Star Trek: The Eugenics War, Volume Two

Rating:
Summary: Excellent conclusion to the beginning of the tale
Review: I found the first volume engaging solely for the newness of the concept (to me): filling in the background on one of S.T.'s most memorable characters. While the newness was gone, I found the texture, and the character development of Vol. 2 far superior.

To amplify upon which another reviewer, it will take one with a fondness, and not just a passing knowledge of the Series to fully appreciate this book. Having said that, I must confess that although I am a devotee of the original series, the subsequent iterations held little interest for me (and I understand from reading others reviews that references to T.N.G. and other variations upon the S.T. theme found there way here.

I recall a line of Spock from the inspiration to these two volumes and the best of the S.T. films: Those who saw fit to tinker with genetics failed to note that superior "breeding" also led to a corresponding overreaching ambition. Kahn, the product of the Chrysalis Project (breeding a race of super-men and women), sought about to combine forces with those now-scattered childhood pals in order to be a leader of all of mankind. Along his path, he encountered a African warlord, an American leader of what has loosely been called the militia movement, a Romanian bent upon unifying (under his own whip) all of the Balkans and much of Europe, a Chines superwoman leading a group of Amazons and even a religious cult leader.

I rather enjoyed seeing the superrace spread out around the globe, and seeing the interaction of them was entertaining. While few of them seemed to have Kahn's maniacally driven ambition and desire to conquer the whole world, each seemed to think that s/he had the right stuff to be the lord of their respective manors.

Unlike another, I could have done without much Gary Seven and certainly, less of his sidekick Roberta Lincoln (although it was thankful that she was not portrayed as the ditz she was in the original television episode). I was also not disturbed by the fact that none of this happened (perhaps because I purchased this book understanding that it was FICTION!). Anyone expecting this to be a serious exploration of the events of our day ought to move to another aisle of the bookstore.

However, if one is in the mood for well-written, escapist fare, which harkens back to some of the best writing from the early days of the series, this is a great way for us Trekkers to pass a few hours.