19th August 2016

I'm not really into reading The Original Series novels - being that my interest in Trek began in the late 90s (the first novel I bought was from August 1998) and even then TOS seemed incredibly dated to me. That said, this is the 50th anniversary, and this book is the first in a special celebratory trilogy, and so it felt only appropriate to get and read it.

The story takes place on the Enterprise, where a former crew member, Number One, has popped by for a visit which quickly becomes interesting for Kirk and Spock. Fundamentally, Number One (the first officer from the original pre-Kirk Star Trek pilot) is the star of the show here, and we follow her viewpoint for much of the story.

It's a good, action-packed tale that includes a number of concepts and familiar elements from the history of the franchise, mentions more, and introduces some interesting new aliens and artefacts that will clearly have ongoing involvement in the trilogy. I got more and more into the story as it progressed, much more than I expected for a TOS story, and really enjoyed reading it.

I’m now sitting desperately waiting for the second story to appear in my frequented set of bookshops so I can find out where the story is going to go next.

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27th February 2014

I'm not normally a reader of novels from The Original Series line, but seeing as this is a crossover with Voyager I made an exception, and wasn't disappointed. The story sees Seven of Nine thrown back in time where she meets up with Captain Kirk, and together they have to save the timeline from damage.

The first thing I noticed was that the style adopted by Cox is quite different from that used in the 24th Century novels. It's more relaxed, more casual - almost jokey. This fits well with the original series setting and characters, and there are a number of in-jokes that I spotted, and doubtlessly more that I missed.

The plot is a fulfilling thriller as the characters encounter a lot of obstacles, and in doing so Cox makes reference to several episodes I recognised from the TV series, and some earlier novels, some of which I was barely familiar with, but for which there was enough background given for me to get the gist.

So the book is really just a vehicle to get two characters together, and unlike the TNG-era novels I've been reading recently adds little to Trek as a whole, but it's good fun and I've really enjoyed reading it.

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