Star Trek: Log Five

Star Trek: Logs #5

by Alan Dean Foster

The fifth in a series of Star Trek: The Animated Series adaptations published by Ballantine Books.

—Complete in this volume—

The Ambergris Element: The crew of the Enterprise explore a submerged culture on a water world.

The Pirates of Orion: While Spock lies ill, Orion pirates hijack the drug shipment desperately needed to save his life.

Jihad: The Vedala, the oldest known space faring race, summon Kirk and Spock to recover the Soul of the Skorr, a stolen religious artifact that has the potential to ignite a holy war across the galaxy.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Adventure, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy

195 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1975

About the author

Bestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.

Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.

Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.

Reviews

[Rafeeq O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Dean Foster's 1975 Star Trek Log Five contains 3 stories adapted by Foster from the screenplays of the early 1970s animated cartoon television series that had been spun off from the original acted series of half a dozen years earlier.

Never having seen the animated series, I can make no comparison between the original episodes and Foster's adaptations, in the way I occasionally have with James Blish's adaptations of the original series. I can comment, though, that the cartoon series evinces some differences from the acted series. Here, for example, we have a handy piece of technology called a "life-support belt," which creates a very thin but tough force field, meaning that characters can stomp around in vacuum or poisonous atmospheres as if in a spacesuit. And of course another product of the animated nature of the show is that we have a few alien crew members--three-legged and three-armed, cat-like, or winged, for example--who would have been too expensive to produce every week via elaborate costuming, along with other odd aliens occasionally encountered. These differences are commonsensical, at least in science fiction, and they do not draw attention to themselves unduly.

In "The Ambergris Element," whose original screenplay was by Margaret Armen, the Enterprise must scout out a planet called Argo, which "until quite recently (according to drone probe analysis) had been largely a landed planet" but whose surface now is "ninety-seven percent water" (1979 Del Rey paperback, page 12). Apparently "[t]his world had been subject to a series of evenly spaced seismic convulsions--intense without being cataclysmic--in a very brief period of time" (pages 12-13).

With "at least one other, well-populated world in the Federation" that might be in similar seismic danger, potential "techniques for dealing with such subsidings on a selective basis ha[ve] been developed, but only in theory," so an uninhabited planet is needed for such "experimentation with the planetary crust" (page 13). Since "the regs say that any world holding life larger than a bacterium requires at least one hands-on survey by a visiting ship"--especially justified here, considering "how much trouble drone probes have getting accurate data on the life of water planets"--Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and a pilot go down in a shuttlecraft special-built for underwater work (page 15). And there, in collecting specimens and encountering, essentially, sea monsters, the Captain and First Officer encounter a problem that will require diplomacy, medical science, and underwater fisticuffs to resolve...

"The Pirates of Orion," whose original screenplay was by Howard Weinstein, has Spock in medical danger once again. This time the peril is "[c]horiocytosis," "a strange disease" that is "relatively simple to handle in races with iron-based blood." Yet while it is merely "a nuisance to humans," with Vulcans it has a "[n]inety-three percent probability" of death (page 85). There indeed is a drug, "strobolin," that "would certainly improve the odds in Spock's favor astronomically," but the medicine in rare, and somehow even "nobody's been able to synthesize it," even after "[s]ixty years in the lab" (page 86).

The nearest source of strobolin is too far away, even "at maximum warp," reports the computer (page 87), to reach in time, but if a cargo ship from carries the drug from that planet to a rendezvous with the starship (page 88), then Spock just might be saved. But if that freighter, which also happens to be carrying valuable dilithium crystals (page 92), finds itself being intercepted in deep space by a vessel of unknown design, and "colored blood red, a choice which might be coincidental, theatrical, or intentional" (page 95)...well, then we clearly have a problem.

In "Jihad," whose original screenplay was by Stephan Kandel, "a Class-A Security Prime Order," meaning one whose "classification [is] so strict that Kirk [is] required to unscramble it himself, using a locked computer annex, in the sanctuary of his own cabin" (page 135), diverts the ship to a mysterious rendezvous with one of the "large asteroids or small planetoids which have been remade to suit [the] environmental requirements" of "[t]he Vedala," who "are the oldest space-traversing race known. They are so old that they long ago abandoned their worn-out home worlds to begin a nomadic life among the stars" (page 137).

The Vedala are, as they admit, "extremely protective of [their] privacy" (page 138), and Kirk notes that they "are known to possess certain technological abilities beyond the combined talents of our Federation and other governments" (page 146). Despite this latter, however, they themselves cannot undertake the quest for a religious object whose recovery can forestall a catastrophic war that otherwise would gut the galaxy (page 144-45), so Kirk and Spock and a team of specialists from entertainingly varied alien species must go, for some reason with almost no technology, to a "mad world" (page 146), or "globe [that] is a compendium of catastrophes" due to "radical seismic activity and unpredictable tremors. A most inimical climate. Severe tidal disturbances caused by unceasing action of five moons possessed of the most perverse orbits--the list is endless" (page 147). This one is just a bit cartoonish in its semi-low-tech slog across deserts and ice and quick-appearing volcanoes, but it's fast-aced enough to keep our minds most off that.

In any event, Alan Dean Foster's Star Trek Log Five may begin with stories originally from a cartoon show, yet the adaptations are well done and aimed at an adult audience, and for any fan of the starship Enterprise and its historic five-year mission, the book will be a swift and enjoyable 4.5- to 5-star read.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the previous book, Log 4. They did not have resort to transporter patterns to correct the alien tampering with their genetic structure. That was part of the first story in this volume: Lirk and Spock get turned into aquatic people, and have to search through ancient ruins and battle sea monsters to get the information to turn them back into air breathers.

In the second story Spock become deathly ill and needs an orphan drug vaccine to be cured. The ship with the vaccine is hit by pirates and the vaccine stolen, leaving Enterprise to pursue the pirates through uncharted space.

In the last story Kirk and Spock are put together on a team with people from other races and planets who have tasked with finding a stolen artifact. If the artifact is not found, the culture who owned the artifact is going to make war on the galaxy.

[Carmen Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun romp for sure. As I said on my Insta, they don't write Sci-Fi like this anymore, and I really believe they don't. I'm wondering if Alan Foster read a whump fic before writing this, because Spock gets put through the ringer in this one, but hey, I'm not complaining. Yeah, I had a good time reading this for sure.

[Mo Kwanza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up a boxed set with 5, 6, 7 at a flea market. Didn’t know what to expect but had good hopes considering the author and wasn’t disappointed. Lots of action and exploration of new lifeforms and civilizations which is the heart of Star Trek.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun stories

[Ron Lang-Alon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worst of them so far. Mostly ridiculous or boring story lines. Not to mention, what's up with Scotty keep calling McCoy "Bones" all the time?!

[Bill Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun, simple book. The stories are from the animated series back in the 70s they are simple and pretty outrageous but enjoyable to me

[Tracy Poff]

This review is also posted on Barba Non DB.

In July 1975, five months after the publication of the previous volume, was published Star Trek Log Five by Alan Dean Foster. This volume, as usual, adapts three episodes from Star Trek: The Animated Series: “The Ambergris Element”, “The Pirates of Orion”, and “Jihad”.



The Ambergris Element

The blurb on the back of the book for this story reads: “Marooned on the strange water world of Argo, Kirk and Spock are in incredible danger . . . pursued by a hideous sea monster!” That is only accurate in the most approximate sense. There is a water world, and a sea monster, but Kirk and Spock aren’t marooned and the story isn’t about a sea monster chasing them. Rather, a sea monster attacks their submarine and they’re injured. The water-breathing natives find and heal them, mutating Kirk and Spock into water-breathers as part of the process. The story is about Kirk and Spock attempting to return to normal, hindered by the cultural traditions of the aliens, but aided by some of the younger aliens, who are willing to ignore the old traditions to do what’s right. The blurb does not do the story justice.

This is a good story, and Foster improves on the episode. An altogether satisfying adaptation.

The Pirates of Orion

Spock has contracted a deadly illness, and the only cure has been stolen by pirates. Kirk must catch them and retrieve the medicine before it is too late.

Like many of these stories, the tension is provided by what amounts to a timer counting down. In this case, Spock’s life is on the line, and to be fair it is interesting to see how affected Kirk is by the situation, but ultimately the plot isn’t interesting.

Jihad

Kirk and Spock, along with several others of various species, are tasked with retrieving a religious artifact stolen from the Skorr before they declare war on the rest of the galaxy. The group must work together in a hostile environment where all previous efforts have failed.

The plot of this story is unsatisfying. It feels like the group just wanders around, stumbling from danger to danger, until finally they discover the artifact, survive the climactic encounter, and the story ends. There’s no particular buildup; the story doesn’t go anywhere so much as it churns in place for fifty pages and then spits everyone out the other side.

In summary

“The Ambergris Element” is the only worthwhile story in this one. The writing is good, as usual (though my edition, at least, is positively riddled with typographical errors), but it isn’t enough to save the other two stories.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The library I would go to when I was growing up has been moved to a new building downtown, and the building itself was turned into a children's museum decades ago. But all I have to do is think about this series of books and I'm back there, tucked in a bean-bag chair in the chill air conditioning with the brutal Florida heat safely outside, reading as many of the Star Trek Logs as I could get my hands on. I LOVED these books; some of them to me were better than the full-length novels based on the series, or at the very least the characters seemed to be truer to the show. Oddly enough, most of the stories I read were from episodes of the cartoon that I'd never seen. In a lot of ways that was a GOOD thing; the last story in this particular collection was my favorite, so much so that I was disappointed when I saw the actual episode. The flat, churned-out-for-Saturday cheap cartoon didn't nearly measure up to how I'd pictured the story in my head.

[Raja99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I've read this at least three times.)

I'm surprised at 1) How much fun this book is (in my opinion, Alan Dean Foster is underrated) ; 2) How many nice phrases I remembered; 3) How many typos the book has ;-).

I reread these novelizations over winter holiday (in part at least because I'd just gotten and watched the Animated Star Trek DVDs. I finished rereading this before rereading Star Trek Log 4, largely because I wanted to read "The Jihad" shortly after seeing it again.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad volume in the series adapting the animated series, considering the brevity of the stories involved. This one includes "The Ambergris Element" (the only episode of TAS that I ever managed to see when it was originally broadast), "Jihad", and "The Pirates of Orion," all linked with together with satisfactory framing elements. And episodes that used the advantage of the cartoon medium to introduce a lot more strangeness to the Star Trek stories, since the make-up and SFX budget definitely would NOT have covered most of these stories in TOS.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed these Star Trek Log books. These are based on the Original Crew's adventures in the Saturday morning cartoon. They actually have surprising depth though and are generally quite a good continuation of the original series. The writing here by Foster is generally better than the writing in the orginal novelizations by Blish.

[Deranged · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all other Log books this is a wonderful read. The first tale was intriguing with its sunken other-world and the metamorphosis that occurred. The second tale one which keeps the reader at the edge of their seat and hands wringing as the words flow. The third and final tale is one which leads a merry chase through the workings o f the universe and the various beings which inhabit it.

[Curtiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another three episodes from the Animated Star Trek Saturday morning cartoon series have been adapted by Alan Dean Foster in novella form. Nearly the only format available of the Animated Star Trek series.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice adaption of Trek episodes, as well as a couple of the animated series episodes. These books were a great introduction to the series, when it wasn't easy to see the TV show.

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have a lot to say about this one, beyond it being more fun Star Trek, for which I am a sucker.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirk & Spock growing grills, meeting pirates and stopping a jihad.

[Fredric Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much cookie-cutter short story series roughly based on the Star Trek original series. Nothing special, really, and rather silly these days.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 12.26.85

[Carol]

standard star trek

[Tim Ristow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been my favorite volume so far of Foster's LOG series. The stories in this volume - "The Ambergris Element", "Pirates of Orion" and "Jihad" - each played, in my opinion, much better as written stories than they did as animated episodes. This is not to say the animated episodes on which they were based were bad. However, some of the animated episodes sillier moments played much better in the mind than in an episode. There are additional scenes, extra dialogue and fleshed out character moments in the books that aren't in the animated episodes, although they are usually brief. Enjoyable stories with The Original Series characters exploring strange, new worlds. Great for a lazy Saturday afternoon read!