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probablyrachel's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
When people online said this book read like bad fan fiction, I thought it might be entertaining at the very least. No. This book was Bad. It’s 100 pages of racism, 40 pages of vague action (and more racism), and a final 30 pages of the most insane tonal shift, whiplash-inducing, lightspeed plot resolution I’ve read in a long time.
Genuinely not worth finishing, unless you have a morbid curiosity to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. The only bit of “twist” was predictable, blatantly obvious, and a little cliche, so there really wasn’t any kind of satisfaction of being proven right when it did happen. It’s definitely not worth anything beyond becoming a shelf trophy or part of a book collection that you use as decor.
Genuinely not worth finishing, unless you have a morbid curiosity to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. The only bit of “twist” was predictable, blatantly obvious, and a little cliche, so there really wasn’t any kind of satisfaction of being proven right when it did happen. It’s definitely not worth anything beyond becoming a shelf trophy or part of a book collection that you use as decor.
foxxie52's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I have read this book many times as a teenager but re-reading it as an adult makes me feel a bit "ick". I was disturbed by how can the author wrote about sexuality. At one point Spock helps a woman overcome some mental issues and apparently that means that she OWES him something, "even her love". What?! This is a character she actively disliked but she owes him because he helped her? Nope. Ick. It has coloured the book for me now.
kwebster's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn't expect to actually enjoy or even finish the book. But I did finish it, and I did enjoy it!
There's some sexual revolution, "I'm a strong woman, who is also a sexual being," stuff. This is particularly uncomfortable due to how the rest of the crew responds to that. The main thought of most of the men was just how much they wanted to sleep with Tremain all the time. It was creepy.
Aside from that, the story is pretty good! I thought the plot was intriguing without being convoluted. I liked it :)
There's some sexual revolution, "I'm a strong woman, who is also a sexual being," stuff. This is particularly uncomfortable due to how the rest of the crew responds to that. The main thought of most of the men was just how much they wanted to sleep with Tremain all the time. It was creepy.
Aside from that, the story is pretty good! I thought the plot was intriguing without being convoluted. I liked it :)
reeshadovahsil's review
1.0
I realize this is a provocative statement... but this is the worst book I have ever read. (And I've read Twilight.)
I think I had an upper lip curled with disgust 90% of the time. On several occasions, I closed the book and threw it down on the sofa. It took me 18 days to force my way through its 175 infuriating pages. I finished it only because I am a completionist and I'm going through all the Star Trek books.
I could never recommend this travesty to anyone.
I think I had an upper lip curled with disgust 90% of the time. On several occasions, I closed the book and threw it down on the sofa. It took me 18 days to force my way through its 175 infuriating pages. I finished it only because I am a completionist and I'm going through all the Star Trek books.
I could never recommend this travesty to anyone.
markk's review
2.0
To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to reading Kathleen Sky's book. The reviews on Goodreads are almost uniformly negative, dismissing it as a Mary Sue novel with a lousy plot and poor characterizations of the central crew. And after reading it for myself, I found that the criticisms are largely well founded, especially when compared to the many other works written since that do so much better of a job of crafting a story that is true to the elements of the original series. The plot is premised on a ridiculous notion that the border of the Neutral Zone between the Federation and the Romulans that can shift under the influence of space storms, which is an implausible concept that is refuted by the very episode that introduced the Romulans and the Neutral Zone to begin with. The characterizations are indeed poor, with Spock less controlled and logical than he should have been, and McCoy almost predatorial in his romantic aspirations. Worst of all, though is the central character of Katalya Tremain, who comes across as far too petulant and unprofessional for someone who is ostensibly a member of a professional organization like Starfleet.
And yet in spite of all that I found myself enjoying the novel much more than I expected I would. While the premise of a shifting border may be ridiculous, the mission itself to establish whether a species on a key world is sentient or not was an interesting concept that is surprisingly underutilized in the franchise. And for all of the flaws in the characterization of the central crew and her key creation, Sky does provide an interesting examination of crew dynamics that is surprisingly nuanced, addressing it in a way that is far truer to life than Roddenberry's overly-idealized premise of numerous species all working happily together and as later works would demonstrate would prove a fruitful source of storytelling. Perhaps it was a case of having my expectations lowered to a point where I could appreciate the book despite its flaws, but whatever the reason it resulted in the end in a better reading experience and a more nuanced assessment of what Sky's book has to offer.
And yet in spite of all that I found myself enjoying the novel much more than I expected I would. While the premise of a shifting border may be ridiculous, the mission itself to establish whether a species on a key world is sentient or not was an interesting concept that is surprisingly underutilized in the franchise. And for all of the flaws in the characterization of the central crew and her key creation, Sky does provide an interesting examination of crew dynamics that is surprisingly nuanced, addressing it in a way that is far truer to life than Roddenberry's overly-idealized premise of numerous species all working happily together and as later works would demonstrate would prove a fruitful source of storytelling. Perhaps it was a case of having my expectations lowered to a point where I could appreciate the book despite its flaws, but whatever the reason it resulted in the end in a better reading experience and a more nuanced assessment of what Sky's book has to offer.
wai's review
1.0
I'm not usually prone to hating books, but wow. Nothing about this book was appealing to me. Badly written, all of the characters were completely OOC, except maybe Kirk - his care for Spock is the only thing that rang canonically true. McCoy would not be so swayed by a pretty face if she was that disgustingly bigoted, and honestly I find it hard to believe that Starfleet would allow someone in their ranks that was so openly prejudiced. While Vulcans are a fictional race, Roddenberry has always used his ficitional aliens as allegories for racism when he couldn't otherwise talk about it, and having an original character have such a flimsy excuse for espousing racist rhetoric and a nice, tidy "it's okay, I'm not a racist anymore!" ending, just goes entirely against the very real social issues that Star Trek discusses at times. If this book hadn't been so short, I absolutely wouldn't have finished it.
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