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.

I always enjoy reading the rare Star Trek novels written by writers from the original series, as well as ones set during Pike's tenure as captain of the Enterprise. In this respect D.C. Fontana's book is a double treat, as she lends her considerable experience as a writer and script editor for the show to tell the story of Spock's first mission aboard the starship. Her characterization is assured, as she adds to the existing base of characters from the original pilot several new creations that provide greater depth to her tale. This crew soon finds itself involved in a series of events — some related, others not — that range from the important to the amusingly mundane, all of which combine to provide the rare sense of the complex interactions taking place in a vessel as large as the Enterprise. It's a testament to Fontana's skills as an author that she makes it all work as well as it does, and when I finished the book I did so with considerable regret that she never returned to the precursor she created for further adventures, for she demonstrated the fresh storytelling possibilities that exist with an Enterprise that contains within it a unique mix of the familiar and the new.

I always enjoy reading the rare Star Trek novels written by writers from the original series, as well as ones set during Pike's tenure as captain of the Enterprise. In this respect D.C. Fontana's novel is a double treat, but I'm incredibly annoyed with myself for hopping on the Internet to do some background research, as I inadvertently spoiled part of the plot for myself. Fortunately the book's good enough that I'm still enjoying it, but I feel as though I deprived myself of the full experience of first reading a novel and I have nobody to blame for it than myself.

After a crewmember is crippled in a battle with the Klingons Captain James Kirk takes the Enterprise to Vulcan, where an experimental treatment under development at the Vulcan Academy of Science promises to return him to health. Also undergoing the treatment is Spock's mother Amanda, who is suffering from a degenerative nerve disease that threatens to end her life. As Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy settle in for an extended stay on Spock's homeworld, an catastrophic failure kills one of the subjects undergoing the treatment. Then a second patient dies, raising an unthinkable question — could there be a murderer on Vulcan?

Jean Lorrah's novel, her first of several contributions to the Star Trek universe, is unusual in several respects. One is its setting, as it is the first to be set on Vulcan. This gives Lorrah an opportunity to offer readers an extended look at life on Vulcan, and it is to her credit that she does not overdo it by making the novel about the arcana of one of the most popular cultures of the Star Trek universe. Given the location, it might be expected that Spock would take center stage in the novel, yet Lorrah surprises once again by making his father Sarek the primary Vulcan in the storyline. This further adds to the novel's appeal, as it gives readers an extended look at a beloved character who had yet to receive the extended focus he would in subsequent novels and TV episodes.

Finally there is the plot of Lorrah's novel, which is a rare bird indeed among Star Trek novels: a murder mystery. Here she develops her setting by introducing several new characters (perfectly understandable, as nobody is going to buy a murderer being one of the familiar faces of the bridge crew) and lets the plot unfold while developing them. This she does over the course of the first half of the book, letting suspects accumulate as the murders take place and the motivations are established. Yet all of this is ruined at the halfway point of the novel, when she tips her hand as to the identify of the murderer, after which the rest of the book lapses into a mundane pattern of chasing red herrings and identifying the guilty party at the very end. It's a disappointing ending for a novel that throughout much of its first half offered an engaging tale of mystery in an unlikely place.

Yup, she telegraphed who the culprit was.