Star Trek: The Galactic Whirlpool - David Gerald

Title: The Galactic Whirlpool
Author: David Gerald
Published: 1980
Chronological Period: 2267

Available at:
Amazon
Amazon UK

Review:
“The Galactic Whirlpool” was the final Star Trek novel released by Bantam books before the licence was handed over to Pocket Books. What intrigued me the most about this novel was that it was written by David Gerrold, a writer who was involved quite deeply with Star Trek and who wrote the much loved Season 2 episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles”.

The story is based around a pre-FTL vessel known as the Wanderer which is found by the Enterprise to be heading towards the galactic whirlpool, two singularities spinning about each other that are traveling through the galaxy. The crew investigate the ship and find that the crew have lost much of their technology and have reverted to a rather primitive existence. It soon becomes obvious that the in inhabitants are now divided into two warring factions who are almost fanatical in their hatred of each other. Kirk and his crew must therefore work to end the civil war and restart the engines of the Wanderer before it is to late.

The story itself isn’t that remarkable and I have probably read this type of plot many times before. However, Gerrold still managed to keep me interested by providing lots of interesting details about both Federation protocol and characters history. He really uses this novel as a chance to explain and expand the Star Trek Universe that he obviously enjoys writing about. I particularly enjoyed seeing how Gerrold’s imagined pre-warp history of Earth differs from what is now accepted as canon. This difference is understandable as the novel was written back in 1980 before the real growth in developing Star Trek’s back story but if you are a stickler for the current continuity it may irritate you.

However, at times this attention to technical detail could actually bog the story down. At multiple times in the novel when there was an important plot point developing, he feels the need to slow it down with another information dump. Considering, the plot line isn’t the most original this could at times be a bit of a hindrance to really getting emerged in the story.

His love for the characters really shines through in this novel and I think he tries to give them a sense of realism. Yes, there may be slight variations from what we would have seen on the TV series itself but I actually found that this was an improvement. What really did impress me however was that as I read the book I could hear Shatner or Nimoy speaking, Gerrold has managed to catch the mannerism of the cast in his writing and I enjoyed seeing that.

Overall, this was an interesting enough novel although at times it felt more like a fictional description of the Trek Universe rather than an exciting and engaging story.

Star Trek: The Original Series: Crisis of Consciousness - Dave Galanter

Title: Crisis of Consciousness
Author: Dave Galanter
Published: 2015
Chronological Period: 2267

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Amazon UK

Review:
"Crisis of Consciousness" by Dave Galanter is another Star Trek novel set during the time period of the Original Series. The story follows Captain Kirk and the Enterprise as they are dispatched to transfer the ambassador of the mildly xenophobic Maabas back to his home planet after signing a treaty with the Federation. Shortly after arriving, the Enterprise is then attacked by a mysterious race known as the Kenisians who claim that they are the original inhabitants of the planet and are now demanding it back. Kirk and his crew must therefore attempt to find a way in which an agreement can be reached before war breaks out and an entire sector of space is potentially destroyed.

Without doubt, this is one of the best Original Series novels I have had the pleasure to read with an enjoyable and intriguing plot. The fast-pacing and skilful writing also helped to keep me hooked from start to finish. Whilst at its core the story is an enjoyable look at how cultures respond to the wrongs perpetrated against them in the past, this doesn’t mean that the novel is lacking in action. There are some superb battle scenes that had me thoroughly entertained with the Enterprise taking a fair bit of damage. This is Trek at its best, fun and action supported by an engaging and thoughtful storyline.

In addition, the new races that have been introduced here are wonderfully well crafted. Both the Maabas and Kenisians are complex and thoroughly interesting species with the multividual personas of the Kenisians being a real highlight of the book.

Galanter also does a great job with the main characters; Kirk, Spock and McCoy are skilfully brought to life. But he also gives the supporting characters their moments as well with Uhura and Scotty both getting the chance to shine. The main focus though is without doubt on Spock and his treatment in this novel is quite simply sublime. He is the usual resourceful and brilliant Vulcan we are used to, but at the same time we get to see his own inner doubts and conflicts about what he must do to achieve his goals. It was wonderful realising that this was Galanter trying to show us a convincing reason for what would later lead Spock to his decision to follow the path of Kolinahr.

To sum up, if you enjoy the Original Series to any extent then I really have to recommend this book to you. It is thoroughly entertaining on many levels with an interesting plot, good writing and expertly captured characters. Personally, I can’t wait to read other novels in the Trek universe that have been penned by Galanter.

Star Trek: The Original Series: The Folded World - Jeff Mariotte

Title: The Folded World
Author: Jeff Mariotte
Published: 2013
Chronological Period: 2267

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Amazon UK

Review:
“The Folded World” by Jeff Mariotte is a Star Trek Original Series novel set during the Enterprise’s initial 5 year mission. The plot follows the crew of the Enterprise who intercept a distress call from the U.S.S. McRaven which was heading towards the same system as the Enterprise as part of a twofold diplomatic mission. Upon reaching the McRaven, they find that has become trapped in an anomaly unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. Upon investigating the anomaly, the crew find themselves facing a world in which the usual rules of time and space do not apply.

I find myself in two minds about the plot of the book as the premise was quite interesting and I enjoyed seeing how the anomaly itself functioned and affected both the world and characters. It was fun to follow the crew as they became unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. There was also a few intriguing sub-plots such as the original diplomatic mission that the McRaven and Enterprise had been sent on that had did entertain me as I tried to work out how they all fit together.

However, there are some issues, firstly there is the fact that Mariotte seems to just utilise several un-original plot points seen in many other Trek stories. I honestly don’t know how many times I need to see Spock help save the day by mind melding with some disembodied creature or why we need to send the main characters into a deadly scenario time after time. Further to this, it was quite disappointing that there was no real attempt made to explain the anomaly in which the McRaven was trapped.

In regards to the characters, Kirk, Spock and McCoy’s are acceptable enough although at times they didn’t always feel exactly right. Simply put, I have read better, but I have also read worse so overall I could live with how Mariotte portrays them here. Mariotte does also try adding few original characters and whilst I applaud him for the attempt, the execution is rather lacking. Whilst Tikolo did have a reasonably interesting backstory, the two others, Vandella and O'Meara were one-dimensional and rather uninspiring. Then there was the “love triangle” between them all which was rather painful to read and the less said about it the better.

Overall, “The Folded World” is an average Original Series novel with a superb looking cover. It isn’t the best Original Series novel I have read this year but it also far from the worst.