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:
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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.