Strangers from the Sky
by Margaret Wander Bonanno
Star Trek (novels) (1987.07), Star Trek (1987.07), Star Trek: The Original Series (Unnumbered novels — 1987)
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In the twenty-first century humanity has united after countless years of warfare, and turns toward the stars. But when an alien spacecraft crashlands in the South Pacific bearing visitors from another world, the Vulcans, Earth must decide whether to extend the hand of friendship, or the fist of war. In the distant future, horrible dreams torment Admiral James T. Kirk, dreams prompted by his reading of Strangers From the Sky, a book about that historic first contact. He dreams of an alternate show more reality where he somehow changed the course of history, and destroyed the Federation before it began. show lessTags
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aulsmith Good Spock time travel stories.
Member Reviews
Thank you, Margaret Wander Bonanno! When one Star Trek novel lets you down, another restores your faith in published fan fiction. Apparently, this novel belongs to the same series as Vonda McIntyre's First Adventure, but I actually loved this 'gap filler', which alternates between a young Kirk and crew from 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' in the first series to the older and wiser characters of the films. I even enjoyed the establishing chapters, drawing together irascible first officer Melody Sawyer and her captain with kelp farmers Tatya and Yoshi over the crash-landing of a Vulcan craft, and original characters usually bore me silly.
Bonanno's love of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, however, was all that was needed to completely win me over. show more Here is a woman who understands the magic of the characters and the show! The bond - the 'silver link' - between Kirk and Spock is beautifully drawn upon, hinting at 'the story of this human and a certain Vulcan' without getting too slashy. And the complexity of Kirk's personality is respected, not dumbed down to the level of popular stereotype. I loved the creative 'missing mission' chapters with Gary Mitchell, Elizabeth Dehner and Lee Kelso, too, showing Kirk in transition from edgy young captain to confident, trusted leader. I could have lived without the meddling wizard, but Spock's time with his ancestor was touching, and the multiple threads of the story tied neatly together in the end. show less
Bonanno's love of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, however, was all that was needed to completely win me over. show more Here is a woman who understands the magic of the characters and the show! The bond - the 'silver link' - between Kirk and Spock is beautifully drawn upon, hinting at 'the story of this human and a certain Vulcan' without getting too slashy. And the complexity of Kirk's personality is respected, not dumbed down to the level of popular stereotype. I loved the creative 'missing mission' chapters with Gary Mitchell, Elizabeth Dehner and Lee Kelso, too, showing Kirk in transition from edgy young captain to confident, trusted leader. I could have lived without the meddling wizard, but Spock's time with his ancestor was touching, and the multiple threads of the story tied neatly together in the end. show less
A "giant" Star Trek book (it says so on the cover!) that delivers fairly well on the higher stakes and grander narrative that the long ST novels promise. This one is a book within a book and works fairly well as such. The plot involves Earth's First Contact with Vulcans (the book predates the TNG movie First Contact and tells a more interesting story, I think). A thoroughly enjoyable read with good characterization of ST staple characters and fantastic original characters but falls well short of five-star territory for a somewhat anti-climatic ending.
Really enjoyed this one! It totally contradicts tons of stuff in the TNG movies about first contact, but I don't care—it was a fun ride. I particularly liked how it tied in some specific TOS episodes with much later events of the films.
Golden Age Trek
There's a window in time when the Trek novels were more unencumbered by editorial oversight, story arcs and trying to be more canonical - and this is a novel from that era. Really kind of quirky in many ways (there's magic, for one!), but still a fun story. [Not a complaint about the current state of Trek literature - just an observation.]
I'd read this long ago, but picked up the abridged audio version with great voice work from George Takei and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. There's sound effects too! Not your serious full text audio book, almost more of a radio play - but *I* liked it.
There's a window in time when the Trek novels were more unencumbered by editorial oversight, story arcs and trying to be more canonical - and this is a novel from that era. Really kind of quirky in many ways (there's magic, for one!), but still a fun story. [Not a complaint about the current state of Trek literature - just an observation.]
I'd read this long ago, but picked up the abridged audio version with great voice work from George Takei and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. There's sound effects too! Not your serious full text audio book, almost more of a radio play - but *I* liked it.
This is one of those rare times when I pull a beloved book off my shelf and end up thinking less of the tome than I did on my previous readings. Strangers is a Star Trek novel, telling of a first contact between Vulcans and Humans. (This was written before the movie Star Trek: First Contact, so now we know that this story never really happened.)(Well, you know what I mean.) Like the movie, it wasn't enough to simply present the tale of this event. The author also had to include time travelling members of the Enterprise crew, in this case, from the original series. In the past, I enjoyed the cultural anxiety of the encounter and the building drama of the story. This time around, I also (eventually) got caught up in the plot, but I spent show more far too much time noticing the clichés and two dimensional characters. I may hang onto the book out of nostalgia, but I really couldn't recommend that any one else pick it up outside of the waiting room.
--J. show less
--J. show less
Much better than Enterprise, in that the characters have adult points of view and reactions to other characters, even though much of it takes place in (roughly) the same era of Kirk's command.
The book is split into 2 parts: Book I and Book II. Book I felt like so much exposition and dead weight. Jumping straight into the action of the far more interesting Book II would have made for a tighter whole.
The book is split into 2 parts: Book I and Book II. Book I felt like so much exposition and dead weight. Jumping straight into the action of the far more interesting Book II would have made for a tighter whole.
A fine and intriguing Star Trek novel, about the actual first encounter between Earth and Vulcan, which took place unknown to the general population years before the legendary meeting. First Contact was not as peaceful or problem-free as was generally thought, and Kirk and crew find themselves in the thick of it. A fine treatment of the differences between Vulcan and Human, both in temperament and philosophy.
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- Canonical title
- Strangers from the Sky
- Original title
- Star Trek: Strangers From the Sky
- Alternate titles
- Star Trek: Strangers From the Sky; Star Trek - die Anfänge, Teil: Bd. 2., Fremde vom Himmel
- Original publication date
- 1987-07 (eng.) (eng.); 1990 (deu.) (deu.)
- People/Characters
- James T. Kirk; Spock; Leonard McCoy; Gary Mitchell; Lee Kelso; Elizabeth Dehner (show all 13); Mark Piper; Montgomery Scott; John Kyle; Heihachiro Nogura; Nyota Uhura; Cleante al-Faisal; T'Shael
- Important places
- Earth; USS Enterprise NCC-1701
- Dedication
- Dedicated to my "crew":
For Russell, Danielle and Michaelangelo
("For nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans...") - First words
- Prologue: Leonard McCoy was lost in the twenty-first century.
Tayla raised herself on one elbow and gaped through the sleeping-room port at the night sky, her china-blue eyes wide. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)A Vulcan's strong and gentle fingers, touched with the soil of his ancestral Earth, reverently cradled the symbol of peace.
- Publisher's editor
- Stern, Dave
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- Reviews
- 11
- Rating
- (3.82)
- Languages
- Czech, English, German
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 9