Star Trek 2

Rating:
Summary: Adaptations of 8 episodes from season 1
Review: First published in 1968, these short stories are Blish's adaptations of the screenplays of various episodes from season 1 of the original series. The episodes aren't sorted into books according to either chronological order or identity of screenwriter.

Note: If you're interested in adaptations based on the animated _Star Trek_ series, see Alan Dean Foster's Star Trek Log books.

"Arena" (episode 19, season 1, screenplay Gene L. Coon) A distress call from Cestus III leads the _Enterprise_ to discover that a tragic first contact has been made: the colony has been destroyed by a Gorn ship (aliens who look like giant lizards). A stereotypical second alien race, the superpowerful Metrons, intervene to force the Gorn captain and Kirk to decide the issue by single combat, with the fate of their ships in the balance.

"A Taste of Armageddon" (episode 24, season 1, screenplay Robert Hammer and Gene L. Coon). _Enterprise_ has been sent to Vendikar and Eminiar VII with Ambassador Fox to establish diplomatic relations, and Fox won't take no for an answer, despite learning that the two planets have been at war for the last 500 years. Rather than making peace or wiping each other out, they've hit on a compromise: war as a computer wargame, where 'casualties' are sentenced to death. But _Enterprise_ isn't inclined to cooperate with this, Prime Directive or no.

"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (episode 21, season 1, screenplay Dorothy C. Fontana). The second episode featuring time-travel, but the first to really do something with the idea. _Enterprise_, escaping from the region of a black hole, accidentally discovers the 'slingshot' effect that throws them back in time - to 20th century Earth, in fact. They're forced to take USAF pilot John Christopher aboard when he's sent to investigate traces left by _Enterprise_ in low orbit - but they can neither return him nor keep him without risking changes to history, and they're still trying to discover whether they can get home themselves.

"Errand of Mercy" (episode 25, season 1, screenplay Gene L. Coon). Introducing the Klingons at the Battle of Organia - a planet that doesn't look like anything much, but happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as war breaks out between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The Organian Peace Treaty was established in this episode on terms that allowed the Klingons to exist as effective villains without turning _Star Trek_ into a war show.

"Court Martial" (episode 15, season 1, screenplay Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos). First glimpse of the Federation's legal system (Spock's court-martial on unrelated charges followed in the next episode, "The Menagerie".) After reporting the accidental death of Ben Finney, an old friend, a discrepancy between _Enterprise_'s logs and Kirk's report puts him on trial. Introduces Samuel T. Cogley, acting as Kirk's defense attorney, with some decent investigative work.

"Operation - Annihilate!" (episode 27, season 1, screenplay Steven W. Carabatsos) The planet Deneva is in the path of a 'plague' that apparently drives its victims to suicidal insanity - actually jellyfish-like flying parasites that invade their victims' nervous systems, causing intense pain and forcing them to cooperate in their own destruction. Even as _Enterprise_ arrives in-system, they're too late - a Denevan pilot commits suicide before their eyes, plunging into Deneva's sun, crying out that now he's free. And Kirk's only living relatives - his brother Sam, sister-in-law Aurelan, and nephew Peter - have been infected.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" (episode 26, season 1, screenplay Harlan Ellison, although the short story is based on the adapted screenplay actually filmed rather than the original. Ellison came close to disavowing the changed version, and in truth, his original story was even better - which is saying something, as this story is one of the best episodes.) A series of odd ripples in space-time lead _Enterprise_ to a long-dead planet - and through a freak accident, McCoy suffers a drug-induced frenzy in which he beams down. The center of the distortion is an AI, the Guardian of Forever - and as it demonstrates its properties as a gateway to the past, McCoy plunges through, somehow changing Earth's history; Kirk and Spock must give chase and undo the damage, which turns out to be more tragic than they could have imagined. McCoy being McCoy, he'd committed a *good* action upon recovering his senses, but in the wrong place at the wrong time...

"Space Seed" (episode 24, season 1, screenplay Carey Wilber and Gene L. Coon) One of the _Enterprise_'s occasional encounters with historical figures who left Earth for parts unknown (e.g. "Metamorphosis", "Requiem for Methuselah") - in this case, a mysterious ship of Earth origin, whose crew is locked in cold sleep. And like "Who Mourns for Adonais?", a female crewmember's infatuation with one of the strangers threatens to undermine _Enterprise_'s security. (Gene L. Coon contributed to several of the above-mentioned stories.) A major dangling loose end is left at the end of the story as a seed for future development (_Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_, as it turned out), hence the title.

Rating:
Summary: James Blish takes his crack at "City on the Edge of Forever"
Review: What makes this particular volume of novelizations of Star Trek episodes by James Blish stand out is that it has his version of "The City on the Edge of Forever." It is actually really and truly Blish's version because he takes what he thinks is the best of Ellison's orignal script and the teleplay of what actually aired way back when. Blish admits this was a tricky thing to try and manage and fretted that he might owe apologies all the way around. What Blish is able to salvage is mainly Ellison's original conclusion, although we know Harlan would have liked it if the character of Trooper had made it into Blish's version. But certainly it is a valiant effort. Other episodes collected in this volume are "Arena," "A Taste of Armageddon," "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," "Errand of Mercy," "Court-Martial," "Operation--Annihilate!" and "Space Seed." If I remember, correctly, the rationale behind what episodes were included in each volume had to do with their relative popularity, which explains why you have several first-rate episodes in this particular volume. Blish was an excellent writer, who died well before his time, and his adaptation of the Star Trek episodes prove that it was the stories rather than the specific effects that made it a special series.

Rating:
Summary: James Blish takes his crack at "City on the Edge of Forever"
Review: What makes this particular volume of novelizations of Star Trek episodes by James Blish stand out is that it has his version of "The City on the Edge of Forever." It is actually really and truly Blish's version because he takes what he thinks is the best of Ellison's orignal script and the teleplay of what actually aired way back when. Blish admits this was a tricky thing to try and manage and fretted that he might owe apologies all the way around. What Blish is able to salvage is mainly Ellison's original conclusion, although we know Harlan would have liked it if the character of Trooper had made it into Blish's version. But certainly it is a valiant effort. Other episodes collected in this volume are "Arena," "A Taste of Armageddon," "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," "Errand of Mercy," "Court-Martial," "Operation--Annihilate!" and "Space Seed." If I remember, correctly, the rationale behind what episodes were included in each volume had to do with their relative popularity, which explains why you have several first-rate episodes in this particular volume. Blish was an excellent writer, who died well before his time, and his adaptation of the Star Trek episodes prove that it was the stories rather than the specific effects that made it a special series.