Star Trek 1 (original 1967; edition 1975)

These adaptations were quite good then, and now. ( )

First in a series of half a dozen or so books in which the late James Blish adapts the famous TV scripts into short story format. Nothing too remarkable, but these books took me from watching SF on TV to reading SF in books. Which I understand was what the author intended. ( )

I was given the first six books of this series one Christmas in the early 1970s. That same Christmas I was given an LP record of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. I spent most of that (Australian) summer reading Star Trek and listening to Beethoven's Fifth. To this day, every time I hear that Symphony I think of kirk, Scotty, McCoy and the rest (especially Yeoman Janice Rand...).Those were the days before Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Deep space Nine, and Voyager, and so on... so these were the only way we could keep the memory of Star Trek alive. Sure, the stories had their flaws, but a lot of the time the flaws of the story were fewer than the flaws in the original shows. I loved reading them, and when I re-red them recently in e-book format, I loved them all over again.Recommended... nay, required, reading for any trekker. ( )

I want to start off by saying that to really enjoy these Star Trek books, you need to be a fan or have at least watched the original series by Gene Roddenberry. It's assumed you're familiar with the characters and their personalities, and that you will willingly suspend disbelief from beginning to end.

It's a collection of seven short stories and each is an episode with the requisite crisis and the no name guy who always dies on the away mission. Aliens and new planets abound and Spock and McCoy are still at odds. Kirk, good old Kirk. He's the ladies man, the no nonsense captain, and the last word on the Enterprise. And, bonus, he sounds like William Shatner in my head thanks to the show!

Here's what I liked best about these books besides being the fun and quick reads that they are --- the tag lines on each which I plan to share because they're amusing.

Book 1 – Seven tales of intergalactic intrigue
Book 2 – The ultimate trip to worlds beyond
Book 3 – Seven eerie excursions
Book 4 – Dazzling exploits by the dynamic crew of the Enterprise
Book 5 – More thrilling adventures

Well, the fifth is not as entertaining but each title made me giggle and the artwork on each is so retro with floating heads and cheesy moons that it screams Star Trek. I'm finding these short tales very fun and a great little treat for lunch time and train reading. As a side note, in book 3, The Trouble with Tribbles episode makes an appearance. I can't wait. ( )

Blish's short story rewrites of the Original Series Star Trek's scripts are quick, painless reads. They aren't terribly eloquent, since they are based off tv scripts, but they are able to convey some of the more essential Star Trek canon and characterizations in an easy to digest format. ( )