World Without End
by Joe Haldeman
Raumschiff Enterprise [Goldmann] (21), Star Trek Adventures (Bantam) (11), Star Trek Adventures (Titan) (12), Star Trek (novels) (1979.02), Star Trek (1979.02)
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As Captain Kirk and members of his landing party are held prisoner aboard an alien planetoid, the Enterprise, ensared in a trap, loses power and begins to descend on a collision course with the planetoid.Tags
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Member Reviews
The Enterprise encounters--you'll never guess--a hollow asteroid that is really a spaceship with people inside who don't know that there's an outside world. Meanwhile, the ship gets stuck, Klingons show up to threaten them, and in the end Kirk confronts something like a god-computer.
Yeah, it's not really original, in the larger motions of the plot. However, the little details are done very well. The society in the asteroid is interesting, the mysteries are intriguing, and the sense of danger and urgency is convincing. Even though part of the urgency is provided by a literal ticking time bomb, it's well handled. An enjoyable book.
In the author's note at the end, Haldeman writes that this is "probably [his] last Star Trek book":
In fact, Haldeman didn't want to write this Trek book, but he couldn't get out of his contract:
Count me among those who liked the second book better!
Also, good odds on that Sheila Clark being this Sheila Clark, yeah? show less
Yeah, it's not really original, in the larger motions of the plot. However, the little details are done very well. The society in the asteroid is interesting, the mysteries are intriguing, and the sense of danger and urgency is convincing. Even though part of the urgency is provided by a literal ticking time bomb, it's well handled. An enjoyable book.
In the author's note at the end, Haldeman writes that this is "probably [his] last Star Trek book":
Sinceshow more
this is probably my last Star Trek book, I ought to take a page and thank the people who helped me with both of them: the Science Fiction League of Iowa Students, especially Sue Weinberg, who helped keep my stories consistent with the TV series (I was overseas when most of it was aired); Miss Sheila Clark, who supplied authentic dialect for Scotty; Dr. Gregory Benford, who helped me figure out what happens to bodies of water inside a planetoid such as the one in World Without End; Gay and Sydny, for quiet patience; Gene Roddenberry, who not only let me take liberties with his creations, but even suggested a few. World Without End (1979-02), 149
In fact, Haldeman didn't want to write this Trek book, but he couldn't get out of his contract:
The end result was that I really enjoyed writing Planet of Judgment, and finished it in three months. Writing World Without End was like pulling your own teeth, and it took nine months. (Oddly enough, I’ve met people who liked the second book better. I certainly worked harder on it!) Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion (2006-11-14)
Count me among those who liked the second book better!
Also, good odds on that Sheila Clark being this Sheila Clark, yeah? show less
This is Joe Haldeman's second Star Trek novel. I haven't read the first, but in the light of this one, I would.
Comparing this to Blish's Star Trek efforts is interesting: Haldeman handles the characters just as well, introduces interesting SF ideas just as deftly and gives some secondary characters more to do than they have in the TV show - which Blish also does. Yet you'd never mistake this for a Blish novel; no plot points hinging on James Joyce or knowledge of molecular biology here. Haldeman manages to dump the crew of the Enterprise in an extra-ordinary pickle. The thing is not whether they will get out of it, you know they will, but how are they going to get out of it? Further, there is more than one source of danger. This always show more seems to work better. For instance, in the film Alien, a considerable part of the troubles for the Nostromo's crew come not from the Alien but from the android and that is, for me, a considerable factor in why it is widely considered one of the greatest monster movies ever made.
Fun. show less
Comparing this to Blish's Star Trek efforts is interesting: Haldeman handles the characters just as well, introduces interesting SF ideas just as deftly and gives some secondary characters more to do than they have in the TV show - which Blish also does. Yet you'd never mistake this for a Blish novel; no plot points hinging on James Joyce or knowledge of molecular biology here. Haldeman manages to dump the crew of the Enterprise in an extra-ordinary pickle. The thing is not whether they will get out of it, you know they will, but how are they going to get out of it? Further, there is more than one source of danger. This always show more seems to work better. For instance, in the film Alien, a considerable part of the troubles for the Nostromo's crew come not from the Alien but from the android and that is, for me, a considerable factor in why it is widely considered one of the greatest monster movies ever made.
Fun. show less
Who's surprised that this was a good one? Very reminiscent of much older sci fi (like, Radium Age sci fi). Also features weird interpretation of the Klingons, but this time I feel like they could be real Klingons, like, it's a reasonable thing that that could be a direction the Klingons could go and not suck. Hooray for Joe!
Pulp/ genre fiction. Nothing wrong with it, but not recommended except to completist fans as it just skimmed the characters and ideas, and didn't resonate or provoke. There was one attempt, as the author had Uhura 'remember' a relevant Bantu folk story, but it felt as contrived as I'm sure it was.
The Enterprise, and a Klingon ship, confront a hollow artificial world inhabited by furry winged creatures with apparent magical powers. It eventually transpires that the world itself is an intelligent being of vast power. Interesting, but that's all.
Decent fiction, good fun.
(8/10)
(8/10)
I preferred the show over reading the stories.
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Author Information
198+ Works 30,932 Members
Joe Haldeman has uniquely blended a strong interest in astronomy and with his love for writing to publish numerous novels, anthologies and short stories over three decades. He holds a B.S. in astronomy from the University of Maryland (1967), and an M.F.A. in English from the Iowa Writers Workshop (1975). An adjunct professor at Massachusetts show more Institute of Technology, Haldeman has also taught at Michigan State, Larion West Seattle, SUNY Buffalo, Princeton, University of North Dakota, Kent State and the University of North Florida Haldeman's works include War Year (1972), The Forever War (1975), Worlds (1981), Worlds Apart (1983), Tools of the Trade (1987), and The Hemingway Hoax (1990). He has also co-authored and edited numerous works of science fiction. Born in Oklahoma on June 9, 1943, Haldeman grew up in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington D.C., and Alaska. He was drafted into the military in 1967, fighting in the Central Highlands of Vietnam as a combat engineer with the 4th Division (1/22nd Airmobile Battalion), for which he received the Purple Heart, among other medals. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Raumschiff Enterprise [Goldmann]
46 works (21)
Star Trek Adventures (Bantam)
16 works (11)
Star Trek Adventures (Titan)
12 works (12)
Star Trek (novels)
627 works (1979.02)
Star Trek
1004 works (1979.02)
Belongs to Publisher Series
Goldmann Science Fiction (23613)
Work Relationships
Is abridged in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- World Without End
- Original title
- World Without End
- Alternate titles
- Star Trek: World Without End
- Original publication date
- 1979-02 (eng.) (eng.)
- People/Characters
- Martin Larousse; Spock; James T. Kirk; Nyota Uhura; Montgomery Scott; Fitzsimmons (show all 23); Leonard McCoy; "Tuck" Wilson; Moore; Hikaru Sulu; Jacobs; Sydny; Masters; W'Chaal; Glak Soñ; Pavel Chekov; Gary; Kulain; Kal; Park Tinney; Karez; T'Lallis; T'oomi
- First words
- Gwenda was eight years old, but she was not afraid of the dark
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"One of us is learning something."
- Publisher's editor*
- Schelwokat, Günter M.
- Original language*
- Englisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 491
- Popularity
- 61,510
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.16)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 8
