Monday, January 7, 2013

Seeds of Rage

Star Trek: Errand of Fury #1: Seeds of Rage by Kevin Ryan
Published March 2005
Read August 17th 2012

Previous book (Errand of...): Errand of Vengeance #3: River of Blood
Next book (Errand of Fury): Errand of Fury #2: Demands of Honor

 Previous book (The Original Series): Engines of Destiny
Next book (The Original Series): Vulcan's Soul #2: Exiles
Click to purchase Seeds of Rage from Amazon.com!
Spoilers ahead for Seeds of Rage and the Errand of Fury series!

 From the back cover:
Following the harrowing events of the Errand of Vengeance trilogy, tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire are the highest they've been since the Battle of Donatu V twenty-five years earlier. Even as Federation Ambassador Fox engages in tense negotiations with the Klingon ambassador to maintain the peace, Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise sees his vessel refit from a ship of exploration into a ship of war.  The coming conflict will take its toll on many personal lives as well...
Leslie Parrish: The security supervisor is stunned to learn that she is pregnant by her recently killed lover, Jon Anderson - and that Anderson was, in fact, a Klingon spy, surgically altered to pass as human.
Karel: Brother of the Klingon agent posing as Anderson, and responsible for his death, Captain Koloth's new first officer faces a crisis of faith as he sees the Klingon Empire falling into dishonorable ruin.
Michael Fuller: Father of Enterprise security supervisor Sam Fuller, who was killed in a battle with the Klingon, his son's death reminds him of Donatu V, of which he was one of the few survivors. Has Fuller reenlisted in Starfleet and joined the Enterprise security team out of loyalty - or vengeance?
The first in an all-new series!

 My thoughts:

Seeds of Rage starts off another trilogy of books by Kevin Ryan, sequels to his Errand of Vengeance trilogy released in 2002. Picking up where River of Blood left off, Seeds of Rage reintroduces us to several characters and introduces a couple of new ones. Returning from that prior trilogy is Lieutenant West, who is now advising Admiral Herbert Solow on the Klingon situation. Karel, brother of Klingon spy Kell, whom he killed at the end of River of Blood, begins to see the hypocrisy and dishonor around him while serving under an honorable commander, Captain Koloth (cf. "The Trouble with Tribbles"). Finally, we once again see Leslie Parrish, the former lover of Kell, who receives some shocking news from Dr. McCoy: she is pregnant with the Klingon spy's child. Reeling from the revelation, Parrish is unsure of what to do with this news.

Actress Leslie Parrish in the role of Lt.
Carolyn Palamas in "Who Mourns for
Adonais?," in all her soft-focused glory.
I found Seeds of Rage to be a worthy successor to the previous trilogy. Kevin Ryan's style is a pleasure to read, and he writes action very well. I'm also a sucker for political intrigue and stories that have wider ramifications than just to the immediate characters, and as Errand of Fury chronicles the Federation's head-long stumble into a major war with the Klingon Empire, it certainly qualifies. Ryan also does character development quite well, and although Parrish being pregnant with Kell's child occasionally delves into melodramatic soap opera-ish territory, it is written in such a way as to come across believably, and I found myself truly caring for Lt. Parrish and empathizing with the decision she is forced to make. One small note: there was never a Leslie Parrish in The Original Series; however, Lt. Carlolyn Palamas, the archaeology and anthropology officer from "Who Mourns for Adonais?," was played by actress Leslie Parrish. This had the effect of making me picture Parrish the actress while reading about Parrish the character, and to my mind this particular actress didn't really fit the character. Not a big deal, but I'm curious as to what the author's intent was in naming this character after the actress who played a different character in the same series...

Also a pleasure was finding out more about Captain Koloth, and what makes him different from the average Klingon of the time. Some of the actions he takes during these books are difficult to reconcile with how he played the character in the original episode "The Trouble with Tribbles," but part of that may be me conflating his seeming flamboyance with that of the character Trelane from "The Squire of Gothos." An atypical Klingon, to be sure.

 Final thoughts:

A strong start to what seems to be another interesting trilogy from Kevin Ryan. I'm glad the story from Errand of Vengeance had the chance to be continued, as I truly cared about the characters that were introduced in those books. The story of how the war between the Federation and the Klingons in season one of TOS began is one that deserved a bit of exploration, and Kevin Ryan has continued that effort admirably here.
Also by Kevin Ryan:

My next read:

Next review is for the next book in the Errand of Fury trilogy: Book 2, Demands of Honor.


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