool, but Kirk has a human failure and falls in love with a beautiful woman, the bearer of a fatal secret. Throughout the Enterprise and its crew is in danger and will be especially Spock, the Vulcan cold solver many situations, having to once again fight against a horrible and powerful force that could be the bearer of doom for all humans. The fight is fierce, the high-stakes, Spock manages to triumph good over evil?

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

153 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1979

About the author

Gordon Eklund is a Nebula Award-winning, American science fiction author whose works include the "Lord Tedric" series and two of the earliest original novels based on the 1960s Star Trek TV series. He has written under the pen name Wendell Stewart, and in one instance under the name of the late E. E. "Doc" Smith (1890-1965).

Eklund's first published SF short story, "Dear Aunt Annie", ran in the April 1970 issue of Fantastic magazine and was nominated for a Nebula Award. Eklund won the Nebula for Best Novelette for the 1974 short story "If the Stars Are Gods", co-written with Gregory Benford. The two expanded the story into a full-length novel of the same title, published in 1977.

In his teens, Eklund was a member of a Seattle SF fan club, The Nameless Ones, and in 1977, Eklund was a guest of honor at the 1977 SF convention Bubonicon 9, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Cushing Memorial Library of Texas A&M University has a "Gordon Eklund Collection" housing the typed manuscript of the story "The Stuff of Time".

Eklund has retired from a long career with the U.S. Postal Service, and is considering writing full-time again. He's a member of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association and the Spectator Amateur Press Society.

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Bantam Star Trek novel starring the original crew. Bantam’s book series was called the Star Trek Adventures of which this is #12. Devil World written by Gordon Eklund is a short (150 pages) quick read first published in 1979 before Pocket Books decided to do their own thing. The story is typical of the Trek novels with little to make it stand out among the dozens of Star Trek novels I have read. Probably the feature attraction are the aliens that look like the mythological figure of Satan, but other than that there is little to differentiate this story from most of the others. Eklund’s writing style is good, but his plot is inefficient (the technical phrase I use is "it blows") and Kirk “falls in love” within the short span of 150 pages. No! I do not think so. Not horrible, but I cannot even call it “Good!”

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the early TOS novels, first published by Bantam in 1979, which was long before there was anything but the original series and before Pocket locked up the Trekverse with their voluminous line. It's a fairly standard Trek story in which Kirk falls in lust with a beautiful woman and the Enterprise boldly goes to a mysterious planet and encounters a race of powerful alien beings... I thought the plot seemed to borrow quite a bit from Forbidden Planet, but it was a fun, quick read. The character of Scotty seemed badly off to me, but Chekov had some amusing bits. I picked up the first UK edition of the novel at a used bookstore in Florida last month, which was published by Corgi in 1985; it curiously has the series title as Startrek, one word. The final frontier... who could ask for more?

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is from the first wave of Star Trek books published outside of the novelizations of the episodes. Gordon Eklund had done one before this, called "The Starless World," which I also read and gave three stars. The writing here is certainly efficient and flows well. I personally didn't find the story terribly compelling which was also how I felt about Starless World. Probably my main issue with the book is that the characterization of Kirk seemed really off to me. I couldn't imagine Kirk reacting the way he does, particularly and especially at the end of the book. It also felt as if the characters didn't really know each other or react quite normally. Your experience may differ, of course.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly intense little story. The Bantam Trek books were always shorter and more concise than their Pocket Books successors, but this one in particular manages to evoke both a compelling mystery and provide some powerful emotional content. Occasionally, the concise length means it passes up expanded character histories that Pocket Books would have gone to town with, but this novel remains very true to the feel of the TV episodes, helped by some solid SF ideas and an excellent command of the Enterprise crew.

[Murphy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I can't recall a single plot detail, I remember being really struck by this one. I read this (along with Eklund's other Trek novel) at a time in my young life when I was emersed in the Original Series adventures of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest. What I truly loved about this and the other Eklund Trek novel is how they offer a somewhat alternate version of the Enterprise and Her crew. The tone of these novels doesn't exactly match that of the show, and the characters don't quite speak or behave the way they do on the show, and I remember finding that to be exhilarating!

[Lyndon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very mediocre ST adventure with eye-rolling moments and beloved characters that just did not ring true. Competent writing (tying up loose threads), but the scenario just didn't hold water. A quarantined planet - where the colonists went mad - but the Federation doesn't have any further details? And Kirk declaring his love for someone he just met? Lust, yes; love, no. (And his declaration of love wasn't due to any onset of madness.)

So 2 stars. Definitely not as snappy as the television show, which is why I read these early Star Trek adventures. I want to get back in that universe for nostalgia's sake. This one did not take me back in a positive way. Avid fans of these Bantam offerings will likely have to read it but probably won't like it.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two Bantam Star Trek books by Gordon Eklund; both took me longer to read than they should. There are similarities in the plots, as well - in each, a solitary man who seems to be fairly powerful leads the crew to the resolution of the problem.

Also like the previous novel, the author has a pretty good command of the crew. This felt like it could be an episode. It dragged a bit at the beginning, really picking up when Spock matched wits with the problem - which was fairly close to the end. In fact, at one point I wondered if it could be wrapped up in the very thin section of remaining pages in my hand.

This is the 10th Star Trek book I have finished this year, working toward a challenge of reading 12. Abandoned one. I may finish one or two more in the next few days - we shall see. In the new year I'll probably finish up the Bantam line and then take stock. I have read sporadic Pocket Book Star Trek novels over the last few years with friends. I doubt any of them would be interested in a full read through, though.

[Vega :)]

äntligen en välskriven kvinna i en star trek-tie in, det är svårt att tro sina ögon. hade för en gångs skull inte jättemånga klagomål!

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

Demoniaco. Umano. Incalzante.

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's short, can't call it sweet.

Gilla is Jainist, which in this story means she can't eat anything more sentient than a grape.

I'm a meat-a-tarian, so I find the idea of someone who starves themselves for a principle very sad. Almost as sad as the fatty heart disease I'm courting.

Also, the aliens look like devils, if you go to their planet their old machines try to assimilate you, and you go mad. Gilla, dying anyway, dies there in her insane father's place. Trading a literally starving artist for a crazy recluse. Hoo... ray?

There's probably some message about sacrifice, or not holding on to old traditions, or something. It's not quite scary enough, not quite sad enough, to be very memorable.

The scantily clad young woman on the cover is also not gaunt enough to be Gilla, who is actually malnourished in the story itself. Eat a cheeseburger, Gilla.

[Reesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better old Star Trek novels (which admittedly isn't a high bar).

The characters we know and love are mostly in character, while the story is a simple episode-worthy mystery featuring a missing Federation citizen of ill repute, an intelligent and attractive woman with a (very obvious) secret who is sure to jump-start Kirk's serial monogamy tendencies, an interesting new alien species, and of course, the standard "powerful mind" that only Spock can reach (at great personal risk).

Certainly not a four star book as literature, but arguably a four star effort in the pantheon of Star Trek novels from the 1970s. A quick, easy read that I enjoyed.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was there a law that '70s Star Trek books had to be bad? Did The Great Bird make some dictum that would-be professional writers could keep his legacy alive but only if they wrote books that made no sense? On the plus side, it's short and very smooth to read: small words, large font, brief paragraphs, mostly dialogue. On the negative side, there's the premise, the plot, the dialogue, and the resolution.

We shouldn't judge too harshly, since ST fans and writers had mainly their memories to go by - no tapes, no discs, no streams, probably not many reruns if any, especially by '78, even with a motion picture in the works. And I'm all for quick, light books that are popcorn-equivalents in the banquet of literature, but this feels like you're eating stale popcorn out of habit, not because you're hungry or even want to eat popcorn.

Most of the conversations read like these characters all woke up with amnesia and found a large sign saying "you are coworkers." There's no real connection among anyone, even the Big 3. Yet again we have a story of Kirk falling instantly in love with a mysterious woman and allows her on the bridge, is fine with her slapping him in front of everyone, and ignores all sorts of protocols and everyone's fine with it. But McCoy is doing that, too, so who cares. And everyone is fine with Kirk taking the flagship to an off-limits planet for a gal no one knows. And an actual Admiral dumps his clearly Starfleet-wash-out of a son onto Kirk, as if that's how Starfleet works - just dump a disrespectful, slovenly, insolent kid who doesn't want to be there onto the most important ship in the fleet, making the most important captain in the fleet have to teach him manners and make him a man, like it's some mid-season episode of MacGyver or something.

We are supposed to believe a bunch of three-foot tall stereotypical devil-looking guys used to have a mighty space empire and travelled the stars and founded worlds and civilizations. Sure, Gordo. But they lost one battle against space amoebas, everything fell apart, and they're down to 100 or so. Right, Gordo. But they managed to build a machine that ... um ... links their minds or something, which turns others bonkers but is really powerful and stuff ... something ... it makes no sense. "Excellent - write us that book, Gordo!" (We kid because we love.)

Like that mid-season MacGyver episode, everything wraps up neatly, the heroic sacrifices are undercut by nonsensical medical pronouncements, the slacker saves the day one time and is magically promoted to king and learns the true meaning of manhood and Christmas, and the filial connections that purport to drive the plot are ignored at the end, and the ship sails on with a conflicting "it's worse than we thought but they'll all be dead in ten years anyway so who cares and also increase the quarantine around a planet I went to without any authority hope that's okay."

And the magician scene at the beginning has no real connection to the story after all. Enjoy!

[Tracy Poff · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I accused Eklund of a lack of originality for The Starless World , then that's not half what he deserves for this. Oh, my, no.

Kirk meets a pretty woman, Gilla Dupree, and takes the Enterprise to a forbidden planet to look for her father, who is missing but rumored to be there. The natives there, the Danons, look like the traditional depiction of devils.

They find her father claiming to have achieved immortality by merging into some group consciousness, but it turns out it's just an evil computer run amok, which has reduced the Danons, who once commanded a galaxy-spanning empire, to a hundred or so individuals, each controlled by the computer from birth to death.

Also, in the least surprising reveal in Trek thus far, Dupree is dying and she stays behind on the planet, joined to the computer, allowing the others to leave.

There's a minor character introduced for whom Kirk is supposed to act a a mentor, but I don't think he gets a dozen lines of dialogue in the whole book. He's a total nonentity.

The most interesting thing about the book is that Dupree is a Jain. It comes up a few times, gets a little discussion between the characters, and is the only thing in the book that someone might still be thinking about when the covers are closed.

You'd think there'd be more to say about a story spanning a hundred and fifty pages, but there's really not. Well, Chekov told a story about why there are no Russian bears in Russian zoos. Yeah, you really have to reach for anything interesting in this one.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the things that's always impressed me with the Trek novels is how the characters SOUND like the actors from the films. It's something that seems like such a special talent, and I've always been amazed by how well all the various authors that dip into the world are able to accomplish that feat.

Until now. Eklund is probably a fine writer (I assume the fact that this reads like a children's book is him thoroughly misunderstanding the 'point' of these books), but he woefully misunderstands every character. Kirk is a swooning, indecisive captain who is all the worst parodies rolled into one (minus the over-the-top pauses, I guess). Spock is hesitant to share opinions, and disobeys orders at the drop of a hat. McCoy's not too bad.

The plot itself isn't HORRIBLE, though the motivation seems to be that Kirk is interested in a girl, and there's a 'don't live here' ban on the planet they visit, but no one seems to know WHY it's there in the first place (they never mention why it's in place, even though they have no reason to think they shouldn't visit). There's a race of aliens who look like literal devils (when did this stupid trend finally die out? Not soon enough); there's at least a vaguely interesting subplot about the aliens trying to help out humans somehow, though it leaves them catatonic; and in the end it's just another retread of a story we've seen plenty of times before.

If nothing else, it's a quick read.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Star Trek novel from 1979 takes our favorite group across space searching for the missing father of an intergalactic writer. The father also happens to be a missing Federation citizen who is considered a traitor by his former Starfleet colleagues.

The main dynamic is around the central characters (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) with a few others thrown in. The story keeps them mostly in character, and follows a plotline similar to what we would see in an episode, which means it contains a mysterious woman, a missing person, and danger where the captain gets to stress and a few red shirts are killed.

It also features Spock as he attempts to use his psi powers to decipher where a mysterious power is coming from, and what it wants. Naturally this is a bad idea, and the captain and crew get embroiled in an inter-species war while struggling to find out what has hurt their compatriots.

A final sacrifice and our crew flies away into space, where Kirk recognizes a spoiled brat has grown up, a woman can certainly be noble and grand, and the starship is his number one love.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking back on some of these adventures, it’s amazing just how similar to the television series they are. And also how repetitive that feels when in book form. Stupidly, I can deal with television rehashing the same ground because there’s a lot of people involved who strive to make it comfortable for the viewer but with enough novelty to keep them intrigued. When books do it, though, I am less impressed, for some reason.

This is not a brilliant book, but it features the Enterprise crew doing things that the crew do, with the usual things - Spock, McCoy and Kirk get most of the action, with Chekov, Scotty, Sulu and Uhura having very little at all - that are familiar from the show. What’s annoying is when the guest characters have more to do than the regulars for no real reason. Schang, for instance, appears to serve no real purpose in the plot except to have “a man” made out of him by Kirk. I struggled to complete this thin volume for the plot but Mr Eklund’s charming style kept me on course.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fast-paced, decent enough story, if a little predictable in places (if you can't see Gilla's actions and motivation coming from a long way off, you're not paying much attention). That being said, it's not rising above two stars from me.

Everyone has tropes that they just don't care for. Personally, I don't see what could possibly be appealing about aliens who look like devils, complete with horns and forked tails, but it makes me roll my eyes every single time. Especially as there's absolutely no reason for it in this particular book. Had the indigenous inhabitants of Devil World looked like literally anything else, it wouldn't change a single thing about the story. Not one thing! What, I ask you, is the point of it then?

Someone needed to kill a darling here and didn't. This isn't even the first time I've seen this stupid trope in a Trek novel. Here's hoping never again.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an Original Series (TOS) adventure with the Star Trek crew. I really enjoyed the writing style of Eklund and have ordered more of his books. This takes place on a distant planet that has been quarantined by the Federation. Spock, McCoy and Kirk are all here trying to find out the mystery behind the planet and the strange race of Danon-which resemble the Devil in U.S. culture.

Like the TV series, it moves quickly and has action abound. This is the first Star Trek book that I have read and I'm looking forward to reading many more.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid entry in the canon. Interesting world and a level of mystery that is even above the usual Star Trek mystery. Eklund wrote two incredible passages, too: Spock talking about Vulcans and poker, and the part where Kirk sees the space paintings. The paintings bit may be the best prose I've read in any of the tie-in books so far.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stardate 4231.2 Planet Heartland, Gilla Dupree's father Jacob Kell, is missing. But he has been located on Heartland home of the Danons. A planet off limits to the Federation. The Enterprise travel to the planet.
An enjoyable re-read
Star Trek Adventures 8

[Rob Boots · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Compared to many of these spin-off books, this one seemed more like watching an actual episode. It was very immersive. I'm going to pursue other books by Mr. Eklund.

[Dave Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is a bit clunky and I wasn't in love with the ending but it was a fun quick read.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than most

[David Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read that feels just like an original episode.

[Steve Matthewman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable Trek novel. Not too heavy, a quick, light read. 👌

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think much of the premise or plot, but I do like how the young woman got what she wanted, both from Jim and from Heartland.

[Kevin Noone · Rating 3 out of 5]

probably the closest in tone to tos of all the books i read (a woman dies to make kirk feel things)

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the risk of damning the book with faint praise, DEVIL WORLD is a perfectly adequate STAR TREK adventure and a marked improvement over the author's other TREK novel, THE STARLESS WORLD. There's nothing particularly remarkable about DEVIL WORLD, but Gordon Eklund manages to cycle through all the typical TREK cliches in an entertaining enough manner. Everyone stays in character, nobody explores any repressed sexual urges, and no one pontificates on the meaning of human existence--in other words, just your basic space adventure yarn. The book's only WTF? moment comes when Chekov decides to ramble on for several pages about why there are no Russian bears in Russian zoos. Apparently, the author thought it funny to have Chekov make up long, pointless stories, and this becomes a lame running joke that only Norm Macdonald could make work. Also falling flat is Kirk's sudden new romance with a girl he has nothing in common with--a girl with serious daddy issues and who doesn't even eat vegetables because she considers them advanced life forms.
The most striking thing about DEVIL WORLD is its cover (a scantily-dressed Uhura being menaced by a tribe of devils)--an image that has been firmly stuck in my lizard brain ever since I first glimpsed it as a teen. Alas, though, I'd have to chalk it up as false advertising: Uhura only gets one or two lines and is never out of uniform, and the devil-like appearance of the aliens-of-the-week is pretty much irrelevant to the overall story.
But apart from the misleading cover, the book delivers exactly what you'd expect from an early TREK novel.

[Tim Ristow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like so many of the Bantam era Star Trek novels, this one reads just like an episode of TOS. In fact, this could have been a ‘lost’ episode of TOS. It’s light reading, to be sure, but that’s not a bad thing. I’ve read this 3-4 times now since I was a teen (now in my ‘50’s) and always finish in 2 days, although you could certainly breeze through this in a day. It’s fun because the Trek cast of characters act like they should, the story fits the TOS mold, and the setting and storyline are engaging enough to keep you thinking. The novel clearly could have been expanded to twice its length, fleshing out the story and characters much more. Characters like poor Sulu are barely along for the ride. I forgot he was part of the landing part until he spoke well into the adventure. But that was Sulu in TOS too, back in the day, so it fits the time when it was written. Still it’s exactly what I wanted. Just another simple Star Trek adventure. Like much of TOS was. For me, it joins the ranks of other simple but good Bantam-era Trek novels, like Planet of Judgement, The Starless World, Trek to Madworld, and Perry’s Planet.