Thin Air

Star Trek #93
New Earth, Book Five of Six
Thin Air by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith
Published August 2000
Read May 16^th 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #92: Book Four: The Flaming Arrow
Next book (New Earth): #93: Book Six: Challenger

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Thin Air!

From the back cover:

Many light-years away from the safety of the Federation, the Starship Enterprise stands guard over an alien world whose unique natural resources could change the balance of power throughout the galaxy. The ship's crucial assignment: to maintain a Federation presence on the Planet below, to defend the world's newly arrived inhabitants from hostile aliens, and to fight a solitary battle against all who would claim the planet's riches for their own.

Against all odds, Kirk and his crew have preserved the struggling Federation colony on Belle Terre, but their heroic efforts may have been in vain In a last-ditch attempt to drive the entrenched settlers off their new home, the alien Kauld have contaminated the planet's atmosphere with a destructive biochemical agent that will soon render the entire world inimical to human life. With only weeks to spare, Spock races to find a scientific solution to their dire predicament, while Kirk takes the battle to the enemy, determined to wrest the secret of their salvation from the very forces out to destroy the future of this new Earth!

My thoughts:

The newly-established colony at Belle Terre is once again threatened by the Kauld, and similar to the previous novel, The Flaming Arrow, the attack is an unconventional one. In that case, a huge laser was directed at the planet which would destroy the colony; in this novel, the attack is more methodical and insidious: the introduction of a substance that would initiate a chemical reaction, creating a sort of thin foam that covers the surface of the planet, suffocating everyone and everything in its path. The description of the effect this smothering substance has on people caught in it was horrifying to say the least.

Thin Air is a huge improvement over the previous novels in the New Earth series. Everything seems to come together well in this installment, including pacing, characterization, and the writing in general. The threat is a unique and terrifying one, with a lot of thought put into it. More so than at any other point in the series, I was concerned for the well-being of not only our hero characters, but the inhabitants of the Belle Terre colony as well. The attempts made by Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew to combat the chemical weapon deployed on Belle Terre made a lot of sense, and the ultimate solution was logical.

Belle Terre is once again attacked in this novel, but not in a conventional manner; rather, elements from beneath the surface explode, forming a type of suffocating "foam" that will render the planet uninhabitable.

Rusch and Smith get the characters' voices perfect in this novel, which makes sense given their experience in writing Star Trek fiction. Additionally, this novel seemed to flow well from the novels before it, a feat that is impressive given the series' track record so far. Plot points hinted at in the previous novels are picked up here, making the story feel a part of a cohesive whole, rather than a patchwork of disjointed stories by different authors, as the previous novels have.

There is a subplot that I found interesting as well: certain members of the colony seem to have a sensitivity to the olivium that is being mined in the system. These children have been quarantined on the medical ship. The mother of one such child is aboard as well, and I found myself enjoying the story as she fights for her son's survival against what turns out to be a corrupt medical officer. The budding romance between the mother and the captain of the medical ship was fun, and I found myself truly caring about these characters whom we had only just met.

Similarly, I found Lillian Coates' part in the novel quite compelling. At one point, she is trapped in an area being affected by the suffocating foam, and her plight had me totally engrossed. She showed remarkable resourcefulness before having to brave the environment and being rescued at the last moment by a team from the Enterprise. Far from being a typical "damsel in distress," Coates did everything she could to survive, and I found myself wondering how I would fare given the situation she was in.

The fact that the story is "just" yet another attack on the colony by the Kauld that Kirk and company have to save them from does count against this novel, but it was done in a unique enough fashion that I am pretty much willing to forgive it. It is unfortunate that it has taken five books for this series to finally hit on a story that works for me, as the overall concept is a fascinating one and deserves better than to wallow in predictable and disjointed plots. Thin Air stands as a truly good entry in the series, but does not make up for the failings that preceded it.

Final thoughts:

The first novel in the New Earth series that I genuinely really enjoyed! The authors have crafted a unique and fascinating problem for the characters to overcome, and the descriptions of the effects of the Kauld suffocation weapon were vivid and visceral. A great entry in the series, but it is quite unfortunate that it took five books to get here. Here's hoping for a strong finish in book six!

Also by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith:

• Star Trek: Voyager #2: The Escape (1995)
• Star Trek #78: The Rings of Tautee (1996)
• Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes with Nina Kiriki Hoffman (1998)
• Enterprise: By the Book (2002)

My next read:

Next up is my video review of the recent TNG novel, Available Light, by Dayton Ward!

Belle Terre

Star Trek #90
New Earth, Book Two of Six
Belle Terre by Dean Wesley Smith with Diane Carey
Published June 2000
Read January 21^st 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #89: Book One: Wagon Train to the Stars
Next book (New Earth): #91: Book Three: Rough Trails

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Belle Terre!

From the back cover:

A six-month distance from the Federation, the planet Belle Terre offers a new life to more than 30,000 families, pioneers, scientists, expatriates, go-getters, loners, and entrepreneurs, all under the watchful eye of Captain Kirk and his crew. But the would-be colonists have barely settled in the untamed wilderness of their new home when Spock makes a startling discovery: not only does the planet's moons contain a rare ore of almost inestimable value, that same moon is also violently unstable. Within months, it will inevitably explode -- destroying all life on Belle Terre!

My thoughts:

The fleet of colony ships, escorted by the USS Enterprise, has finally arrived at their destination: the glistening world they have called Belle Terre. However, their adventure to colonize this planet, located far outside the borders of the Federation, may end before it has a chance to really begin. One of the moons orbiting this new world has a core made up of a material called quasar olivium, an extremely rare substance that exists in a state of quantum flux and thus is also highly unstable. While olivium would make the perfect power source for the Federation, it will also soon cause the moon to violently explode, destroying Belle Terre and the colonists who have settled there.

Of course, it's up to Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise to stop this disaster from happening. Eventually, they are able to hit upon a partial solution, using another space body to puncture a hole in the olivium moon, relieving some of the pressure, but still impacting the environment of Belle Terre significantly. The solution is a costly one, requiring the use of nearly the entire fleet of colony ships to implement. After a series of setbacks and false starts, the fleet is ultimately successful in preventing the worst of the disaster.

After the somewhat disappointing start to this series, Wagon Train to the Stars, I found myself pleasantly surprised by Belle Terre. The threat of the olivium moon was an interesting one, and while you know that the crew will succeed in their plan, it was close enough to complete disaster at a couple of points to certainly keep the tension high. I also appreciated that it wasn't a complete success, and that there is still a great deal of fallout from the nearly-extinction level event that the explosion of the moon represents.

The central conflict of Belle Terre is obviously people vs. nature, a fact that I certainly appreciate after the cartoonish villainy of the antagonist in Wagon Train to the Stars. It is gratifying to see the characters grapple with a scientific dilemma rather than a one-note villain like Billy Maidenshore.

There is also a secondary story in which one of the colony ships, a cutter called the Rattlesnake, sets off to find another habitable world in case the colonists need to evacuate Belle Terre permanently. This storyline is left somewhat open-ended; in the course of their investigation into the disappearance of a nearby civilization, the crew of the Rattlesnake discover a "darkness" that passes through the system at regular intervals. The ship gets a little too close to the phenomenon and loses all power, leaving them unable to alert the rest of the colonists or the Enterprise of the danger the darkness presents, nor are they able to send a signal for rescue. I rather enjoyed this little side story, even though it had a tragic ending. I really hope that these events are followed up on in a later novel in the series.

Final thoughts:

A definite improvement over the first book in the series, Belle Terre presents the crew with an interesting scientific mystery and dire consequences if they fail to find a solution. While it wasn't exactly the most gripping Star Trek novel ever, I felt that the jeopardy was ratcheted up enough to hold my interest and attention throughout. The crew is, of course, ultimately successful, but they still end up paying a high price for their relative victory. There are storylines begun in this novel that I hope are picked up again later in the series. Definitely a solid entry in the New Earth series.

My next read:

Next up is my review of the final I.K.S. Gorkon novel: Klingon Empire: A Burning House by Keith R.A. DeCandido.

Echoes

Star Trek: Voyager #15
Echoes by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Published January 1998
Read November 7^th 2017

Previous book (Voyager): #14: Marooned
Next book (published order): The Captain's Table #4: Fire Ship
Next book (numbered): #16: Seven of Nine

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Echoes!

From the back cover:

The U.S.S. Voyager finds itself in a system where a planet might have existed, but doesn't. Where the planet should have been, millions and then billions of people are appearing from nowhere and dying in the vacuum of space.

To solve the mystery and save billions of lives, Captain Janeway will have to face alternate versions of herself and the crew of Voyager -- not just one almost-mirror-image, but many. Janeway will have to find a way to work with her alternate selves, with whom she shares much but each of whom has a different agenda. At stake is the survival of Voyager and the lives of billions of innocent people.

My thoughts:

Echoes opens with a vivid scene: billions of people suddenly flash into existence in empty space, immediately exposed to hard vacuum and struggling to breathe. The struggle doesn't last long, however, as the billions die an excruciating death in the dark cold of space. It's an exciting (albeit incredibly dark) hook to immediately get the reader into the story!

Voyager encounters a subspace wave that doesn't seem to affect them in any way, but when they receive a distress call shortly thereafter, Captain Janeway orders the ship to the source to investigate. The subspace waves occur every two and a half hours, and correspond to small, barely noticeable changes on the planet's surface. For example, the leader with whom Captain Janeway speaks appears to change eye color from one pulse to the next. When an away team to the surface disappears during the pulse, with no one on the surface seeming to know anything about an away team in the first place, the strange curiosity turns into a crisis.

Additionally, every time a pulse occurs, a strange phenomenon is witnessed: the appearance of multiple planets, as well as multiple Voyagers orbiting those planets, stretching off into infinity. The effect is akin to two mirrors held up to one another, showing the person in them in an unending chain that goes on forever. Curiously, Voyager only appears to be present orbiting every other planet in this seemingly endless chain of planets. The reason for this is a fascinating one, and is related to the events of the second season episode "Deadlock."

Basically, when Voyager was duplicated in the episode "Deadlock," that event created a branching of quantum realities. When one of the Voyagers was destroyed, it resulted in Voyager being missing from every second quantum reality. I know, it's confusing; just go with it!

Echoes borrows heavily from that episode, as well as the TNG episode "Parallels." Each time a pulse happens, all of the people on the surface of the planet are shifted one universe over. Over time, tiny changes accumulate, and billions of people end up further and further away from their own reality. At one point in the chain of realities, there exists a reality in which a cataclysm in the distant past destroyed the planet, which is why billions of people are appearing in open space and dying in the vacuum every two and a half hours.

One of the most interesting aspects of Echoes is that the primary mystery of the book isn't one facing our main cast of characters, but rather their counterparts from over 2000 universes away - "to the right," in the parlance of the novel. This was a fascinating choice by the authors, and one that serves the story quite well. I love that "our" Captain Janeway and Voyager crew are just one of uncounted numbers of Voyagers who are working on this problem. This is a brave and realistic choice to make, as it would make no sense that "our" universe is necessarily the most important one to the story, when there are unlimited other universes revealed to be in the midst of this crisis.

By the time the end of the story comes around, it's pretty clear that a standard ending just won't do. Countless billions are dead, and uncountable more are displaced many universes away from their "original" universe, including away teams from multiple Voyagers. Unfortunately, this means that the story must rely on a crutch that the Voyager television series itself relied on far too often: the reset button. However, while the overuse of the reset button tends to infuriate me with regards to the television show, I didn't actually mind it all that much here, although I have a hard time figuring out exactly why that is. The story itself it certainly compelling and the mystery is a tantalizing one, and it's unfortunate the the reset ending undercuts all of that. However, I still really enjoyed this story and the imagination that went into crafting it.

Final thoughts:

Echoes presents a very Voyager-like problem, and fits really well into the structure of a Voyager story. There are some very interesting choices made by the authors that add to the enjoyment. A fascinating science fiction mystery that, while complex, doesn't get too bogged-down with technobabble. Definitely one of the better Voyager stories set during the series that I have read. 4/5 stars.

More about Echoes:

• Podcast: Literary Treks 210: Orange is the New Black

My next read:

A personal favorite of mine: Deep Space Nine: A Stitch in Time by Garak himself, Andrew J. Robinson!

The Escape

Star Trek: Voyager #2
The Escape by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Published May 1995
Read April 15^th 2017

Previous book (Voyager): #1: Caretaker
Next book (Voyager): #3: Ragnarok

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for The Escape!

From the back cover:

The U.S.S. Voyager is in desperate trouble, her systems damaged, her warp engines failing. Without immediate repairs the starship and her crew will be trapped forever between the stars. Captain Kathryn Janeway must guide her ship to an ancient, deserted planet that could hold the key to their survival -- a planet that is hiding more than one deadly secret.

My thoughts:

Back when Star Trek: Voyager first premiered in 1995, I had it in my head that I would collect every novel that was published in the Voyager series. It was a new, shiny Trek series, and I was pretty excited to embrace the journey full steam from day one. That goal didn't last very long, but I did pick this novel up back when it was first published. I remember devouring it, really enjoying the time-twisting plot and the very cool depiction of a society whose people travelled through time as easily as you or I might get on a flight to a sunny beach destination. When I recently re-read The Escape for the Literary Treks podcast, I hoped I wouldn't be disappointed, as I remembered really enjoying this story.

For the most part, I wasn't disappointed. While The Escape is the first original Voyager novel, and thus is vulnerable to the pitfalls of not knowing much about the source material beyond the series bible and scripts of the first few episodes, the story manages to stay very true to the Voyager series with characters who, for the most part, feel much like the characters we get to know on the show.

Voyager characters, such as Paris and Torres, are well-represented in The Escape, especially given how early this novel was written, before any episodes of the series had even aired!

There are certainly a couple of exceptions: Neelix in particular feels very out of character. Sure, he was annoying and a little troublesome in Voyager's first season, but his ineptitude and "bumbliness" in this novel is a bit over-the-top. Also, The Doctor is given a name: Doctor Zimmerman, which was apparently to be his name on the show before the producers decided to go in a different direction. However, this is a minor detail that is easy to overlook while reading The Escape.

One character who unfortunately misses the mark a bit is Neelix. He was never quite as annoying as he is in The Escape.

The story itself is quite fascinating, focusing on a culture that employs time travel to an extensive degree. Citizens of Alcawell travel into the distant past, governed by a strict set of laws whose purpose is to protect history from being altered by a significant margin. Voyager's crew, of course, inadvertently runs afoul of these laws when an away team accidentally travels back in time while exploring the deserted remains of the planet. Watching Paris, Torres, and Neelix come up against an implacable bureaucracy was, at times, very amusing, and reminded me a lot of every time I have to call my phone, internet, or other utility providers. The brick wall they come up against is as frustrating as it is familiar.

The resolution to the plot is satisfying, with the Voyager crew coming to an understanding with the authority that governs the planet Alcawell. It's certainly nice to see someone come out ahead when dealing with ridiculous bureaucracies; I would probably do well to get Captain Janeway to call my internet provider on my behalf the next time I'm subjected to the torture of having to deal with them!

Final thoughts:

Voyager, more than any other Star Trek series, dealt with crazy anomalies and confusing time paradoxes on a fairly regular basis. In that respect, The Escape does a very good job in predicting the tone of Voyager and crafting a tale that feels right at home in that series. This, combined with fantastic world-building and the nearly spot-on representations of the Voyager crew, make The Escape one of my favorite "in-series" Voyager novels, quite a feat by the authors given how early in Voyager's run it was written. Four out of five stars.

More about The Escape:

• Podcast: Literary Treks 187: Lucsly's Head Would Explode

Also by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch:

• Star Trek #78: The Rings of Tautee (1996)
• Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes with Nina Kiriki Hoffman (1998)
• Star Trek #93: New Earth, Book Five of Six: Thin Air (2000)
• Enterprise: By the Book (2002)

My next read:

Next up is my review of the William Shatner novel Dark Victory!

By the Book

Enterprise
By the Book by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Published January 2002
Read March 21^st 2017

Previous book (Enterprise): Broken Bow
Next book (Enterprise): What Price Honor?

MMPB: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

Kindle: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for By the Book!

From the back cover:

In their first few weeks in space, Captain Jonathan Archer and the crew of the Enterprise have already discovered several new species and explored strange new worlds. But each planet brings new discoveries...and new dangers.

The Fazi, whose ultraregulated culture ranges from strict conversation protocols to unvarying building designs, inhabit half of a planet discovered by the Enterprise. But after a disastrous first contact with the ruler of the Fazi, Archer must depend on Vulcan science officer T'Pol and communication specialist Hoshi Sato to help him mend relations with the people of this planet, and unravel the mystery of the other creatures living on the world.

My thoughts:

By the Book was the first original novel published for the new-at-the-time series Enterprise. As such, the authors faced unique challenges when crafting their story. Only having access to the first few stories from the series, Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch had to put together a tale that still fit tonally with the series as well as try to capture the voices of the characters at a time when even the actors may not yet have found those voices. With all this in mind, I feel that they did a fairly remarkable job in capturing the feel of an early Enterprise story.

In many ways, By the Book feels a lot like a story that fits in Enterprise's first season. We have a crew that is quite green, encountering situations for the first time that would feel like old hat to later Star Trek crews. The Enterprise crew encounters a new civilization, one that is very alien from the crew's perspective. Archer's initial attempts to establish a dialogue with the newly-discovered alien race are predictably futile, and the overall encounter goes exactly as you would expect for an inexperienced commander and crew facing the unknown for the first time. While Archer's naivete and impulsiveness are a little too exaggerated for my tastes, it still fits in quite well with what we see in Enterprise's first season. Many of the themes that play out in the book, especially the idea of human impulsiveness versus Vulcan logic, are themes that the series itself regularly explored.

By the Book felt like it fits well in the first season of Enterprise, including a Jonathan Archer who mistrusts the Vulcans and frequently pits human emotion and impulsiveness against Vulcan stoicism and logic.

That said, there are a few issues in By the Book that jumped out at me. First was the small details that the authors didn't quite get right. For example, Elizabeth Cutler is referred to as an ensign in the novel, while she was actually a crewman in the episodes she appeared in during the series. Similarly, crewman Novakovich's first name is given as Alex, but in the episode "Strange New World," the events of which are referred to in By the Book, we learned his name is actually Ethan. Also, oddly enough, Hoshi Sato is often referred to as "Ensign Hoshi," while it should be "Ensign Sato." These are very likely not the fault of the authors, but are probably changed details between the initial scripts for these episodes and what finally ended up on film. Such is the danger of writing a novel so close to the start of the series!

The planet they explore is interesting enough; it turns out that this world is inhabited by two intelligent species, the mercurial and hard to understand humanoid Fazi, and a spider-like crustacean species called the Hipon. I enjoyed the progression of the first contact story, and the initial confusion when dealing with the Fazi was well-written. The twist with the Hipon was also interesting, and added some variation to what otherwise might be a fairly typical Star Trek exploration story.

There is also a b-plot to this story in which several crewmembers play an on-going tabletop RPG during their off hours. Reading other reviews online, many readers don't seem to like this part of the story. It is certainly true that it doesn't seem to have a lot to do with the main plot and does distract from the story at times, but I myself did enjoy it. I've never gotten into any RPGs before, but after reading this, I may have to give them a try. Perhaps the Star Trek Adventures RPG from Modiphius that came out last year?

Final thoughts:

A strong effort for the first original Enterprise novel. It's clear that there were a few things that weren't set in stone about the series at the time the novel was written, but the story ends up looking a lot more like the actual series than the first original Star Trek: The Next Generation novel resembled that series. Some of the characterizations are a bit off, and a b-plot seems fairly unconnected to the main narrative, but By the Book was still an enjoyable read for the most part.

More about By the Book:

• Podcast: Literary Treks 184: Don't Scratch Your Sand Pimples!

Also by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch:

• Star Trek: Voyager #2: The Escape (1995)
• Star Trek #78: The Rings of Tautee (1996)
• Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes with Nina Kiriki Hoffman (1998)
• Star Trek #93: New Earth, Book Five of Six: Thin Air (2000)

My next read:

Next up is my video review of Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours by David Mack.

The Belly of the Beast

Star Trek: S.C.E. #1
The Belly of the Beast by Dean Wesley Smith
Published August 2000
Read January 18^th 2013

Next ebook (S.C.E.): #2: Fatal Error

Originally published as an ebook. Later published as part of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers compilation Have Tech, Will Travel in January 2002.

Compilation of the first four SCE stories

Original ebook cover

Click here to purchase the Star Trek: S.C.E. omnibus #1, Have Tech, Will Travel from Amazon.com!

This week, on Trek Lit Reviews: reviews of the first four books of the S.C.E. series, starting with The Belly of the Beast today (Monday), followed by the next three novellas released on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!

Spoilers ahead for The Belly of the Beast!

From the back cover:

The U.S.S. Enterprise has defeated a gigantic marauding starship from parts unknown. Now that the immediate threat has been neutralized, the S.C.E. has been called in to probe the vanquished hulk in search of both new technology and the secret of its origin. Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge has temporarily transferred from the Enterprise to assist Captain David Gold and the crew of the S.C.E. ship, the U.S.S. da Vinci, on this fascinating mission. LaForge works with Gold and his top-of-the-line group of technical specialists to unravel the high-tech mysteries of the supposedly dead alien vessel, only to discover that the real danger has just begun!

My thoughts:

The Belly of the Beast is the first novella in the originally ebook-only series, SCE (Starfleet Corps of Engineers). The first I had heard of these stories were when the first dead tree-format omnibus was published. I was curious, but apparently not curious enough to pick it up and give it a try. I'm happy to be rectifying that lapse in judgement now!

The inaugural story itself is an interesting one. The SCE team is confronted with a massive mystery ship, its origins unknown. It has attacked a Federation colony, and the USS Enterprise was just barely able to escape destruction and disable the mysterious juggernaut. As the Corps of Engineers investigates further, they discover the original purpose of the ship, as well as the original company and crew. However, something sinister has taken control of the vessel. Originally thought to be neutralized by the Enterprise's attack, the horrific threat remains to terrorize the da Vinci's away teams.

Sonya Gomez in TNG's "Q Who," now
 the commanding officer of the SCE
contingent aboard USS da Vinci.

The SCE series highlights a few of the background crew we've seen in other Star Trek series. The head of the SCE contingent aboard the da Vinci is Commander Sonya Gomez, originally seen as a newly-minted ensign in season two of The Next Generation. Originally a shy, nervous junior officer, she has matured into her role as the leader of the SCE troubleshooters. Several other crewmembers we've met over the years are also a part of the da Vinci's crew, but we don't learn much about them in this volume. I'm looking forward to more stories in the line to see if they are as ably fleshed-out as Sonya Gomez is in this novella. I really enjoyed reading about her character as I have always lamented the fact that we only got to see her in two episodes of TNG. Also, something that came as a bit of a surprise to me: The Belly of the Beast marks the first appearance of Christine Vale, security chief of the USS Enterprise in many of the TNG novels leading up to Star Trek Nemesis, and later Captain Riker's first officer aboard the USS Titan. In this novella, we learn a lot about her, and hints about more of her story are dropped.

The SCE series marked Pocket Books' first experiment with ebook-only sales. Sadly, this series has been on indefinite hiatus since 2007. 2007-2008, however, saw the release of another ebook-only series: Slings and Arrows, which I haven't read myself yet. Prior to that, in 2006, an Original Series-era series of ebooks were released. Mere Anarchy was later re-released in a trade paperback omnibus. After a couple of years without an ebook exclusive release, Pocket has once again begun experimenting with ebook-only publications, with the release of 2011's Typhon Pact: The Struggle Within by Christopher L. Bennett and last year's Vanguard: In Tempest's Wake by Dayton Ward. In addition, March of this year saw a Next Generation ebook by James Swallow, entitled The Stuff of Dreams.

Final thoughts:

A fascinating beginning to this anomalous series in Trek Lit. The mystery is well done, and the conclusion is exciting and unnerving. The story has piqued my interest enough to make me want to read more about this crew and their missions. I'm looking forward to continuing with the SCE story and learning more about the interesting group of people that have been assembled for this series.

Also by Dean Wesley Smith:

• Star Trek: Voyager #2: The Escape with Kristine Kathryn Rusch (1995)
• Star Trek #78: The Rings of Tautee with Kristine Kathryn Rusch (1996)
• Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes with Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Nina Kiriki Hoffman (1998)
• Star Trek #90: New Earth, Book Two: Belle Terre with Diane Carey (2000)
• Star Trek #93: New Earth, Book Five: Thin Air with Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2000)
• Enterprise: By the Book with Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2002)

My next read:

S.C.E. week continues with #2 from Have Tech, Will Travel: Fatal Error, by Keith R.A. DeCandido.

The Rings of Tautee

Star Trek #78: The Rings of Tautee by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Published May 1996
Read May 9^th, 2012

Previous book (The Original Series): #77: Twilight's End
Next book (The Original Series): #79: Invasion!: First Strike

Click to purchase The Rings of Tautee from Amazon.com!

Spoilers ahead for The Rings of Tautee!

From the back cover:

When an entire solar system begins to disintegrate into cosmic rubble, Captain Kirk suspects that rumors of a new Klingon superweapon are all too true.  The Tautee system houses a flourishing pre-warp civilization not quite ready to join the Federation, so the Prime Directive limits Kirk's ability to undo the disaster, and his humanitarian rescue operations provoke a hostile response from four Klingon warships.

What is destroying the Tautee system?  The USS Enterprise must uncover the truth before the catastrophe extends beyond Tautee to threaten the very nature of reality itself.

My Thoughts:

The Rings of Tautee is an interesting book with good characterizations of the original Star Trek characters, exactly as one would expect from the writing team of Smith and Rusch.  Veterans of Trek writing, their stories are always competent and engrossing.

The dilemma presented in The Rings of Tautee is an interesting one.  An alien race has attempted an experiment in power generation that has had disastrous results.  An ever-expanding shock wave has destroyed all of the planets in their star system, and left un-checked, the wave may eventually threaten the entire galaxy.  Initially, both the Federation and the Klingons suspect each other of creating a horrific superweapon and testing it on the Tautee system.  However, they soon discover the truth and must work together, both to save the remaining Tautee survivors and to stop the wave from expanding beyond the system.

There are several great moments in this novel.  The final moments of the break-up of the Tautee system as seen from the perspective of the science team that potentially caused it are absolutely heart-breaking, and their subsequent rescue by the Enterprise is terrific for the awe and confusion experienced by the Tauteean characters.  Another favourite moment comes when Captain Kirk and the Klingon Commander learn the cause of the Tautee system's destruction.  The shared "facepalm" moment between the two of them is priceless.

I do want to make a quick note about the Prime Directive as depicted in this novel.  I've never been a big fan of the Next Generation-style interpretation of General Order #1.  Episodes like "Pen Pals" and "Homeward" do nothing to present the Federation in a positive light.  Rather than being a guard against cultural imperialism as it was originally meant to be, the Prime Directive as depicted in these episodes makes the Federation out to be "above" helping doomed civilizations, in the service of some sort of cosmic "plan."  Unfortunately, the Prime Directive is depicted this way in The Rings of Tautee.  When there were only going to be a few survivors, there was nothing to stop Kirk from rescuing the Tauteeans.  However, once that number increased, suddenly rescuing the people slowly dying in the cold recesses of space was a Prime Directive issue, as though the number of survivors had reached some sort of threshold number.  That screams callousness and indifference, which was not the way the Prime Directive was originally envisioned, at least to my mind.

Final Thoughts:

The Rings of Tautee is an interesting story.  While not completely mind-blowing, it's an interesting tale that presages cooperation between the Klingons and Federation, and presents a fascinating problem that brings disparate people together to try and solve.  I was disappointed in the application of the Prime Directive, but that's a larger problem in Star Trek at large, in my opinion.  Several great moments make this novel a little more memorable than some.

Also by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch:

• Star Trek: Voyager #2: The Escape (1995)
• Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes with Nina Kiriki Hoffman (1998)
• Star Trek #93: New Earth, Book Five of Six: Thin Air (2000)
• Enterprise: By the Book (2002)

My next read:

With any luck, my next review will be for Christopher L. Bennett's Ex Machina.  New release next week is Star Trek: Titan: Fallen Gods by Michael A. Martin, a follow-up to last year's Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire.