Occasionally, it happens that someone who is otherwise a perfectly decent and talented writer just can’t nail down that Star Trek vibe. We’ve seen it before. For someone who only wrote one Star Trek novel, Laurence Yep has exceptional pedigree: he’s won a Newbery Medal and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, among other accolades, and he’s written a ton of highly praised books and series for children that are steeped in Chinese lore. But that doesn’t necessarily guarantee adequate characterizations and interesting stories in other universes.
Category: TOS Page 21 of 25
This week, we’re looking at Uhura’s Song, in which Uhura’s professional football career is derailed by a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Wait, no, sorry, that’s Brian’s Song. My apologies.
I’m going to level with you: I’m not very good at crime procedurals. Ask my wife. We can be sitting watching an episode of Law & Order: SVU or what have you and she’ll have the killer figured out before the theme song. I’m not nearly as sharp as she is, so I sort of let events wash over me, and then at the big reveal I’m usually just like, “Oh, okay.” So the fact that I solved the central mystery of The Vulcan Academy Murders with nearly 200 pages still left to read does not reflect well upon it.
In last week’s adventure, the Enterprise crew temporarily set aside their differences with the Romulans to put a stop to some evil people and achieve something for the greater good. This week, the Enterprise crew temporarily sets aside their differences with the Klingons to put a stop to some evil people and achieve something for the greater good. Totally different!
Just two novels ago, John M. Ford took a deep dive into Klingon culture in The Final Reflection, and now Diane Duane takes a similar turn with the Romulans in My Enemy, My Ally, the first of what will be either four or five books (depending on whether you want to count Swordhunt and Honor Blade as one book or two) in the Rihannsu saga. I mean, sure, there was Web of the Romulans, but we’re talking about good books here.