Uhura Books

The most egregious "Mary Sue" Trek book on record, "Uhura's Song" presages some of the more extravagant fan-fiction missives by putting the author, the late Janet Kagan, into the narrative as the puckish Dr. Evan Wilson. Wilson dominates the story, solving every crisis, somehow knowing the solution to every dilemma, and generally leading the entire Trek crew around by the nose. Uhura's character, ostensibly the book's subject, is reduced even further to a bit player in the drama.

The plot is basically straight out of the mind of a shut-in cat person - a race of noble, intelligent felines attempt to overcome an AIDS-type epidemic by connecting to their long-lost cousins, a primitive yet honorable society of talking meowers.

Kagan wasn't devoid of writing skill - her Hugo Award wins certainly indicate otherwise - but this novel definitely does not represent her as anything other than a glorified Star Trek fan-fiction author. Disappointing...

On October 1, 2003 T. J. Doss Posted:

" ... also a well written 'Return of the Tail-Kinker' story is long overdue and would be greatly appreciated!".


I too asked Ms. Kagan about this possibility when I met her at a Science Fiction Convention years ago (soon after this book was published) but it is not to be. Unfortunately she died this weekend (March 1, 2008).

Janet Kagan obviously understood a lot about a number of things: native cultures, cats, music, anthropology, and of course the ST universe. Of all the ST novels, this one best captures the "voices" of the characters (both in the wording and the accents of characters like Chekov and Scotty). It's an intriguing story about cultural division and the mistakes that keep two peoples with a common ancestry apart. I have *really* wanted to see a follow-up novel that would pick up where this one left off regarding the Enterprise crew, especially Spock, and the guest character Evan Wilson. I have never been moved to tears by a ST novel, but this one did it. It's poetic, exciting, and distinctive in the manner of the best of the classic Trek episodes.

only thing that kept it from being rated a 5 was it's lenght...I don't mind long reads, I rather prefer them..but there were spots in this book, particularly the landing party trying to sort out customs and language with the felinoid natives that I thought were a bit too long...

the ending was also a bit of a puzzler as well and left me wanting more answers..but other than that I thought this was a great star trek adventure...alot of great Spock moments in this one.

This is in the top five of my all-time favorite Star Trek Novels. I bought it for the pleasure of reading about Uhura, and was happily introduced to the cat beings of Eeiauo and Sivao, as well as to Dr. Evan "Tail-Kinker" Wilson, who, in my opinion, is one of the best fill-in characters in Trek fandom. What's this "Mary Jane" crap I am reading about below? Evan is fun and refreshing, and has some of the snappiest comebacks that I have heard. While everyone else was being stand-offish and formal with the big cats, she walked right up and started talking with Brightspot like she was an old friend. It was fun getting to know her, and watching Spock try to figure out what made her tick.

The story was written by someone who obviously loves cats, and I have an inkling she wanted to insert a little version of herself into the story. What Star Trek fan hasn't wanted to plant a character based on yourself into a story where we could interact with our beloved Kirk and Spock? If Evan is based on Ms. Kagan, then I'm willing to bet Ms. Kagan is a very fun lady! As for the Sivaoans...they're such interesting beings that my friend and I named some of her cats after them - Brightspot (a calico, naturally), Settlesand, and Catchclaw among them.

I found the plot hole-free and fell for the twist at the end hook, line, and sinker. I may be gullible to some of you out there, but at least I enjoyed myself. I'm happy to say that I'm on my third copy of this book because the other two were read so much they literally disintegrated. Wonderful writing, amazing characters, and all frosted with the Star Trek mantra we know and love. Enjoy!

very worth reading, even if you aren't much into Star Trek stuff.

Especially interesting for me was, of course, the struggle it was for a young talented black woman to get a space in a succesful TV show in the 60s. It seems astounding, from our perspective, that her story was so difficult, and that she almost wouldn't have remained in Star Trek at all without a chance encounter with none other than Martin Luther King.

If you are interested in civil rights and/or showbiz intrigue, you'll certainly love this. What a lady!

This autobiography by Nichelle Nichols reflects upon her life, as a black actress, facing racism of her times and breaking them with certain amount of courage and skills. First half of the book retells the story of her life prior to Star Trek, her education, training and people whom she met, some who were helpful while others who were not. Her occasional slide into self praise is typical of many memoirs, not atypical.

But for most people who read this book, they read it because they are Star Trek fans and second part of the book don't disappointed them at all. She goes into all sort of interesting tales about her experiences in Star Trek that brought her to the forefront. Her story on how Martin Luther King talked her into staying on the show, her frustration with the limited role she was having and her relationships with her co-workers while still fighting occasional racism at the studios proves to be an set of very interesting and telling stories. She continued on with her stories on the Star Trek movies as well as her work with NASA.

Like Jimmy Doohan and George Takei books, Nichols seem to have problems with William Shatner. From the three of them, Shatner does not seem to be a very generous actor and by design or not, William Shatner often end up sounding like a self centered cad. Its interesting that almost every Star Trek actor have problems with Shatner. But she was generous enough to say that Shatner as a director of Star Trek V, was most wonderful person. Doohan and Takei had no kind words for Shatner in their books.

Intersting reading material for all Star Trek fans. Story of Nichelle Nichols proves to be one of courage and determination that marked her a very special woman. In some ways, that make the color of her skin immaterial in the end.

I just came from reviewing Walter Koenig's book and I'd like to take the chance to review Nichelle's book. Nichelle's is the 2nd ST book I've read this week.

I liked Uhura on Star Trek, but after reading Nichelle's book I admire her even more. Nichelle is a brave woman and she had to put up with a bunch of [stuff] to get where she did. If you read her book, you'll see she met a few people that made racial comments to her and treated her badly because of her skin color. I don't know Nichelle, but I must say that I admire her bravery to put up with some of the stuff she had to put up with.

Let me move onto her Star Trek days. I was entertained by the chapters talking about Star Trek. Like Walter Koenig's book, she didn't really talk about the issues with William Shatner. She skimmed the surface, but then I reach the end of the book where Bill wants to interview her for his Star Trek Memories book. She did sound upset that William betrayed her trust, but she didn't spend the whole book dissing him. It's just my guess, but I get the feeling when I read James Doohan's book that's when I'll see the dissing start. I like every Star Trek cast member, including Bill Shatner and I'm still going to like every member whether or not Bill did have a chip on his shoulder.

Anyway, Nichelle's book is def. worth a read.

Hi ... as if my Review Title isn't "controversial" enough. Might I first note, with sick fascination, the overwhelming majority of occasions on which We Of Varied "Colors" wildly [ and customarily, VIOLENTLY ] flail away at each other ? Ruefully, therefore, even when Gayle Sayer's beautiful autobiography, I Am Third, was *not* out-of-print, hardly ANYbody, Black -or- White, decided it worth the time to read, among other chapters, Gayle's summary of his friendship with Brian Piccolo entitled "Pick." As my segue into some brief remarks on Nichelle Nichols autobiography, Beyond Uhura, might I specify: look to a verse in the Beautiful Beatles song "A Day In The Life" wherein Paul McCartney, I believe, sings "The Crowd of People turned *away* ... BUT I just *had* to look ... having Read the book." That's what I think, and feel, about Ms. Nichols splendid autobiography. What a wonderful Lady, and how very gracious, talented, lovely (in AND out), non-bigoted, non-judgemental, and holy she is ! Her autobiography is an invaluable, indispensable read for we who vituperously segment ourselves into separate "Races" ( check out the Graham Nash song, if you will, titled "There's Only One" ) and stick hurtful, derogatory LABELS upon anyone but OURSELVES. Nichelle, like Gayle, simply tells us the TRUTH, and like Mr. Sayers, Nichelle relates Truth to us like the genuine, loving Christian she is !!

I really enjoyed this book. Nichelle tells lots of great stories. A couple of times it would get a little bogged down in details about all her various gigs, but for the most the book moved quickly. She begins with her multi-racial family living thru segregation. She goes on to tell stories about how her carreer evolved, her brush with gangsters running the entertainment industry, her relationship with Gene Roddenbery, how insensitive Bill Shatner was to his cast mates, and by contrast, how egalitarian Leonard Nimoy was, and about her work with NASA recruiting astronauts. There are many, many fascinating stories in this book.