Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country Books

Fans of Star Trek know that James Doohan (Scotty) began his career doing voices. He was the voice of some of the alien creatures that appeared in the original series. In this case, he is reading an abridged version of the book and movie of the same name. The reading is enhanced by sound effects and an original score.
Since this is an abbreviated version of a movie I have seen several times, my review will deal only with the quality of the reading and the additional sound. While his ability has no doubt been reduced by age, Doohan is still capable of a wide range of voices. His approximations of the voices of Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy are pretty good; there is a good deal of similarity. He adds emphasis when it is needed, which enhances the dramatic effect. The additional sounds are excellent. I listened to the tape in my car and the "explosions" startled me. One time, I thought the humming of a phaser was a problem with the heating fan in my car.
While there is some loss of quality due to the abridgement, this is still a tape well worth listening to. It is well done; the dramatic qualities are preserved by Doohan and the extra sounds add a great deal to the excitement.

Star Trek VI is one of my favorites of the movie series, so I was curious to see whether the novelization was as good. I was not disappointed. This is a quick and enjoyable read, with quite a bit of dialogue taken directly from the movie. Dillard has an excellent feel for the familiar characters and for the Star Trek world in general.

I had only two complaints. There are some backstories, such as Carol Marcus's injury, which add nothing to the narrative and in fact bog it down somewhat. And for some of the movie's best and funniest lines, Dillard includes the characters' thoughts leading up to the lines, apparently trying to justify them, but unfortunately depriving them of much of their comic impact.

A Novel by J.M. Dillard

Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flinn

Story by Leonard Nimoy and Nicholas Meyere & Denny Martin Flinn

Synopsis

The Klingons are proposing Peace. Does this mean the end of the war or the end of history?

Stardate 8679.25: Internal pressures, enormous military expenditures, and the destruction of their primary energy source have brought the Klingon Empire to the verge of catastrophic collapse.

To avert disaster, Gorkon, Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, proposes negotiations between the Federation and Klingon Empire, negotiations that will put an end to the years of hostility between the two powers, and herald a new era of peace and cooperation. Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM are dispatched to escort the Chancellor safely into Federation space.

But a treacherous assassination brings negotiations to a sudden halt and places Kirk and Dr. McCoy in the hands of the Federation's greatest enemy. With time running out, Spock and the Enterprise crew work to uncover the deadly secret that threatens to propel the galaxy into the most destructive conflict it has ever known.


Review by Roger D. Noriega

The novel is always better than book, right? Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Clear and Present Danger, The Hunt for the Red October, right? I would normally say that this is the case and one should not expect to find the novelization to Star Trek VI to be better than the movie - this is just not the case. A novelization is always based on the most recent script and as we know, movies are changed daily while in production and even in post-production.

The novelization by J.M. Dillard is one that adds a few layers to the story as seen on the big screen. The story stands on its own, unlike Star Trek V which does have a few holes filled in by the novelization. A few. That review is for another day - maybe.

Hostilities are breaking out between the two superpowers: The Klingons and the Federation. There have been attacks on outposts inside of Federation space by phaserfire from undetected ships. Witnesses, describe clear phaser strikes, not originating from the atmosphere, but from the sky, underneath clouds - "you just can't see any ships."

Cloaked ships. It must be. First Kudao and then Themis. Carol Marcus is on the survivors from the latter attack and Jim Kirk rushes to her side. Kirk is burning with rage because Carol was hurt by a Klingon attack. How does one know for certain? Who else could it be? Kirk is saddened for he is called back to Starfleet Headquarters and must leave Carol who remains in a coma. First his son David and now Carol. These [...] will pay if Kirk ever gets a chance.

That chance never comes. At the briefing, we learn that Praxis has exploded, the Klingon economy is in tatters and a olive branch is on the table. Kirk is chosen to Command the Enterprise to Escort Chancellor Gorkon to Earth.

Kirk realizes immediately that much more is happening upon witnessing the apparent photon torpedo strikes to Kronos One. He remembers the words that Kwan-mei Suarez (Carol's friend on the outpost): "Out of nowhere. The ships fired out of nowhere." Kirk, the great warrior knows that much more is happening and he refrains from raising shields while Kronos One bears down on the Enterprise on a revenge run.

****

Frantically McCoy tore open Gorkon's collar.

"Bones . . . ?" Jim asked, feeling as if he were watching humanity's last chance for peace die before his eyes.

"He's gone into some kind of arrest. Come on, dammit!" McCoy swore at Gorkon, then pounded the Klingon's chest.

The chancellor opened his eyes and looked up into Jim's face.

"Are you all right?" Gorkon asked feebly.

Jim heard his own voice telling Spock: They're animals. Let them die . . .

No, Jim tried to whisper. Don't let it end this way.

****

Significantly different from the movie events, but no less telling of the power of the moment. The movie was more powerful in the scene where Gorkon dies, especially when he implores Kirk: "Don't let it end this way."

In the moment where Uhura is able to convince the controllers at Mortagh Station that the Enterprise is actually a smuggler ship, we realize that the two sentinels have no doubt that they are smugglers and that they are rather thankful for the liquor they are drinking. Based on the dialect that Uhura is using, they peg her to be Rigellian or Catullan. In any event, they wish her well and give her the code signal that all is clear with them and for good fortune the rest of the way: "Don't catch any bugs."

If you read the book, you know what they mean, if you don't, you are left with the same dumbfounded look that the crew have upon hearing the parting phrase from Mortagh Station.

Sulu confronts doubts from his crew about assisting the Enterprise and in a scene reminiscent of Star Trek III that touches upon loyalty, brotherhood, and friendship, Sulu responds to his first officer's declaration of having just committed treason: "To be candid, I always hoped that if the choice ever came down to betraying my country or betraying my friend, I'd have the guts to betray my country." he paused an studied his crew, "I realize that I can't ask any of you to follow my orders. If you do so, you may face charges along with me. Those who wish may retire to their quarters."

No one left the bridge.

Uhura's declaration of the Klingon ship having a tail pipe is not in the book, but he comment about informing Starfleet command via letter about their predicament in battle is rather amusing. Scotty's follow-up of making sure that it is "Postdated" is a rather telling sign of who these people are, professionals in the face of duty and damn, grim funny people under pressure all the while their lives are at stack. That with McCoy's attempted humor of "This is fun" may have added levity to the whole situation, but clearly would be unwarranted in the "Battle for Peace".

The book follows the movie almost to the T, but as I said, it adds layers to the story we have now seen on the big-screen. It answers some questions that we may have had and it adds beauty to wonderful, rich story that will remain, to this day, one of the better stories told by the people from Star Trek.

The novelization rates a 3.5 of 5.

The movie version of this story was not bad, certainly not as bad as the movie version of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier". Still, just as Dillard managed to turn that abysmal movie into a more than passable book by managing to plug a great many of the holes in the plot with better explanations of what was happening, so here, too, the same author manages, while MOSTLY remaining true to the plot of the movie, to turn a fairly good movie into an excellent book by explaining a couple of things that the movie failed to make clear. (Now if we could just turn this author loose on a few of the original-series episodes that made no sense, we'd be in business...)

From her first Star Trek novelization, "Star Trek V The Final Frontier," J.M. Dillard has been the "go to" author for Pocket Books when it comes to the novelizations for the movies and the novelization of Star Trek Deep Space Nines pilot episode, "Emissary." This is deservedly so, her work in the novelizations of such important events in the Star Trek genre have been exceptional, and this novel is no exception to that rule.

"Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country" as a film was an extremely well told story written by Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, with the screenplay being written by Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn. J.M. Dillard's work in this extraordinary novel not only serves to novelize that original story, it enhances it beyond measure. She does a beautiful job of adding the characters personal thoughts of the events surrounding them and of adding to the story with "between the scenes" sequences that makes this one of her best efforts.

The premise:

The Klingons, having been long time rivals of the Federation whether through open war or unbridled skirmishes have suffered a great catastrophe when Praxis, A Klingon moon suddenly explodes, removing a key energy resource center for the Klingon Empire. Suddenly finding themselves facing too many problems, more or less of their own creation, in which they've spent too much on their military budget and not enough on environmental and other concerns, the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon must make a decision to sue for peace between the Empire and the Federation.

The main catalyst for that peace turns out to be Captain Spock, who has been working in secret negotiations with Chancellor Gorkon and is now ready to begin those talks in earnest. Spock has managed to secure the use of the Enterprise and Captain Kirk in order to rendezvous with Chancellor Gorkon and escort his ship back to Earth to begin those negotiations.

Here is where the writing of the screenplay and J.M. Dillard's writing kicks into the high gear of intrigue when a conspiracy uncovers itself long enough to fire several torpedoes from the Enterprise and hit Chancellor Gorkon's ship, knocking out their gravity and then two conspirators beam over and murder Chancellor Gorkon and several other Klingons. Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy both beam over, hoping to be able to help Chancellor Gorkon, but he dies and they're charged with his murder.

What follows from there is nothing less than one of the best stories written in the Star Trek genre and filmed, to date. From political intrigue and an extraordinary space battle to some very humorous moments, "Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country" hits on all points.

I highly recommend this novelization as it is an excellent addition to your Star Trek library whether you're into the novelizations or not. {ssintrepid}