Rating: 
Summary: Flawed early Trekfic, only of historical interest
Review: Ah, the olden days.
James Blish was contracted to write this book because he had experience writing for Star Trek: he's already written most of the episode adaptations. The problem was that he was living in England at the time, where the show was not airing; he based his adaptations on scripts, many of them early draft scripts.
In short, Mr. Blish was contracted to write a novel based on a show he had never seen.
And that's where most of this book's many weaknesses arise. Blish's source material is a bizarre hodge-podge: the Star Trek scripts he'd read, his non-Trek novels (the explanation of transporter technology is borrowed from his own "Cities In Flight" series), and his imagination.
Unfortunately, his imaginings often flatly contradicted the series. When Kirk finds himself faced with two seemingly identical Spocks, he decides to tell them apart by trading Starfleet Academy class rings with one. Now, I've seen every one of those original seventy-nine episodes multiple times, and I don't recall EVER seeing a Starfleet Academy class ring.
Okay, I concede that's trivial. But the basic premise of the story is the presence of two apparently identical Spocks. In reality, one is a transporter-generated reflection of the other, right down to the curl of his DNA and the levoro-rotary sugars in his blood. (Right down to the moral structure of his brain, as well, which is why the mirror-Spock is "evil" and allies himself with the Klingons, but I digress.) The two Spocks can't be told apart until McCoy decides to bring in electron-microscope technology -- a casual exam can't distinguish between the two, because, we're told, Vulcan internal anatomy is bilaterally symmetrical. BUT, the series had already established that *this is not the case*: Vulcans' hearts are located in the lower right chest (remember McCoy's classic line, "His heart is where his liver should be"). The book is based on a notion that is in direct contradiction to the series.
The worst problem, however, comes early in the book: When these two Spocks materialize simultaneously in the transporter chamber, everyone stares at them in astonishment, trying to find a difference between them -- and *no one notices that one's shirt insignia is on the wrong side?* The entire story hinges on this item: that nobody, including Kirk, noticed this difference *at a time when they were specifically looking for differences.* This is what professionals call an "idiot plot".
Yes, people bought the book. Fans read it, discussed it, argued it at some length. But it's important to remember that at the time, unless you were actively involved in Star Trek fandom and thus had access to the privately-published fanzines, THIS WAS ALL THERE WAS.
As far as I can see, this book is primarily interesting as a museum piece -- a fossilized fragment of 1970s Star Trek fandom.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the VERY FIRST Star Trek novel!
Review: During the late '60s/ early '70s, James Blish (of "Cities In Flight" fame) tackled the job of turning the Original Series episodes into short story form. He put six or seven in each book, titling each book with a number ("Star Trek", "Star Trek 2", etc), but died before he finished the last book. His widow Judith Lawrence finshed that one as a legacy, but Blish had not gotten around to doing the two Harry Mudd episodes. Lawrence did those herself, filling out her book with a Mudd novelette, calling the book "Mudd's Angels". But while Blish was still alive, he wrote the very first Trek novel about Spock getting accidentally transported into an energy barrier. His original is held in the transporter buffer, but the barrier bounces a mirror image back as well. So when the dazzle clears, there's a Spock on each of two pads. "This here starship ain't big enough fer the both of us, yuh huh huh". That's the dilemma right there--which Spock is the original? One of 'em's got to go. Don't look for any of these books in the back pages of present-day Trek novels--it's a different publisher.
Rating: 
Summary: Well....
Review: I cannot say I liked this book, but I cannot honestly say that I disliked it either. It's style and subject matter struck me as somewhat dated. It also has a bit more of "science" then most ST novels, at least recent ones. I think I would have enjoyed reading it more if it did not involve the StarTrek universe. I'd have to say that this book is for serious ST fans only.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Concept ... and Nothing More
Review: If you enjoy wasting your time, pick up this book. Blish takes a pretty cool concept and then methodically whisks and purees the soul from the Trek characters and lore until we're left with a colorless sketch that seems designed merely to show off the author's ready access to engineering dictionaries.The original characters simply did not speak the way Blish writes them: everyone gets a lengthy, wandering monologue filled with multisyllabic, techno-jumble. Blish's representation of Scotty's brogue is outright incomprehensible. I kept thinking, This is supposed to be Scotty, not Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons. (I expected to "hear" Scotty call Bones a "croquet playing mint muncher" or something.) The best thing I can say about this book is that it is blissfully (Blish-fully?) short.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Concept ... and Nothing More
Review: If you enjoy wasting your time, pick up this book. Blish takes a pretty cool concept and then methodically whisks and purees the soul from the Trek characters and lore until we're left with a colorless sketch that seems designed merely to show off the author's ready access to engineering dictionaries. The original characters simply did not speak the way Blish writes them: everyone gets a lengthy, wandering monologue filled with multisyllabic, techno-jumble. Blish's representation of Scotty's brogue is outright incomprehensible. I kept thinking, This is supposed to be Scotty, not Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons. (I expected to "hear" Scotty call Bones a "croquet playing mint muncher" or something.) The best thing I can say about this book is that it is blissfully (Blish-fully?) short.
Rating:
Summary: A Star Trek Novel - The original Star Trek Novel
Review: It is so good to see this book republished. As a collector of Sci-Fi and other paper backs I always feared that this masterpiece would be lost forever. To be truthfull it is not the best ever Star Trek novel ever printed, but it was the first! It almost certainly created the written Star Trek universe. A MUST read! The original cover is magic: A STAR TREK NOVEL, SPOCK MUST DIE, By James Blish, An exciting new adventure of interplanetary adventure. Go on - Buy it ( but it only cost me 25 English Pence for my copy, published 1970 Bantam Books ). If you think that you collect Star Trek books then you can only believe in it when you have this!
Rating:
Summary: James Blish = guarantee of quality
Review: It was a pleasure to read this perfect sequel to "Errand of Mercy". The story line based of transporter malfunction creating two Spocks (of course, the original one and the "evil twin") maintains a great tension from the beginning to the very end. It is a must-have for every Spock fan.
Rating: 
Summary: A terrible book
Review: It's poorly written book. The stuff in this book absolutely does not make sense. How can any mormal people develop technology that can trap powerful entities? How can a tranporter duplicate happen?
Rating:
Summary: The original novel based on Star Trek characters.
Review: Since this 1972 edition was printed, Star Trek novels have undergone a total reformation in style, length, and subject matter. Spock Must Die! deals with a very specific theme (obviously) and is written to appeal to the fans of the late 1960's.
The novel is a must read for any Star Trek fan. It is what inspired so many authors to pursue their writing dreams. Many of whom wrote their own novels based on the Star Trek characters.
Rating:
Summary: Spock Must Die
Review: Spock Must Die by James Blish (1970) This was the first Star Trek novel ever published, written by the author of the books of adaptations of the TV episodes. At the time of publication, the original series had ended, three books of episode adaptations had been published, and Star Trek had just begun its trip into syndication into local markets. There was as yet no indication that there would ever be anything besides what had already occurred. The spectacularly-titled story begins with the Enterprise on a deep-space mapping mission, when word comes of the outbreak of war with the Klingon Empire. This should be impossible according to the Organian Peace Treaty, but the ship and its crew are months away from Organia, Earth, the battle front, and separated from all of these by a large portion of the Empire. With options limited, Scott devises a plan. Recalling Dr. McCoy�s earlier objections to the transporter, positing that he had been �killed� the first time he had been transported, and a duplicate created. Scott proposes actually creating a duplicate, composed of tachyons, and sending such a duplicate over the many light years needed to reach Organia. With transporter modifications in place, Mr. Spock is selected as the logical person to investigate on Organia. As Scott prepares to send a tachyon duplicate on its long journey, the chamber is shielded to allow for the operation, and the device activated. When the transport is finished, a surprise awaits. Instead of sending a duplicate to Organia, two Mr. Spocks are on the transporter platform, each claiming to be the original! Now, Captain Kirk must devise the best plan to change the tide of the war, determine which Spock is the original, and keep his crew safe while rescuing the Federation. In the meantime, one of the Spocks is obviously trying to sabotage the ship, but which is really the imposter? All of these things must be determined in order to win the war. The author uses a convenient device to key the plot, but presents it well enough that it can be covered by the willing suspension of disbelief. An award-winning science fiction writer and reviewer, Blish writes a plausible science angle, at least plausible by 1970 standards. The author�s ending has been contradicted by subsequent movie and TV events, but at the time no one had any reason to suspect that there would ever be any more new Star Trek material. In fact, aside from fanzine publications, there was no new material for over six years, except for the animated show. The novel is a good read, and quite short at 118 pages in the version I read. It is by no means a great book, but it is interesting and a page-turner. It is mostly of historical significance as the first of its kind, and as the only original material by the author of the TV adaptations. Blish died in 1975, shortly after completing the adaptations of all the TV episodes.
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