Deep Domain (Star Trek, No 33)

Rating:
Summary: A note to other reviewers about Admiral Kirk's teaching job
Review: A just wanted to add a note to all of those who say No Way about Kirk's teaching. I hate to tell you, but, what do you think he was doing at the Acadamy at the begining of The Wrath of Khan? One of the things this book did well is bridge some of the history leading up to the second movie, which finds Kirk, Spock and McCoy working at the Acadamy, while Chekov is first officer under Capt. Terril. This is all Star Trek canon, and this book does an excellent job bringing us up to that point.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, better paced middle, fannish finish
Review: I believe this was Weinstein's first foray in Trek novel writing. He had previosuly written an episode of the Trek animated series. The problem with this book is that while it is a very good story, it takes a while to build up any interest in it with some very plodding prose that does pick up in pace as it goes along. The problem is that the pace gets too fast that one is left with a very quickly resolved ending. It almost seems like an episode of The Next Generation series. Give us some buildup and then finish it fast to hit the right page count. And the tacked on ending of Kirk and company parting ways seems so contrieved.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, if not great.
Review: There are a few quibbles that I have with this book, most notably that it's difficult to place it on the Star Trek timeline. The intro by the author says that it is a story that arose out of the same brainstorming sessions that produced the movie "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", which would suggest a similar time-frame. But that concept clearly doesn't work, as the events in the second and particularly the third Star Trek movies have obviously not happened (notably, the death and return of Spock and the destruction of the Enterprise). Thus, given those facts and a few hints toward the end of the book, it seems likely that it takes place between movie #1 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture") and movie #2 (Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan"). It would have helped if that had been made a little clearer a little earlier, but truly, this is a minor quibble.

The problem is, the book itself isn't really good enough to cause one to be willing to overlook minor quibbles. It isn't terrible; the writing is fairly good, the characters recognizable as themselves, the dialogue plausible, the minor characters from the Enterprise and the missing science team interesting enough. But the characters that the Enterprise crew must interact with range from vanilla personalities with no real spark to stock villains with no real spark. And the plot itself, while not without promise, never fulfills that promise. There was never really any sense of drama, never any sense of compelling interest. It was, quite honestly, mediocre.

If you're a Trek fan with a real need for a fix, there's no reason not to read this one; it's a perfectly acceptable read. But if you aren't desperate for a Trek story, there's no particularly driving reason TO read it, either.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven and unsatisfying
Review: There is no doubt that Weinstein is a capable author; several of his other Trek books have been truly enjoyable. Deep Domain, however, suffers from several flaws, which are only occasionally overcome.
First, there is the tendency toward preaching Weinstein's own eco-agenda. When an author adds a preface encouraging readers to send money to Greenpeace, red flags should always go up. In the event, the politicking is not as prevalent as feared, but it surfaces periodically and distracts greatly. (It is hard to focus on the page when one's eyes are rolling.)
Second, Weinstein falls into some common pitfalls of Trek writers. A: his Chekov's personality bears almost no resemblance to the original's (has there ever been a decent portrayal of Chekov??). B: he expects readers to care about his creations (e.g., Lt. Mabry) as much as we care about the "true" Trek characters. That's just not going to happen, folks. Third, the ending is completely unconvincing, as other reviewers have noted. Putting aside that Generations showed us that Kirk actually left Starfleet before going to the Academy (there's no way Weinstein could have known that), Kirk's decision to leave the Enterprise is completely forced, as is Spock's decision to also go to the academy. And news of Chekov's impending transfer to the Reliant - a chance for a true, emotional moment - also falls flat.
That being said, Deep Domain was, at times, diverting if never gripping. I suppose it is unfair to expect a Trek novel to be anything other than mindless entertainment, a distraction. Deep Domain was never painful to read, just never exciting.

Rating:
Summary: I could have wrote this
Review: This book was kind of boring. I've read a lot of star trek books, and even if they aren't great its nice to settle into a familiar characters. This book has the names but not the personalities. Toward the end you get the feeling of a deadline and it all kind of falls completely apart. I wouldn't recomend it.