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Star Trek: The Original Series #14
The Trellisane Confrontation
The Treallisane Confrontation
The U.S.S Enterprise™ has rushed to war-torn Trellisane! Kirk is on the bridge of a Klingon warship, McCoy is dining with cannibals, and the ship is surrounded by Romulans. In the Neutral Zone, power is up for grabs. Now only the ingenuity and raw courage of the Enterprise crew can avert catastrophe!
190 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
September 13, 2020
An okay if undistinguished TOS novel. We have the Federation, Romulans, and Klingons faced off in a three-way dispute over the planet Trellisane, which has problems of its own. The plot is rather politically complex, but enjoyable. Naturally, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down leaving the Enterprise to be taken over with ridiculous ease by a handful of prisoners they were transporting. We learn that slavery is bad, as is consuming other sentient species, so they have to ignore the Prime Directive and Spock has to flaunt his wry and dry humanity. Kirk does not find a native girl to frolic with, but Chekov does hit on a lesbian Amazon with negligible result. Nurse Chapel has the most interesting thread, as she becomes melded with a four-part being that has lost one of its components. The prose is annoying at times when an event is recorded briefly and then followed with very dry, very long paragraphs summarizing what has just happened and the reactions of the participants to said event. As is the case with all such novelizations, everything is reset at the end to where it was at the start to get ready for next week's show. It's a nice, standard episode, with our familiar friends behaving in their accustomed manner.
May 20, 2016
I wanted to like this...and the back cover blurb promised so much high concept fun. Instead, I found a book where the regular characters felt off, there were too many plots fighting for attention within too small a page count, and just enough continuity fanwank to be irritating. It commits the worst offence I can accuse a novel of committing: it was disappointing. Luckily, Mr. Dvorkin's other "Star Trek" novels develop high concept ideas with more satisfying depth, and were far more to my taste. That said, based on the more positive reviews I've read of "The Trellisane Confrontation", you're mileage may vary quite a bit from my own...
May 18, 2018
Not much to say. Klingons, Romulans, Terrorists, Slavery, a form of cannibalism AND an invasion. None of which make much sense. Also the Enterprise crew acts pretty much out of character.
June 27, 2018
A lot of the early Star Trek novels are really quite short, and that has both advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I tend to enjoy shorter novels - there's frequently far less waffle to get through - but they do run the risk of skimming over a lot, and that's what happens here. There's an interesting idea at the bottom of this - the conflict between the sea creatures of one world and the land creatures of another, and the medical staff of the Enterprise come off very well. Both McCoy and Chapel are outstanding, and Chapel's temporary inclusion as part of a symbiotic organism (something she takes on willingly in order to treat it) is genuinely compelling, and I think deserved far more focus than it got. Engineer Scott also uses his brains, but most of the rest of the crew are functionally useless, and the entire problem of Kirk losing his ship to begin with is idiot plot, as the entire security team of the Enterprise - which both Kirk and Dvorkin are at pains to tell us is the best available - are absolutely moronic. (I've been reading these novels from the beginning, and it's come to my attention that the more time an author spends telling me how elite the ship's crew is, the more the text belies that assertion.)
But for all that, the rating had edged up to three stars up until the end, where storylines are ignored or tied up in bare paragraphs. Chapel's enormously affecting experience barely rates a few sentences. The issue of slavery is solved ridiculously quickly, and given that McCoy discovered that the people of Trellisane were eating the slaves - and that he'd eaten murdered sentient creatures as well - it's frankly staggering that this had not so much as a sentence of follow-up. What this book needed as a closing chapter was not Kirk feeling smug about his poor performance, but McCoy and Chapel working out their traumatic experiences together over a stiff drink.
But for all that, the rating had edged up to three stars up until the end, where storylines are ignored or tied up in bare paragraphs. Chapel's enormously affecting experience barely rates a few sentences. The issue of slavery is solved ridiculously quickly, and given that McCoy discovered that the people of Trellisane were eating the slaves - and that he'd eaten murdered sentient creatures as well - it's frankly staggering that this had not so much as a sentence of follow-up. What this book needed as a closing chapter was not Kirk feeling smug about his poor performance, but McCoy and Chapel working out their traumatic experiences together over a stiff drink.
February 12, 2021
2.5 stars if I had the option. It's okay. It's kind of boring. But it's not bad.
This book never really gets going, even though there are several good moments where everything could start to come together. The issue is there are so many different mini-plots trying to be woven together, half of them too boring to bother with, that nothing ever gets the attention it needs to be fleshed out.
The small subplot with Chapel and 4-joined-beings lifeform, an Onctilliian, is the most interesting part of the novel by far, but it's barely explored. This idea should have been its own full-blown novel, totally separate from all this Trellisane/Sealon/Klingon/Romulan nonsense. A pair of warrior women lovers is another germ of an idea that could have been interesting if handled properly. But they're just background characters who barely even speak to each other despite being mates.
Our beloved crew is in character some of the time, but also out of it often enough to regularly throw one out of the story in annoyance.
The "shocking twist" was painfully obvious about a hundred pages before it's apparently supposed to be, making our heroes look like blithering idiots for not picking up on it.
The Trellisanians are pretty darn boring. Not even slavery, mind control, and rampant cannibalism can make them interesting. The Sealons could be interesting if they were given some more time and attention.
I saw several sparks of possibility scattered throughout this story that it's a shame didn't get more focus. All in all, it's not a bad book, it's just kind of meh. I didn't hate it but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it to a friend.
This book never really gets going, even though there are several good moments where everything could start to come together. The issue is there are so many different mini-plots trying to be woven together, half of them too boring to bother with, that nothing ever gets the attention it needs to be fleshed out.
The small subplot with Chapel and 4-joined-beings lifeform, an Onctilliian, is the most interesting part of the novel by far, but it's barely explored. This idea should have been its own full-blown novel, totally separate from all this Trellisane/Sealon/Klingon/Romulan nonsense. A pair of warrior women lovers is another germ of an idea that could have been interesting if handled properly. But they're just background characters who barely even speak to each other despite being mates.
Our beloved crew is in character some of the time, but also out of it often enough to regularly throw one out of the story in annoyance.
The "shocking twist" was painfully obvious about a hundred pages before it's apparently supposed to be, making our heroes look like blithering idiots for not picking up on it.
The Trellisanians are pretty darn boring. Not even slavery, mind control, and rampant cannibalism can make them interesting. The Sealons could be interesting if they were given some more time and attention.
I saw several sparks of possibility scattered throughout this story that it's a shame didn't get more focus. All in all, it's not a bad book, it's just kind of meh. I didn't hate it but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it to a friend.
May 30, 2010
[These notes were made in 1984:]. Another of the ST novels which uses the Federation-Klingon-Romulan triangle as a metaphor for the current 3-power situation, with Trellisane and its neighbour, Sealon, as third-world countries. Dvorkin is clearly interested in the morality of colonization, or even of supporting a culture morally repugnant to you. On Trellisane, McCoy discovers that the unusually delicious meat is actually the flesh of slaves. What saves all this from being over-earnest political allegory is the personal goings-on up on the ship, where a slightly(?) mad revolutionary, his two henchmen, plus a pair of lesbian Amazons, and a four-way physically bonded creature called an Onctilian take over and try to use the Enterprise for their own purposes. Christine Chapel intervenes when one part of the four-part creature is killed, and accidentally bonds with it herself, and the progression of this is the most interesting and imaginative part of the book, I think.
March 27, 2017
I really liked this one, much bigger roles for Scotty and Bones (and Nurse Chapel). There were some blatant problems with some of the premises (like how everyone on the Enterprise reacted to the entire event) but if you pretend like there was some reason for all of that, the story was a fun and exciting one.
November 6, 2020
The events take partially place in space on the Enterprise and partially on the planet Trellisane. Brief passages are made on a starbase where the Enterprise picks up prisoners and on a Klingon battlecruiser where Kirk is kept hostage.
We (and the crew of the Enterprise) get to know 2 new species who put us for some suprises.
The doctor, Spock, Kirk and Scotty each play a completley different role in coming to a satisfying soltution to their problems without any interaction with any one of the others.
Nurse Christine Chapel plays a very important role which makes her also unique in the universe.
As usual there is plenty of action, chances to reflect on moral dilemmas, some wordplay, friendly humor, excitement and dangers galore.
David Dvorkin delivered with this book a worthy addition to the ever-growing series.
We (and the crew of the Enterprise) get to know 2 new species who put us for some suprises.
The doctor, Spock, Kirk and Scotty each play a completley different role in coming to a satisfying soltution to their problems without any interaction with any one of the others.
Nurse Christine Chapel plays a very important role which makes her also unique in the universe.
As usual there is plenty of action, chances to reflect on moral dilemmas, some wordplay, friendly humor, excitement and dangers galore.
David Dvorkin delivered with this book a worthy addition to the ever-growing series.
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October 3, 2017Just read a star wars novel so decided to read a star trek one to be fair. Reads exactly like an episode of TOS, for better or for worse I guess, except there's no love interest for Kirk in this one. Cannibals and lesbian angle unfortunately underdeveloped, as is a subplot involving Nurse Chapel becoming one with a multiple-personality alien creature. Still, a pleasant diversion.
May 1, 2023
Very good but ending is too rapid!
January 3, 2010
I enjoyed this one but OK it didn't light me on fire. I felt the resolutions to the problems at the end came a little too easily and that to get there the Klingons and Romulans had to act a bit out of character. The Klingons particularly came off a bit buffoonish. It did show an interesting side of Kirk.
October 22, 2015
The book was fine. Some mis-characterization towards the end but all in all pretty decent.
August 31, 2016
Another mediocre book in this series.
March 25, 2020
After beaming up several prisoners for transport to a starbase, Kirk sends the Enterprise to Trellisane after receiving a fragmented call for help. Upon arrival they find the Trellisane civilization to be under attack by the neighboring Sealons who are using aid from the Klingons. Sulu is left in charge of the ship after the big three beam down to Trellisane and that's when the action really begins.
I was very impressed with the cultures of the Trellisanes and Sealons, with the latter beings essentially being seal-like humanoids. I liked the Klingons and Romulans in the story, with the leading Romulan being from one of my favorite classic series episodes.
Where the story falls is a lot of focus on how the Trellisane civilization is set up (which is understood by the reader quicker than the officer involved), how Kirk reacts to his officers dealing with the cultures (after all he's done with civilization meddling?!), who ultimately takes command of the Enterprise after the big three leave the ship (I don't buy this lasting long for a second), and Nurse Chapel having an interesting side story that's tossed aside after the battles begin.
There's some interesting threads here and this is definitely readable, but it just doesn't amount to much when it ends.
I was very impressed with the cultures of the Trellisanes and Sealons, with the latter beings essentially being seal-like humanoids. I liked the Klingons and Romulans in the story, with the leading Romulan being from one of my favorite classic series episodes.
Where the story falls is a lot of focus on how the Trellisane civilization is set up (which is understood by the reader quicker than the officer involved), how Kirk reacts to his officers dealing with the cultures (after all he's done with civilization meddling?!), who ultimately takes command of the Enterprise after the big three leave the ship (I don't buy this lasting long for a second), and Nurse Chapel having an interesting side story that's tossed aside after the battles begin.
There's some interesting threads here and this is definitely readable, but it just doesn't amount to much when it ends.
August 12, 2021
My first ever Star Trek novel. I forgot I even have one because I was sent to me 3 years ago for a reason I don't know and back then I didn't care about Star Trek. I stuffed it into my shelf and forgot about it. I unearthed it recently and thought, why not?
Well, it did not disappoint. And I don't know if that's good or bad.
Just as the series episodes, you never know what you're gonna get. In The Trellisane Confrontation, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down and get stuck in Trellisane because the cargo they were transporting - a group of four prisoners - hijacked the Enterprise and has taken over the bridge. Where, like, 20 people (max) are. What happens on-planet is a politically complex plot involving five parties in a delicate situation that may cause a war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire and the Klingons.
While the plot is enjoyable, the writing could be dragging with veeeery dry prose. Still, I enjoyed the dialogue's especially McCoy's and for making me fall in love with him a little more, I guess I'll give this book 3 stars.
Well, it did not disappoint. And I don't know if that's good or bad.
Just as the series episodes, you never know what you're gonna get. In The Trellisane Confrontation, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down and get stuck in Trellisane because the cargo they were transporting - a group of four prisoners - hijacked the Enterprise and has taken over the bridge. Where, like, 20 people (max) are. What happens on-planet is a politically complex plot involving five parties in a delicate situation that may cause a war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire and the Klingons.
While the plot is enjoyable, the writing could be dragging with veeeery dry prose. Still, I enjoyed the dialogue's especially McCoy's and for making me fall in love with him a little more, I guess I'll give this book 3 stars.
May 4, 2022
Tasked with a simple mission (transport prisoners from point A to point B), Kirk deviates from clear orders to involve himself in an interplanetary quagmire. He quickly overdoes it to find himself marooned and powerless.
A brief aspect of the story gifted me a stab of reality when the competent and strong chief of Enterprise’s security gets taken out of commission, throwing the entire security section into commotion.
Tsk tsk, those red shirts. It reminded me of a fellow I know (not related to me in any way). A decent man, very advanced in years and poor health, who seems only mindful of various miserly concerns related to his money and property. When I compare my own mindset to his (and Kinitz’) I consider that I all too often probably share the same incorrect assumption in failing to properly prepare for the inevitable. The fallacy being, ‘I will live forever’.
A brief aspect of the story gifted me a stab of reality when the competent and strong chief of Enterprise’s security gets taken out of commission, throwing the entire security section into commotion.
”Kinitz had not provided for command in case of his death, for that situation - his defeat and death - had been simply unimaginable to him”.
Tsk tsk, those red shirts. It reminded me of a fellow I know (not related to me in any way). A decent man, very advanced in years and poor health, who seems only mindful of various miserly concerns related to his money and property. When I compare my own mindset to his (and Kinitz’) I consider that I all too often probably share the same incorrect assumption in failing to properly prepare for the inevitable. The fallacy being, ‘I will live forever’.
August 13, 2025
Hmm. I agree with the reviewers who despised this, and those who enjoyed it.
The exploration of pacifism vs. timidity (as opposed to the somewhat more hawkish Kirk & that which he represents) had a lot of potential but all we learned is that the Trellisanes are doing it wrong... I guess we are still waiting for an episode in which Spock will teach us that *all* diplomatic channels must be exhausted before armed ships are brought in.
There were so many subplots that even though the plot developments never paused, the book did drag at times whilst I was waiting for developments in the plots that I cared about. Chapel's adventure could have benefited from a few more pages. McCoy's crustiness is revealed as being a disguise to hide just how sensitive he is, and his (not actually adversarial despite the name-calling) r'ship w/ Spock is analyzed. The Sealons are an interesting 'race' (?) and I would like to get to know them better.
The exploration of pacifism vs. timidity (as opposed to the somewhat more hawkish Kirk & that which he represents) had a lot of potential but all we learned is that the Trellisanes are doing it wrong... I guess we are still waiting for an episode in which Spock will teach us that *all* diplomatic channels must be exhausted before armed ships are brought in.
There were so many subplots that even though the plot developments never paused, the book did drag at times whilst I was waiting for developments in the plots that I cared about. Chapel's adventure could have benefited from a few more pages. McCoy's crustiness is revealed as being a disguise to hide just how sensitive he is, and his (not actually adversarial despite the name-calling) r'ship w/ Spock is analyzed. The Sealons are an interesting 'race' (?) and I would like to get to know them better.
May 11, 2024
From a far off station. A weak distress signal comes in.
The Enterprise is sent to investigate. The planet close to Klingon space.
As well as not far from a section of Romulan space.
The Enterprise also transporting some political terrorists. Bent on starting a war, between the Federation, and Romulan empire.
Upon arriving Capt Kirk and away team discover.
A brewing war, between two planets. One being backed by the Klingons.
Even worse during an attack. The prisoners escape.
Taking control of the Enterprise. The heading a collision course with the Romulans.
Stranding the away team, on the planets surface.
This has a lot going on. Many faceted plot points going on.
Was a classic, original cast. Star Trek read.
The Enterprise is sent to investigate. The planet close to Klingon space.
As well as not far from a section of Romulan space.
The Enterprise also transporting some political terrorists. Bent on starting a war, between the Federation, and Romulan empire.
Upon arriving Capt Kirk and away team discover.
A brewing war, between two planets. One being backed by the Klingons.
Even worse during an attack. The prisoners escape.
Taking control of the Enterprise. The heading a collision course with the Romulans.
Stranding the away team, on the planets surface.
This has a lot going on. Many faceted plot points going on.
Was a classic, original cast. Star Trek read.
October 6, 2017
This is not one of the greatest stories in the Pocket books collection for the original series. There is too much going on and the ending of the story seems a little too rushed. Plus there are just so many things that could have happened to end the story sooner than it did. Also the Trellisanians and the Sealons were not very sympathetic civilizations. I would think that a group that was as advanced as the Trellisanians would have moved past slavery and the concept that their slaves were once animals. Finally the addition of the Klingons and the Romulans were more a way to find an ending for the story than they were important otherwise.
May 16, 2018
After reading other reviews of this book I was unsure what I would think of it. I think it is an appropriate read now with what is going on in the Middle East. Two warring factions and three other factions trying to decide what to do with them. Look at Israel and Palestine. The thing that Star Trek does so well is that they try to show us what a world where everyone is created equally and it actually works, no matter for religion, sex or creed. I would love to think we will get to this point but I am sad to say we are still along way from this Utopia.
June 12, 2019
After a shaky start with the "voices" of the main characters, this ST novel (by an author previously unknown to me) turned into a really good read with three interwoven story lines: Nurse Chapel merges with an alien entity; Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are stranded on a planet under attack from a Klingon-aided neighboring world; and the Enterprise is hijacked by convicts determined to enter the Neutral Zone in order to start a war between the Federation and the Romulans! Needless to say, action aplenty!!
November 6, 2017
This is a novel with 2 plots, one of prisoners being transported and escaping. The other of helping a planet with a rather brutal slave system. I liked the McCoy story the most, as he investigated the problems that the planet had. His dedication to helping was really well described and he had some lovely character moments. The other storyline seemed a bit more generic, readable but nothing special. A good read.
October 18, 2018
Transporting political prisoners across Federation space, the 'Enterprise' is diverted to the planet Trellisane, where Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to meet the government.
At which point, the prisoners escape and wrest command from Lt. Sulu, setting the 'Enterprise' on a course for Romulan space.
An entertaining read, with some high points, but generally a run of the mill story. Sadly, Dvorkin's characters seem to be slightly different from normal in order to meet the needs of the plot.
At which point, the prisoners escape and wrest command from Lt. Sulu, setting the 'Enterprise' on a course for Romulan space.
An entertaining read, with some high points, but generally a run of the mill story. Sadly, Dvorkin's characters seem to be slightly different from normal in order to meet the needs of the plot.
May 15, 2023
I really think the author was being constrained by some sort of word count here because there were a few scenes that felt rushed or inadequately explained - the Sealon ship separating and landing was a sequence that needed to at least read more cinematically than it was written, for example - that could have benefitted from further information and made this a 4-star novel at least. For the events being portrayed here, another 30 or so pages wouldn’t have hurt.
April 25, 2020
Started promising, just like an episode of TOS. Then the main characters kind of seemed along for the ride during the middle portion of the book. Resolution felt a little rushed. Still I did like having Klingons and Romulans both as adversaries in the story. Also liked Chapel having a significant role to play.
December 31, 2020
A pretty dull Star Trek novel that is really nothing to write home about, The Trellisane Confrontation is basically a really typical Star Trek setup, there's a three way war in which the Federation gets involved with a kind of Cold War overtone, being a proxy war involving the Klingons and Romulans as well.
Kirk gets stuck on a Klingon ship, McCoy gets stuck with some natives on the planet, Chapel gets possessed and it's a bit of a yawn fest. All ends as expected. And there we go. Next.
Kirk gets stuck on a Klingon ship, McCoy gets stuck with some natives on the planet, Chapel gets possessed and it's a bit of a yawn fest. All ends as expected. And there we go. Next.
August 12, 2023
Stardate 7521.6. The Enterprise is sent on a mission to retrieve nine prisoners of the United Epansion Party. Soon after they receive a message from Trellisane who are under attack from their neighbouring world Sealon. Kirk decides to investigate even though he has nine prisoners and the Klingons are involved.
An entertaining re-read.
An entertaining re-read.
August 5, 2024
Slightly better than the average Trek novel. This one has a mix of everything. The away team is caught on a planet that has been invaded by its neighboring planet. The Enterprise is hijacked by a small group of fanatics who want to start a war with the Romulans. The story is well paced and the characters are faithful to the tv show. I enjoyed the way these problems were solved. A satisfying short read that won't tax your brain too much.
February 5, 2025
This little book was a bonus when I bought a different Star Trek book. I didn't have high hopes for it but it blew me out of the water! Every inch of this book moved. It even had warrior lesbians and used gender neutral pronouns! If some of the points in the plot weren't as flushed out as they could be, I hardly noticed.
Trigger warnings: Accidental cannibalize, vomiting
Trigger warnings: Accidental cannibalize, vomiting
August 16, 2025
The Trellisane Confrontation contains very little of what makes the Original Series stand out. A interplanetary war, diplomacy and relations between different species all make an appearance in this series entry. Nothing novel or extremely interesting occurs in this installment and it is rather lack luster of an entry. Overall not horrible but far from the best. 2 stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews