Triangle

A re-read for me, and one for my TBRR challenge. It takes place in several different dimensions and planets, and also deals with another half-human, half-Zaran Free Agent of the Federation. She is female and that fact features prominently in both the societal structure of Zaran and in the personalities of Spock and Kirk. There is also the promise of One-Ness that is presented to the Federation, either as the One-ness of Ambassador Gailbraith, or through the Totality mandated by Soljenov, a former dictator on old Earth.

The story idea is good and takes place after the first movie was released (Spock's almost-all-logic quest is mentioned several times, as is Kirk's attempt at Admiralty). But the emphasis is almost exclusively on Kirk, show more Spock, and Sola as well as the pull of the One-ness, and there are times when the un-written writing becomes confusing. I found that same style in the "New Voyages 2" stories written by this team; it almost seems that they know what they want to say and the audience will need to fill in the gaps. So there are those two flaws that made my review be 3 instead of 4 stars. show less

Sola Thane is exotically beautiful, a secret agent, a great hunter, spends most of the book half-naked - and she is the most powerful telepath in the galaxy. If, that is, she finds her Soul Mate. Who is Kirk AND Spock at the same time. Because of course. After those two spend a mind-numbing eternity pushing her to and fro like the last slice of pizza, each far too noble to claim her for himself - "You take her." "I couldn't possibly. You take her." "I'm good. You take her." - it is finally revealed that she is also the macguffin in the plan of an evil hive mind to take over the galaxy. Can Kirk, Spock and Thane figure out their love triangle and save the galaxy?

Well yeah, of course they bloody can. Just takes them 188 pages of intensely show more purple prose to get there. show less

Blerg. I usually find Marshak and Culbreath's Star Trek books to be delightfully thinky and fun. Not so Triangle. I felt maddeningly out of the loop most of the time, as if the book were a continuation of a previous story I hadn't read; I didn't understand what was so special about the heroine that both Spock and Kirk were irrevocably drawn to her (and why she to them?); and the villains, two groups sharing collective consciousnesses (the Oneness and the Totality), were not drawn well enough to be interesting as villains nor considered thoroughly enough to provide the thinky back-drop they clearly were meant to. This would have been a two-star read if it hadn't been for the last thirty-or-so pages, where a partially satisfying test of show more Oneness versus love among individuals plays out. show less

This novel follows Black Fire, which I recently read, in the Timescape/Pocket book series of Star Trek novels. This one is set sometime not long after the events of Star Trek the Motion Picture, the first film that gave new life to the TV series franchise. I must say I have a hard time rating this story. The characters for the most part feel very authentic. The writers clearly know the shows and the characters and their history very well. The story however started off very poorly for me. I can see some readers throwing this in the trash. I seriously thought about quitting it about 75 pages in. I thought it was going to get better and then it went to this ridiculous (to me) love triangle bit. The story is written as if the reader has show more already some familiarity with a central character, Sola Thane, as well as some understanding of a cult-like New Human "Oneness" and another, the "Totality." As near as I can tell this novel is not actually a sequel or follow-up to some prior work. The bad romance novel stuff in here threatened to gag me - I had enough of Kirk being the irresistible babe magnet in the TV series - now they lust for him across species and across the galaxy. There is more here that I won't bother to mention, and some characters and ideas that could have been developed a lot better. There's a lot of philosophizing in here that I read as nonsense. I can't recommend this to anyone. show less

Lo and behold, I made it through a Marshak & Culbreath! Mostly because this features my favorite thing - people who really ought to be in a happy triad. I've loved it ever since I came up with using it in my 1D fanfic. Sadly, this still is not a good book. I don't get their sexual or gender politics at all.

Another fine work by this writing duo, which introduces a memorable new character - Free Agent Sola Than, with whom Kirk - and Spock, fall deeply in love. The trio must find a way to contend against the totality, an emerging group-mind which is impending upon taking over the galaxy, either by its own attractions or by force. The authors do a fine job of balancing the temptations and repugnance of the group-mind, which is beginning to draw in Enterprise crewmembers. They also do a fine job of exploring and resolving, without copout, the triangle of Kirk, Spock and Sola Than.

This is the first Star Trek book I ever read. I was 12 years old and I was in the grocery store with my mom and I saw the book on the rack and asked if I could have it. She bought it for me and from there I became a Trekker and started reading everything Star Trek that I could find. This was also the point where I started actively watching Star Trek on TV after church each Sunday. This book changed my life in that sense.