This wasn't one of the surprising Star Trek novels. But, it was definitely one that made me think.
The Enterprise finds a dying race of people. The crew tries to save them, but can't. In that process T'Pol accidentally kills someone, and so she decides to not carry a weapon any longer. Then an entity contacts them, T'Pol specifically, saying that it will help them figure out why the aliens died. But, not everyone trusts the entity. And then the people on the Enterprise start falling ill.
As, I said, though it didn’t have a lot (or any) twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. It was still a really fun read, my favorite part was that we got to see Hoshi as she was trying to decipher the alien language. I'm not sure if I can put into words just how much I loved those scenes. So awesome.
You may like this book If you Liked: Desperate Hours by David Mack, Broken Bow by Diane Carey, or The Left Hand of Destiny: Book One by J.G. Hertzler
I love T’Pol. I love Vulcans. Are you really a Star Trek fan if you don’t like the Vulcans? With T’Pol on the cover, I was hoping we would get a deep dive into her POV. Sadly I think this one falls a little short on that front
The Author:
J.M. Dillard is a seasoned Star Trek writer who we will meet again some day, but it seems as though most of her novels are novelizations of movies or episodes which I have decided not to read in this quest (because I have already seen them on screen!). It also seems she has written a vampire series? Which I never would have guessed.
The Summary:
This novel reads much like an episode. The Enterprise lands on a planet where everyone is either dead or dying. They meet many of the aliens as they explore the planet looking for survivors. One of the surviving aliens attacks Hoshi and T’Pol hits it with a phaser blast that is set to stun. The blast kills the last survivor even though it wasn’t supposed to. This really hits home for T’Pol and affects her deeply. She feels that she effectively committed genocide. She commits herself to non violence from that moment on. They get back to the ship and an amorphous energy entity introduced itself to T’Pol as “Wanderer”. The rest of the plot is them figuring out that The Wanderer basically fed off that planet and saw those beings as lesser and fine to kill. The Wanderer thinks that humans are fine to feed off of too because they are lesser. T’Pol has problems with this logic. It starts feeding off of and possessing the crew and T’Pol comes to the conclusion that self defense is okay.
My Thoughts:
I wish we stayed a little more in T’Pol’s POV for this novel. I think it was the majority but we also cut to Archer frequently. This novel is a shorter one which I think was to its benefit. It has an episode’s worth of plot and therefore benefitted from feeling like a short episode. Honestly most of it was rather forgettable, but none of it super offensive. It felt weird that T’Pol was just going through these thoughts and feelings about violence after time already spent on the Enterprise and it is not like the Vulcan’s do not display their fair share of violence. I honestly read this a few months ago now and the fact that I don’t have a lot to say about it I think speaks for itself.
5/10, inoffensive and a light read! Next up for novels is Daedalus, and I think I am going to to combine that review with its sequel Daedalus’s Children because it is a direct continuation of the story.
Mindshadow, the H/C Star Trek book that keeps on delivering. I hesitated posting these excerpts because the narrative takes a very dark and disturbing turn after this scene (poor Spock!) But I was so delighted with McCoy's characteristic dad sneeze and the confirmation that the common cold is still present in-universe, I couldn't contain myself.
""Even as I was falling, I knew I wouldn't die. [...] It's hard to explain..." He paused, trying to sort out the reason; even as he said it, it was a revelation to him. "I knew I wouldn't die because the two of you were with me." [...] The statement surprised him as well.... And yet he knew with heavy certainty that it was true. [...] There was no logic in it, and yet he was as utterly convinced of it as he was of Spock and McCoy's friendship. "I just know it, that's all.""
"The doctor's expression became melancholic. The bourbon or the topic of the conversation, Jim wondered? [...] His tone was thoughtful. "You know it's a mystery what draws the three of us together."
Spock appeared puzzled [...]. "Are you suggesting that we came along to Yosemite because we sensed the captain -Jim- might be in danger?" [...]
"Spock, I'd call you soulless if I didn't know better from personal experience! Think about it. We found you, saved you, brought you back from the dead, all on a hunch if you want to call it that. At the risk of sounding maundling..." McCoy took a sip from his cup as if to brace himself for what he was about to say. "There seems to be some sort of... I don't know, call it a psychic bond between the three of us." [...]"
""Most people have families." Jim said wistfully, thinking of David and Carol. "Not us".
"Untrue." Spock countered. "The captain has a nephew [...]. You, Doctor, have a daughter and a grandaughter [...]. And I have a family on Vulcan. The three of us chose to serve together rather than live with our families.""
