Star Trek: Shadow Lord - Laurence Yep

Title: Shadow Lord
Author: Laurence Yep
Published: 1985
Formats: Hardback/Paperback
Chronological Period: 2266

Available at:
Amazon
Amazon UK

Review:
“Shadow Lord” by Laurence Yep is a book which had me in two minds regarding how much I liked it. Basically, as a stand-alone sword and sorcery styled fantasy book it worked quite well but as a Star Trek novel it fails on several levels. The book was obviously not meant to be set within the Star Trek Universe and I can only assume that the author knew the Star Trek publishers were accepting submissions and therefore tried to get his story to fit.

Anyway, the plot itself is based around Prince Vikram who is being taken home to his native world of Angira by the Enterprise. Vikram has spent a fair amount of his youth living on Earth and is now meant to be bringing his knowledge of the Federation back to Angira to help his people. When Spock and Sulu escort him down to the planet they soon get caught up in a revolution led by conservative factions who dislike the way that Vikram’s father has been damaging their ancient traditions with his modernising programme. Vikram is soon the only royal left living and alongside the two Enterprise crewmembers he must fight by the sword in order to survive.

So my first issue with the story is in regards to the planet Angira itself which appears to be only just now entering the industrial age. As I read the book I couldn’t understand why the Federation would be involved in this planet at all, the population were being badly treated and the technology seemed obviously to be pre-warp. Surely the Prime Directive would have ensured that the Federation wasn’t allowed to get involved at all? This issue is further enhanced by some of the contradictions in regards to how the planet’s culture is treated. At one point Sulu is worried about the effect that his taking command of the Prince’s military forces could have but no one seems to mind that Spock was planning to modernise the planet’s star charts and that Vikram was going to share his knowledge of the Federation which could surely have more profound ramifications.

The next issue in regards to the characters as it appears that Yep didn’t even bother trying to learn about them. Spock in particular is terribly portrayed; he smiles, holds hands and basically doesn’t conform to the Spock we all know and love. Quite simply the characterisations shown in this novel are probably some of the worst I have seen to date. However, the secondary characters are a different thing entirely; free to do what he wanted in this regard, Yep has crafted some interesting and well developed characters. It is just a shame that they are overshadowed by the way in which he has failed to correctly capture the Enterprise crew.

Don’t get me wrong the story itself is actually quite fun and elements such as the sword fighting sequences and military engagements were enjoyable and interesting to follow. However, as a Star Trek novel it fails quite badly with the terrible characterisations and lack of Prime Directive being two of the most obvious issues. To summarise, I think this story would have worked well as a stand-alone fantasy novel but it all feels completely out of place as a Star Trek adventure.

Star Trek: The Original Series: Past Prologue (The Janus Gate Book 3) - L.A. Graf

Title: Past Prologue (The Janus Gate Book 3)
Author: L.A. Graf
Published: 2002
Chronological Period: 2266

Available at:
Amazon
Amazon UK

Review:
“Past Prologue” by L.A. Graf is the third and final book in “The Janus Gate” trilogy, a series of novels set during the Star Trek Original Series. Kirk is stranded in his past and is trying to find his younger self who is missing in the chaos of a civil war. He is helped by his own father but neither of them realises that 14 year old Kirk is now in the future. In this future Sulu and Chekov have to work with older versions of themselves to try and find a way to reactivate the Janus Gate to ensure that everyone is sent back to their correct timelines. Of course, nothing is ever easy for the crew of the Enterprise and they are being forced to do this whilst an alien race attempts to seal the Janus Gate away for good.

I will start by mentioning that this book continues the tradition of this series in that it has a back cover synopsis that doesn’t match what actually occurs in the book. I am quite weary of mentioning this when it comes to “The Janus Gate” as the publishers have been quite consistent in getting it wrong. Whilst any reader has probably already read the previous two books so knows the story and can skip the synopsis anyway it just doesn’t give me a good impression of the publisher.

The story that we do get is an enjoyable adventure told at a much faster pace than the previous novel and full of action which kept me entertained right through to the ending. Of course this increased pacing and more action focussed narrative meant that there was less time spent on character development. Whilst this did ensure the excitement levels were kept high it meant we missed the chance to see something really interesting between the two Sulus and Chekovs.

A final negative aspect of the novel for me was in relation to the ending. Basically Graf inserts a reset switch type scenario to solve all the paradoxes and fit in with the TV series which never mentions what is seen here. The crew get to continue their journey with no memories of the event and act as if nothing happened. I understand why it was done and was actually expecting it but I still can’t find myself liking that form of ending.

Overall, this was an enjoyable final chapter in what has been a rather fun adventure. This story is much more focussed on the action that we have seen in the previous novels which does reduce the amount of character development that occurs. If you read the first two books in this trilogy then you quite simply have to read book three so you can see how everything Graf has put together in the previous novels finally comes to together in an entertaining conclusion.

Star Trek: The Original Series: Future Imperfect (The Janus Gate Book 2) - L.A. Graf

Title: Future Imperfect (The Janus Gate Book 2)
Author: L.A. Graf
Published: 2002
Chronological Period: 2266

Available at:
Amazon
Amazon UK

Review:
“Future Imperfect” by L.A. Graf is the second book in “The Janus Gate” trilogy, a series of novels set during the Star Trek Original Series. The novel picks up from the cliff-hanger ending of the previous book with Lieutenant Sulu finding himself swapped in time with an older version of himself from a future where the Federation is at war with the Gorn. Meanwhile, Captain Kirk has been sent back in time to a critical point in his life with his teenage self now stranded in the present day on Tlaoli-4 with the crew of the Enterprise.

As with the previous novel the synopsis on the back cover didn’t actually match the story itself which was a bit irritating as there was no excuse for it being wrong. I really couldn’t believe they hadn’t tried to ensure the summary was correct this time after it being so wrong on “Present Tense”. In the end it probably doesn’t matter as most people will be reading this book because they read the first novel and they probably didn’t even bother checking the synopsis.

In regards to the writing itself, I felt that this book was better than “Present Tense” with Graf using the set-up from the previous novel expertly to ensure the reader can quickly get engrossed in an exciting adventure. The previous novel could feel a bit slow at times but this wasn’t an issue here as all the initial plot building and character introduction had already been dealt with. Although of course this means that the book doesn’t really have a beginning at all so it really is a no go for anyone who hasn’t read “Present Tense”.

Whilst the story continues to feel like standard Star Trek fare I still found it fun and enjoyed reading following the interplay between Sulu, Chekov and Uhura. Graf has done such a good job with these characters that I really didn’t mind the very minimal amount of time given to Kirk, Spock and McCoy. One thing that I did really like in the story is the alternate future that Graf has managed to construct. It is well thought and uses established characters, episode plots and aliens in a rather interesting way.

Overall this series continues to be an enjoyable enough read that showcases some of the more “minor” Star Trek characters. If you have read the first novel in the series and enjoyed it then you should pick up this sequel as it ramps up the pacing and action to provide a fun read.