Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Star Trek TOS: Movie Novelizations #2

by Vonda N. McIntyre, Jack B. Sowards, Harve Bennett

The Federation starship Reliant is on its surveying mission to find a lifeless planet to serve for the test site for Genesis Project. While surveying Ceti Alpha V they accidentally discover the camp of Khan Noonien Singh, who with his followers, quickly captures the ship. Khan then seizes space station Regula I where the Genesis Project is being developed. Khan lures his nemesis, Kirk and the Enterprise TM crew to the space station. Kirk and the crew must then prevent Khan from destroying the Enterprise and detonating the Genesis device.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Media Tie In, Science Fiction Fantasy, Star Trek Original Series, Novels

223 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1982

About the author

Vonda Neel McIntyre was a U.S. science fiction author. She was one of the first successful graduates of the Clarion Science fiction writers workshop. She attended the workshop in 1970. By 1973 she had won her first Nebula Award, for the novelette "Of Mist, and Grass and Sand." This later became part of the novel Dreamsnake, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The novelette and novel both concern a female healer in a desolate primitivized venue. McIntyre's debut novel was The Exile Waiting which was published in 1975. Her novel Dreamsnake won the Nebula Award and Hugo Award for best novel in 1978 and her novel The Moon and the Sun won the Nebula in 1997. She has also written a number of Star Trek and Star Wars novels, including Enterprise: The First Adventure and The Entropy Effect. She wrote the novelizations of the films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wrath of Khan is a Star Trek: The Original Series movie novelization by Vonda N. McIntyre, #7 in the Pocket Books series. It takes many of the story elements of the movie (the way any great novelization should do) and amplifies them with the character's thoughts and perceptions that can only flow in narrative book form. Peter Preston, Scotty's nephew, is rounded out better, here. In the edited movie, the watcher isn't even aware that he's related to Scott. He is 14 years old! You don't get that in the movie. He’s embarrassed that Scotty communicates to Admiral Kirk that he is Preston’s uncle. He also has a boyhood crush on Lt. Saavik. The pathos in the book is augmented by those profound touches that feel like grand flourishes. Full disclosure: I saw this movie at New York City Comic Con in 1983 with my little brother; so I love this movie more and deeper than I probably should. By osmosis and connective tissue I knew that I would love this book, but the thing stands on its own without any of the extras.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This actually makes the movie understandable, and it’s so good. This and the first movie novelization are probably good places to start reading if you’re not familiar with tos characters.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the pompous Star Trek the Movie which was a really science fiction movie and a shedload of starship porn, to which the USS Enterprise does seem to lend itself for, we got the Wrath of Khan.

The Wrath of Khan was actually an sequel to the 1967 Star Trek episode Space Seed andin this tale Khan Noonien Singh who was stranded on a lush planet gets found by accident on a desert planet with the survivors of his group. After the Enterprise and Kirk let him on an apparent paradise the Sun of that system changed and the paradise turned in a hell. Khan kidnaps a Star Fleet reseach vessel and gets his hands on the Genesis project and sees a chance to wreck revenge on Admiral Kirk.
Kirk meanwhile being an admiral is on an inspection tour on the Enterprise with its captain Spock. When they are contacted by Carol Marcus, a person from Kirk's past, about Starfleet taking away her life's work . Kirk will find out about the Genesis project, a terraforming project that can have clear military uses.
The confrontation with Khan will be unavoidable and this will be one of the best stories the Star Trek series and movies will ever offer. It is the start of an Arc of three movies (the wrath of Khan - The search for Spock - The Voyage home) also known as the Genesis trilogy. These three actually are high adventure and show the best of the Star Trek crew and their friendships and loyalties.

Vonda McIntyre delivers a highly readable and entertaining novelization that offers a bit more depth than the movie does. A pleasure to read and the whole is great and classic Star Trek adventure. She has proved with this book she can write original as well great novelizations.

A great story and a great movie. If you do not like this book Star Trek is nothing for you, please move on to other series.

[W · Rating 1 out of 5]

My fondness for the show notwithstanding,I've found it hard to like Star Trek movies.

The Wrath of Khan was the second in the series and I found it terrible.It was a box office success,however.

The special effects are terrible and Klingons have always been my least favourite Star Trek characters.They seem to be modeled on Genghis Khan's Mongols.

Kirk is now an admiral and Klingons are about to detonate the powerful Genesis device. The original script in the movie included the death of Spock.

Test audiences didn't like it and Spock continued to live.That was the one and only good thing about this movie.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

SF legend Vonda McIntyre takes a few liberties, makes a few enhancements...and creates a novelization of the film that transforms the best Star Trek film into a story filled with even MORE violent, terrifying, and breathtaking moments. It's also a book that expands on Saavik with astonishing success. You can read and re-read this novelization and never once feel bored.

[Infosifter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well done novelization

[S. J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4 Stars* Really 3.5+ but worth the round up.

*The Gush*
It's really simply. THIS EXPLAINS THE MOVIE! All the places that made no sense. All the things that lowered my appreciation of the movie because 'it' made no sense! Don't get me wrong, this is one of my all time favorite movies in the Star Trek universe, but parts just made me mad. Now, I understand what they were trying to say but either cut a key scene or wanted you to read between the lines but you were just never sure.
Example: Saavik and David's relationship. This actually takes place more in the Search for Spock novelization but does also have bearings here. In the movie, the actors seem to be working towards or have a relationship but no mention is ever made of it by ANYONE! I always seemed either a) I was reading subtext in that wasn't there or b) the chemistry between the two actors was such that the subtext was there. I didn't know until reading this book that they SUPPOSE to be together and apparently that was simply cut from the two movies. Which I find stupid because it explains EVERYTHING! Why he sacrifices himself for her, why they seem to move together in tandem, why their arguments seem less like debates between scientist and more like people who can and do hurt each other. Yeah, two seconds longer of film and everyone would UNDERSTAND! Thanks a bunch.

The depths the novel is able to go with the characters and the circumstances really works here. Kahn's second in command, who always seemed to be less then completely on the same page turns out to...not agree with Kahn but does what he says because of his loyalty to him. He is developed wonderfully and you see a group of people who are lead to destruction because of their love and loyalty to a madman rather than a bunch of evil people. Depth, gotta love it. Spock's death and people's reactions to it (particularly Saavik's) are really fleshed out here. Here the novel works with the movie. It is true at times that a picture is worth a thousand words. The death scene in the book is adequate but it is clear they expect you to have seen the movie. And you can see it as you read the scene. Kirk's grief, which is touched on a good bit in the movie is further fleshed out very well, too.

*The Negative*
Surprisingly little here. My issues were more with the quality of my copy of this (rotten and difficult to read) than the actually story. My biggest issue would be a few (like maybe two) scenes where the character of Kirk did things not really in character, but they were mercifully short and easy to overlook.

*Summary*
If you've seen the movie, READ THIS! Like right now. Explanations are wonderful things.

[jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

umm Perhaps I shed a tear reading a star trek novelization aha .... but ya it’s about found family and love and sacrifice and creation triumphing over destruction and the belief in the good of humanity above all

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Quickie Review

I used to read Star Trek books and watch the accompanying films fairly often...but that was a long time ago. Despite its popularity, The Wrath of Khan was one movie I just couldn't seem to get into...and the book was the same way. I had trouble understanding a lot of it, though it seemed to be well-written. Trekkies will definitely love this book; everyone else shouldn't bother.

Content Concerns: This is based on a movie that pretty much everyone has already seen or doesn't want to see, so, all I'll say is that the narration peppers in additional profanity, among the gobs that were already present in the film.

Score: 2/5

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoah! This was a lot more emotional than the movie. I really enjoyed McIntyre’s novel Enterprise but was reluctant to read her Star Trek movie novelizations, because I had already seen the films. But this was good! There’s more here than in the movie. I wonder how much was from early screenplay drafts and how much was fresh material from McIntyre.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic addition to the film. A must read for fans of the series.

[Jason Brown (Toastx2) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The movie Wrath of Khan has been ruined forever. All hail the Wrath of Khan (book)! Let me explain, because Vonda McIntyre owned this.

For father's day, I do not require much. Give me a hot meal, a warm cuddle, and a chilly blanket covered viewing of StarTrek: The Wrath of Khan. Family time at it's best. Unfortunately, this year my children are of an age where this movie would cause undue stress. Earworms, explosions, blind revenge and blood really dont jive too well with toddlers, so it is on pause for a couple years. We watched The Voyage Home instead, yes, the awesome time travel whale movie.

Why are you reading this?

The Lack of Khan meant my wonderful wife felt concern that my father's day would be lackluster. She searched out and located me a copy of the 1982 paperback edition Wrath of Khan. Giddy and sweaty palmed, I jigged in my seat when I opened my gift from her.
Also included was a hardback copy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but I can discuss that at a later date.

This geeky film will never be the same. The story of Wrath of Khan is no secret. Dumbed down- On Federation/Civilian research mission to a dead planet, Khan Noonien Singh is found, crazed and vengeful. He plots to find and punish James T Kirk, who he blames for the death of his wife and followers. In the process, he captures a starship and a device which can reorganize the structure of matter, destroying whatever previously existed and rebuilding habitable worlds from the blocks.

Kirk is in a fight to save his inexperienced trainee crew, while protecting innocent lives from the damage a deranged madman can wreck.

It has been thirty years since this movie and it's novelization were released. The geek in me picked out several elements requiring highlight.

First and most verbosely- In reading this, the Wrath if Khan has NOTHING to do with Khan or Kirk. Some aspects of this are displayed on the movie, but nowhere to the depth the novelization took it. This novel is about Savvik.

Savvik's backstory in the movies is rediculously thin. She is 'just' a Vulcan cadet on the path to becoming an officer. She 'just' questions human behavior and is 'just' under the tutelage of Spock. In the novelization, 'just' is a description which can never be.

Separate yourself from what you know from the film. The Wrath of Khan easily becomes Savvik's story. Born of a forbidden and potentially disturbing relationship between a Vulcan and a Romulan, she was orphaned and abandoned on a planet with all the other halflings. Spock, on a research mission, finds her feral and removed. He brings her back to society and treats her as an equal, almost like a daughter. She has warring genetics and culture, she has a desire for logic and an emotional flame that wants to burn the entire universe. It is Spock's assistance and training which allow her to control herself.

The story revolves entirely around her actions and reactions to her environment, people she meets, internal warring, and ultimately grief.

Having read this, Khan becomes irrelevant. He is a tool to harness a greater storyline. It is disappointing that Savvik in film is relegateted to the role of trainee and nothing more. In the follow up film, she takes on the role of mother and lover. Nothing literally nothing to the level of required character definition that she deserves based on this novelization. In film she exists as a plot tool to move action or set Kirk up for his lines.

Though not all perspectives were hers, hers were the most relevant and genuine feeling. STARTREK REBOOTers: pay attention to Savvik! She is more than she was allowed to be!

Second point- Wonderful backstory and characters fleshed out for scientists on the Genesis research station. Who are they? How did their roles lead them to being tortured to death in the name of Genesis.

Third- Through the same scientists, it is introduced that the building blocks of all matter are five subcomponents of quarks. In the novel they are named after the five elements of a Lewis Carrol poem. The timing of this reading could not be more properly timed. Only ten days before I began reading this, the Large Hadron Collider was able to prove PentaQuarks.. I was reading poetic references to the very same elements that we now are proud to have proven.

Fourth and lastly- Apparently a 50MB hard drive must be stored in a liquid nitrogen based cooling system in order to handle the data loads that Genesis algorythms require. Likewise reproggramming something would require OCR feeds of raw paper printouts, which would need mass QA to remove optical character recognition errors. To quote Sulu, "Oh, My!".

This book was amazing. Go find it nerds. It is worth shelling some bucks out for it.

[Jordan McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wrath of Khan is widely considered the best Trek movie, and while I won’t hash out that debate here, the novelization is very good. It captured a lot of great nuances the film couldn’t contain—more about Peter Preston, Saavik, and David Marcus—that really augmented the story. Definitely worth your time!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for film novelisations, as they were most likely the things that made me fall in love with books in the first place when I was a kid. But I also recognise the inherent low quality of many of them.

This is one of the good ones. It appears to be based on an early version of the screenplay and sticks to that fairly closely, but it also adds and expands upon it with quite a bit of new material which is very welcome. The result is an alternate version of the movie with more depth and more swearing (and the swears actually work very well).

The biggest addition is the expansion of Saavik's character and the reveal of her background as half Romulan. It's fascinating stuff and really gives her a lot more to work with as she attempts to establish relationships with those around her.

The book falters in that it doesn't quite deliver the emotional punch the film has, except for the events at the very end which it handles well. But most of the lines of dialogue which really hit home in the film fall a bit flat here, and some are altered to the point where they just don't work as well.

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This review applies equally to Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV The Voyage Home.)

In a move that (if I remember correctly) was rather unusual for the time, the Star Trek franchise created three films that were direct sequels: each stands alone as its own story, but they also comprise three parts of one overarching story, with all the events taking place over the course of just a few months.

In a wonderful turn of events, author Vonda N. McIntyre handled the novelization of each of the three films, and did a masterful job of adapting each one, creating a whole at least as good as the sum of its parts. Diving deeply into not just the events of the films, but the motivations and repercussions for the characters and the universe as a whole in each book, McIntyre's novels stand as a model of what successful movie-to-film adaptations should be, and all too often aren't.

[Elizabeth Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through a super-intense Original Star Trek mania for exactly one summer. (After that I got into "The Next Generation" and never looked back.) But during that summer I picked up this book in my Grandmother's library and read the entire thing in one evening in her air-conditioned kitchen in southern Alabama. And burst into tears. Twice. (Anybody who's read the book will know which two scenes did it, for everybody else, I ain't telling, go read the book.) I can count on one hand the books that've made me cry, I wouldn't have figured a Star Trek book would be one of them.

Oddly enough, I'd never seen the movie. Years later when I saw it, well, it just couldn't measure up to the book. Yeah, I know, weird.

[Lois Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was certainly enlightening, in that the added scenes not in the movie sure did make things make more sense, or just filled in what did but we didn't see the whole thing. Some book scenes were noticeably different from what's on screen, but no big deal to the grand scheme of things. But most importantly, I found where everyone got the Saavik is part Vulcan part Romulan stuff - sure wasn't in the movies at any time! Anyway, some pretty good stuff here.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best Star Trek Movies, as many will agree, and this book actually does the film credit. It expands on things not shown onscreen (adds characters and deepens existing material very well) and is generally an extremely well-written, atmospherically tight and character-driven story. One of the best novel versions of screen events I have come across.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book!Saavik is SO MUCH RADDER than Movie!Saavik.

[Brian Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the movie and I found the book to be that much better, it filled in a lot of gaps that were probably cut for time from the movie.

[Michael Caveney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong novelization of the Wrath of Khan that goes into lots of secondary detail about peripheral characters and motivations.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book follows the movie very closely, so if yo have seen the movie first the novelty is mostly in the details. That said, much more details can be found in the series about Khan's uprising which in itself is priceless as background. Kirk and the Enterprise play only a small part in the whole.
For me Khan is mostly a tragic figure who could have been a great, benevolant an charsimatic leader but due to circumstances from his earliest youth and beyond his control onwards got directed into the malevolent path that brings him and his remaining followers in this final convlict with Kirk.
The Genesis project, like all great scientific advances, presents a moral dilemma because it is meant to be used for the greater good but potentially can be used for pure evil.
More important in my opinion are the security measurements that are being taken to guarantee that no life, even potentially, exists on the planeet that Genesis will be used on. Since its effect is literaaly completely devastating for what exists before it constructs paradise, or something closely resembling it.
Well written, VondaN. McIntyre is not at her first book, this book has some truly gruesome parts so it is not for the faint-hearted. And although it probably can be read on its own i suggest to read the other Khan books first, in chronological order in the life of Khan.

[Russell Horton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novelizations are wonderful. Pure film adaptations that document and show the reader script development. (Usually such novels are adapted from an early draft and not from the finished product.

Star Trek II is no exception. Its no spoiler if its mentioned that there is a lot more development of minor characters in this not to mention swearing. Fascinating.

[Chad]

Flash back to my childhood of the mid-eighties. We had a television but this was before the time when cable TV was in pretty much every home, and streaming didn’t exist. Video rental was so new and VCR’s were so expensive that many families would have to rent the player along with the movie.

As such, these novelizations were my early gateways into the Star Trek universe. I have probably read these books more times than I have seen the movies and for me it’s like comfort food.

Vonda McIntyre had some serious game and her Star Trek books are fantastic. This is how novelizations of movies should be done. The story of the film is here, with some great enhancing details and plot threads.

Some things I love about the book - first of all there is much more of a sense of Khan’s brutality. Where a more family friendly movie might shy away from some things and without getting too extreme, the book has just a touch more violence and graphic details. And the result is Khan being more disturbing as a character and that works really well.

I also think Saavik is more successful as a character. One downside of the films is that we got two separate women portraying her, Kirstie Alley and Robin Curtis. I like both performances but they both had their own distinctive qualities that they brought to the character. What I like about the book is that Saavik seems to embody both of their interpretations. I also think the movies did a disservice to the character by scrubbing away her backstory of being half Romulan. I thought the book brilliantly displayed her struggling with the intense passions of that Romulan side. It also was a great display of her conflict of not feeling completely of one culture without just recycling Spock’s story.

There’s a long standing criticism of the movie from fans pointing out that Khan shouldn’t have remembered Chekov since Walter Koenig hadn’t joined the cast at that point. I’m not going to take sides on that issue but the book offers up a cute little explanation for that continuity hiccup.

I love Star Trek. And were it not for these books there would have been a lot less of it in my life. For a kid where the only option was being lucky enough to catch it if the local station ran it as a weekend movie, these were a great option.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is it that the film (and book) Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan is 37 years old? It blows my mind. The recent death of Vonda McIntyre prompts me to accelerate the reading of two books of hers I have on my read this year shelf. Last year I read her Star trek novel [The Entropy Effect] which was an early entry in the long running series of stories by many authors, and I thought it was one of the best Trek novels I have read.

This novelization of the second Star Trek film from 1982 is book #7 in the original pocketbook Star Trek series of books that began after the first ST film in 1979. Some of these early novels are very good and some are pretty bad. This is one of the very good ones. McIntyre bases the story on the screenplay but this is not a note for note copy - she clearly wants to give us a good story and puts some meat on the bones of the original. The film story is here and if like me you think it one of the best (and possibly THE BEST) Star Trek films, then you are going to like this novel even more. The original film was rather scary in some places. So is the book. It has an excellent plot that expanded the lives of some of our favorite characters from the original series and introduced new characters. Simply put I really liked this story and think it one of the best Trek stories and I wish the added stuff was in the original film. The expanded story of Saavik is a real plus and the novel, like the film, begins with Saavik. I'll give you two words. Kobayashi Maru. Quite a start.

The characters in here all were spot on. 4+ stars. Now I need to rewatch the film.

[Luke Sims-Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm in two minds about this book. I want to give it two stars and I want to give it four. I'll keep it at three. There are some great things in this book, like Saavik, who gets fleshed out here to good effect. There are also things here that drive me insane. Now I know that scripts probably changed while McIntyre wrote this, but every time I read the words Alpha Ceti V or Regulus 1 it drove me crazy!

A problem I have, and its my problem not the books, is that I know the movie too well. The Wrath of Khan being one of my favourite movies of all time, so little changes that shouldn't matter did. The way Scotty was portrayed as this grumpy old arsehole didn't work for me either and I didn't like his treatment of Preston.

In the middle of the book, McIntyre spends way too much time fleshing out the scientists and it was boring. I picked the book up, read a bit more then put it back down. I should have devoured this, but parts of it were a genuine slog.

What McIntyre gets right is all the main characters (minus Scotty), some interesting insights into Saavik and when dealing with the main story its great. I just couldn't get over the portions of the book I disliked and I think I'm being way too hard on it. The reason being is I love this movie soooooo bad and I wanted to love the book. I don't.

[Robert Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read this novelization BEFORE seeing the movie back in the 80's, so I went into it fresh and without preconceptions. What remains memorable 30 years later is the point in the story when the Reliant and Enterprise play cat and mouse within the Mutara Nubulae. Kirk orders the helm to "Z minus 10,000 meters." Kirk is described as wanting to say, "Dive, Dive!" as a submarine commander would have done. Not brilliant writing to be sure, and even as a 12 year old I thought "hmm.. really?!"

[E.R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novelization of this movie was super intense. You get a lot more perspective into why characters act the way they do and a lot more information on side characters you might be interested in (Saavik, Joachim, etc). The scene where Khan tortures and kills the Genesis scientists is included, which surprised me. It was intense but not gratuitous and it led you to understand things about the characters involved and their cultures and values. Vonda N. McIntyre is an exceptional writer.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit ashamed to put this on my list and even more ashamed to say that I really love this book. II is my favorite of the Trek movies and there is much more development here of the minor characters, especially some of the 'red shirts'. Am I a geek? Ya, sure, you betcha.

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been such an enjoyable experience reading Star Trek novelizations. I thought that the three that I've read so far, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", "Voyager: Endgame" and "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" were all excellent, fantastic novels! When I saw how short The Wrath of Khan novelization was, I was nervous it wouldn't be as good.

Even though it doesn't live up to the heights of the other books, this is still a good novelization.

This book really adds to the story of two characters, Lieutenant Saavik and Peter Preston. Saavik is one character who really benefited from the novelizations, and it is a shame she does not show up in more Star Trek media. We understand her Vulcan/Romulan history a lot more and her complexity is really excellently displayed. Plus, its fun seeing how Vonda McIntyre set up a lot here that could be used for the novelization of "Search for Spock".

The story of Peter Preston is really tragic and gives this book a lot of heart. His story was honestly the most interesting to me. The frustrations of nepotism were very relatable and the desire to fit in while also standing out was well portrayed. It is sad that he died so early on (not a spoiler, as that happens literally in the movie).

This book does have several flaws that make fall short of it's fellow novelizations. The most glaring issue is the pacing. While the beginning flows well, the middle of the novel moves glacially slow, and the majority of what happens in the movie occurs in the last 70 pages of the book. The action of the movie does not entirely translate well to the page, so I don't blame McIntyre for that. However, it is really apparant how uneven the pacing is.

Another major issue in this book is the atrocious writing of Scottie. He felt very cliche' and dare I say it, stereotyped. I know McIntyre handled his dialogue better in Search for Spock, although he doesn't have quite as center a stage in that book. Regardless, I couldn't stand the way he was written in this book. More accent marks used for his character here than for perhaps any other character ever.

Not an issue that detracts from my enjoyment of the book, but McIntyre continuously refers to the planet as "Alpha Ceti V" whereas the movie refers to it as "Ceti Alpha V". It felt very weird. Also, the cover art is very bizarre and feels like a heavy metal album cover. Doesn't work as well as the other covers. Pocket Books should have used the Wrath of Khan poster instead.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. Unfortunately, I didn't love it, and it had some major glaring issues. 6.5 out of 10! Decent showing by McIntyre, but Search for Spock is a much superior novelization (and I think a better movie).