Rating: 
Summary: Seven and Khan Rule!
Review: This book takes the risk of tying obscure ol' Gary Seven to major-leaguer Khan, and hoping it all works out.It does! I loved the whole thing! It's a great spy novel, especially in the early-going where Gary Seven and his entourage can't help pick up a few new fans. Then, the story starts moving around the globe a bit more, and we see Khan begin to grow into the threat he is by the time Space Seed and Wrath of Khan take place. Khan is chilling and charismatic all the way through, and Gary Seven seems a smaller and smaller force in the face of Khan's drive for power and revenge. I have a fondness for the Gary Seven character so I read this Eugenics Wars opener cringing at the thought that Khan may be too much for him, ultimately; say no more about that). This is the most enjoyment I have yet gotten out of a Star Trek novel!
Rating:
Summary: Read this book, or reveal your genetic inferiority!
Review: This novel works on many levels - the starring role of Gary Seven and references to other Star Trek lore will please Trekkies, and the inclusion of actual historical events ground the story in reality. Not to mention the life story of one of the galaxy's greatest scene-chewing villians, Khan Noonien Singh!
Rating:
Summary: An AMAZING tale about the origins of Khan Noonien Singh
Review: This story was such a surprise on so many different levels, I hardly know where to begin to review it...let me start by saying if you are looking for the typical Trek novel, you will most defintely NOT find it here. This transcends what I have come to expect from even an above-average Trek story, and has me looking forward to Volume 2 very much. The story starts off much like a Trek novel featuring Kirk & Crew off to solve another problem...The planet Sycorax is petitioning to join the Federation. Normally this is a good thing, but this particular society has toyed with genetic manipulation for almost 2 centuries...something strictly forbidden under Federation Law, a law based upon sad experience from the horrible Eugenics Wars during the latter part of the 20th century. While genetic research has definite merit, the obvious possible abuse of this power is too much of a threat to allow such technology to proceed. In order for Kirk to make the best decision possible, he goes in search of Earth's own history of genetic abuse, and how it produced the monster known as Khan, someone Kirk unfortunately knows all too well. The story suddenly travels backwards in time, and this is where the REAL treat of this story begins. The character of Gary Seven, introduced in the episode, 'Assignment Earth' along with his sidekick, Roberta Lincoln and the alien cat, Isis are the central point of this story, and NOT Kirk and Company. The year is 1974 and Gary, himself a genetically enhanced Human placed on earth to help stop the premature demise of our flawed human species uncovers a possible plot to use genetic research to create a super-race of humans. Before too long, he and Roberta are knee-deep in the middle of the Chrysalis Project, using the brightest minds on the planet to manipulate DNA in such a way to manufacture better, quicker, stronger and smarter humans. But they show up a bit too late to stop this genetic manipulation from starting. They quickly discover that the Chrysalis Project has created several hundred examples of Super Humans, chief among them is young Noon, who we all know grows up to become one of the chief pains in Kirks backside. There is a LOT more to this story than just the origins of Khan, and the further exploits of Gary Seven, MUCH more. Greg Cox has managed to incorporate Trek lore in the obvious as well as not-so-obvious places...riddled throughout the novel are hints of future characters we will all come to know well, as well as other fictional people from TV in the 70's & 80's...I'd love to spill the beans, but it would spoil the fun of discovering them for yourself. Some have compared this story to a complex episode of the X-Files, and I would have to agree. Using every kind of conspiracy theory advanced in the past century from the alien crash landing at Roswell to Immortals and even pop culture from the past 3 decades, this novel is one to be savored slowly and enjoyed for the creative force it truly is. Worth reading more than once? I would say YES. I am currently working on volume 2, and if the reviews of that story are any indication, lightning has struck twice and I have much to look forward TO. If you are looking for the typical novel that features well-known and established Trek characters as the focal-point of this story, you are going to be sadly disappointed. Kirk, Spock & McCoy are in less than 30 pages of this book, but the rest is a fantastic trip down memory lane which includes several laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of spots that made me go, 'Oh, now THAT'S a creative way to explain this...'. While I won't guarantee that everyone will love this story, I CAN say that I enjoyed it VERY much. I would put it in the league of the Top 5 best Trek novels I have ever read. Like I said, good enough to read twice...but not until after I wrap up the 2nd book. Kudos to Mr. Cox for a great story well told. I look forward to more Trek stories from you in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Good premise, action packed, fun
Review: To me, Star Trek hit is zenith with the Wrath of Kahn movie. Therefore, it was natural for me to want to see the back story of Kahn told. I've never been a big reader of the Trek books. But I pick one up now and then for some light reading. And this book did not disappoint. This first volume is very intriguing. It blends many elements from Trek lore along with current events and fads of the 70s and 80s. At times that blending is borderline genius at other times it's a little too convenient. Nevertheless, the overall effect is still pleasurable and interesting. I flew through this book quickly and enjoyed its many plot twists very much. Although I could have been totally satisfied without the pointless "frame" story in the 24th century (with Kirk and company), I am willing to let that go as well as some clunky writing and derivative plot elements for the joy of watching Gary 7 and Roberta Lincoln guide Kahn through his formative years. I should note that a good background in Trek history and characters is probably a prerequisite for this book. But, I suspect most Trek books come with such a prerequisite.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but not really what I wanted
Review: When Khan was introduced back in the 60's, the TV show claimed that he rose to power during the 1990's, which was the "near future" at that time. Since the 90's have now come and gone, I think the logical approach to this story would have been to declare that Khan's reign still lies somewhere in our indefinite future, say, the 2030's. Instead, this book sets up an elaborate James Bond/X-Files-style conspiracy in the 1970's which secretly created Khan and his genetically engineered cohorts while all of "real" history is going on around them. I have not yet read the sequel, which I have to assume is going to set up a version of the 1990's which is completely different from what the world actually lived through, one in which the eugenic supermen did indeed take over the world. This begs the question, if the author was going to write a Harry Turtledove-style alternate history anyway, why not do so from the beginning, back in the 70's, instead of doing all this cartoony "secret organization" conspiracy stuff? My biggest problem with the book is the use of Gary Seven as the main character. Gary is fun in a campy sort of way (I enjoyed Cox's novel "Operation Eternity"), but he reduces any story in which he appears to about the seriousness-level of an episode of Get Smart. This story is primarily a spy spoof, complete with evil organizations in giant underground lairs with big shiny red self-destruct buttons. Khan himself comes across as a compelling personality. The best scene in the book (warning, I'm about to give something away) involves Khan's witnessing the sheer horror of the Bhopal industrial catastrophe in India, and his indignant fury at the callous human ineptitude which brought it about. (I'm ashamed to say that it's the first time I'd heard of this disaster-it deserves to be more well known in the U.S.). Unfortunately, this poignant scene was an exception, not the rule. In all, The Eugenics Wars had the potential to be a thought-provoking look at how dictatorships rise and fall, and also at the very real dangers and opportunities of the biotechnical age we are now entering. Instead we got a silly pot-boiler full of chase scenes. Oh well. The sequel may be better.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not really what I wanted
Review: When Khan was introduced back in the 60's, the TV show claimed that he rose to power during the 1990's, which was the "near future" at that time. Since the 90's have now come and gone, I think the logical approach to this story would have been to declare that Khan's reign still lies somewhere in our indefinite future, say, the 2030's. Instead, this book sets up an elaborate James Bond/X-Files-style conspiracy in the 1970's which secretly created Khan and his genetically engineered cohorts while all of "real" history is going on around them. I have not yet read the sequel, which I have to assume is going to set up a version of the 1990's which is completely different from what the world actually lived through, one in which the eugenic supermen did indeed take over the world. This begs the question, if the author was going to write a Harry Turtledove-style alternate history anyway, why not do so from the beginning, back in the 70's, instead of doing all this cartoony "secret organization" conspiracy stuff? My biggest problem with the book is the use of Gary Seven as the main character. Gary is fun in a campy sort of way (I enjoyed Cox's novel "Operation Eternity"), but he reduces any story in which he appears to about the seriousness-level of an episode of Get Smart. This story is primarily a spy spoof, complete with evil organizations in giant underground lairs with big shiny red self-destruct buttons. Khan himself comes across as a compelling personality. The best scene in the book (warning, I'm about to give something away) involves Khan's witnessing the sheer horror of the Bhopal industrial catastrophe in India, and his indignant fury at the callous human ineptitude which brought it about. (I'm ashamed to say that it's the first time I'd heard of this disaster-it deserves to be more well known in the U.S.). Unfortunately, this poignant scene was an exception, not the rule. In all, The Eugenics Wars had the potential to be a thought-provoking look at how dictatorships rise and fall, and also at the very real dangers and opportunities of the biotechnical age we are now entering. Instead we got a silly pot-boiler full of chase scenes. Oh well. The sequel may be better.
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