The Double Vision of Star Trek: Half-Humans, Evil Twins, and Science Fiction [Paperback]

Mike Hertenstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

Star Trek is an unavoidable presence in contemporary culture; one which many have tried to explain away as modern mythology, juvenile fantasy, or futuristic morality plays. What most commentators have missed is the striking aspect of Trek's vision: its doubleness. This vision of a brighter tomorrow is tom by internal conflicts, a double-mindedness its own creator would not admit of logic vs. emotion, body vs. soul, individual vs. community, tolerance vs. morality, reality vs. holodeck, knowledge vs. mystery, science vs. fiction Author Mike Hertenstein plots a course to examine the alternative and parallel universes of Star Trek.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In a valuable critique of all the Star Trek variants, Hertenstein effectively deals with the many series' problems. He notes, for instance, that when any ST troupe finds itself in trouble (no hope of escape, whole galaxy at stake, etc.), it usually falls back on a technical miracle, and he lists the five ways technical miracles occur. He also explores character flaws and the United Federation of Planets' revered Prime Directive, meant to prevent imperialist meddling in the development or culture of other civilizations. All the denizens of the ST universe, however, constantly break that law. Captain Kirk, to take one flawed character, is constantly "helping" cultures (Hertenstein cites occasions of violation exhaustively). Seems federation interference is paternalistic: it is OK to trash the most important ethical tenet to liberate a people or in self-defense. This excellent overview will probably spark a lot of fan discussion. Should it be the next addition to the Star Trek shelf? Make it so. Jeff Ahrens

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Cornerstone Pr Chicago (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940895420
• ISBN-13: 978-0940895423
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,952,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Half-humans? More like half-baked ..., April 17, 1999

By 

Douglas M. Keenan (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Double Vision of Star Trek: Half-Humans, Evil Twins, and Science Fiction (Paperback)

Though it's not marketed as such, this book comes across as a Christian counter-rant to some of Roddenberry's humanist ravings while neglecting its ostensible subject - Star Trek. The philosophical arguments often develop with promise but eventually end up shallow and unsatisfying. Title and other reference errors are rampant and distracting (actress Jane *Wyatt* played Spock's mother, not Jane *Wyman*), and a few episodes are whipped to death while neglecting the lion's share of Trek material. Though a few points are provocative the first time one reads them, by the third or fourth pass the luster has gone and as a result the book is about a hundred pages too heavy. It could have used a good editor to tighten it up, preferably someone familiar with the material. (Surprisingly, Phil Farrand - Trek nitpicker supreme - has a blurb on the back. Must have been a bad day when he reviewed it to let some of the screamers through!) The wearisome tirade about some "anti-religious bias" the author invents could be quickly dissolved with a few episodic references the author neglected either from carelessness or perhaps desperation to grind an axe. That struck me - as a long time Star Trekker who "finds the One, quite sufficient" <TOS: "Who Mourns..."> - as a disappointing shame.

Anyway, what starts out as a promising effort soon peters out into tepid Christian apologetics and inexplicable reviews of CS Lewis. If you've read other meta-Trek books you've seen the highlights before - save your money for Krauss' work, or the cast biographies instead.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trek as a way of life? Read this book first, October 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Double Vision of Star Trek: Half-Humans, Evil Twins, and Science Fiction (Paperback)

Hertenstein's examination of the Star Trek "philosophy" and its internal contradictions is vastly entertaining and informative. You don't have to be a Christian (as Hertenstein is, and I am) to notice a certain discontinuity between IDIC and resisting the Borg.

Make no mistake--my own worldview owes a lot to Star Trek, and the crew of the Enterprise helped give me my fascination for things technical. But a consistent, grand vision of the universe it isn't, Roddenberry's grandiose dreams not withstanding. (Read Solow and Justman's book if you don't believe me.)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy for non-philosophers, August 18, 1999

By 

Markus A. Wolf "captcrouton" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Double Vision of Star Trek: Half-Humans, Evil Twins, and Science Fiction (Paperback)

Thoughtful reading for sci-fi fans. As a pick and choose Star Trek spectator, (I prefer TNG) I found it a great oops-it's-one-thirty-in-the-morning read. It may be a bit deep for some, and downright offensive to the religious intolerant and those who worship Roddenberry and his philosophies, but a view I've never seen before of the Trek Universe.