What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Trek #12
Star Trek 12
1977 Bantam Star Trek paperback-5 Stories based on the original Captain Kirk TV show
170 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1977
7 people are currently reading
381 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 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 20, 2024
This is the twelfth and final volume in Blish's Bantam series of adaptations of original series Star Trek screenplays to short story form. Blish had suffered failing health for some time and passed away a couple of years before the publication of this book. It was finished by his wife, J.A. Lawrence, who had in fact been his uncredited collaborator on previous books in the series since 1972, along with her mother, Muriel Bodkin Lawrence, both of whom were also accomplished writers. It includes a selection of five episodes: Patterns of Force, The Gamesters of Triskelion, And the Children Shall Lead, The Corbomite Maneuver, and Shore Leave. The more popular and easily adaptable scripts had been used for earlier books in the series, but they did a good job of translating these last five stories to the prose medium with care and clarity. I thought it was great that they got through the entire three years of the series. (Actually, there were two that didn't appear until later, as they were included in a book called Mudd's Angels, with an original story by Lawrence.) This one also includes appendices which list all of the episodes, the writers of the original screenplays upon which the Blish adaptations were based, and told in which Bantam title they could be found. That was great and useful information in those pre-internet days!
January 7, 2022
Just more of the same - especially if you like The Original Series. :)
All the cringe is still intact. Of course, one of my favorite moments is just a little aside, where Kirk believes that Spock is giving him a little shoulder rub, and begins exclaiming in such a way that reminds me of much of the Kirk-Spock slash-fiction that's out there - it tickled me.
All the cringe is still intact. Of course, one of my favorite moments is just a little aside, where Kirk believes that Spock is giving him a little shoulder rub, and begins exclaiming in such a way that reminds me of much of the Kirk-Spock slash-fiction that's out there - it tickled me.
September 30, 2017
“Star Trek 12” was the final collection of Star Trek Original Series episode novelizations written by James Blish as he passed away whilst writing it. The collection was therefore completed by his wife, J.A. Lawrence who would go on to adapt the only remaining episodes in "Mudd's Angels". The five episodes included in this collection are cover all three seasons and are as follows:
Patterns of Force (Season 2)
The Gamesters of Triskelion (Season 2)
And the Children Shall Lead (Season 3)
The Corbomite Maneuver (Season 1)
Shore Leave (Season 1)
So I am at the point where I just want to copy my reviews from previous Blish novelisations as most of the commentary is the same. Basically, if you enjoyed the TV episode then you will enjoy the novelisation and if you didn't like the episode then you won't like the novelisation. Blish and Lawrence are competent in their job of converting the episodes into written form but they don't really add anything new to change the underlying strengths or weaknesses of the individual stories.
As I suspect most people considering this book will have seen these episodes already I won't bother summarising them here. The writing itself is good but I would only really recommend this collection to a Trek lit completionist at it doesn't offer anything new and if you don't know the stories then you would be better off actually watching the TV show episodes.
Patterns of Force (Season 2)
The Gamesters of Triskelion (Season 2)
And the Children Shall Lead (Season 3)
The Corbomite Maneuver (Season 1)
Shore Leave (Season 1)
So I am at the point where I just want to copy my reviews from previous Blish novelisations as most of the commentary is the same. Basically, if you enjoyed the TV episode then you will enjoy the novelisation and if you didn't like the episode then you won't like the novelisation. Blish and Lawrence are competent in their job of converting the episodes into written form but they don't really add anything new to change the underlying strengths or weaknesses of the individual stories.
As I suspect most people considering this book will have seen these episodes already I won't bother summarising them here. The writing itself is good but I would only really recommend this collection to a Trek lit completionist at it doesn't offer anything new and if you don't know the stories then you would be better off actually watching the TV show episodes.
September 3, 2017
Short stories concentrating on 1 problem at a time, figuring the main TOS characters. Delivered by a well-known writer in his fluent style. Action, tension and psychology with a touch of humour.
Follows the TV-episoded closely, you automatically visualise this while reading.
Follows the TV-episoded closely, you automatically visualise this while reading.
October 2, 2013
When these early novels and stories to Star Trek came out I bought them all, devoured them and loved them. It's been a long time, so today I couldn't even say which of them were really good and which of them I only loved because they were Star Trek. ;)
Just thinking of them and seeing the covers gives me a happy feeling of nostalgia. That alone is worth the rating!
Just thinking of them and seeing the covers gives me a happy feeling of nostalgia. That alone is worth the rating!
January 29, 2013
The final collection of Star Trek adaptations from the original series has some good and bad episodes. It also features stories completed after James Blish's untimely death. Highlights include "Shore Leave", "The Gamesters of Triskelion" and "Patterns of Force."
February 8, 2025
James Blish and J.A. Lawrence's 1977 Star Trek 12 contains 5 stories adapted by Blish and Lawrence from the screenplays of the 1960s television series, along with 2 appendices.
Credits for the original screenplays are as follows:
"Patterns of Force" by John Meredyth Lucas,
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" by Margaret Armen,
"And the Children Shall Lead" by Edward J. Lakso,
"The Corbomite Maneuver" by Jerry Sohl, and
"Shore Leave" by Theodore Sturgeon.
As with my reviews of the previous books in the series, about these stories themselves I feel I need say nothing beyond the briefest nod to each: The search for a missing historian leads to space Nazis, Kirk and Uhura and Chekov are whisked from the Transporter Room to a world of barbaric slave games, still-playful orphans literally dancing around their parents' corpses on an archaeological dig on an alien planet hold a puzzling and dangerous mystery, the big frown-faced alien from the show's closing credits meets his match in the seemingly helpless Kirk, and an apparently uninhabited paradise planet that could give the crew a much-needed shore leave suddenly brings not only delight but also deadly danger. After all, anyone choosing the book is already familiar with the episodes of the TV show, right?
I'm sure that 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. I confess I am stale enough on these episodes that I likely missed most such differences.
One glitch I did happen to notice was an odd wrong-color description of Nazi armbands being "black bands marked with red circles" and "in the center of each circle...a black swastika" (1977 Bantam paperback, page 4) rather than the grimly familiar red bands with white circles. And lest we try to explain this away as some purposeful difference made by John Gill, let us recall that later, when Kirk calls the Enterprise and "want[s] McCoy outfitted as a Gestapo doctor, Nazi Germany, old Earth date 1944" (pages 22-23), his correct-color regalia causes no comment from any of the bad guys. Another difference is that the aircraft that strafes Rodriguez and Teller is not a Japanese Zero of the Second World Was, as seen on television, but a British Sopwith Camel of the First World War (page 160), and the damned thing even shoots very-incorrect .50 caliber ammunition (page 166). Ah, well. All 5 stories nevertheless are, for their genre, between enjoyable and a lot of fun, with my own favorites probably being "The Corbomite Maneuver"--despite Bailey's very unbelievable lack of military discipline--and "Shore Leave."
Oh, and regarding "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd"-- These are the only episodes not collected in Star Trek--in printings beyond the first, titled Star Trek 1--through Star Trek 12. For these, however, we needn't worry, as they will appear, along with a brand-new third Mudd tale, in the 1978 Mudd's Angels by J.A. Lawrence. Instead, this book ends with 2 appendices, one listing all stories by book printing, and a second one that gives not only book but season each episode was aired; it does not give us the order of episodes within each season, though.
In any event, James Blish and J.A. Lawrence's Star Trek 12 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:
"Patterns of Force" by John Meredyth Lucas,
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" by Margaret Armen,
"And the Children Shall Lead" by Edward J. Lakso,
"The Corbomite Maneuver" by Jerry Sohl, and
"Shore Leave" by Theodore Sturgeon.
As with my reviews of the previous books in the series, about these stories themselves I feel I need say nothing beyond the briefest nod to each: The search for a missing historian leads to space Nazis, Kirk and Uhura and Chekov are whisked from the Transporter Room to a world of barbaric slave games, still-playful orphans literally dancing around their parents' corpses on an archaeological dig on an alien planet hold a puzzling and dangerous mystery, the big frown-faced alien from the show's closing credits meets his match in the seemingly helpless Kirk, and an apparently uninhabited paradise planet that could give the crew a much-needed shore leave suddenly brings not only delight but also deadly danger. After all, anyone choosing the book is already familiar with the episodes of the TV show, right?
I'm sure that 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. I confess I am stale enough on these episodes that I likely missed most such differences.
One glitch I did happen to notice was an odd wrong-color description of Nazi armbands being "black bands marked with red circles" and "in the center of each circle...a black swastika" (1977 Bantam paperback, page 4) rather than the grimly familiar red bands with white circles. And lest we try to explain this away as some purposeful difference made by John Gill, let us recall that later, when Kirk calls the Enterprise and "want[s] McCoy outfitted as a Gestapo doctor, Nazi Germany, old Earth date 1944" (pages 22-23), his correct-color regalia causes no comment from any of the bad guys. Another difference is that the aircraft that strafes Rodriguez and Teller is not a Japanese Zero of the Second World Was, as seen on television, but a British Sopwith Camel of the First World War (page 160), and the damned thing even shoots very-incorrect .50 caliber ammunition (page 166). Ah, well. All 5 stories nevertheless are, for their genre, between enjoyable and a lot of fun, with my own favorites probably being "The Corbomite Maneuver"--despite Bailey's very unbelievable lack of military discipline--and "Shore Leave."
Oh, and regarding "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd"-- These are the only episodes not collected in Star Trek--in printings beyond the first, titled Star Trek 1--through Star Trek 12. For these, however, we needn't worry, as they will appear, along with a brand-new third Mudd tale, in the 1978 Mudd's Angels by J.A. Lawrence. Instead, this book ends with 2 appendices, one listing all stories by book printing, and a second one that gives not only book but season each episode was aired; it does not give us the order of episodes within each season, though.
In any event, James Blish and J.A. Lawrence's Star Trek 12 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.
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 23, 2022
There are five episodes from the original Star Trek here, turned into short stories, and although some of the episodes are dire - there's not a lot can be done to improve something like "Shore Leave," for instance - the pacing moves along very quickly and overall this was a likeable enough read. Not altogether surprising, as I remember the episodes, but relaxing, I think I'd call it. Of them all, I think "And the Children Shall Lead" was my favourite, given the horror elements of the story, and I actually think I preferred the short story version to the episode. Mostly, though, I'm struck by an element of the first episode collected here, "Patterns of Force," in which a brilliant humanist historian of the Federation actually tries to create elements of Nazi Germany on a warring planet, in order to quell the infighting there by creating an outgroup to persecute. I just... I cannot credit it. I know that Trek likes to play with history, but the mental and moral lapse required to do such a thing... honestly, I'm just baffled by that particular narrative choice. Baffled.
All of which is to say that Blish and Lawrence do their very best with some astonishingly stupid storylines, and under the circumstances their best is pretty good.
All of which is to say that Blish and Lawrence do their very best with some astonishingly stupid storylines, and under the circumstances their best is pretty good.
February 19, 2019
✭✭
“Patterns of Force”, James Blish (Adaptor) & John Meredyth Lucas (Teleplay Author). ✭½
“The Gamesters of Triskelion”, James Blish (Adaptor) & Margaret Armen (Teleplay Author) (1977). ✭✭½
“And the Children Shall Lead”, James Blish (Adaptor), J. A. Lawrence (Adaptor), & Edward J. Lasko (Teleplay Author) (1977). ½
“The Corbomite Maneuver”, James Blish (Adaptor) & Jerry Sohl (Teleplay Author) (1977). ✭✭✭
“Shore Leave”, James Blish (Adaptor), J. A. Lawrence (Adaptor), & Theodore Sturgeon (Teleplay Author) (1977). ✭✭½
All stories published 1977.
“Patterns of Force”, James Blish (Adaptor) & John Meredyth Lucas (Teleplay Author). ✭½
“The Gamesters of Triskelion”, James Blish (Adaptor) & Margaret Armen (Teleplay Author) (1977). ✭✭½
“And the Children Shall Lead”, James Blish (Adaptor), J. A. Lawrence (Adaptor), & Edward J. Lasko (Teleplay Author) (1977). ½
“The Corbomite Maneuver”, James Blish (Adaptor) & Jerry Sohl (Teleplay Author) (1977). ✭✭✭
“Shore Leave”, James Blish (Adaptor), J. A. Lawrence (Adaptor), & Theodore Sturgeon (Teleplay Author) (1977). ✭✭½
All stories published 1977.
Read
February 1, 2020This volume has the misfortune of adapting one quite bad episode and three that rely on visuals for their best effect. The writing is fine, but if the source material doesn't hold up, then there's nothing Blish (or Lawrence) could do to save it. "The Corbomite Maneuver" is worth a read, for fans, but the rest is best left to history.
There is one nice touch: the book ends with appendices listing all the episodes, in which season they appeared, who wrote them, and in which book they are adapted. Handy!
My full review of each of the component stories is available on Barba Non DB.
There is one nice touch: the book ends with appendices listing all the episodes, in which season they appeared, who wrote them, and in which book they are adapted. Handy!
My full review of each of the component stories is available on Barba Non DB.
August 18, 2025
Very sorry to hear James Blish stopped at ST 12 because he passed away! That said, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane that this author provided me in his 12 books on the ST:OS episodes I'd enjoyed repeatedly as a child, teen, young adult and ever onward through my life. ST:OS has been a wonderful memory and though there's been many remakes, nothing has taken the place of the Original cast of characters on their Star Trek.
March 31, 2020
I was fond of And the Children Shall Lead, partly because it included a participant from nearby San Francisco. Plus, Shore Leave is such fun! Patterns of Force is intriguing, That serves to balance out The Gamesters Of Triskelton, whose only saving grace is Uhuru totally whomping a guy.
September 9, 2022
Good Aci-Fi action.
July 28, 2025
Manipolativo. Politico. Filosofico.
November 6, 2025
Old school Star Trek, beam me up Mr. Scott.
March 27, 2021
This is the one with the space-Nazis (that's not hyperbole, they are literally Nazis in space).
July 11, 2020
The final volume of this "series" doesn't disappoint, even though Blish passed away before it was complete and some of it was written by his wife. Blish's voice is clear throughout and the personalities of the Star Trek characters shine through.
August 17, 2023
As always, it was fine, the stories were retold well and stayed fun in this new form. I’m glad to be done with this series, but it’s a real shame it had to end with the author’s death. Their quality was improving as he went on, despite the dwindling pool of stories to choose from.
December 30, 2007
read 12.27.85
September 4, 2009
The final half dozen episodes or so to wrap up the entire Original TV series rewritten as novella-length Sci-Fi stories.
August 6, 2009
More episode write ups from the original series. A couple of these were done by J. A. Lawrence, Blish's wife, after he died.
April 4, 2016
More stories about the Enterprise. A planet which created what you think etc...
October 15, 2018
Part of a delicious and nutritious classic sci-fi diet.
November 6, 2025
An old favorite. Got this one as a boy for Christmas many moons ago.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews