The Final Reflection (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: "The Final Reflection" would have won every award there was, if it hadn't been written about Star Trek. John M. Ford's book is just as relevant today as the day it was written; it talks of love, honor, passion, pain, glory and death in ways that transcend the Star Trek universe. Maybe they even transcend the science fiction universe, for all I know.

Vrenn Khemara is a stranger in a strange land; he's Klingon, but has been adopted into a new House from the Houses of Lineless Youth. His new father, Thought Admiral Kethas, is a brilliant war strategist who's also unsurpassed at the game of klin zha, the Klingon board game which is similar to, but not exactly like, chess.

Kethas schemes to get Vrenn into the Academy, and sends him off. While Vrenn's on a ship, he gets promoted two ranks due to bravery in combat. Just as he's about to enjoy some well deserved shore leave, he's taken aside for "questioning" by security officers.

It seems his father, the Thought Admiral, was a traitor. Or so they say.

The rest of the book mostly deals with Vrenn (turned Krenn after he makes Captain) and how he finds out the truth about his parentage, how he forges a friendship with the first Ambassador to the Klingon Empire, Emanuel Tagore, and how he finds his own style of happiness and love -- which isn't that close to human style happiness and love at all.

This was written far before the Next Generation series; Krenn isn't a Next Gen Klingon. He's not even that close to an original series Klingon, except for the passing resemblance between him and Captain Koloth ("The Trouble with Tribbles"). But Krenn is honorable, even if he's not human, and the frame story Mr. Ford came up with around Krenn's story is astonishingly original. It's not just one frame story (that of Kirk and company reading the novel about Krenn), it's _two_, as John M. Ford himself explains _why_ he wrote this novel, and about how he's afraid the Federation might just try to stop publication due to sensitive stuff he found out in the researching of the novel. Very, very well done.

This, without a doubt, is the best Star Trek novel of all time -- and it's also one of the best science fiction novels _ever_ about an alien culture, and how tough it'd be for a "first contact" to work even if all parties want it. I've read other stuff by Mr. Ford, and it's uniformly excellent; this, however, transcends it all, and is one of the truly classic novels of the twentieth century in my opinion.

Five stars plus, and with the highest recommendation possible.

Rating:
Summary: superior Trek
Review: As a Star Trek fan my favorite alien race is the Klingons. This is a superior Trek novel about their warrior culture which is a bit like the Samurai of ancient Japan. John Ford created a complex and believable culture of the type of Klingons which were seen only briefly, in the early motion pictures. For some reason, Krenn is depicted in the cover art as a fusion-style Klingon from the original series, but a careful attention to the physical descriptions in the book reveal the characters to be the ones from The Motion Picture. Lt. Cdr. Kelly is the only Human Fusion in the story. This book is extraordinarily well written, and is an example of truly excellent science fiction. You truly believe these aliens exist! A lot of the concepts in Next Generation were based on Ford's creativity. As are many of the novels inspired by "The Final Reflection" such as Jeffry Hertzler's "The Left Hand Of Destiny" and Kat Ramo's "Citizen Of The Empire". In fact, the whole subculture of the Star Trek Klingon fandom is patterned after "The Final Reflection".

Rating:
Summary: A must-read read, must-have book!!
Review: As you can see from the other reviews, this is an excellent book from beginning to end. If your a Klingon fan, then this a must-read, must-have book. Klingons aren't the scum as protrayed in earlier books, because we get a detailed look of Klingon culture. The story focuses on a Klingon from as a boy to an adult as captain of a Klingon ship, and to his eventual confrontation with humans.

Read this book and own it. It's a classic!

Russ

Rating:
Summary: Calling it a good Star Trek novel....
Review: Does this book an injustice. It is an excellent novel in it's own right, and would stand alone as a superior work without the extended Trek universe to support it. I stopped reading Trek novels years ago when it became apparent that they all pretty much followed the same formula. One in which the author used the story to insert themself into the Trek universe. This work is nothing like that.
Apparent from reading the book is that it was the source of much Next Generation Klingon lore (houses,lines, a quasi-feudal society, a "privateer" style military) and many plot lines. (Worf's dead or dishonored line, Worf being the son of a Klingon commander, killed by a Romulan massacre, he and his brother's adoptions, the character of General Martok.) John M. Ford's name should have been listed somewhere in the series' credits for creative contributions.
If Paramount ever decides to take another trip to the Well of Trek, this book should be the vehicle for that series.

Exciting, captivating, and just hard to put down. It is a rousing good tale true to the Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey mold.
John M. Ford wrote this book in 1984 I think. What I find particulary interesting is that some of the Klingon ship's systems he describes, are now actually used in modern weapons systems like the AH-64 Apache Longbow and the M1A2 Abrams tank.
In the last 20 years I've kept only one Trek novel---The Final Reflection.

Rating:
Summary: Finally!!!
Review: Herein lies the answers to the mystery surrounding the transformation of the Klingons from the originial series version to the version presented in Star Trek The Motion Picture and everything that followed.

An excellent story, pre-dating the original series by a generation, It provides both adventure and intrigue by following the life of a Klingon warrior - Captain Krenn.

Most importantly,it provides great insights into the Klingon culture as the author adds tremendous depth and character to the Klingons. "Kai!" Mr. Ford and thank you for your clever explanation/transformation and for setting the Klingons on the path to becoming the colorful, formidable characters that they are today!

Rating:
Summary: excellent novel
Review: John M. Ford's brilliant and powerful writing style was always awe-inspiring. The characters are fascinating. the dialogue is splendid. The quality of Ford's Klingons is superior to that of TNG's Klingons.

Not only it awed many people including me but also it influenced Ronald Moore's work on Klingon culture. Mr. Moore admitted he liked reading the book Final Reflection in Star Trek Magazine review.

However, this book may be contradicted and is not regarded as canon but the author's definitions of Klingon culture and Klingon sense of honor is never questioned.

Whereas a Klingon captain named Krenn tries to struggle to understand Human culture, a Human named Tagore attempts to comprehend Klingon culture.

The quote about naked stars in this book is inspirational.

May the Black Fleet salute John M. Ford for his incredible legacy to the world. He deserves to be remembered with no less honor than Kahless the Unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps a Must Read for Star Trek Fans Post 2001
Review: Most of this book lacked clarity. The entire first third- the first unit- was extremely confusing, with unclear characters who constantly changed, whose focal points were games that were not fully explained. By the second unit, even the names of the main characters had changed. But things pick up more by the second unit, as a Klingon commander shuttles a federation ambassador to the Klingon homeworld.

Difficulties continue in reading this text. Part of the problem is no fault of the author- written in 1984, so much has developed in our understanding of Klingon culture, appearance, and thought that we did not know at that time. Kahless, it's even written before TNG! So the cover shows the old TOS Klingons. But it's not just how they look- all kinds of information about Klingons has developed since then, like there code of honor, their attitudes towards war, their relationships, the name of their homeworld, their beliefs of Stobol Kohr and the afterlife- all this is different in this book, outside of canon. Ford comes up with an intriguing way around this, certainly. He describes the main plotline as a fictionalized history story that Captain Kirk starts reading. So any differences between the story and the reality can be explained away. But there are so many differences that, with an awareness of Klingon culture, it is difficult to follow this book.

And sadly, the ending is very confusing. Many key questions that one has about the characters remain unanswered, but the author acts as if they have been answered. After reading the text, one is left with the feeling that you really have no idea what species the main characters are (despite that being a lifelong quest of the characters), why and how the primary mission occurred at all, what missions Klingons completed on earth, and how in the end everything is resolved.

Ford proposes a possible answer to a question not even yet posed at the time of the writing, before TNG- why do the Klingon's foreheads change shape? One possible answer- interbreeding with Humans, Vulcans, etc. But even this is not as fully described as it should be. And in this time of war I also greatly appreciated the focus of one of the main characters on trying to establish peace at all times, speaking with Klingons of how one can have honor without even ever carrying a weapon. Some Klingons today could learn from that.

Rating:
Summary: Best Star Trek Novel Ever
Review: My Star Trek (and indeed Science fiction) fan days are over, but I have to make an honorable mention for this book.

Most Star Trek novels are McBooks: disposable junk. Not _The Final Reflection_. I read it when it first came out in the mid-80s and it still stands the test of time.

FASA corporation adopted it's background for their Star Trek game in the mid-80s, much to everyone's delight. If only Gene Roddenberry and the rest of the NG did the same, we wouldn't have the "caffeine-free" Klingons we see today in this post-NG world we live in.

Star Trek's famous villains are depicted as a much more sophisticated people rather than the loudmouths you see on TV nowadays. Ford's Klingons strive for the "khomerex zha" and have an interesting after-life mythology, believing in "the black fleet." Ruthless yes, but not mindlessly so.

Ford, you have my vote as best ST novelist ever. (Loved your Gurps stuff too :-) )

Rating:
Summary: Not really that good
Review: This story starts out immersing the reader in a Klingon battle game, the rules of which are never clear. This opening only really serves to introduce the main characters of the book and is otherwise confusing and completely unnecessary. I almost put the book down because this section was so uninteresting.
But it does pick up somewhat from there, when we follow Vrenn's life and his rise from humble beginnings to command a ship of his own. There are some interesting dynamics between the characters but as usual when dealing with Klingons, you're never quite sure who can be trusted or who will ultimately betray whom.
Nearly every bit of Klingon lore and culture introduced in this book has been contradicted by the "official" canon of later TV shows and movies, so it's not even really good as a peek in the Klingon way of life.
Bottom line - unless you are passionately interested in all things Klingon, I would pass this book by.

Rating:
Summary: Kai kassai klingon!
Review: Years ago, in "Best of Trek", I read a fan's amateur reviews of pro Star Trek novels. Her critique of The Final Reflection: "I don't like any book that I have to read three times just to understand what's going on." I believe her comment says a LOT about the simplistic drivel which comprises most Star Dreck, compared with the richness of this novel. Author Ford, a respected science-fiction writer, gives us a fascinating vision of a very alien species, whose culture is based on a bushido-style code of honor and a chesslike Perpetual Game of personal advancement and power. This definitive novel about the Klingons is presented as a book within a book, and takes place some forty years before the famous five-year mission of Captain Kirk. The protagonist is an Imperial-race Klingon. An orphan raised in a militarily-structured Lineless House, six-year-old Vrenn makes his first sentient kill -- an adult Human male -- in the arena of the Years End Games. A skilled fighter in the klin zha kinta, the Game With Living Pieces, Vrenn is noticed by Thought-Admiral Kethas, who adopts him into his Line. He joins the Navy, and through battle-prowess and political maneuvering, rises quickly to the rank of Captain. He begins to make his Name in the service of Empire. Then Krenn is chosen for a mission of great secrecy and delicacy... This is a meticulously-developed novel of strategy, conspiracy, subtrafuge, diplomacy, betrayal, vengeance, and above all, honor. The plot is so intricate, the prose so precise, that the story can be read again and again, and can seem fresh each time. Even people who hate Trek will enjoy this one. By the way, this book also provides the reason why the Original Series Klingons look different from the ones in the modern series.