Leonard Nimoy Books

Yesterday's Son was the first Star Trek novel to hit the best seller list. I read it with pleasure after its 1983 release, but I somehow missed out on its 1988 sequel. I remedied that recently, and I'm very glad I did.

In the Star Trek episode that inspired Yesterday's Son, half-Vulcan Starfleet science officer Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy pass through a time portal - the Guardian of Forever - into the past of a planet about to be destroyed. The people of that planet, Sarpeidon, have already fled into their past, where it was once their custom to exile those they might otherwise have imprisoned. In Sarpeidon's great ice age, Spock and McCoy are rescued from the killing cold by Zarabeth, a banished political prisoner from a far later era. Going backward 5,000 years in time causes Spock to regress to what the Vulcans of that period were like. In Yesterday's Son, Spock learns that he fathered a son with Zarabeth, and that this son - Zar - has grown up marooned in the ice age with only his mother's companionship. With Zarabeth dead, Spock decides to bring Zar forward in time and give him a chance at life. Zar chooses, at the book's end, to return to Sarpeidon's past after seeing evidence in the planet's history that his leadership is destined to guide that world's warring tribes through their first steps toward civilization.

It's 20 years later from Zar's viewpoint, although less time than that has passed for Spock. The Guardian of Forever is malfunctioning, and sending out time waves that cause stars to age at incredible rates. As Starfleet races to evacuate populated planets in stricken systems, Admiral James T. Kirk and his two closest friends reunite aboard an Enterprise now captained by Spock. Their mission: to pass through the Guardian's portal again, find Zar, and bring him forward in time to repeat what he did once that no one else has done successfully. Mind meld with the Guardian, to find out what's wrong and set it right. Hopefully before more worlds, star systems, and lives are lost.

In Zar, A.C. Crispin has created an original character who fits into the Trek universe as if he'd always been part of it. Her Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are exactly the men we knew and loved in the original TV series; and the secondary characters, including Scotty, Uhura, and Sulu, are also spot on in their portrayals. Sarpeidon and its people have enough similarities to Earth and to humans so that identifying with them is easy, but they're also alien enough to make them believable. Reading this book is like watching a long forgotten episode.

Spock had traveled back in time in one of the classic episodes and met Zarabeth, a beautiful young woman who had been exiled to her planet's Ice Age. As a result of their romance Zar was born. Spock's discovery of his son and their meeting was the subject of YESTERDAY'S SON. As TIME FOR YESTERDAY opens Zar is preparing for battle, a battle that he knows will probably be his last. On the Enterprise other problems are appearing, problems that will ultimately lead Spock and his son to meet again at the Guardian of Forever.

This is an excellent follow-up to YESTERDAY'S SON. In many ways it is the stronger novel of the two. The relationship between Zar and Spock is handled better, the characterization of Spock is more in keeping with other works, both the classic episodes and other novels. The situations described are handled well, and are quite interesting. It would, however, be necessary to have seen the original classic episodes and read YESTERDAY'S SON in order to fully appreciate this novel.

this is another one of my fave books. Truly delves so much better in the relationship of Zar and who he is and his relationship with Spock then Yesterday's Son did. Shows really how both have grown and accepted who they are...it is a must read, especially if you are a fan of Spock

Back in the day, you often saw a variety of tales told in the Trek universe as Paramount Pictures didn't have as strong a hold on the series as they do now. As a result, you saw some fantastic (and I mean wild) stories being told. Here is one that while not so wild, falls easily into the fannish aspect, bringing up a "What If?" that fans have often wondered about. I doubt it would get produced today. The story telling is very good, with solid characterization. This is one story for the true fan, but not the casual reader of the series.

Just finished reading this book. Words cannot express how much I enjoyed/loved it! Without giving away too much - the interaction between Spock and his son was wonderful and brought tears to my eyes more than once. Additionally, oft times a book will end too abruptly leaving me wanting more - or too slowly leaving me wanting to get to the end. This book's end was perfect!

Its an epic battle of wits, on the dr. Faustus scale.
Truly a great and unique treat for any Star Trek fan.
Makes a great Christmas gift! :-)
Get it. You ain'T gonna regret it.

I loved this CD! Basically the only thing that made it 4 *'s, is that Spock laughed too much, but other than that, the story was very good.

OK...I've never been to a Trek convention. I've never put on "the uniform" or "the ears". I've never sparred amongst my nerd friends (of which I have many) about how many Red Shirts bite the big one in episode 22 of Season 1 of TOS. However...I have been a fan (NOT fanatic) of all things Star Trek since the day I was born. OK...tehcnically it was one week after I was born (9/8/1966) that the first episode aired, but close enough, yes? I just found this and the first "Spock vs. Q" to be a bit too contrived. It was obviously playing to the over-enthusiasm of the crowd at the live taping. All the references in the first Spock vs. Q were cute at first, but then seemed like the story would do anything to find a reference to something in the small or silver screen stuff.

Don't get me wrong. I dearly love both Leonard Nimoy and John DeLancie. Two awesome actors playing great roles in nearly every instance. This performance however could have benefited from some of the superior writing of TNG or anything afterwards. The whole "swapping minds" thing...just didn't do it for me. If they were trying to pull off a personality switch on the order of Face/Off (Travolta/Cage in a brilliant performance), then they fell way short.

I suggest saving your cash and skipping these audio presentations. Better invest your funds in some other great work by these two (TOS, TNG, films on DVD...or even some of the great films Nimoy has directed...they are all awesome!) Or maybe even save up to attend a convention! You'll get more out of meeting one or both of them...and might actually score an autograph!

In their previous duel of wits, Spock was able to best Q and now they are about to engage in a second round. However, as they are about to begin, there is an enormous surge of power and they suddenly find themselves in an unknown location. The situation is further complicated when Spock begins to take on the personality traits of Q and Q those of Spock. Since Q is robbed of his powers, and Spock does not know how to use them, there is nothing either of them can do to save themselves.
The personality transfer is very well played by Leonard Nimoy and John deLancie. The sound of Spock giggling and uttering Q-like witticisms was very entertaining. The dampening of the Q personality by applying overtones of the Spock persona was also very funny. Jokes fly back and forth between them as they continue their verbal sparring, although now their personalities are blended with the opposite dominant in the other's body. Of course, in the end, the situation is resolved and they save themselves.
Fun to listen to, this tape is an aspect of Star Trek that is just good, clean entertainment. I enjoyed it so much I listened to it twice.

This was as good as or better than the first one. It was surprising and very enjoyable to hear the personality trade between the two. Spock doing all the singing and laughing like Q. John de Lancie wasn't too highly convincing playing a logical minded Spock, but who cares. He's one person who cannot downplay his personality too much. Highly enjoyable and hopefully there will be a third one.

Final Frontier is one of the better Star Trek novels that I've read. It's a shame that it wasn't consulted more closely when the newer Star Trek television series were written, as it closes a few loopholes in the Star Trek chronology (and probably opens a few others). Nevertheless, this is worthwhile reading. My only complaint is that some of the major events near the end of the book perhaps don't get the detailed descriptions that they deserve, which is a little disappointing, since if they had been fleshed out more, this title would have truly been deserving of a movie production.

When James T. Kirk entered Star Fleet he was following in his father's footsteps. George Kirk had served on a space station in the early days of the Federation, an assignment that put a strain on his marriage and caused him to be away from his sons most of the time. He kept in contact with them through letters, letters that his youngest son kept. When Jim Kirk was re-evaluating his life and the price of a career in Star Fleet he returned to his family home in Iowa and re-read those letters to decide if the price was too high.

FINAL FRONTIER switches between two story lines, James Kirk's visit to Iowa occurs shortly after the events of 'The City on the Edge of Forever', Kirk is depressed at the loss of Edith Keeler. He is seeking the advice of his father through the letters George had written the boys 25 years ealier. The second story line is about George's life at the time he wrote those letters while on a classified mission abroad the ship that would become Enterprise.

For avid fans of the series this is a treasure trove of background information about the Kirk family and the beginnings of Star Fleet. For more casual fans though it is not as interesting since there is very little real action for the more familiar characters of (James) Kirk, McCoy and Spock. Carey does handle the characters well, and is respectful of the 'canon' laid down by the original TV shows.

This book is the prequel to the Star Trek saga, the career of James Tiberius Kirk, Star Fleet, the United Federation of Planets as it existed in the original series, the battles with the Romulans and the magnificent starship known as the Enterprise. James Kirk is on shore leave in Iowa and questioning whether he should go back into space. He is reading some letters written to him by his father George Kirk, who was a military man in space. Those letters express regret for not spending enough time with Jimmy and his brother and it appears that George may be about to give up the life of the space adventurer.
The story then moves to the adventures of George Kirk. A ship has become disabled and given the distance and the ion storms in the area, there seems to be no hope of rescue. However, the Federation has been working on a new class of ships, the mighty starship, and the prototype is ready for action. Kirk and his friend Drake are kidnapped and taken aboard the new and unnamed ship. The current captain is Robert April, a good man but probably not an effective prototype for a star ship captain.
The new ship moves out and immediately fails. Kirk is suspicious and suspects sabotage. Suddenly the warp drive malfunctions and they find themselves in the middle of Romulan space very close to the Romulan home world. There is a Romulan ship nearby but it is rife with political infighting. A dictatorship led by the Praetor has taken control and the Romulans are about to launch an invasion of Federation space. This is after the Romulan-human wars mentioned in the episode "Balance of Terror" so it appears that a new interstellar war is about to break out.
The task of the star ship is to somehow extricate itself from the dilemma and prevent the new war. Fortunately, Kirk is able to "capture" the Romulan commander, a man with beliefs similar to those of the Mark Lenard character in "Balance of Terror." While he will do his duty to the Empire, he has no desire for war. Within those bounds, he helps the crew of the star ship defeat the Romulan forces and trick them into believing that the Federation has cloaking technology and is ready to crush the Romulan forces ready to invade Federation space. The trick is very similar to that used by James Kirk in the episode, "The Deadly Years."
This is an excellent story, Carey provides believable prequels to many plot devices that we encounter in later episodes. Unfortunately, we never do learn why James Kirk was given the middle name "Tiberius."

Diane Carey's "Final Frontier" has to be a must read for any fan of the original series. It tells the first story of the Enterprise before it acquired it's legendary name. Under the captaincy of Robert April; George Kirk (Jim's father) embarks on the test run of the infamous ship. The adversary in this one is the Romulans. We get a glimpse of their uncompromising world of political treachery within their own ranks. This one is everything the new prequel series should be. Alive with interesting characters that act like real humans; unlike some of the Starfleet members we've seen on TV in the show Voyager. If there is any book that needs a reprinting it's this one.

In "The City on the Edge of Forever", onee of the best-loved original Star Trek episodes, Spock and Capt. Kirk have to prevent a drug-crazed Dr. McCoy from saving a woman from being struck by a car in 1930's Earth---a woman Kirk ends up falling in love with. This novel begins by picking up where that episode leaves off.

Kirk, now seriously debating whether or not he should resign his Starfleet commission, takes shore leave on Earth where he manages to take comfort in letters from his father, Commander George Samuel Kirk Sr.

But these letters are more than just conversations between father and son. They contain clues to the mystery of one of Starfleet's most highly classified first contact missions that went horribly wrong...and at the same time made the Enterprise truly worthy of her name, twenty-five years before Kirk would assume command.

I gave this book four stars because it isn't the easiest Star Trek read in the world, since you have to wade through a lot of "background" or "historical" information to get to some of its most important points, but it is very well written; I enjoy it mostly for the great amount lot of insight given to the character of Jim's father, and what the Enterprise might have been like as an unmarked, unregistered, completely brand new Starfleet prototype. I have only one negative: George Kirk's befriending of the Romulan Field Primus t'Cael adds good drama, but it doesn't quite gel with the idea that eventually the Romulans and the Federation would go to war, which would lead to the creation of the Neutral Zone (see classic episode "Balance of Terror"), but it's still a good book.

This was the first ST book I read, have had it for years, but just recently re-read it. It's a good book, a bit sad, but a good one. It delves a lot into Kirk/Spock/McCoy's relationships. I also like how Sulu gets some special treatment in this story, which unfortunatly, we wont see again for quite a while. definitly check it out

This story reminded me a little of the ST:TNG episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise" -in regards to the ripple effects of time travel and how it is portayed in the story telling.

In my opinion, even though Star Trek usually goes overboard in their time travel stories, this one is written very well and is not to corny. Vonda McIntyre mixes mystery and suspense along with the original Star Trek theme. I found myself not wanting to put the book down -as to see the conclusion of the suspense and mystery. Vonda McIntyre stayed in on the Star Trek theme and focused on character development.

In this story the story focused mainly on Spock and Sulu. There is the usual romance for Kirk. It's not really a romance. He runs into an old flame that gets him thinking about marriage, life, etc. But here Sulu has the more passionate and tender romance and Spock meets up with an old science mentor who is the hero/villian of the story.

This book is a great read and hard to put down! Enjoy!

-rlw

As Spock is preparing to complete some critical experiments, the Enterprise is ordered to transport a rogue scientist to a rehabilitation colony. En route, the prisoner escapes from the brig and fatally shoots Kirk! Now Spock must go back in time to prevent Kirk's death---or die trying.

The audio version of this book is an hour and a half long, and performed by George Takei (Sulu) with Leonard Nimoy as Spock. I must mention that Nimoy's performance is one of the best I have ever heard in the Simon & Schuster Audio Star Trek series. His depiction of Spock's intellectual and emotional struggle with having been a witness to Kirk's murder, figuring out that it never should have happened at all, and finally secretly building the Time Changer, with McCoy's help, are all incredibly believable, even painfully so. I could actually call this one of the spookiest Trek audio novels I've ever heard, since it soon become very difficult to figure out what's real and what's not.

Takei also shines on this tape, using French accents for Dr. Mordreax (the scientist), and Ian Brathwaite, the Aleph Prime district attorney.

My favorite lines: "Captain, you don't understand the problem! We're isolated! Official ships are rare! I haven't got the facilities to detain anyone so ruthless and charismatic.....and...intelligent. If he escapes, he could drop out of sight! He could begin again elsewhere! He's dangerous! Georges Mordreax makes people believe he can fulfill their dreams!"

Hearing Takei-as-Brathwaite say that never ceases to send chills up my spine.

[Review written Nov 2004]

This is one of the earliest Star Trek novels, and still ranks among the best in the genre. It's a fast no-frills read, weighing in at only around 225 pages, and the story involves murder, intrigue, theoretical physics and a classic time travel & save-the-universe type plot ... a theme that has since been mined nearly to death by a host of imitators over the past 20+ years.

By today's standards, it's a bit short, and I wished the authoress had spent more time exploring some of the interesting new characters she introduces, and not rushed the plot along quite so quickly ... but it's still an enjoyable read.

It's one of the few books in my Star Trek collection that's on my periodic rereading rotation.

The first all-new novel published by Pocket in the Star Trek franchise was written by an accomplished science fiction novelist, with a background in her own fiction, and a winner of a Hugo and a Nebula. One of the dangers of this type of author is a tendency to view the characters independently, rather than to use them as established in series continuity. Every author will play favorites with the characters, writing up the ones they like and assigning secondary roles, or completely ignoring, those they do not like. This is evident in McIntyre's first outing with the Star Trek characters.

The Enterprise is dispatched to observe a singularity, and discover the reason for its appearence. None like it, with no apparent explanation for its existence, has been observed previously. Spock is the closest qualified observer, and so he conducts the measurements, as the Enterprise spends six weeks in close proximity to the dangerous gravity well and radiation output. As Spock is working on the confirming observations, the Enterprise receives a top-priority call to a nearby starbase. The starbase personnel are confused, but they do have one duty that must be carried out: the ferrying of a dangerous prisoner to a maximum-security facility. The prisoner turns out to be a former physics teacher of Spock's, and the Vulcan cannot understand the danger posed. All records of the trial have been sealed and/or expunged.

Soon after the prisoner is taken on board, he breaks onto the bridge and shoots Captain Kirk with a spiderweb bullet, a terrorist device which causes prolonged death with great pain. The crew is horrified. The new security chief, Commander Flynn, is also killed in the assault. Spock finds that the dangerous nature of the prisoner, and his crime, is related to the professor's discovery of a simple method for time travel. This has also caused the singularity to appear, so the method is increasing the entropy of the universe, and will cause its end in less than 100 years. Spock must travel back in time himself to repair the damage to the time continuum, and save his captain and the universe. McIntyre writes well, and the book has a good plot, so the problem here is mostly with characterization.

So many of the regulars are out of character that it is often hard to take the book seriously. The author obviously likes Sulu, and to an extent Spock, while disliking Scotty and Kirk. Scott only gets "grumpy old man" stuff to do, and shows no other side of his character, aside from a measure of loyalty to Kirk. The captain is killed off halfway through the book, and might have remained that way had this book been made only of McIntyre's characters (which would have made a better book). The author also is enamored with her own characters, Commander Flynn and her security crew, and Captain Hunter, an old lover of Kirk's and the captain of a border patrol ship. There is a strongly feminist bent here, despite the small amount of time given to Uhura. The spiderweb bullet is a good invention, a projectile with tendrils that grow and crush the nervous system, reaching to the brain. The problem is, at one point McIntyre writes about visible tendrils that Spock avoids on a near-miss shot. Tendrils small enough to infiltrate the nervous system would likely be invisible to the naked eye. And another thing: when Spock endeavors to go back through time, he tells only McCoy, and ostensibly leaves the Doctor in charge of the ship. At no time was McCoy ever shown to be a command officer, and it would have been procedure (which Spock would have followed) to inform Scotty, who both was the next ranking officer, and thus should have been designated the conn, as well as being able to help to engineer the necessary parts for time travel.

It's a good story. It just doesn't work, as written, as a Star Trek story.

Desert to Dream is a remarkable accomplishment -- a
stunning tapestry of images and words that appears in
essence to be a mystery play. I am amazed at the
visual, emotional and spiritual complexity of her work
that evokes deep contemplation. The book is very well
laid out and I like how the diptychs are paired, even
in some instances where there is a b&w and color photo
side by side. Traub's sense of style and composition
is dynamic and goes way beyond the usual ways of
seeing. Congratulations on such an extraordinary book.

Ellen Bascom
Houston, TX

The photographs in Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography
by Barbara Traub convey the special and unique personality of the annual
Burning Man Festival. They also convey the humanity, sense of community
and the unique artistic sensibilities of the participants. The photographs
are excellent in their own right and are a sensitive mixture of color and
black and white. There are several pictures of nude women and men, which are real tributes to human beauty. Also, toward the end of the book, many of the photographs portray surrealistic images that only an expert photographer like Barbara Traub would be capable of. This book is well
worth the investment, not only for those interested in Burning Man, but also
those interested in photography that is spectacular.

Desert to Dream is a remarkable accomplishment -- a stunning tapestry of images and words that appears in essence to be a mystery play. I am amazed at the visual, emotional and spiritual complexity of her work that evokes deep contemplation. The book is very well laid out and I like how the diptychs are paired, even in some instances where there is a b&w and color photo side by side. Traub's sense of style and composition is dynamic and goes way beyond the usual ways of seeing. Congratulations on such an extraordinary book.

Ellen Bascom
Houston, TX

Having attended Burning Man twice (in 2003 and 2005), and having connected to the amazing experience that it represents for the mind and the body, I am glad to see a book that is capable of capturing most of the images that trigger our senses. Good any time of the day ... it's best alongside your breakfast, helping you carrying the 'burn every day' philosophy throughout your day and evening.

Wow, what a dissapointment - it hardly captures the magic of Burning Man. With only a couple exceptions, the photos in this book are middling to poor. Most of the pictures of people are of the back of their heads. The pictures of art and vehicles are often framed poorly or feature distracting shadows. The night pictures are blurry and amateurish. There are a lot of great burning man photos out there (see the burning man website); I find it hard to believe this got published and even sanctioned with (a generic) blurb by Larry Harvey.

One of the abilities of the Star Trek franchise has been the ability to alleviate a potential cliche in a story by bringing a bit of humor in. A time travel scenario can be really hackneyed and lame except for the fact that this one gets a good laugh out of it. Like Kirk and Spock wandering around San Francisco traffic without a working knowledge of profanity. Most of us know how Kirk & co use a borrowed Klingon ship to go back to our time when the humpbacked whale was not yet extinct so that they could bring a couple of them forward in time to tell the mysterious probe to shut down the hurricane already, we hoid ya da foist time--if not from reviews, then by seeing the movie. One scene that got ad-libbed into this novelization didn't make the screen, though. Remember if you will the sequence where Kirk pauses by the checkout of a restaurant and hands Spock an after-dinner mint ("Don't say I never gave you anything"/ "Why would I say that, Captain?")? Now fast forward to the scene where Kirk and Spock find the whales at an aquarium and Spock goes "swimmin' wit' da fishes" (yeah yeah, whales aren't fish, I know). The scene we didn't get in the movie is right after scientist Gillian gives Spock hell for that little swim. In this book, Kirk gets Spock aside and asks him what's the matter with him. Spock reminds him of the mint and reveals the not widely known medical fact that sucrose has a certain physiological effect on Vulcans. If I'd written this book, I would have also added the above reaction by McCoy.

Why did I enjoy this more than any of the other Star Trek movies? Probably because it's got all of the elements I love. Kirk and McCoy trying to relate to Spock, and Spock too puzzled by his Human half to help them much - if at all. Humor. A feisty, intelligent "love interest" who actually has a key plot-driving role, in Dr. Gillian Taylor. Sarek. And, at the end...oh, never mind. Just in case there's someone left who may want to read the book, or see the film, without already knowing the ending - no, I wouldn't spoil it for worlds.

So the science doesn't make a lot of sense. It often didn't in the original Trek, on TV. The plot premise and execution worked well enough to let me temporarily suspend my disbelief when I first saw "The Voyage Home" on the big screen, and I found that unchanged when I finally read the novelization. So the humor's lame at times. It still felt to me like a visit with old friends, and that's really what I'm looking for in a Star Trek story. On screen, or between book covers.

It is even better then the movie. It has all the elements of a classic Star Trek episode, with Capt. Kirk falling in love with a beautiful young women, the crew dealing with a different time periode, MR.Spock and Dr.McCoy going at it like an old married couple.......And there are the Klingons, a major threat to Earth, and, of crouse, the whales... Who wouldn't like this book?

I liked it because it really helped to put the movie into prospective.

If you are familiar with the movie that this book was based on, I will say that this is one of the most faithful novelizations of a movie that I've ever seen; almost every scene from the movie is included, and most of the dialogue is faithfully kept as well. Ms. McIntyre satisfies her creative urge by filling in gaps in the storyline, adding internal dialogue and insight into the characters' thoughts as well as transitional scenes that further explain and clarify the storyline.

If you are not familiar with the movie, there are a few quibbles you might have with the story, but for my money, the quibbles are all things that originated in the movie, and that Ms. McIntyre is not responsible for: the running gag of Kirk attempting to "fit in" to 20th century society by cursing, which he does clumsily, and Spock's even more clumsy attempts to follow Kirk's lead. I'm not certain whether this was supposed to be purely a humorous bit, or whether it was supposed to be a comment on how silly vulgarity makes one look, and how foolish it is to try to fit in in that way. If it was intended for humor value, its humor wore thin very quickly, and if it was intended for the latter purpose, I'm not sure that it was effective. But in any case, that, as I say, is not Ms. McIntyre's fault; it was part of the movie that she was working from. Similarly, any part of the plot that referred back to the previous movie, and Spock's tenuous grip on his memories as a result of being recently "reborn", do not sit well with me (see my review of "The Search For Spock" for my objections to that movie/book) but again, this is not the author's fault. I also do not believe that a bit of ambient radiation causes malfunctions in phasers, as happens in one scene, but the same disclaimer of responsibility applies.

On its own merits, and outside of the consideration of how well it remains faithful either to the movie it was based on, or the Star Trek universe in general, or the previously established characters, this book is still quite good, and better able to stand on its own as a Science Fiction Action-Adventure novel than most Star Trek books, and it also does a better job of faithfully portraying the known characters than many. And as I said, it does a marvellous job of faithfully depicting the story from the movie while building on it plausibly and believably. All in all, by almost any measure I care to use, it is a very good book.

mix some of the best characters in science fiction with an author who KNOWS how to write then and what do you get? A fantastic star trek book.

this books reads like a great, classic star trek episode. Character interaction, a seemingly impossible situation, interesting subplots..everything a fan of star trek likes about the show is in this book..

And the villains...a book like this is usually only as good as its villains and I found the romulans' depiction quite...fascinating, as spock would say. And the villains aren't all romulan either ;)

with lots of tense moments, great dialogue, good character intereraction , a large plot with possibly disastrous repercussions, AND some nice nods and tie ins to several of the original series episodes, and you have a great read on your hands.

highly recommended.

The Romulan Empire is in deep trouble. A plague is rapidly killing them and the only cure is grown on the planet Canara in Federation space. Fearing that the Federation would use the knowledge to destroy the Empire, the Romulans attempt to take the antidote by force rather than ask for help. However, the Canarans are fiercely loyal to the Federation and strongly oppose the Romulans. While they cannot hope to resist by force of arms, the Canarans set destructive charges that will destroy all of the material that can be used to make the antidote to the plague.
As the story unfolds, we learn a great deal about the Romulan political system, the Praetor is the highest political figure and the position is currently being held by a greedy, self-serving individual. He sends one of the most loyal and effective Romulan commanders on what is a suicide mission into Federation space and also calls back into service an aged commander whose loyalty to the Empire is greater than any personal animosity he has for the Praetor and his political machinations.
There are two subplots that complicate the situation. The first is that the computers on the Enterprise recently underwent maintenance and the technicians decided that they needed more of a personality. Therefore, they programmed the main computer to have a personality, including emotions. The computer falls in love with Kirk and considers him the only person in the universe. It ignores all other members of the crew, so nothing works for anyone else. The crew is largely helpless to do anything about the situation, which is supposed to be amusing. I didn't find it amusing at all, and thought that this subplot was too much of a distraction to the real story. A simple reboot using core memory should have solved the problem.
The second subplot involved Admiral Iota, who hates the Romulans so bad that he barricades himself into auxiliary control on one of the Federation ships and fires on the Romulans. Once again, the crew of the ship is helpless to stop him. This is absurd; no Starfleet vessel would be constructed without some way to disable the weapons outside of auxiliary control. Furthermore, the idea that one man could barricade himself into an area and control the entire ship was one I found ridiculous.
The two subplots spoiled the story for me. Had the author concentrated on the inner workings of the Romulan Empire and the actions of the Praetor and the Romulan commanders, the story would have been much better.

The timeline for this story is immediately after the original series Star Trek episode, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday". This is where the computer has been reprogrammed to be seductive and affectionate -especially towards Kirk(of course)!

The characters -Romulan and Enterprise, are handled competently.

Some guest appearances:
Yeoman Janice Rand (not a love interest here!)
Ensign Garrovick (from "Obsession")
Lt. Kyle (Transporter Chief)

The plot is fascinating(as Spock would say) and unfolds excellently. The writing is professional and stays right on in the ST Universe. The plot is similar to the ST movie: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", but here the Romulans face a disaster. Kirk and McCoy are not captured here either.

If you have to choose a few original ST books to read then choose this one amongst the others.

Read on...

This is by far the best of the numbered series of Star Trek novels up to the point at which it was written, with the possible exception of #7, "The Wrath Of Khan". The characters are handled competently, the plot is interesting, and the writing is fluent, professional, and lively.

There is a certain similarity between the plot of this story, and the plot of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", but that is no fault of this story, since it predates the other. There is also a certain similarity between its plot and that of "Dr. Strangelove", although this is not a comedy. This story is set in the time immediately after the original series Star Trek episode, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; the computer has not yet been reprogrammed, and is still overly affectionate toward Kirk.

If you enjoy Star Trek: the original series, you should definitely read this book; it is one of the better books in the Star Trek series. Even if you aren't a big fan, but are only lukewarm toward Star Trek, you should give this book a try.

A few years ago I purchased the cassette tape version of this play and enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, I lost my copy and have wanted to listen to this play many times since then. I'm glad I purchased this item again and look forward to hearing it again.

After purchasing this audio novel I was initially upset because it was only an hour long. I much prefer my audio novels to be at least 2 hours long. With a foul mode in place I began to listen to the tape. In a few short minutes I was quickly swept up into the story, recogizing my favorite Star Trek actors as they played their parts. The audio novel although short has an excellant production quality. The story is concise and easy to follow. I would like to thank John DeLancie for directing this project and for the participaction of the other actors. I would not hesitate to recommend this audio novel and look forward to others from John DeLancy, Lenard Nimoy and the rest of the Star Trek gang. (The RAMA science fiction series would be great.) Please make them at least 2 hours though.

We've all seen at least one of the movie versions of H.G. Well's The Time Machine, but none of them frankly compares with the original Sci-Fi classic. The book tells the story of the Time Traveler's journey nearly a million years into the future and the very unexpected and disturbing society he finds there. The Time Traveler formulates various theories based on what he observes of the society which each, in turn, prove to be oh so wrong! [Warning: mild spoiler] In the end, his realization of the future is especially terrifying considering it is the result of our current social structure (or H.G. Well's, anyway).

I especially recommend this book for those of us with short attention spans - it's only 140 pages (and that's the large print version). But don't get the wrong idea, this book still has more depth and creativity than most 500 page books i've read and is a great read, even compared with today's science fiction standards.

This book has to be considered a classic considering it spawned a whole genre of time traveling books, movies, and tv shows which imitated it. It is also the best Wells book I have read, hand's down (though I never read "the invisible man"). Get a hold of a copy and read it today!!

I bought this for my 10 year old son who saw the movie. He didn't like the book and said it was too slow starting for him. He also said the movie was better.

The Time Machine is a great novel. This book took Sci-fi to a whole new level. The Time Machine is about a man only known as the "Time Traveler", who invents a time machine in the 1800's and travels through time, obviously, and comes across an Earth where human civilization has fallen to evolution. And when the Time Traveler goes back to his time machine it isn't there, it just disappeared he then finds that Earth is inhabited by little people that speak a completely different language than English, an that the buildings were taken back by mother nature. The Time Traveler eventually learns there weird language and befriends a female "native", but there is a dark side to all of this, there are the Morlocks; a nocturnal peoples that somewhat harvest these other little people and eat them. These Morlocks live in caverns underground, and are thought to be the "Working Class", that moved underground to work in factories. As time went on they just lived there and broke away from the "Upper Class" aka the little people, and thus the Morlocks where created, but when food ran out the Morlocks turned to cannibalism and started to catch and eat the little people. The Time Traveler eventually figures out the Morlocks have taken his time machine which he gets back after fighting off a horde of Morlocks and he goes back in time to tell his tale to few friends. He then goes back into the future and is never seen again. This is a great read for anyone, and I highly recommend it.

H G Wells has awakened the world with his art of tale through the travel of time. He is the inspiration of every time travel writer in existence today, with no exception, myself included. Along with great classics like Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea, I remember the first time reading these classics. I was in awe. Though time travel, a genre given life by H G Wells is the ultimate epic sci-fi adventure. The very idea of time travel has opened the eyes of every imagination in my soul. The ramifications are endless. H G Well's Time Machine is my favorite, all time story. Even when you think of how the future looked as grim as it did thousands of years from the story line's origination, one only needs to remember that this tale is merely one possiblity of billions that could be changed with a simple act of maybe a push of a button or even less. I believe THAT was the message Wells was revealing to us all. This is a very well written story that I highly recommend to anyone of any age or time. This very book was my biggest inspiration since I was first able to read.

I enjoyed this book. It's about a man that we only know as the "Time Traveler" who obviously invents a time machine and he goes into the future and ends up meeting up with the friendly Eloi, and befriends Weena, an Eloi. While he is with the Eloi his time machine goes missing. He finds the Morlocks, which Wells describes as ghostly apes. They are the reason that everything works so well for the Eloi, but they only prove as food for the Eloi.

In the end he gets his time machine back and hurries back to his own time to tell all of the other scientists about his journey. This is how this book is written, in first person, the point of view of the time traveler.

If you liked War of the Worlds than this is a must read.

Wells, H.G. Time Machine, The
December 1992, Tom Doherty Associates,LLC.

I have just "reread" H. G. Wells classic of science fiction (actually I listened to the audiobook version on my iPod on a long flight). And it is still as gripping to me as it was many years ago when I was a young teen. As the grandfather of all science fiction concerning invasions of alien beings from advanced interplanetary civilizations "The War of the Worlds" always will be considered a seminal work of science fiction.

The book is a first person account, by a survivor, of a Martian attack on the south of England during the late 19th century. Human armies and weapons are totally inadequate to stop the invading alien army. The Martian technology that Wells describes would have been frightening to anyone living in the late 19th century. Rapidly moving fighting machines, heat rays, and poison gas attacks all at the command of a totally inhuman and merciless enemy whose attack was entirely unprovoked. However, we had only had to wait for 2 decades to experience tanks and poison gas on the battlefields of Europe. A few decades more and we had atomic bombs and lasers. Neither did Wells depict the Martians as invulnerable. After all, the torpedo ram "Thunderchild" took out two and possibly 3 of the Martian war machines before it was sunk. Of course today a squadron of modern F16s could wipe out the entire invading Martian army of 1898 in a few minutes. Followed by a thermonuclear attack on Mars iteslf, of course. We clearly have outstripped the technology that Wells imagined.

However, futuristic technology is not the point of Wells' book. Wells knew that human machines were advancing at a rapid pace. He probably would not be surprised at today's technology. Wells book actually is a social commentary and a condemnation of the British colonial system and the cruel indifference with which Europe exploited less technologically advanced peoples. The Martians that he describes could well become us. Sluggish beings, entirely dependant on machines, living on the life blood of the less fortunate. This is in fact what half of humanity does become in Wells' equally important novel "The Time Machine." So the theme of "The War of the Worlds" is as important today as it was in 1898 in spite of the admittedly dated technology that it describes.

I bought this for my 10 year old son who saw the movie (Tom Cruise). He loved the book and because it's in paperback we took it everywhere.

BAM went the heat ray as it was fired by the aliens. If you want to hear what happens next then go read War of the Worlds.
War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells, was written 110 years ago in 1898. It takes place in a small town in England. One day a mysterious black cylinder falls out of the sky. A couple days later the cylinder opens up and a cylinder is fired. Many people are killed but the main character just manages to escape. The aliens build up a ship thing and call for other cylinders to come. The aliens try to take over the town, then the world!
I did not have a favorite part in War of the Worlds. I thought War of the Worlds was actually a pretty boring book because there was barely any good and exciting action at all. There was a lot of shooting, but all they shot at were the alien's ship things and the bullets just bounced off.
H. G. Wells described almost everything way too much. For example: he uses 3 pages describing a dead horse and 2 pages describing fire.
I thought the whole plot of War of the Worlds was good except for the beginning. For no reason at all a cylinder from Mars with Martians in it falls out of the sky.
I do not recommend this book for people who like action. If you want a lot of action, I recommend the movie War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise.

I love this book. It truly kept me on the edge of my seat as I followed characters and their exodus from Martian tyranny.

I have been planning on reading this book for over 10 years. I remember watching the movie when I was little (and then the remake a few years ago). First of all, this was far better than either of the movies.

Written in first person from the account of a survivor of the attack (who is never named) and then recounting the tale of his brother, this is a very immediate and unsettling tale. What I did not expect was the time frame the book was written in. I assumed (for some idiotic reason) that it would take place in the twentieth century. Instead, for those of you who like myself, forgot the timeframe that Wells lived in, this book takes place in the nineteenth century. The Martian attack occurs prior to the weapons of warfare that we are so used to thinking about; there are no tanks, no planes with bombs. Hussars and artillery are their greatest defense. People couldn't hop in their cars and drive from the invaders; they were instead in horse drawn carriages, communicating the disaster via telegraph and daily papers. This put a whole new twist on the tale from what I was expecting.

Our narrator lives only a few miles from where the first "ship" lands and we follow the town's initial curiosity and complete lack of fear as they peek into the hole in the ground created by the wreak. Even after the first "heat rays" are fired and people are killed, there is still no sense of fear. When the action comes, it comes quickly. Separated from his wife and family our unnamed narrator survives mainly through luck and the fact that he never stops moving. The entire story takes place in less than a month, from initial landing to total devastation. There is a lot of science involved, discussing the physiology of the aliens, speculation on their planet, and how they evolved. For the casual reader it's not too bad and doesn't bog down the story. For the rabid science hound, please remember when this book was written before you blast the scientific inconstancies and flat out scientific errors.

I highly recommend reading this book, to just about anyone. It is a fast read, which manages to keep your attention from beginning to end. The political and social commentary though written for another time still holds value today. The religious implication is not jammed down your throat. This is a fun yet chilling read, which you will find yourself pondering over long after you have put the book away.