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Yes, another Star Trek month with a sub theme. There are a lot of multi-book Star Trek epics out there and I've done them many times in the past. I have even tried to do them in relatively close proximity to each other. As I get closer to the more recent stuff in my box it will be become rarer and rarer to have a self-contained Star Trek story. Hell, who knows in a year or so THAT might wind up being the sub-theme. This month I'm going to try to do one entire four book epic. Plus, as a bonus in the next book in one of the mega epics I left just floating around.
First we Greg Cox's Gary Seven and Khan Noonien Singh saga. An epic noted for being both highly action oriented but also very funny.
- Star Trek: Assignment Eternity By Greg Cox:
The story is yet another in a long line of time travel stories. Only this one has three things going for it that many similar Star Trek stories do not. A self-conscious use of a pulp space opera style writing, a love of all things 1960s and 1970s sci-fi movie TV shows and it all ties together very nicely. It manages to continue the adventures of Gary Seven without giving away too much of the mystery surrounding him. As with their last meeting, Kirk and Seven don't necessarily get along but are forced to work together. Only this time Seven is traveling in time to the era of Star Trek TOS to protect one of his fellow mysterious operatives who had his base stolen by the Romulans. Now the Romulans have access to time travel and the means to change the future because of the mysterious Aegis. There are a lot of interesting uses for time travel including a brief trip from near the end of Star Trek's third season (the end of the television series) to the ending of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. As I said the book has fun with itself with references to Kolchak: The Nightstalker, The Questor Tapes, James Bond, 2001: A Space Odyssey and half a dozen other sci-fi shows and movies. It's goofy and fun but not perfect. For instance they got Neil Armstrong's quote wrong at the end and Tellerites may have pig like faces but they have standard humanoid feet. Other than that it is a very good (if somewhat silly) Star Trek novel.
- Star Trek - The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh Volume One by Greg Cox:
This book tells the story of one of the most feared villains in the Star Trek universe. People expecting the story of Khan will be somewhat disappointed. The first three quarters of this book focuses on Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln uncovering a secret genetics project in 1974. Khan's role in this section is somewhat minimal. It is not your typical Star Trek novel. First of all, is the fact that it is a sci-fi spy novel that just happens to use a lot of Star Trek characters in it. Almost every character that would have been around on Earth in the 20th century gets at least a brief nod. Everyone from Gillian Taylor, to the scientists from Roswell (from DS9's Little Green Men), to Ralph Offenhouse (TNG's: ‘The Neutral Zone') and all the way up to Redjac and Flint the Immortal. There are a few references to Guinan, Quark and Odo as well. Secondly, the main story takes place over fifteen years. Finally, it mixes in some real life figures and events as well. There is a small chapter that features Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. As with Assignment: Eternity there are a few 'they are there if you want them to be' crossovers with other science fiction series. Though this time it is mostly limited to 'The Pretender', 'The Equalizer' and 'The Bionic Woman.' There is also an obligatory flash forward with Kirk reading about The Eugenics Wars as he prepares for a mission which requires him to go on a fact finding mission to a human colony that broke away from the Federation over matters of genetic engineering. Before you begin to think Khan is crowded out of his own book- when he finally does take the forefront, the book makes a radical shift in tone. It goes from action adventure story to something very dark.
- Star Trek - The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh Volume Two by Greg Cox:
This book is nowhere near as funny as the previous two parts of the saga. There are plenty of funny moments but ultimately this was the right tone to take. It is, after all, the story of the beginnings of World War III. Again, the book spans two decades and does a good job of fixing glitches made in canon itself. It does a great job of showing Khan's descent from well-intentioned angry young man into a mad dictator. In spite of being a shorter book it seems to move much slower. It focuses more on character and a little less on action. Though there is plenty of it in the last hundred pages or so. Really, the one fault I had with this book was (like the previous book) the obligatory Kirk subplot. Yes, the audience may need reminding they are actually reading a Star Trek book from time to time however with a lot of references to various episodes (DS9's 'Little Green Men' and 'Doctor Bashir, I Presume,' TNG's 'The Neutral Zone' and 'Time's Arrow', TOS's: 'Assignment: Earth', 'Space Speed' 'Trouble with Tribbles' and 'Tomorrow is Yesterday' , Voyager's 'Future's End'. Enterprise's 'Broken Bow' as well as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) it would be kind of hard to miss. The worst part is the Kirk plot could have been interesting but it was really rushed. It could easily have been expanded upon as a 'Legacy of Khan' book.
- Star Trek: To Reign in Hell - The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox:
The book is not funny - aside from two typos which had Khan bolding stepping on Ceti Alpha V and Kirk wearing gravity books. Other than that- this book is as dark as Star Trek tends to get. Much like John Milton and Mick Jagger before him, Greg Cox asks for a little sympathy for the devil. However since the Milton connection to Khan goes back as far as TOS's Space Speed the quotes from Paradise Lost that stream throughout the book work very well. The way Khan solves problems makes this one of the least Star Trek like Star Trek books ever written. The only less Trekish book I can think of is Andrew J. Robinson's Stitch in Time. However in Khan's case, his decisions also are shown to be fruitless which ultimately makes the story embrace Star Trek's philosophy of peace and good will to sentient kind in its own unique way. Not only does Cox do a good job of showing how and why Khan fell further into madness- but you see his life take on many odd parallels to the life of James T. Kirk. Again, the book gets straddled with a somewhat unnecessary Kirk B story. At least this time it is used to foreshadow events and explain a purpose for the flashback tale. Aside from the typos, the only other part of the book I didn't like is one running gag. The Kirk portion is set during the year or so between Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. So McCoy continues to insist that since Starfleet has them on continued leave they would have been better off going to Yosemite than Ceti Alpha V. It is a line that is funny once. The Vaudeville rule of three doesn't work for everything.
-- I was hoping to have time to continue more than one of the other ongoing Star Trek arcs I've started. I left Vanguard, DS9, TNG and Titan in some pretty tight spots. For whatever reason I opted for Titan first and that's really all I could finish.
- Star Trek: Titan - The Red King by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin:
The Titan books have a lot going on. Somehow Martin and Mangels keep the typos (save for the those that technically aren't due to an alien that has problems with tenses) to a minimum and manage to keep the dozens of subplots straight while keeping the main plot going at a rocket fast pace. This book is a double sequel of sorts seeing how it picks up almost moments have the Star Trek: Titan- Taking Wing but also comes back to plots from their own Star Trek- The Lost Era Novel The Sundered both of which have appeared in various incarnations of this column. Another fun thing about Titan is that it picks up threads from all over the place. Characters created for TNG and TOS novels that had to get pushed aside by the events of Nemesis. Tuvok (of Star Trek: Voyager fame) who had initially been a 'guest star' makes his presence felt in a more permanent way. He feels like a much more complete character than the TV series ever made him out to be. They even picked up an ensign from Marvel's Starfleet Academy comics which I always loved. After spending three Star Trek books more or less Earth bound it was fun just to get back into space. Which oddly enough, is exactly what Will Riker was feeling. After years of war with The Dominion, the events of all the 'A Time To' books, and the skirmishes with the Romulans in Nemesis and Titan: Taking Wing, he's ready to be an explorer again. If the rest of the Titan books remain this exciting and energetic, I'll be happy once I get around to them.
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