Rating: 
Summary: Gary Seven Returns!
Review: One of the most interesting developments in the Original Series of Star Trek books has been the weaving of previous characters and / or plots into new stories as a way of explaining unknown bits of Star Trek history and lore. Greg Cox's "Assignment: ETERNITY" brings Gary Seven (first seen in an Original Series episode called 'Assignment: Earth') to the printed page. Gary Seven's usual workplace is mid-20th century earth and his task is to protect human development from self-destructing. But he is summonned to the mid-23rd century by an Associate, Supervisor 146, who works in Romulan space. The task now at hand is to prevent the future assassination of Spock in 2293 at the Khitomer Conference of "The Undiscovered Country". If the assassination is successful, the future work by Spock towards reunificiation of the Vulcan and Romulan peoples will not happen. Seven's journey lands him, Roberta Lincoln and Isis on the bridge of Kirk's ENTERPRISE. The story is well written, however the Reader learns very little that is new about Seven or his mysterious benefactors / superiors except for a series (and possible spin-offs?) of other successful missions that Seven completed to protected humanity from itself. However, Miss Lincoln's character is well developed so that the Reader comes to realize Roberta is not the ditsy secretary as seen in the TV episode, but is an intelligent, resourceful and courageous woman. It is through Miss Lincoln that Spock learns of the plot to assassinate him in 2293, but no details of when, where or why. Cox also reveals a bit more about Isis as more than a beautiful woman in a cat's skin. She, too, is found to be very intelligent and central to the successful conclusion of the mission, but nothing is learned about who she really is. Overall the book is well done. I recommend it highly! But I was a bit disappointed not to see how Spock might deal with the knowledge of the failed assassination when 2293 rolled around. Due to temporal theory and Spock's photographic memory he would have had to remember, but that fact is not mentioned when Khitomer is revisited at the end of the novel. But maybe that sets the stage for another book, one that will bridge from Khitomer to 'reunification'? I laud Cox's interweaving of characters and plots of the Star Trek universe as William Shatner and other authors have done. I hope we'll see more of these kinds of novels in the future as well as new threads in the Star Trek tapestry.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel; well written and captivating!
Review: The author, Greg Cox, has done a wonderful service to loyal original series fans by bringing back Gary Seven and his associates. Like many Star Trek fans, I have always been intrigued by the mysterious Mr. Seven. Cox skillfully exposes much more of Gary Seven's character to his readers but continues to maintain the air of secretcy and mystery that surounds this man and his "empoyers". My favorite element of this novel however was not Seven, but his associate, "Roberta". I felt as if I was transported back into the sixties when Robert made references to "Fresca", "The Girl From Uncle", and other nostalgic references. I love Teri Garr, and I could visualize her acting in the very manner that Cox described. For me, Cox's characterzation of Roberta stole the show and made a very good Star Trek Novel even better! My only misgiving concerning the novel was that I felt Cox made Kirk a little too paranoid concerning Seven. I understand the attempt was made to create dramatic friction bewtween the characters, but I missed Kirk's ability to have "insight" into an individual's character and intuitively trust them. It would have been more fun to have watched Kirk and Seven "team up" and work together more against a common foe. Instead, Kirk spent the whole adventure "watching his back".
Rating: 
Summary: Grokkin' Spock!
Review: This book is more 1960s than anything written or aired in the '60s. It's a pop-culture mavin's dream. Cox livens his story up with so many '60s touches, it'll really tickle your fancy if you grew up then - and probably if you didn't. Its numerous references include events from contemporaneous T.V. and movie fare such as James Bond, The Avengers, The Prisoner and Stanley Kubrick's 2001. There's even a backstory incident dropped in from another failed Gene Roddenberry pilot of the early 1970s, The Questar Tapes. Picking up the ball T.V. dropped in 1968, Cox takes the characters from the original series' "Assignment: Earth" and gives them a whole new story to play in. That episode was intended as a pilot for a series all its own, and of course that pilot never took off. With any luck, Cox will continue more adventures with extraterrestrial secret agent Gary Seven and his Greenwich Village hippy-chick assistant, Roberta Lincoln - and Seven's other "female" sidekick, Isis the cat - and spin them off into the series they should have been on T.V. If so, he couldn't have gotten off to a better start than this entry in the Star Trek book series. This time around, Seven's future colleague, Septos, sends a cry for help from his base deep undercover in Romulan space, where an especially vicious Romulan secret policewoman commander named Dellas has appropriated much of his superior alien technology for an attempt on the life of Mr. Spock that will destroy the future reunification of the Romulans and the Vulcans. In order to prevent this catastrophe, Seven, Roberta and Isis teleport into the Enterprise's time, taking Captain Kirk and his crew to Romulan space - where, if they're not careful, they'll end up causing an interplanetary war even without Dellas' clandestine machinations. The characters are all brilliantly written, Seven and Roberta especially, without a false note to be found in the bunch. In addition to Cox's many pop-culture references are as many from not only the original Star Trek episodes, but several from the '80s and '90s movies and even The Next Generation. Unbelievably, this gem is out of print. Hunt it down. Especially since Cox is taking the characters further now, with his Eugenics War series - tying Seven into the origin of Khan Noonien Singh. A real feast for Trekkies and '60s kids, and even non-series fans will probably enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Grokkin' Spock!
Review: This book is more 1960s than anything written or aired in the '60s. It's a pop-culture mavin's dream. Cox livens his story up with so many '60s touches, it'll really tickle your fancy if you grew up then - and probably if you didn't. Its numerous references include events from contemporaneous T.V. and movie fare such as James Bond, The Avengers, The Prisoner and Stanley Kubrick's 2001. There's even a backstory incident dropped in from another failed Gene Roddenberry pilot of the early 1970s, The Questar Tapes. Picking up the ball T.V. dropped in 1968, Cox takes the characters from the original series' "Assignment: Earth" and gives them a whole new story to play in. That episode was intended as a pilot for a series all its own, and of course that pilot never took off. With any luck, Cox will continue more adventures with extraterrestrial secret agent Gary Seven and his Greenwich Village hippy-chick assistant, Roberta Lincoln - and Seven's other "female" sidekick, Isis the cat - and spin them off into the series they should have been on T.V. If so, he couldn't have gotten off to a better start than this entry in the Star Trek book series. This time around, Seven's future colleague, Septos, sends a cry for help from his base deep undercover in Romulan space, where an especially vicious Romulan secret policewoman commander named Dellas has appropriated much of his superior alien technology for an attempt on the life of Mr. Spock that will destroy the future reunification of the Romulans and the Vulcans. In order to prevent this catastrophe, Seven, Roberta and Isis teleport into the Enterprise's time, taking Captain Kirk and his crew to Romulan space - where, if they're not careful, they'll end up causing an interplanetary war even without Dellas' clandestine machinations. The characters are all brilliantly written, Seven and Roberta especially, without a false note to be found in the bunch. In addition to Cox's many pop-culture references are as many from not only the original Star Trek episodes, but several from the '80s and '90s movies and even The Next Generation. Unbelievably, this gem is out of print. Hunt it down. Especially since Cox is taking the characters further now, with his Eugenics War series - tying Seven into the origin of Khan Noonien Singh. A real feast for Trekkies and '60s kids, and even non-series fans will probably enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Eternity Rocks!
Review: This book is so cool! I loved it! Before I read this book I had no idea who Gary Seven was. The only part of this book that annoyed me was Roberta. She was not needed for anything.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This book was absolutely fantastic. It was written extremely well, and I thought the characters were portrayed well. In a lot of other reviews, people critisised Kirk's treatment of Gary Seven. Let's consider this, he was attempting to save the population of an entire Federation colony but Seven interfered, Seven has proved to be mildly trustworthy in the past, and he threw the Enterprise into the heart of the Romulan Empire! I mean, wouldn't you be just as paranoid of Seven if you were in command? Anyway, I found the book excellent. Originally I didn't want to buy it, but I really wanted something to read and that was all the book shop had. I will say now it was one of the best books I ever bought, no regrets at all. The mission Captain Kirk and Seven went on was written very well, and the situation with the Romulan supervisor was done very well. Treknically it was excellent, no real errors. Another good thing about this book was they way Cox referred to other episodes, and to other series. Refrences to Dr. Soran, Voyager were all pretty good, and there's lots more I cna't remember. For all Star Trek fans, this is one book that is 'One of the best'.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This is a good book to read for all of us Star Trek Original Series fans. I liked the story line and the development of the characters. However, I wish so much of the story had not been told in the first person by Miss Lincoln because her 60s viewpoint gets annoying and I wish Jim Kirk had been a little less paranoid, but more than anything, I wish this book had had an EDITOR. It desperately needs someone to correct the grammar and catch the little things that grate on the nerves. For example, don't change feet to meters without calculating how tall someone would really turn out to be, try to match the subject and verb, and don't use "she" when it should be "her", "he" instead of "him", "myself" instead of "me". Well, you get the idea. It's still a good book in spite of these flaws, and I recommend it to all except the really dyed-in-the-wool English teachers among us.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story line and an entertaining read
Review: This is a good book to read for all of us Star Trek Original Series fans. I liked the story line and the development of the characters. However, I wish so much of the story had not been told in the first person by Miss Lincoln because her 60s viewpoint gets annoying and I wish Jim Kirk had been a little less paranoid, but more than anything, I wish this book had had an EDITOR. It desperately needs someone to correct the grammar and catch the little things that grate on the nerves. For example, don't change feet to meters without calculating how tall someone would really turn out to be, try to match the subject and verb, and don't use "she" when it should be "her", "he" instead of "him", "myself" instead of "me". Well, you get the idea. It's still a good book in spite of these flaws, and I recommend it to all except the really dyed-in-the-wool English teachers among us.
Rating:
Summary: Great for all Star Trek fans.
Review: This is an excellent novel to read. All Star Trek fans will enjoy it I'm sure. Gary Seven is a mysterious character many of us would love to learn more about. I enyjoyed every part invloving Mr. Seven thoroughly. I love the Romulans and think it was an excellent idea to use them as the bad guys. Although I find Roberta to be an annoying character, the most enthralling section of the book was when Spock mindmelded with Miss Lincoln. It was the best part of the story. However a few changes could have been made. I agree with one of the other readers that Capt Kirk was presented as overly paranoid of Seven. Also it drives me batty when an author feels that he/she must allude to each and every one of the original episodes. (here I wish I could have been the editor for the book) It is expected in this case to write of "Assignment: Earth" and maybe one or two other episodes here and there in the book, but not 5 shows for every 3 pages. Ok I may be exagerating, but still it was extensive in this novel. Overall I think it was an excellent read. I believe it was a great story line and recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Gary Seven Returns.
Review: This is the Best Star Trek Book ever. I loved. I have read it 4 times. You will love it. See the episode Assignment Earth to.
| 
