Ice Trap

This book is ACTION-PACKED. Totally nonstop crashes, fights, submarine dramas, "icequakes," murders, etc. Features some aliens who are kind of an inuit stereotype, but I don't know enough about it to know if it would be overtly offensive. Had some good McCoy characterization. All in all, middling, but at least—ACTION PACKED!

A standard sort of Star Trek adventure, where the "hook" is the locale: an ice-bound world where the conditions are as great a danger as any of the humanoid antagonists Kirk and crew must face.

This was recommended to me by a friend and represents my first foray into Star Trek books. I must say that this was a good book to use as a starter. I enjoyed it completely, regardless of whether it was any good or not. I liked the characterizations and I had fun reading the story. I can't wait to read more ST books, to be completely honest.

Can't stand the Noble Savage treatment of the "natives." Didn't like Uhura and Chekov always bickering about command decisions, especially in front of crew and scientists. Didn't like how McCoy spent an awful lot of energy admiring the leadership skills of Kirk. Didn't like how 'adventurous' it is - but then, I get bored during chase and fight scenes in movies, too.

Did like that there was a bit of humor to leaven things. Did like the *attempt* to feature less-often featured characters. Did like the pay-off well enough.

But still, if not for the fact that I've read many even worse books for which I reserve the one-star rating, I'd probably round down from 1.5 for this.

First off, nobody with a grade-school brain should have any trouble solving the (both the neurological and the geological) punchlines of this novel. Not a terribly complex number of variables in that equation. Second, the plot was boring. I'm trying to think of a character or a dialogue or something I especially liked, and I'm drawing a blank. Maybe that the natives called aliens "from beyond the aurora".