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Star Trek: Prime Directive (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Star Trek: Prime Directive (Star Trek: The Original Series)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Trek novel
Review: Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise stands accused of violating one of the single most central tenets in Star Fleet procedure - the sacrosanct Prime Directive prohibiting Star Fleet personnel from manipulating the course of history on other planets. The Enterprise had been monitoring a world whose saurian inhabitants stood on the edge of thermonuclear war...when something happened. When "Directive" begins, the Enterprise is adrift, battered and gutted - practically derelict and dead in space - because it got to close to the planet when war broke out. In an apparent attempt to prevent the war, the Enterprise may have caused its outbreak. Now the crew has been driven into hiding, the population of the federation roundly holding them responsible for the nuclear holocaust that had engulfed the promising population of that alien world. (Except for Chief Engineer Scott, whose presence is needed to bring the Enterprise back to life). Now Kirk and his crew work their way across space in disguise, trying to get back to the Enterprise, to reclaim their ship, find out what really happened, prove their innocence and perhaps even save the remnant of the battle-scarred world.

"Prime Directive" is probably one of the best "Trek" novels I've read. Apart from Trek stories written for war-gamers (in which detail is paid to ship class, weapon specs and rank), "Directive" focuses on space exploration, and manages to toss in both alien anthropology and even a sci-fi mystery into the plot. The story develops well, and the author wisely builds up the characters without worshipping them like in most Trek stories. The technobabble is light (the author has a gift with the pseudo-science of the 23rd century and manages to craft his Enterprise in a way that makes it look sophisticated, the creation of brilliant engineers). Forget those novels that rehash old episodes, boldly read this instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best Star Trek novels ever written
Review: Epic sweep. Giant story. Real science fiction. The very best of the "original series". This one will keep you up late and make you think, and remember.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful novel, even if you aren't into Star Trek
Review: From the moment I picked up this book at a second-hand store, I couldn't wait to read it. The premise was so captivating, plus I love the Reeves-Stevens' books. However, the more I got into it, the less I liked it. While I enjoyed the idea of Kirk as a fugitive, the thing with the uncontacted planet was boring. The ending and the discovery of the true culprit was quite unbelievable. Alos, the rescue of the Enterprise and the reunion of the crew was very corny and a little too unrealistic. I also hated Kirk's love interest, the woman form Who Mourns from Adonis,she really got on my nerves! If you want a good novel from these authors read Federation and leave this one in the book bin.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: READ THIS ONE
Review: I am currently going back and reading some of the ST:TOS novels that I never read before or read so long ago that I have forgotten them. THis is widely acclaimed as one of the best. It is good (though not as good as the authors' FEDERATION, which they would not write for four more years). THe characters are recognizable and do things you can imagine them doing (though there is one scene with McCoy I don't get--maybe someone else will see why that scene is in the book). The solution to the mystery is a LITTLE convenient, but not enough that I regretted reading the previous 200 pages. Bottom line? Worth reaading.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A terrific SF tale, Trek or otherwise.
Review: I am not a regular reader of Star Trek novels. In fact, I sneer at the entire shelf of them when I browse the SF section of my local bookstore. But when I spotted that this one was written by the great Reeves-Stevenses, I grabbed it.

And was I ever glad of it. Because this is a rock 'em, sock 'em tale of disgrace, redemption, mystery and humour all rolled into one. The entire crew of the Enterprise (the original) are disbanded and disgraced after a horrific mishap during a First Contact mission, which is geared to ease new planets into the Federation when they are on the cusp of discovering that life exists outside their solar system. They all must slowly re-group and travel back to the planet to discover what went wrong, with Kirk, being the one in charge, having the worst time of it.

The authors capture perfectly the synergy between the main characters that so endeared us to the original series. Plus, they weave a complex mystery that will keep you guessing, and enjoying the process.

All that, and some brilliant scientific descriptions of what I always found to be the most fascinating aspect of the Star Trek future, the first contact mission. Even if you've sworn you'd never pick up a Trek novel, drop your shields and beam this one aboard.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best first chapter i've ever read
Review: I have never read a more moving and powerfull first chapter then the one in this book. The book kinda loses some its luster after that but is still a very good story, that first chapter is a hard act to follow. The captain is dishonored and the crew is dispersed, what happened?. The story is told in both the present(trek, that is) where variouse crew try to cope with the disintigration of their starfleet careers and flashbacks to the past where the disaster happened. good stuff.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: All's well that ends well - or so it seems
Review: Okay, so that's not a bad one. I've read Star Trek novels that were far worse (read "Vulcan" and you'll know what I mean). This one's nice - MUCH TOO NICE, actually. I really loved the beginning, the idea of Kirk being a fugitive, his shattered crew, the totally non-heroic situation (though this one advantage was destroyed in the middle of chapter one). The story was entertaining, though it suffered from a bit too little focus on Spock, in my opinion at least. It had its funny bits, though. But then there came the typical Star Trek syndrome, meaning that suddenly all was well again, and that spoilt pretty much everything. The terrible disaster Kirk was responsible for - suddenly disappeared, more or less. The fact that everyone in the whole universe considered our wacky captain a "world killer" - oh, just a little mistake, nothing to worry about. And so on .. I don't mean to say that I would have enjoyed to read about lots of aliens dying and about Kirk being hunted till the end of time, but I do think that Star Trek writers shouldn't introduce topics like these into the books if they can't deal with them in a manner that's at least A BIT realistic. So if you are into light entertainment, you'll like this one. Otherwise, you'll be disappointed, like me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kirk and Company at it again!
Review: The book kicks off with a vivid scene of the destruction of the Enterprise - this is something like an alternate universe situation - and Kirk and crew are blamed not only for the ship's destruction but the planet they were ordered to guard as well.

The the plot unravels, revealing a whole new race of spacefaring animal and an untinkable backstory of greed and corruption. This novel also brings to bear the thoughts and deeds behind Starfleet's ever-common Prime Directive, the rule to not interfere with races not yet capable of warp travel.

All in all, this is a great read with plenty of suspense and action.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best Star Trek novels ever written
Review: The Enterprise crew are condemned for violating the most sacred law of the Federation, the Prime Directive. Under scrutiny and forced retirement for their actions, they must unravel the events of their last mission at the Talin IV Outpost. Great from beginning to end!


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