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Star Trek: The Original Series #88
Across the Universe
The Hawking left Earth during the 21st Century on a one-way mission to colonize a distant world. Due to the relativistic effects of pre-warp travel, it's crew has aged only thirty years while two centuries have passed outside the ship. When the Starship Enterprise™ comes to the rescue of the malfunctioning Hawking, the colonists find themselves thrust into a universe and an era that has left them behind.
Captain Kirk intends to help the colonists adjust as best he can, but the task is not a simple one. The newcomers are survivors of a more violent, more paranoid time -- and the have brought old suspicions, and an ancient weapon of mass destruction, into a world of unexpected challenges and dangers.
Captain Kirk intends to help the colonists adjust as best he can, but the task is not a simple one. The newcomers are survivors of a more violent, more paranoid time -- and the have brought old suspicions, and an ancient weapon of mass destruction, into a world of unexpected challenges and dangers.
221 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1999
3 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Sargent
161 books207 followersPamela Sargent has won the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and has been a finalist for the Hugo Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. In 2012, she was honored with the Pilgrim Award by the Science Fiction Research Association for lifetime achievement in science fiction scholarship. She is the author of the novels Cloned Lives, The Sudden Star, Watchstar, The Golden Space, The Alien Upstairs, Eye of the Comet, Homesmind, Alien Child, The Shore of Women, Venus of Dreams, Venus of Shadows, Child of Venus, Climb the Wind, and Ruler of the Sky. Her most recent short story collection is Thumbprints, published by Golden Gryphon Press, with an introduction by James Morrow. The Washington Post Book World has called her “one of the genre's best writers.”
In the 1970s, she edited the Women of Wonder series, the first collections of science fiction by women; her other anthologies include Bio-Futures and, with British writer Ian Watson as co-editor, Afterlives. Two anthologies, Women of Wonder, The Classic Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s and Women of Wonder, The Contemporary Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the 1990s, were published by Harcourt Brace in 1995; Publishers Weekly called these two books “essential reading for any serious sf fan.” Her most recent anthology is Conqueror Fantastic, out from DAW Books in 2004. Tor Books reissued her 1983 young adult novel Earthseed, selected as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association, and a sequel, Farseed, in early 2007. A third volume, Seed Seeker, was published in November of 2010 by Tor. Earthseed has been optioned by Paramount Pictures, with Melissa Rosenberg, scriptwriter for all of the Twilight films, writing the script and producing through her Tall Girls Productions.
A collection, Puss in D.C. and Other Stories, is out; her novel Season of the Cats is out in hardcover and will be available in paperback from Wildside Press. The Shore of Women has been optioned for development as a TV series by Super Deluxe Films, part of Turner Broadcasting.
Pamela Sargent lives in Albany, New York.
In the 1970s, she edited the Women of Wonder series, the first collections of science fiction by women; her other anthologies include Bio-Futures and, with British writer Ian Watson as co-editor, Afterlives. Two anthologies, Women of Wonder, The Classic Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s and Women of Wonder, The Contemporary Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the 1990s, were published by Harcourt Brace in 1995; Publishers Weekly called these two books “essential reading for any serious sf fan.” Her most recent anthology is Conqueror Fantastic, out from DAW Books in 2004. Tor Books reissued her 1983 young adult novel Earthseed, selected as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association, and a sequel, Farseed, in early 2007. A third volume, Seed Seeker, was published in November of 2010 by Tor. Earthseed has been optioned by Paramount Pictures, with Melissa Rosenberg, scriptwriter for all of the Twilight films, writing the script and producing through her Tall Girls Productions.
A collection, Puss in D.C. and Other Stories, is out; her novel Season of the Cats is out in hardcover and will be available in paperback from Wildside Press. The Shore of Women has been optioned for development as a TV series by Super Deluxe Films, part of Turner Broadcasting.
Pamela Sargent lives in Albany, New York.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 21, 2017
This was just the palate cleanser I needed. A novel full of classic Trek plot elements, handled deftly and creatively. The regular cast acquits itself well, the guest characters are interesting, the action and tension are handled in a first rate manner, and it's all told with a crisp, concise writing style that launches into the story at warp speed, and doesn't out-stay its welcome. An excellent example of the finest "Star Trek" comfort food.
February 9, 2025
Another story that feels like it could have come straight from the series! Some amazing SF ideas done in the Trek style with some great guest characters and the regulars treated respectfully. My only issue would be that the ending feels a little rushed.
November 26, 2018
Across the Universe is a book that contains a number of good ideas and some unique science fiction concepts, but they sadly seem to be wasted here due to the inclusion of too many competing plot elements. Not enough room is given to fully explore the questions that the novel raises, and the result is a bit of a jumble of interesting plots that ultimately go nowhere. The characters the story introduced were interesting, and I would have appreciated a deeper exploration of them. Unfortunately, it never really comes together well enough to be a truly good Star Trek novel.
Full review: http://www.treklit.com/2018/11/tos88....
Full review: http://www.treklit.com/2018/11/tos88....
June 2, 2023
A perfectly average TOS novel. The characters felt pretty solid here and the book did not outstay it's welcome. The plot was intriguing enough and I enjoyed the connections to both Uhura recent and Chekhov's distant family histories.
February 28, 2024
This book was okay. The only real criticism I have is the ending's morals concerning the burning of books and history books in particular. Here's the excerpt:
QUOTE:
"Now, as he watched the Hawking's debris lose its brightness, Kirk sat back and felt tired for a moment. another piece of history gone, he told himself, wondering how often old earth's social disasters might have been averted if the history books had been burned, to prevent them from being misunderstood and used as a pretext for further conflict.. ..
The destruction of the Hawking had been Cortes way of burning the books."
END QUOTE
I say the following as a Christian, knowing that we Christians have sometimes been overly zealous in censoring materials. Censorship in the public arena is almost never a good thing. Same with the burning of books. Gosh, the Nazi were well known for their public book burnings. The common criticism is that history is written by the winners, and therefore never trustworthy. There's a grain of truth to that criticism. But while no historian is perfectly objective some are better than others, and it requires all the data we can accumulate to better preserve history and reconstruct the past. So, preserving more books is usually better in the long run, if not always in the short term. Even if there might be fluctuating times of darkness, ignorance and bias from time to time, era to era, age to age. Since some future historians in different ages might be relatively objective and might be able to better their world and their future by learning from past mistakes.
QUOTE:
"Now, as he watched the Hawking's debris lose its brightness, Kirk sat back and felt tired for a moment. another piece of history gone, he told himself, wondering how often old earth's social disasters might have been averted if the history books had been burned, to prevent them from being misunderstood and used as a pretext for further conflict.. ..
The destruction of the Hawking had been Cortes way of burning the books."
END QUOTE
I say the following as a Christian, knowing that we Christians have sometimes been overly zealous in censoring materials. Censorship in the public arena is almost never a good thing. Same with the burning of books. Gosh, the Nazi were well known for their public book burnings. The common criticism is that history is written by the winners, and therefore never trustworthy. There's a grain of truth to that criticism. But while no historian is perfectly objective some are better than others, and it requires all the data we can accumulate to better preserve history and reconstruct the past. So, preserving more books is usually better in the long run, if not always in the short term. Even if there might be fluctuating times of darkness, ignorance and bias from time to time, era to era, age to age. Since some future historians in different ages might be relatively objective and might be able to better their world and their future by learning from past mistakes.
September 28, 2015
“Across The Universe” is a Star Trek Original Series novel written by Pamela Sargent & George Zebrowski. The novel follows the discovery of a ship from the 21st Century which was on a pre-warp journey to a distant planet to start a new colony. The crew has only aged thirty years due to relativistic effects but two centuries have passed and Kirk has to inform them that their target planet now no longer exists. Starfleet do find them an alternative colony world that they can now head to, but upon arrival they find that something on the planet appears to be attacking the colony.
When I started reading the book I was curious to see if it would offer anything interesting or original in regards to the well-used premise of 21st Century humans trying to acclimatise themselves in the 23rd Century. Unfortunately, the two authors appear to have just entirely skipped over this opportunity and decided to just used the crew of the Hawking as an inefficient plot device to give the Enterprise an excuse to visit a colony world. Personally, I am sure this could have been accomplished much more efficiently with a simple emergency broadcast from the colony which would have then enabled the authors to cut this entire premise and concentrate on the core story and characters.
This would probably have been a good thing to do as the core story and characters really do need some extra work. The plot is rather dull and there is really nothing that original, we have a ship from the past, a planet wide intelligence and Spock saving the day as he is able to detect, withstand, and reason with the intelligence. Honestly, I can’t remember how many times we have seen those plot points used throughout the Star Trek Universe.
Weak plots can sometimes be ignored if the characters work well but in this novel the characterisation is quite simply missing. The new characters aren’t developed in any meaningful way and the established characters just feel like cardboard cut outs. I do wonder if the authors had actually ever seen Star Trek. To me, the established characters and their interactions are a vital ingredient of what makes Star Trek work and it just doesn’t feel right when this is missing in such a glaringly obvious way.
Overall, it is probably one of the weakest Star Trek books I have ever read. The story isn’t terrible exactly; it is just that the lack of originality in the plot or good characterisation makes it all rather boring. This is then exacerbated by the inclusion of the 21st Century ship which doesn’t actually add anything worthwhile to the story. If you aren’t like me and on a missing to read every Star Trek novel then I would just skip this one.
When I started reading the book I was curious to see if it would offer anything interesting or original in regards to the well-used premise of 21st Century humans trying to acclimatise themselves in the 23rd Century. Unfortunately, the two authors appear to have just entirely skipped over this opportunity and decided to just used the crew of the Hawking as an inefficient plot device to give the Enterprise an excuse to visit a colony world. Personally, I am sure this could have been accomplished much more efficiently with a simple emergency broadcast from the colony which would have then enabled the authors to cut this entire premise and concentrate on the core story and characters.
This would probably have been a good thing to do as the core story and characters really do need some extra work. The plot is rather dull and there is really nothing that original, we have a ship from the past, a planet wide intelligence and Spock saving the day as he is able to detect, withstand, and reason with the intelligence. Honestly, I can’t remember how many times we have seen those plot points used throughout the Star Trek Universe.
Weak plots can sometimes be ignored if the characters work well but in this novel the characterisation is quite simply missing. The new characters aren’t developed in any meaningful way and the established characters just feel like cardboard cut outs. I do wonder if the authors had actually ever seen Star Trek. To me, the established characters and their interactions are a vital ingredient of what makes Star Trek work and it just doesn’t feel right when this is missing in such a glaringly obvious way.
Overall, it is probably one of the weakest Star Trek books I have ever read. The story isn’t terrible exactly; it is just that the lack of originality in the plot or good characterisation makes it all rather boring. This is then exacerbated by the inclusion of the 21st Century ship which doesn’t actually add anything worthwhile to the story. If you aren’t like me and on a missing to read every Star Trek novel then I would just skip this one.
January 16, 2018
From October 1999 comes one of those "Star Trek: The Original Series" novels that at times I wonder exactly how got published in the first place. Pamela Sargent & George Zebrowski's "Across the Universe" has a cover that really doesn't relate to anything in the book & is a story that is so disjointed & convoluted in places that it makes the book almost hard to read. The premise seems simple enough the Enterprise comes into contact with the Hawking, a ship that left Earth in the 21st century (before WW III) with in an attempt to find a better world to live on. The ship got stranded & slowed in time due to it's drive system & the crew of the Hawking now finds themselves trying to adapt to the 23rd century. At Kirk's suggestion along w/ the Federation council, the crew of the Hawking agrees to be relocated to a colony on Merope IV where they shouldn't be inundated by an Earth that the no longer recognize.
The Meropans seem willing to take the crew in, but they themselves have issues from an assistant to the First Citizen who is a former love interest of Uhura & is anti-Starfleet to dreams that the entire planet is having at the same time & in the same way. When a green glob of moss comes out of the ground along w/ fissures & swallows up a settlement on the planet, it's believed that perhaps this planet isn't safe nor the best place for the Hawking crew.
Sargent & Zebrowski's story means well in some regards & could've been focused on the Hawking crew & their adaptions to their new home & time. There's even a nice reference to "The Doomsday Machine" in the destruction of the world the ship was headed for. However, the story gets too far off track at times & almost becomes laughable with the explanation of what the green mat of moss is & where the citizens of this world have ended up. The characters themselves seem to paranoid & set in their ways to be believable. The revelation of a bomb aboard the Hawking that they had no clue how to disarm is disturbing although having a distant uncle of Chekov's on board is one of the few bright spots in this disaster of a novel. "Across the Universe" is a book that reminds this reader of how very bad the fiction of the original Star Trek series was for a while & is only a book for the diehard fans & not the casual reader. An extreme disappointment especially for a book whose blurb on the cover reads "A ship from the past poses a danger to the future!" which is also irrelevant to this book.
The Meropans seem willing to take the crew in, but they themselves have issues from an assistant to the First Citizen who is a former love interest of Uhura & is anti-Starfleet to dreams that the entire planet is having at the same time & in the same way. When a green glob of moss comes out of the ground along w/ fissures & swallows up a settlement on the planet, it's believed that perhaps this planet isn't safe nor the best place for the Hawking crew.
Sargent & Zebrowski's story means well in some regards & could've been focused on the Hawking crew & their adaptions to their new home & time. There's even a nice reference to "The Doomsday Machine" in the destruction of the world the ship was headed for. However, the story gets too far off track at times & almost becomes laughable with the explanation of what the green mat of moss is & where the citizens of this world have ended up. The characters themselves seem to paranoid & set in their ways to be believable. The revelation of a bomb aboard the Hawking that they had no clue how to disarm is disturbing although having a distant uncle of Chekov's on board is one of the few bright spots in this disaster of a novel. "Across the Universe" is a book that reminds this reader of how very bad the fiction of the original Star Trek series was for a while & is only a book for the diehard fans & not the casual reader. An extreme disappointment especially for a book whose blurb on the cover reads "A ship from the past poses a danger to the future!" which is also irrelevant to this book.
June 21, 2013
This was REALLY bad.
Okay, so it started off fair enough, but by the end of the 4th chapter it was like a slow moving car accident.
The "big fight" about 1/3 of the way in was WAY off from anything acceptable in Star Trek:TOS. First off, a "reluctant hero" (who has NEVER met an alien before) decides that the best way to stop a 20 meter tall wall of moss (that devours everything it touches with acid) is to take a team of futuristic lawnmowers (no joke), strap "agricultural phasers" to them (no joke), and drive out to "plow the field."
Even worse than this moronic idea is the James T. Krik completely agrees that this is the best plan!!! WHAT?!
The Enterprise hasn't scanned the monster, taken samples, attempted to communicate, or even consider asking Starfleet what they should do (it's not even mentioned how far away Starfleet is). Heck, the Enterprise hasn't even tried to use the ships phasers yet! It's a 20 meter tall wall of moss that stretches for miles and devours everything in sight! It can create earthquakes and open huge fissures in the ground. And, everyone knows this BEFORE they attack it!
Seriously, what's a team of six John Deer's with mild-grade chainsaws on top going to do?!?!
Well, you probably guessed it: They pisses it off! That's when the Enterprise fires phasers to no effect (except that the crew starts having absurd hallucinations).
Spock, at this point, has had about three lines so far(none of them profound). McCoy is all but useless, and Checkov gets into yet another little mess. Scotty cant operate the transporter to save his life, and Uhura’s ex-boyfriend (a useless, transparent character) goes on sobbing about how much he wanted to be in Starfleet and that he still loves Uhura, despite the fact he’s a blabbering moron.
A handful of characters the author attempted to build up in the first half of the novel are killed off with little remorse. Lots of "Oh well. That's just how it goes. I'm sad that my friend of 40+ years has just died. Guess I'll go eat a salad now."
Believe me, I know first-hand that writing Star Trek can be limiting, but this novel stretches plausibility. The only green thing this novel killed was the forrect of trees cut down to make it when it was published.
Okay, so it started off fair enough, but by the end of the 4th chapter it was like a slow moving car accident.
The "big fight" about 1/3 of the way in was WAY off from anything acceptable in Star Trek:TOS. First off, a "reluctant hero" (who has NEVER met an alien before) decides that the best way to stop a 20 meter tall wall of moss (that devours everything it touches with acid) is to take a team of futuristic lawnmowers (no joke), strap "agricultural phasers" to them (no joke), and drive out to "plow the field."
Even worse than this moronic idea is the James T. Krik completely agrees that this is the best plan!!! WHAT?!
The Enterprise hasn't scanned the monster, taken samples, attempted to communicate, or even consider asking Starfleet what they should do (it's not even mentioned how far away Starfleet is). Heck, the Enterprise hasn't even tried to use the ships phasers yet! It's a 20 meter tall wall of moss that stretches for miles and devours everything in sight! It can create earthquakes and open huge fissures in the ground. And, everyone knows this BEFORE they attack it!
Seriously, what's a team of six John Deer's with mild-grade chainsaws on top going to do?!?!
Well, you probably guessed it: They pisses it off! That's when the Enterprise fires phasers to no effect (except that the crew starts having absurd hallucinations).
Spock, at this point, has had about three lines so far(none of them profound). McCoy is all but useless, and Checkov gets into yet another little mess. Scotty cant operate the transporter to save his life, and Uhura’s ex-boyfriend (a useless, transparent character) goes on sobbing about how much he wanted to be in Starfleet and that he still loves Uhura, despite the fact he’s a blabbering moron.
A handful of characters the author attempted to build up in the first half of the novel are killed off with little remorse. Lots of "Oh well. That's just how it goes. I'm sad that my friend of 40+ years has just died. Guess I'll go eat a salad now."
Believe me, I know first-hand that writing Star Trek can be limiting, but this novel stretches plausibility. The only green thing this novel killed was the forrect of trees cut down to make it when it was published.
November 8, 2017
Well. Let's just say the concept of subtlety is lost on this book and its prose. And the cover summary is nothing like the book. If the book were more like its summary it might have earned 2 stars.
August 19, 2025
A Few Notes on Across the Universe by Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski
The crux of the matter is this: The Stephen Hawking, a generational ship launched in the 21st century eventually crosses paths with the USS Enterprise. Thanks to going a nice fraction of light speed, the passengers have only aged months while two centuries have passed outside the ship. It’s an interesting set up, but immediately I have one hot take here, story structure-wise: If I were the editor of this book I would have asked Sargent and Zebrowski to redo the first chapter to maybe have a bit more information about the Hawking on the front end and visit more with the cognitive dissonance of trying to comprehend someone beaming into existence right in front of a person who is completely ignorant of the technology of teleportation. The final words of the chapter should then have been Kirk’s self introduction. It would have made the whole thing feel a bit more like a teaser opening to an episode of the original series (while kind of flipping the script on it at the same time).
The concept of the novel—Enterprise crew meeting and trying to help a “time displaced” crew of a 21st century begs comparisons to the TOS episode “Space Seed” and the Next Generation episode of “Neutral Zone”, but this novel only really shares the initial concept with these stories and quickly comes into its own after that.
The crew of the Hawking is not in great shape when we discover them as their journey has been plagued with unforeseen problems and are in bad physical condition when discovered. So the first part of the novel is a “getting to know you” phase between the two crews. During this time a surprising connection is uncovered between a member of the Hawking and an Enterprise crew member.
After the Hawking crew is brought to health (at least physically), they are brought to a colony world that wishes to welcome them, and that is where the meat of the story lies. In true Star Trek fashion the colony in turn finds itself under threat from something completely alien to Federation experience.
Almost all Enterprise crew gets a chance to shine in the story with the possible exception of McCoy—he’s present a lot, but the story dictates that he remain on board performing both physical and psychological medical duties so he doesn’t get to stretch his wings here.
The major detractor for this novel is the legnth it had to keep—there’s so much going on with so many characters the novel deserved an extra 50-75 pages at least to flesh things out so certain plot twists had more impact, but it still remained an enjoyable read
The crux of the matter is this: The Stephen Hawking, a generational ship launched in the 21st century eventually crosses paths with the USS Enterprise. Thanks to going a nice fraction of light speed, the passengers have only aged months while two centuries have passed outside the ship. It’s an interesting set up, but immediately I have one hot take here, story structure-wise: If I were the editor of this book I would have asked Sargent and Zebrowski to redo the first chapter to maybe have a bit more information about the Hawking on the front end and visit more with the cognitive dissonance of trying to comprehend someone beaming into existence right in front of a person who is completely ignorant of the technology of teleportation. The final words of the chapter should then have been Kirk’s self introduction. It would have made the whole thing feel a bit more like a teaser opening to an episode of the original series (while kind of flipping the script on it at the same time).
The concept of the novel—Enterprise crew meeting and trying to help a “time displaced” crew of a 21st century begs comparisons to the TOS episode “Space Seed” and the Next Generation episode of “Neutral Zone”, but this novel only really shares the initial concept with these stories and quickly comes into its own after that.
The crew of the Hawking is not in great shape when we discover them as their journey has been plagued with unforeseen problems and are in bad physical condition when discovered. So the first part of the novel is a “getting to know you” phase between the two crews. During this time a surprising connection is uncovered between a member of the Hawking and an Enterprise crew member.
After the Hawking crew is brought to health (at least physically), they are brought to a colony world that wishes to welcome them, and that is where the meat of the story lies. In true Star Trek fashion the colony in turn finds itself under threat from something completely alien to Federation experience.
Almost all Enterprise crew gets a chance to shine in the story with the possible exception of McCoy—he’s present a lot, but the story dictates that he remain on board performing both physical and psychological medical duties so he doesn’t get to stretch his wings here.
The major detractor for this novel is the legnth it had to keep—there’s so much going on with so many characters the novel deserved an extra 50-75 pages at least to flesh things out so certain plot twists had more impact, but it still remained an enjoyable read
May 13, 2023
After being 'discovered' by another ship the Enterprise is sent to investigate the Hawking, which turns out to be a cobbled together spaceship from pre-Eugenics Wars/Third World War Earth. The crew has aged 30 years because of a relativistic drive. The crew of the Hawking are suffering from disease and forms of exhaustion since the Hawking's engine broke down and was not meant to be inhabited for so long. The Enterprise crew must help them adjust to a new time period and find them a new colony to settle.
The authors like to throw a lot of Star Trek lore out, not all of it necessary to the many plots going on in the story. The original colony world the Hawking was headed toward was one of the planets destroyed in the episode "The Doomsday Machine", so they can't go there anymore. The character Dr. Soong (on the Enterprise) is really unnecessary and is just there to be throwing the name around. Kirk is a bit wary of the Hawking, remembering Khan's attempt to take over the Enterprise in the episode "Space Seed". The colony world that is selected to resettle the Hawking's crew turns out to have it's own troubles as well.
In all there are too many story arcs going around and too many characters. The authors have to split time between the Hawking's crew, the Colony members, and the Enterprise crew. The Enterprise crew seems to suffer the most as their just isn't enough focus on them.
The authors like to throw a lot of Star Trek lore out, not all of it necessary to the many plots going on in the story. The original colony world the Hawking was headed toward was one of the planets destroyed in the episode "The Doomsday Machine", so they can't go there anymore. The character Dr. Soong (on the Enterprise) is really unnecessary and is just there to be throwing the name around. Kirk is a bit wary of the Hawking, remembering Khan's attempt to take over the Enterprise in the episode "Space Seed". The colony world that is selected to resettle the Hawking's crew turns out to have it's own troubles as well.
In all there are too many story arcs going around and too many characters. The authors have to split time between the Hawking's crew, the Colony members, and the Enterprise crew. The Enterprise crew seems to suffer the most as their just isn't enough focus on them.
October 24, 2018
This was a fun, short Star Trek novel. It's one of those that has a kind of misleading summary on the back because the main conflict in the plot had nothing to do with the pre-WWIII era ship that the Enterprise found drifting in space and more to do with a surprise alien threat. Regretfully it's kind of the same formula of another book that I've read recently so I feel like I should take a break from reading all of these Star Trek novels in a row, but I felt like this was a different twist that I enjoyed for what it was. The themes of letting go of bitterness and distrust that ran throughout felt very true to Star Trek as a whole.
Enough time is devoted to developing the characters created for the novel that you get a basic gist of their personalities. My favorite was Glakov, Chekov's ancestor and notorious gangster who turned out not to be one. I would have read chapters of Chekov catching up with him because meeting your own long lost relative from the past is an interesting concept.
Honestly this reads very much like an episode of the show for me. It has the same kind of energy and would fit nicely as an episode, maybe a two-parter. The pacing clips along at a good pace. If I hadn't only read it between calls at work I would have finished in a few hours.
Enough time is devoted to developing the characters created for the novel that you get a basic gist of their personalities. My favorite was Glakov, Chekov's ancestor and notorious gangster who turned out not to be one. I would have read chapters of Chekov catching up with him because meeting your own long lost relative from the past is an interesting concept.
Honestly this reads very much like an episode of the show for me. It has the same kind of energy and would fit nicely as an episode, maybe a two-parter. The pacing clips along at a good pace. If I hadn't only read it between calls at work I would have finished in a few hours.
April 23, 2020
This was a very generic Trek offering. The 21st century ship Hawking is discovered by the Enterprise with its crew alive. The "lost in time" settlers have some adapting to do before a world is found for them to live on. It's on this world that the pace picks up, with the revelation that something terrible happened to one hundred and seven people the night before.
This seemed like a rushed novel, with two stories slammed together to make one. The Hawking crew never came across as real, only as possible characters whose words held secrets that were never revealed. The mystery on the planet starts well, but the threat soon becomes a cliche sci-fi tale.
I was happy to see so many of the crew involved, especially Uhura's past with a planet dweller, but when all is said and done this was not great. The title of this novel is not great, nor is the cover art, which suggested a Dyson Sphere.
This seemed like a rushed novel, with two stories slammed together to make one. The Hawking crew never came across as real, only as possible characters whose words held secrets that were never revealed. The mystery on the planet starts well, but the threat soon becomes a cliche sci-fi tale.
I was happy to see so many of the crew involved, especially Uhura's past with a planet dweller, but when all is said and done this was not great. The title of this novel is not great, nor is the cover art, which suggested a Dyson Sphere.
August 1, 2024
Probably more a 2.5. The cover lies, the title is not really accurate either. Did they intend to write a story about a ship from the past and then produce something else entirely? I liked the start, I like how they addressed Einsteinian physics before the advent of warp drive. The whole beginning was an interesting event and then... got derailed into a monster story and had the generic ending of Spock mind melds with it or communicates telepathically which it seemed to do earlier in the book and then forget it... the ending was okay too but the middle was very predictable and bland. I liked some of the ideas of this book but it never rose up to those levels in my opinion. The characters were good but phasers don't disrupt, they burn and that they kept referring to them disrupting...and I was like "Those are disruptors! It's in the name!" But whatever...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2018
Star Trek TOS novel. When the Enterprise discovers an early-exploration space ship drifting and powerless, Captain Kirk can't help but remember another sleeper ship and the peril it represented. But this one is a colonization ship stranded by an unforeseen malfunction, and its passengers are eager to continue their voyage.
The planet to which they are delivered, however, is facing a crisis of its own, and it's up to Kirk & Co to save not only their rescued space voyagers, but the quarter-million inhabitants of the planet they had anticipated making their new home.
The planet to which they are delivered, however, is facing a crisis of its own, and it's up to Kirk & Co to save not only their rescued space voyagers, but the quarter-million inhabitants of the planet they had anticipated making their new home.
December 28, 2020
The 'Enterprise' comes to the aid of a 21st Century relatavistic vessel, the 'Hawking' and propose to help them land on an existing colony world to begin their lives again.
Shortly after planet fall, an alien plant life begins to encroach on the cities and absorb the human lives. Now Captain Kirk is in a dilemma: evacuating a quarter of a million inhabitants or killing a unique lifeform.
An interesting science fiction concept which falls down due to the brevity of the novel, which sacrifices characterisation for word count.
Shortly after planet fall, an alien plant life begins to encroach on the cities and absorb the human lives. Now Captain Kirk is in a dilemma: evacuating a quarter of a million inhabitants or killing a unique lifeform.
An interesting science fiction concept which falls down due to the brevity of the novel, which sacrifices characterisation for word count.
May 27, 2021
Det som stod bakpå boken var inte alls huvudstoryn och det blev därför något förvirrande när man förväntade sig något och detta inte infriades. Den verkliga historien blev dock mycket bättre och jag skulle verkligen vilja läsa en fortsättning. Kritiken mot boken står i att birollerna verkligen inte berör på något djup - man får aldrig lära känna dem ordentligt och de ges därför aldrig en chans att komma fram. Även James T Kirk och hans närmaste medarbetare berörs inte särskilt mycket. Sargent & Zebrowski kan bättre, i min mening, så betyget blir därför inte högt.
September 11, 2023
Solid "episode of the week" novel that captures the diplomatic and scientific plot solutions of Star Trek at its best, while avoiding the biggest cliches of the series, and the novels - extra crew and characters with differing motivations and personalities, vut who aren't there as red shirts.
This isn't going to convert someone to becoming a Trekkie, but those who are will almost certainly find this one of the better novels.
This isn't going to convert someone to becoming a Trekkie, but those who are will almost certainly find this one of the better novels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2023
Didn't finish it. Its not the worst Star Trek ever but its hard to follow, full of overdone cliches, and just overall low quality, especially given the relatively high quality of alot of other Star Trek books. I got about 2/3rds of the way through it.
December 7, 2024
The Hawking which left earth in the 21st century has been discovered and the crew rescued by the Enterprise. A place on a planet has been found for them but the Colony has its own problems to contend with. Can the Enterprise and its crew solve it in time to save the population.
An entertaining re-read
An entertaining re-read
February 16, 2017
A pretty typical Star Trek novel, nothing exceptionally good or bad about it. 2 and a half stars.
June 22, 2017
I did enjoy reading it, but honestly the plot and events were a little tired. There's a ship from Earth's past (how many times has this happened) and a strange alien presence that Spock is able to detect, withstand, and reason with to save the day (and how many times has that happened).
So while it was written OK, I didn't feel it really offered anything new to the Star Trek universe.
So while it was written OK, I didn't feel it really offered anything new to the Star Trek universe.
September 16, 2014
one more of my rereads as I go through my vast array of books. One of the better of the ST paperbacks; no one does anything irretrievably stupid, the characters who appear are at their best, with no one slighted because the authors don't care for this or that one, and it has a satisfactory ending, with possibilities for the future.
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