William Shatner
with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
reviewed by Randy Landers
Whenever one sits down with one of the Shatnerverse novels, one can expect to be entertained, both by the drama and the humor and the way Shatner and his co-authors manage to tie it all in together with Trek lore.
Sadly, this novel fails in that regard.
It’s not that it’s not a well-told story. It’s very well written. There are some truly dramatic moments, chilling and even blood-curdling. There are quite a few rib-tickling scenes, especially between Kirk and Spock.
It’s not that it’s not versed in Trek lore. Clearly, there are quite a few wonderful tie-ins with the Star Trek Universe.
But it fails in that the character of James T. Kirk is simply not the James T. Kirk we’ve seen over the years (including in the Shatnerverse). This creature is a mentally disturbed product of the events on Tarsus IV, a twisted young man who is almost feral in his hatred of all things Starfleet, totally contemptuous in his regard for the law, rules and regulations, and above all, a complete disregard of relationships with other sentient beings. He’s willing to throw Spock under the bus in order to cover up his crime.
What is also perplexing is the admiration that those in charge have for this antisocial, antiheroic, ungrateful little monster. Mallory, the man in responsible at the highest levels, simply bends the laws (and breaks them outright) for James T. Kirk. It simply is unbelievable.
Overall, the reader is left with a dissatisfied feeling, one of distaste if not outright disgust. This is not Star Trek; it’s a bastardization that should be avoided.
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