Customer Reviews

The Edge of the Sword: Errand of Vengeance Book One (Star Trek The Original Series)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Star Trek: The Original Series, Errand of Vengeance: The Edge of the Sword by Kevin Ryan is the opening salvo to a great new trilogy. Filled with mystique and intrigue this new series is told from the perspective of the crew, the ones that either live or sometimes die in the service of the mission under the command of Captain James T. Kirk.

These are the best and the brightess the Federation has to offer as their skills are being tested. Yet, this is a story that is more than a typical Star Trek save the galaxy story. The story, so far, is two-fold bringing out a intricately woven plot and sub-plot. First, we have a surgically altered Klingon,(Kell), who is one of the newest security recruits with a misson to kill Captain Kirk, and secondly we have a story about a young Lieutenant West fresh out of the accadamy working in Starfleet command to uncover a way to deal with the Klingon threat of war, or is there something else at Starfleet command that hasn't been told yet... hmmm.

What is so compelling about this series is that the author has tied into the storyline some of the epsodic televison series as we read on in the book. This gives the reader a more robust look into those minor characters of the televison series. Not that they just gave their lives with little or no character development. This book gives insight into some of these people.

The Klingon Empire is working on a build up of forces to go to war with the Federation, but why. This book is a Klingon lovers delight, as we get into the mind-set of how Klingons think. With the infiltration of Starfleet security aboard the Enterprise, Lieutenant Anderson, (Kell), is on away missions, but he has an adgenda to keep. This book is an exceptional book of courage and skill with intrigue. As the book unfolds, you will be captivated and glued to this fascinating story and won't want to put this book down.

Mounting tension is happening all troughout this book, as those who boldly go where no man has gone before, work through adventure and crisis. Keeping the mission at hand and their hidden adgenda balanced till the time is right.

Amazing skill by the author works through this book, keeping the reader captivated. I must say, this is a book that I read cover to cover in one night... too bad I have to wait for the next two installments... but the set-up in this volume has and will keep your interest till they do arrive.

The Errand of Vengeance series is fascinating, so far, with "Killing Blow and River of Blood" coming out soon. I'll see you around for those as well... in the meantime, live long and prosper.

Set during the first five year mission of TOS this tale, for the most part, is told through the eyes of a Klingon infiltrator who has come onboard the USS Enterprise to kill Kirk which makes this book very different from the usual Star Trek novel. The incredible detail and fantastic characterizations make for a book you don't want to end. Luckily there is plenty more story to tell and I for one can't wait for books two and three. Additionally fans of the Klingons will really love this book for the glimpses it provides into Klingon society during that time.

...because these books are more than they appear at first glance. This is the story of a Klingon agent named Kell. Superficially altered to look like a human, Kell is inserted aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise as a security officer under Captain James T. Kirk. It's also the story of a thoroughly brainwashed individual who must come to terms with the fact that his superiors have been wrong in their operative assumptions about humans for years. By showing us the human side of the ubiquitous red uniformed Starfleet security officers through Kell's eyes, Ryan develops a compelling conflict between old beliefs and the evidence of reality. Kell has only his honor. He can make only one choice.

It is beach and beer season, and I need easy-read books that are nevertheless well-written and absorbing. This one fits the bill perfectly. Author Kevin Ryan knows how to write a page-turner, and for those of us who love the "Star Trek" universe, it does not get much better than this.

This story is set in the "Original Series" Star Trek universe in which Captain Kirk and all our other favorites are engaged in the Enterprise's five year mission. Unfortunately, the Federation is on the brink of all-out war with the Klingon Empire. The Klingons are infiltrating surgically-altered spies, who can pass for humans, to assassinate key Federation and Starfleet figures. This story is told from the standpoint of one Lt. Jonathan Anderson, who is one such Klingon operative assigned to infiltrate the Enterprise and assassinate Captain Kirk.

Author Ryan knows the Star Trek universe, and this is a pretty good yarn. The Klingons are always interesting, and Ryan's interpretation of how the Klingons behave is the best I have read in any of the many Star Trek novels. Plus, his characterizations of Starfleet personages are quite good. This all comes together to bring a very engaging read to the reader. This is the first installment of a trilogy (really, two trilogies) and it is a fine read.

I bought this series via my Kindle. It was great being able to finish one novel, and instantaneously download the next installment thereby continuing through the series uninterrupted.

Three stars because while this is a page turner, come on, it is not great literature either. (If I give this one five stars, what do we give "Dune" or "Old Man's War?") That is not a put-down: there is a place in literature for easy, quick, and engaging reads, and this series does the job in, well, a stellar fashion.

This book started out with two strikes against it; it was part of a trilogy, and it focused on a Klingon. Given that I'm NOT one of the multitudes of Klingon fans among current Star Trek afficionados, and I HATE I HATE I HATE stories that end "to be continued" without finishing what they started, I had low expectations here.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when we actually had a story that finished one full plotline, and ended at a perfectly acceptable point, even if there was an overarching continuing subplot in the background, and one that dealt with the Klingon element in a way that could almost make me, a diehard Original-series, Klingons-are-stereotypical-bad-guys kind of guy, appreciate them.

There are several very large holes in the basic concept, that require a bit more suspension of disbelief than I can manage: the central character, Kell, aka Jon Anderson, is a Klingon infiltrator disguised as a human, much like the character in the episode "Trouble With Tribbles". He is surgically altered to "appear" human, even to the point of having his blood's color changed from lavender to red. But he won't be able to pass any examination from a doctor, as his internal anatomy is essentially unchanged and so he has to go to great lengths to avoid sickbay.

Now, how many ways is this silly? Can a person really expect to be assigned to a starship and NOT get a routine physical exam within 48 hours? Given that the answer to this question is "no", would the Klingons really be dumb enough to try this scam? And if this happened BEFORE "Trouble With Tribbles", and if Kell is eventually discovered (granted, he isn't by the end of this book) wouldn't that have caused the Federation to be more diligent in finding disguised Klingons, thus making it even less likely that THAT infiltrator could have succeeded as far as he did? On the other hand, if it happens AFTER that episode, wouldn't they be even more on guard here? All of this makes the main concept EXTREMELY dubious, but it's such a fun story that I'm at least mostly willing to give it a free ride on the issue. It would have been better, though, if it had been explained that the disguise was good enough to fool a routine physical, but a THOROUGH exam would reveal the deception. That would have been plausible, and have made the suspension of disbelief a LITTLE easier.

This is the start of another series about the "crew" although Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. have their fair share of the book.

This story centers around a newly graduated group of Security personell assigned to the Enterprise but one of them has been killed and replaced by an Klingon named Kell. Kell's mission is to kill Kirk and disable the Enterprise because the Klingons are gearing up to resume their war against the Federation. There are also things happening at Star fleet command and on a Klingon ship where Kell's brother is stationed. How Kell doesn't gets detected when he is transported or when a tricorder is used by his landing party trying to find human settlers and Orion pirates is beyond me (although he does avoid exams by Dr McCoy) but I quess he can not be detected early for the story to happen.

I would recommend the book to any Star Trek fan as it was a good book with a somewhat stand alone story although the main thread will be continued into the other 2 books. My main objection was the somewhat excessive overthinking on Kell's part - granted some is needed but not that much. I also think it would be much better to have a bigger book with less filler than dragging it out as a trilogy, particularly since I am ready to read the rest of the story and have no ideal when I will be able to - plus I know it will then be the middle and I will still have to wait longer for the conclusion.

Excellent author. Nice balance of a fresh plot (which lends an interesting perspective) and good solid interaction between the characters. This puts me in mind of another TOS book I enjoyed a great deal...though I can't remember the title--about an angry and unreflective Klingon or Romulan boy who grows to be a wiser soldier and man. That character was almost completely isolated the main characters from the 'regular cast', but I liked the idea of viewing the situation from immersion in the 'enemy' perspective.

I liked this story even more -- because it blends that other perspective more into the series. And this is accomplished by an author who (as someone else remarked) nicely blends in facts and ideas from known events in the TV series.

I wondered, as I read, whether this book was completed before or after 9/11? The book lies on the fine edge of the question: "Why do they hate us so much". We are led to an examination of whether we really understand that hate. This query has risen (in the real world) to a level which we haven't seen since the mid-cold war period that was the context of the original series. The problem is back, and now the inquiry is back.

If that original series was a metaphor for examining causes and perspectives in the cold war, this book certainly seems to mirror the same fundamental question in the more individual context of a individual (or small group) threatening great harm out of great anger. This is NOT launching vast arrays of missles from a great distance....What does Kell believe he 'knows' about the Federation? Who told it to him? Why? And what does he really believe about himself and his culture in relation to his enemies? Is he right about all of his beliefs...or theirs? Can his beliefs and ours co-exist (as eventually happened with both the Russians and the Klingons?) Or is there a fundamental difference that cannot be surmounted presently and therefore must, at least for the time being, be isolated or simply resisted--as was the case with the Soviet Union and M.A.D.?

The author makes a great first step necessary to any epic trilogy...we've met the main character, and found some insight into why he has started his metaphorical 'journey'. Now we have to see him through both understanding of himself and others, and then the confrontation (alone or together with his enemies) of the (yet to be named) ultimate challenge.

In the end I hope that fuller understanding brings at least a tense peace as it usually does in Star Trek, but even if it doesn't -- I'd like to know more about why they hate us so much and how that eventually resolves. Not all is always perfectly resolved. In the Star Trek universe we have sometimes been left with an adversary that is too different or primative or just plain nasty to allow sweetness and light...but like any good metaphor, I always come away with interesting questions and insights.

I've recently gone back through all my TOS novels, and I have almost all except the rarest from the 60s, and read them in the order written. To my dismay, around about the late 80s the books seemed to lose their heart.

Then I got around to this novel. Oh how I loved John Ford's The Final Reflection, and didn't expect to like this in comparison. I'm not a huge Klingon fan either, but to my surprise I fell in love with this book. It embodies everything I love about the Star Trek series, the camaraderie and sense of connectedness, the introspection and sense of learning, the adventure and courage men and women show under the bleakest circumstances, the respect for all points of view, and the way people change when faced with all of these.

What amazed me was that the book really didn't contain much of my favorite characters. It was about the red shirts, and a Klingon who infiltrates them (yes, there are plot holes, but they're forgivable ones). It's original in its scope, and it's fascinating to see it all through the eyes of a being from another culture. We learn a lot about the Klingons and about ourselves.

This was the rich sort of experience I want from Star Trek books. If you're like me and love all those older stories, I heartily recommend picking this one up.

This book was very enjoyable. It shows how Kell, a Klingon infiltrator, learns that the humans are not as cowardly and deceptive as people may think. He learns that Captain James T. Kirk is not a coward as his people think, and that Kirk has the same honor as Kahless. Once Kell learns this, he dreads completing his mission, which is kill Captain Kirk.

A superbly well-written story, that sucks you in and gets you seeing Star Fleet through Klingon eyes a little more. Only 1 major beef: it took 3 years to get the sequel trilogy to the newstands!(Errand of Fury, Book 1 Seeds of Rage). Definitely a great Star Trek book for Original Series and Klingon fans. The way he starts the buildup to Star Trek V is masterful. Lots of good battle stuff, and NO HOLODECKS or overly sensitive politically correct Picard-crew types.