This ranks among my top five Star Trek books. Kagan gives us a mix of drama, cultural food-for-thought, and quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. Her writing wears a little thin at points, especially when she tries too hard to emphasize the pathos of a given situation, but since it's otherwise very good and the plot is excellent I'm inclined to cut her a little slack.

The story captures everything I love about TOS - the idealist belief that human beings can be learn to be open-minded, to rejoice in differences, to work together patiently despite those differences in order to solve their problems. Sure, it's occasionally a little cheesy, but in a good way.

It's really fun to explore the idea of a first contact in such great detail. The Sivaoans are a very well-developed race; Kagan put quite a bit of thought into creating their world and their culture, and it paid off.

I disagree with some other reviewers about the supposed "Mary Sue" - that's an easy dismissal of a character who was actually quite interesting, important to the storyline, and just plain fun to read about. While she's clearly the kind of larger-than-life character that you secretly wish you could be, you could say that about almost any TOS character as well, and she isn't over-the-top in the absurd way that the term usually indicates. While she was definitely a main character in the story, I didn't judge it to be at the expense of the other characters.

In short, a very fun romp with an interesting new alien culture, with a few moments that will make you think. ( )

I love this because it shows Uhura in a totally different light from iPod girl to highly skilled language and communications expert. ( )

Love this one! Uhura finds the home planet of a plague-ridden felinoid species on the strength of a song. The away team then must prove themselves to the inhabitants before they can discover the cure to the plague. Uhura comes into her own in this novel (always a plus), and the Eaoians are wonderful. ( )

One of the most congenial Star Trek novels, one which truly shows the difficulties and joys of the Federation's mission, to seek out new life, explore strange new worlds. The unspoken mandate is to learn about and respect others' cultures, while acting as ambassadors for one's own. Nowhere is this shown in finer form, as the Enterprise attempts to help the inhabitants of Eeiauo, a feline race similar to the American Indians of old, as they fight a new plague that is infecting them, and then the humans. Evan Wilson is introduced here as a doctor along for the ride, and she quickly becomes one of the more memorable guest characters, earning the Eeiauan name of "Tail-Kinker". There are many highlights in this fine book, not the least of which is how she intrigues Spock's curiosity - and more? ( )