Legacy (Star Trek, Book 56)

Rating:
Summary: Spock's past comes to haunt him.
Review: Mr. Spock, the unshakable Mr. Spock. The Enterprise is on a mission to search a new planet. Spock gets attacked by this 'tree' and is quickly transported to sickbay. Kirk and some other members get stuck on the planet. Scotty is given direct orders to go to a different planet. Spock is sick, yet takes control of the Enterprise. Meanwhile the planet they are racing to is being used as slave labor to collect minerals. Spock has frequent flashbacks to his adventures on Pike's Enterprise. When they reach the planet, it is an old enemy. Spock in his weaken state, accepts a challenge. Dreen, will chase him down, and not hurt the colonists. This is an excellent book, Spock in his weaken position rises to the occasion. I wich there was more to the story, maybe more about Spock. Yet, as Star Trek books go, this is a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: Good background on Pike¿s Enterprise.
Review: This book is mainly about Spock, his command abilities during the five-year mission and what he learned while under Captain Pike's command. Kirk has little adventure on an uncharted planet, there are flashes to Pike on Talos IV, and there is a lot with Spock's opponent as the central character, but mostly it's about Spock. Most of the past scenes are flashbacks by the various characters, plus some commentary on Spock by Pike. Friedman's writing is as usual somewhat flat, and the character interaction limited. Despite that, or maybe even a little because of it, his depiction of Spock is great: how he talks, how people respond to him, and definitely how he behaves: Kirk's stuck on the planet, so nothing but unconsciousness will keep Spock in Sickbay and away from his duties. Within its limits this is quite entertaining, and the mixture of flashbacks with the solution to defeating Spock's opponent is well done.

Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as they get.
Review: This is an extremely well-written, extremely interesting story. It was broken down, essentially, into four parts, one of which followed an alien force taking control of a Federation mining colony, one of which followed the Enterprise going to the colony's assistance, one of which followed Kirk and the landing party which had to be abandoned in the rush to aid the colony, and one of which followed former Captain Pike and Deena living on Talos IV. I knocked the rating down to four stars only because the entire section dealing with Pike and Deena was neither especially interesting, nor germain to the story (although it WAS still well-written). Otherwise, the book is virtually flawless.