7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The real McCoy would not lose his marbles so easily, November 13, 2006
In my opinion, this is not one of the better Star Trek novels. A new and dangerous species enters Federation space and is able to take control of humanoids (including Klingons) and make them operate against their will. Because the creatures have a resemblance to ravens, that quickly becomes the way humans refer to them. Unfortunately, McCoy suffers a knock on the head and reverts back to the time when he had just become a doctor. Devoid of all his experience, he is of little help to Kirk and the Enterprise, often becoming a hindrance due to his inability to deal with situations.
Kirk, Spock and the remaining medical personnel try everything they can to get McCoy to recover, but he shows his characteristic stubbornness and remains in his backward mental state. Of course, despite the odds, with the help of the Klingons, the Enterprise emerges victorious.
There are two things that made me dislike the story:
*) The fact that McCoy so easily lost his mind. The chief medical officer of a starship would have undergone an enormous battery of psychological tests before ever leaving Earth. To think that a simple head injury would have caused him to revert to a young age is absurd. Despite the superficial appearance of being emotionally flighty, McCoy would be an anchor of emotional and psychological stability.
*) Once he reverts to his earlier age, McCoy acts so foolishly. At the age where he is portrayed he was very successful in medical school and preparing to join Starfleet. There is no way such a man could act so stupidly.
The great advantage that the writers of Star trek novels have is that they have an entire universe to pull their story lines from. To use the timeworn device of a bump on the head and memory loss just seems so weak in this environment.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
kirk versus the super alien., July 28, 1997
By A Customer
This is one of the more forgettable novels of the Star Trek: The Original Series. It is predictable and rehashes an old storyline.
Buy only after you have read all the other novels in the series.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, July 7, 2009
This wasn't a bad novel, it had an interesting plot and it revealed some background information about the main characters, especially McCoy. The thing is - I didn't like Dr McCoy as Carter portrayed him. It was really hard for me to find any sympathy for him. I understand that his personality changed but the author could have still made him more likable. Acerbic is one thing, whiny something completely different.
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