Customer Reviews

DWELLERS IN THE CRUCIBLE (CLASSIC STAR TREK 25)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book to be absorbing;brutal at times. There were parts I found difficult to read. However, the growth of the friendship, the bond between the two women;the understanding of the word t'hy'la;the sacrifices they made for each other and the obvious parallels between the Spock and Kirk relationship are evident yet not handled in a heavy-handed manner. Truly believable. It was interesting to see a book which did not have the Enterprise crew as the main focus. It allowed for that which should exist in a books;a particular uncertainty as to outcome. This made the book even more interesting. However, that was before Paramount began its "guidelines" of what it would and would not accept. Happily, this marvelous book;a true expression of IDIC was written before this occured and can still be enjoyed. It introduced a wonderful new writer (at the time) Margaret Wander Bonanno. I highly recommend this book despite the difficulty in finding it. A caveat, however, there are scenes of violence and brutality which have made certain portions difficult to re-read. It's main message,however, is the importance of friendship in a brutal situation and the concept that love can transcend hatred and brutality. Perhaps, there is hope for us yet.

The two previous reviewers just about said it all, and I can't add much more than my endorsement of this book. I read this book for the first time when it was first released, and it has yet to be surpassed by any other Trek book I've read since. Like the previous reviewer pointed out, it was written before the writers' guidelines were established for Trek novels, and the result is an engaging, original story. I wish Pocket Books would throw out the formula guidelines and bring us more books like this one.

I also enjoyed Margaret's book co-authored with Nichelle Nichols, "Saturn's Child", and look forward to its upcoming sequel.

It is a shame that Dwellers in the Crucible is no longer in print. This novel is not only a fine Star Trek novel, it is an excellent piece of literary art. As is true for many of the first Star Trek novels, Dwellers was written before Paramount enfranchised Star Trek and issued content guidelines for the book series. Therefore it does not suffer from the "canned" and commercial feel typical of the more recent entries in this series.

Dwellers introduces two new characters, Cleante al-Faisal and T'Shael, students at the academy on Vulcan. This story explores their developing relationship, their relationships with their families, and the differences and similarities between human and Vulcan cultures. This story also deals with the trauma experienced by victims of violence. Cleante and T'Shael, as well as several other students, are kidnapped and tortured. As they experience personal horrors, their somewhat cool initial relationship changes--becoming deeper and stronger and altruistic.

While set in the Star Trek universe, this story easily stands on its own as a marvelous piece of literary art and should not be lightly brushed off as pulp fiction. Margaret Wander Bononno crafted an excellent tale that captures reader's heart and will set your emotions rocketing on a rollercoaster ride as you experience first-hand their nightmare of violence and the joys of their developing friendship.

Definitely worth hunting for in a used bookstore.

This is the ONLY book i have ever read that brought me to tears. It has NOTHING to do with star trek, so if you don't like "trek" books your safe to buy this.

I can't believe pocket isn't reissueing this book like mad, it is SO overlooked.

it saddened me to see that this book is no longer in print. it has to be the best star trek book ive ever read. it chronicles the life of 2 people, one human and one vulcan and their very diffrent lifes and how through everything from their being kidnapped by klingons and romulans to life and death situations their friendship grows stronger still. anyone that likes the relationship between kirk and spock will truly love this book.

I read this book at a library and then had to spend a bit of time tracking it down again, as it had gone out of print.

The book is about a young human woman and young Vulcan woman who become friends depsite both of their initial antipathy towards each other. Their relationship mirrors Kirk and Spock's in many ways.

The female protagonist's relationship is not sexual, but it is very intense, and there is much discussion of love, familial, platonic, and ambiguous. The book has DEFINITE overtones of same-sex bonding, if not more. It would be interesting to see what the author would say about it, given the changed political climate over the last 22 years since the original publication.

It's been a long while since I've read a Star Trek novel..I got my hands on many of the classic series several years ago and read through the first two dozen but then got caught up in other genres, authors, etc, etc...Refreshing myself with the entirety of the Next Generation show has gotten me back into it so I picked up where I left off..

I was of split opinion about halfway through...to summarize, Several Warrantors of peace have been kidnapped by the Klingons and Romulans in order to 'tear apart the Federation from the inside!'..well, that's what the book jacket synopsis says anyway..

yes, there are kidnappings..but the true motivation of the kidnappers really isn't touched upon very much in the book..the book really deals with a pairing we're all quite familiar with as Trek fans...the unlikely friendship between Vulcan and Human, in this case two females..and when the motivations do come to light they seem a little weak compared to how the book is billed

The book goes steadily from their captivation on a remote planet, flashing back on how their relationship came to be in the first place..if you're looking for heavy doses of Kirk and crew, you won't find it here..they're in the book surely, but I was at first let down by their limited page time...

In addition I found the book's dialogue to be a little over dramatic at times..there's a lot of 'oh (insert character's name here), I'm so sorry!!!!' and the like..almost seems forced with exclamation points in nearly every segment of dialogue =) nit picking surely, but those are my impressions anyway

overall though, I found that despite the lack of a strict central plot of trying to 'tear the federation apart from within!' and also the lack of our beloved Enterprise crew throughout most of the book, the back story of the unlikely human and vulcan friends is quite interesting

In order to maintain peace high ranking Federation diplomats and officals left hostages, known as 'Warrantors of Peace' in an enclave. Anyone who violated the peace knew that the first victim would be his own hostage, usually a close family member.

Two of these 'Warrantors' were a two young women, one human, the other Vulcan, who begin a friendship one that closely parallels that of Kirk and Spock. The two women, along with four other Warrantors, were kidnapped and held hostage for many months, until the survivors were finally released. The story focuses primarily on the hostages rather than the Enterprise crew, although Sulu does have an interesting sub-plot. In fact the novel could be rewritten without the Trek elements and still be essentially the same story, and just as good. Those who like their Trek stories full of action and/or focused on Kirk/Spock/McCoy will be disappointed with this one though.

While this is an intriguing story, one that is difficult to forget, it is not without it's flaws. The final relationship between the two women is rather unclear. Also the whole concept of relatives-as-hostages seems a bit odd and quite impractable.

This is one of the earlier novel in the Star Trek tie-in series (#25 published in 1985), and is of a much more adult nature than many of the later volumes. It is 'R' rated material due to sexual content and adult themes.

This book might have made me gay. And even if it wasn't singlehandedly responsible, the fervid description of two women deeply committed to each other in a mutually self-sacrificial relationship definitely gave me a future model for romance. (Much to the chagrin of my therapist.)

Although I loved Star Trek as a child and read the entire Pocket Books series, my affection for this novel had nothing to do with our fearless comrades of the NCC-1701 and everything to do with the pulpy cover art, classic girls-behind-bars motif and solid writing by Wander Bonanno. It's worth looking up for all these reasons and would make an excellent gift for the adult lesbian Trek nerds in your life.