Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath
1977
Grade: F
Some of the philosophical ideas here are very in line with the questions that Star Trek has always been enamored of asking. What constitutes the individual? What are the limits and value of the Prime Directive? What is the moral value of created lifeforms? Despite the fact that this novel does not attack these questions with particular skill does not wholly negate their intrinsic value as important questions with which to challenge the reader. Also, though he eventually devolves into little more than a sadist and megalomaniac, the villain, Omne, does have some very powerfully delivered lines that threaten to make him a very compelling antagonist. In condemning the Federation and their inability to restrain themselves from interfering in alien cultures he comments on their, “Creeping do-goodism. Maudlin meddlesomeness. Smothering benevolence,” and claims to have “established a refuge here from goodness.” He plans to deliver the galaxy from the “virtuous who prescribe virtue to others”(15). He goes on to explain that if unified governments like the Federation and Romulan Star Empire “were allowed to go on, there would soon be wall-to-wall empire, sickeningly sweet and subtly oppressive. In conflict there is room for enclaves of freedom”(35). Unfortunately, these moments are the exception rather than the rule, and Omne’s goals don’t amount to much more than the “Law of the Jungle” and the egocentric and narcissistic idea that since he is stronger and smarter than everyone else he can do whatever he wants.
The first and most glaring weakness here is the characterization of Kirk and Spock. Though there are a few moments in the novel where Kirk shines through as partially recognizable, the hyper-emotional, constantly tortured Spock is completely divorced from anything that was seen on the show or even presented in the earlier novels. In point of fact, all of the emotional connections between the characters seem to be driven up to a fever pitch in unbelievable and inexplicable ways. The chiefest example of this is the strange telepathic link that the replica Kirk, called James for purposes of clarity in the novel, has with the original. This connection, beyond serving the secondary function of acting as a homing beacon for characters lost in a maze to find one another, seems chiefly designed for the purposes of heightening the emotional torment of one as they experience the physical torment of the others. All of these hyper-emotional, hyper-empathic characters engaging in page after page of melodramatic hand-wringing completely dulls the effect that the authors are trying to convey. This extreme emotionalism also infects the characters interactions with each other as not only does the Kirk/Spock relationship become tinged with erotic undertones, but so does the relationship between Omne and Kirk. Omne’s persistent desire to force Kirk to submit, to beg, and to surrender, “Now beg for yourself. I am alpha here, and you will-now-yield”(55), coupled with stated desire to “break” Kirk into a subservient role are little more than homoerotic fantasies which are better suited for fan fiction.
Thankfully, the authors don’t hold on to the ruse that the original Kirk is dead for more than a few chapters. The truth is revealed early in an “of course” kind of way, but the fact isn’t withheld so long as to make the reader feel like they are being patronized. Beyond that, the story does not have much meat on the bones. They find out about Omne’s plan and then spend the entire novel running around in his cartoonishly large and complex labyrinth. Funnily enough, no one ever seems to actually get lost in this behemoth structure as the writers wrote in the telepathic link between all the groups of characters, and they just end up following it to where they need to go. With this intricate a maze one almost feels cheated of a moment where a character devises some interesting way to get out.
Having just finished the novel I can honestly say that I have very little idea what most of the scenes in this novel actually looked like. There is no effort to describe rooms, hallways, corridors, and when some level of description is given everything is described as this farcical “old west” aesthetic which I would really rather have done without. To be fair, this is the sort of thing the television show would often resort to, but they were working with the limits of budget and 60’s special effects...novels have no such restrictions. The fights were unimaginative with an inordinate amount of groin kicking for supposedly honorable men, and it often felt that little beyond the emotional state of the characters was ever really foremost in the writer’s minds. Of the three novels I’ve read to this point, this one feels the least like a Star Trek story, which is sad because it certainly offers up the most interesting Star Trek ideas so far. I wouldn't recommend it to any but the most completion oriented Star Trek die-hard.
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