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The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek)

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Greg Cox's delightful 'The Eugenics Wars' explains why Earth history as detailed on Star Trek seems different from Earth history as we lived through it from the late 1960s to the end of the last millennium. It's not because the Trek writers guessed wrong, but because most of us have no idea of the influence Gary Seven and his colleagues exerted on global affairs. This hilarious rewriting of current events, which covers most of the period from Watergate to the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavik, follows the secret agent from 'Assignment: Earth,' his associate Roberta Lincoln and his mysterious feline Isis as they try to protect humanity from its own self-destructive impulses.

In this case, the efforts of Seven, Lincoln and Isis center on a genetic engineering project called Chrysalis, which will ultimately produce Khan Noonien Singh's crew from 'Space Seed' (and later 'The Wrath of Khan'). However, one doesn't need to have seen the episode or the film to enjoy this novel -- in fact, one doesn't even really need to be a Star Trek fan, though numerous references to the series and its characters keep regular viewers entertained. There's enough mystery, intrigue and humor to make this book successful with any reader who enjoys stylized spy novel drama.

The Eugenics Wars begins with a framing story in which Kirk and his crew must negotiate with a colony that practices genetic engineering on humans. This volatile situation inspires the captain to do some research into historical records for the late 20th century, when a group of genetically engineered super-humans attempted a global coup and were secretly launched into space when their efforts failed. The real story opens with Roberta Lincoln in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, wishing she could be more like Emma Peel as she attempts to elude East German psychopaths during a Cold War raid on the Russian Embassy. Her boss, Gary Seven, has recently discovered evidence of a massive genetic engineering project that has recruited the best scientists of a generation, and although Roberta resents his extraterrestrial superiors' meddling in human affairs, she understands enough about the potential hazards to help infiltrate Project Chrysalis.

Chrysalis' attempts to improve the human genome take place in a secret complex beneath India's Great Thar Desert, under the guidance of a brilliant scientist named Sarina Kaur. Unfortunately, Kaur has a megalomaniacal streak to go along with her belief in aristocratic government; as she works to breed a better sort of human, she also tries to develop a flesh-eating streptococcus bacterium to wipe out the billions of lesser men and women cluttering the planet. By tracking the specialized equipment sought by Chrysalis, Gary Seven has developed a pretty good sense of Kaur's plans for world domination. While he follows the lab equipment to its hidden destination, Roberta and Isis infiltrate Chrysalis by posing as a progressive geneticist and her pet cat. Soon they all realize the extent of the threat posed by Chrysalis and its offspring, but Kaur's ruthless ambitions for her son "Noon" and the other selectively bred wunderkind won't easily be deterred, not even by an alien-reared human and a woman who can turn into a cat.

Against this backdrop, the better-known history of last 30 years plays out as expected. In addition to his knowledge of Romulan and Borg genetic experiments, Seven uses dividends from investments into Kodak and cell phone technology to assist his research. Roberta reads Jonathan Livingston Seagull to ward off boredom and compares the Chrysalis cover-up to Watergate. As events unfold, she does some female bonding with marine biologist Gillian Taylor before the latter vanishes into the future along with a pair of whales. Roberta also meets Kathryn Janeway's ancestor Shannon O'Donnell during the engineer's tenure at Area 51, but the circumstances aren't the best, for Roberta has come to retrieve the equipment left behind by Chekov in Alameda.

Numerous Trek characters receive mention alongside Sally Ride, Louise Brown, Michael Crichton and dozens of other familiar names from real life. Young Khan's life is shaped by familiar history as well; anti-Sikh prejudice in Delhi and the disastrous chemical spill in Bhopal have a far greater impact on him than his encounters with a human raised by extraterrestrials. Gary Seven tries to recruit the exceptional young man, but remains concerned that in addition to great strength and intellect, Sarina Kaur endowed her son with unnatural ambition and a lack of empathy for "lesser" humans. This dilemma resonates for Captain Kirk as he studies it in the future, trying to decide whether it's worth admitting to the Federation a group of genetically eningeered humans who might otherwise throw in their lot with the Klingons.

Cox writes with great wit and an obvious love of Trek lore, though his greatest accomplishment lies in the way he links together seemingly unconnected 20th century events into a complex conspiracy that makes The X-Files seem unsophisticated. The novel is full of delightful details -- Kaur referring to Gary Seven as 007, Roberta drawing comparisons between the geeks at genetics conferences and science fiction conventions, Isis interfering with a Reagan-Gorbachev photo op, Khan using a chakram to defend himself (the latter being both in character for a Sikh and a clever homage to Xena, Warrior Princess). Cox's historical notes in the afterword set the record straight, offering tidbits about secret tunnels under the Kremlin and secret missions of NASA space shuttles.

At 404 pages, 'The Eugenics Wars, Volume One' makes for a long and satisfying read, though it breaks at an awkward point in the framing story just after Khan has become an adult. I imagine that most of the criticism of this novel will focus on the fact that it costs $25 but leaves the reader hanging in anticipation of the next expensive installment. Still, it's worth it. The larger book format (think 'Pathways') contains more content than most Trek hardcovers, and this is a book worth reading more than once.

Greg Cox has never been my favorite Trek author. I found his Q Continuum trilogy to be entertaining at first, only to fizzle out at the end and Assigment: Eternity to be just a pretty decent read, but nothing to write home about.

So, I must admit that while I looked forward to the Eugenics War, I was a bit hesistant going into it.

All I've got to say is--so far, so good.

The Eugenics War, Book 1 is an enjoyable read. Cox takes the subject of giving us Khan's backstory set against the background of recent history and does a nice job of weaving them together. There's just enough real world, actual events in the story and reference through the actions of Khan, Gary Seven, Robert and Isis to give the book a "alternate history" feel without feeling like it's stretching the truth too much to fit the fiction Cox is trying to tell. Cox's novel gives us the first few years of Khan's life--from his creation as a genetically enhanced child to his early teens. The story is told as a flashback of sorts--Kirk is sorting out a colony that wants to use genetic manipulation and looks to Khan's story to find out the strengths and weaknesses inherent in such research. The framing story of Kirk and company is well told, though it's not too intrustive in this book. It's enough to keep interesting and neither plotline feels like it's taking away from the other in any way.

And Cox has a good grasp of the orignal series crew in the limited time that we encounter them.

But the real success of this books rests on Cox's recreation of Khan, Gary Seven and Robert Lincoln. Cox's Seven is intriguingly developed and we really get to see the payoff on some of the promise of Assignment: Earth. (Admittedly it's not one of my favorite Trek episodes, but Cox takes the characters and really runs with them.) Of course, there are references to the entire continuity of the first four Trek shows. I caught many of them, but I am sure that others just flew over my head. That's another strength of this book--if you get the references, it adds to your enjoyement. If you don't get them, you don't feel like you've missed anything.

The book is a real page-turner, though I will admit it took about 50 pages for me to get into it. Once I managed past those, the other 250 pages flew by and left me anxious for more when part 2 arrives in April.

All in all, the Eugenics War, Book 1 is a nice start and shows strong promise to this series.

As movie reviewers Siskel and Ebert once said, the success of a good versus evil story is generally not due to the level of goodness of the hero but to the strength of the villain. Khan Noonien Singh was clearly one of the best characters ever developed in the Star Trek genre and "The Wrath of Khan" is still my favorite Star Trek movie. In this book, you learn the origins and early life of this fascinating character.
However, while Khan is the emerging character, the main ones are Gary Seven and Roberta, introduced in another original Star Trek episode. Engaged in a mission to save the world from itself, these two perform many acts that are intertwined with the events that took place in the years following the time frame of the episode where they were introduced. The assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, the mass gassing of people in Bhopal, India, the rise of Gorbachev and the fall of the Soviet Union are all woven into the fabric of the story. This makes the book one of historical fiction as well and really makes it interesting.
An additional intriguing aspect of the story is the appearance of several other characters and consequences from the different Start Trek story lines. While these appearances will be well understood by those familiar with all of the stories, it will confuse those who are not. For example, if you have not seen the episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where Quark and Odo are transported back in time to Earth and land at Roswell, the references to the Ferengi will mean nothing to you.
There is also a separate story line where the Enterprise with Kirk at the helm is renewing contact with a colony of genetically enhanced humans. The Klingons of captain Koloth of tribble fame are also there and stirring up trouble.
I enjoyed the book immensely and was left with a feeling of loss when it ended with crises in two of the story lines. I am now searching for the sequel and can't wait to get my hands on it.

This book starts where the series episode "Space Seed" and movie "The Wrath of Khan" only briefly referenced, namely the origins of the figure Khan Noonien Singh and the historical context in which he rose to power. The book is fun to read, and the author brings in some characters from the series and movies, and also real characters from history. Tainting a Star Trek episode, movie, or novel with real history can cause problems with accuracy issues, but the author does it only sparingly and so the story is believable.

The presence of Gary Seven in the story was a surprising move, and one which I found a little troubling. One would like to believe the future was brought about solely by human action, with no assistance from extra-terrestrial agents who take it upon themselves to guide humanity to the "correct" destination. Much time is spent in the book on how Seven and his delightful female assistant are working to prevent a certain high-tech eugenics project from carrying out its plans.

As with most Star Trek stories, this one has a strange admixture of optimism and cynicism. And, despite the enormous statistical evidence to the contrary, the Star Trek view of history paints the human being as a brutal, inconsiderate savage, who only occasionally exhibits compassion and reason. Indeed, this is exemplified by the character Seven, who has no confidence in the efficacy of the human mind to be able to resolve social, economic, and political problems. In addition, the view of intelligence in the Star Trek series is quite narrow. The reader is supposed to believe that Khan has superior intelligence, in spite of his zeal to use violence to achieve his ends. But the initiation of force by any individual is never a sign of intelligence, but rather of stupidity. The character of Spock, who is quoted in the book as saying that "superior intelligence breeds superior ambition", to warn against the use of genetic engineering to create Khan-like monsters, is also another example of the restricted view of human intelligence in the Star Trek series. Emotions are thought of as having a disruptive, irrational effect on the human ability to reason effectively, instead of a set of natural processes that assist in the estimation and mental concentration of the human mind.

The book also reflects some of the current anxiety about genetics as a science and its application in genetic engineering. There is valid reasons for concern about the use of genetic engineering, but like all human problems, we can solve them by employing more science and technology, not less. Minds capable of creating a human clone can indeed find solutions to the concerns thus generated.

The optimistic view of the future though is one that makes the Star Trek series such a pleasure to participate in. It uses the medium of art and fantasy very effectively, and allows one to take part in an era, not very far distant, that is populated by beings (human and otherwise) who hold as an axiom that reason and mutual respect are the keys to a successful life. The characters of Star Trek have their faults and personal conflicts, but with their optimisim and their sense of adventure, they are worthy of contemplation.

Of all the villains or foes in the Star Trek canon, few compare to Khan Noonien Singh as far as screen presence, charisma, or memorable moments go. Oh, the Klingons were interesting heavies, particularly in the feature films. The Borg had their moments, but their toneless "Resistance is futile" compares palely to Khan's word duels with James T. Kirk in both the 1967 Original Series episode "Space Seed" and the 1982 feature film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Of course, credit must go to Ricardo Montalban, whose wonderful voice and acting skills made Khan one of Kirk's most dangerous adversaries.

Noted Star Trek author Greg Cox's mu;ti-volume series, The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh is a clever and fascinating Star Trek "historical" novel which not only "fills in the blanks" about Khan and his fellow genetically engineered "supermen," but also tries to reconcile actual historical events with the established Star Trek timeline.

Cox begins Volume One in the 23rd century, during Capt. James T. Kirk's first five-year mission. Assigned to investigate a colony of genetically engineered humans, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are still mindful about their recent run-in with Khan. While en route to this Paragon Colony, Kirk decides to study the history of Khan and the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th Century.

Star Trek "history" tells us that in the 1990s, a group of some 90 genetically engineered men and women took over vast regions of Earth and waged a bloody series of conflicts that became known as the Eugenics Wars. One of the foremost of these "supermen" was Khan, who at the height of his power ruled one-fourth of the planet Earth. By 1996, however, Khan and 80 of his followers fled Earth aboard the spacecraft SS Botany Bay, where they slept in suspended animation until the year 2267, when the USS Enterprise encountered the derelict vessel and Khan was revived.

Cox's challenge as a 21st Century writer was to mesh this fictional history with such real-life events as India's first nuclear test in 1974, the Bhopal accident and Indira Gandhi's assasination in 1984, the Reagan-Gorbachev Iceland Summit in 1986, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, among others. In these 20th Century episodes, Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln (who first appeared in the proposed pilot for Gene Roddenberry's "Assignment: Earth" series)investigate a secret project code-named "Chrysalis." Led by the brilliant but cold-blooded Dr. Sarina Kaur, a team of genetic experts is tweaking human DNA to bring forth a "superior" breed of humanity...a breed which is destined to supplant the existing "flawed" population of the planet.

Cox adds to the fun by adding cameos by other Star Trek characters, including Gillian Taylor from Star Trek IV, Redjac from the Classic Series' "Wolf in the Fold," and Ralph Offenhouse from The Next Generation's "The Neutral Zone." And while his basic plotline resembles a mix of Star Trek and Tom Clancy novels, he also injects some witty puns and inside jokes which lighten the tone of this chilling narrative set in one of Star Trek's "dark times" of humanity's past.

This is Greg Cox's best book to date, in my opinion, and one of the finest in the STAR TREK lineup.

Its plot has been ably summarized: suffice it to say that Greg combines two story lines from TOS -- that of Gary Seven and that of Khan -- into a novel that is more technothriller than anything else. Greg knows his STAR TREK, none better; and this book is not only a fine addition to the line of novels, it's a feast for those of us addicted to retroactive continuity.

But it's far more than that. Greg writes with a kind of awareness of the world that I find all too rare in science fiction: he uses science, the news, the map of the world, Realpolitik, and business with authority in this fast-paced and well-plotted story, while never letting readers forget that -this- is Khan, whose wrath set the whole tragic action of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN in motion.

When the book isn't dealing with power politics, intrigue, and attempts to stop the war that is inevitably coming, it's witty, capable of making me laugh out loud.

There is, however, one thing I'm not laughing about: I WANT THE NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES AND I WANT IT NOW.

Greg's made a name for himself as a best-selling STAR TREK author, and he does a superb job at it. But I'd also like to see him write in a universe all his own. He comes close in this: no one else manages to write Gary Seven as well -- and now no one, except the film makers, has managed to capture Khan, his motivations, and his wrath as well either.

Simply put: I really enjoyed this book! Reading more like a thriller novel than your classic Trek story, Greg Cox has created a feast of reading pleasure. Taking all the way back to 1974, Cox gives us the story of Khan Noonien Singh -- quite possibly was the best Trek villian ever created. Using snippets of the Star Trek chronology created by Gene Roddenberry in the classis Trek episode "Space Seed" and further in one of the best Trek films, Wrath of Khan, Cox gives us the history of the Eugenics War starting in 1974 and moving forward to story we've heard many times before. I will say this for Greg Cox, he captures the spirit of the times -- the 1970s through the middle 1980s -- accurately and he brings the character of Khan Noonien Singh to life so well you can almost here Ricardo Montalban speaking the words. In addition, the characters of Gary Seven, Isis the cat, and Roberta Lincoln are spot on. Cox has always been a fantastic Trek writer, and his Star Trek: TOS stories are among THE BEST written. This novel is a must-read for any Trek fan.

I really enjoyed this book, one that shed a great deal of light on a very little explored aspect of history in the Star Trek universe, that of the late 20th century. Covering events from 1974 to 1989, it does not cover the Eugenics Wars per se, but the events leading up to them, largely centering around the origins of Khan Noonien Singh (and his genetically enhanced brothers and sisters) and of Khan's boyhood and early adulthood.

The first volume at least might be well sub-titled "The Further Adventures of Gary Seven, Roberta Lincoln, and Isis," characters we first encountered in a Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) episode set in 1968 Earth, where Kirk and company encounter a genetically enhanced human operative from an alien world (operating for a mysterious organization called the Aegis), posted on Earth to save humans from themselves (mostly from nuclear annihilation). Readers may remember that Roberta Lincoln was a young woman native to Earth that became caught up in events in that TOS episode and subsequently became an agent working for Gary Seven. Isis is never really truly explained, but is apparently an alien cat that is able to take the shape of a human woman at times and is highly intelligent. Together the three have apparently had many adventures much in the mold of James Bond, playing behind the scenes spy games to save the world countless times. It is in this role that they become involved in the events described in the book, namely trying to discover what is happening to the some of the world's top geneticists (who are disappearing) and rumors of some mysterious organization that is dabbling in genetic engineering and biological warfare.

I do not intend my statement that the book focuses on those three as a criticism, as it is understandable that they are the main characters, if for no other reason then that Khan ("Noon" as a child) and his enhanced brethren are children for much of the book. Khan for the main adventure of the book is barely present or marginally involved most of the time, though later in the book becomes more and more important as he grows up and starts to flex some of his tremendous abilities.

Genetic engineering is an understandable theme running through the book; Khan and his "supermen," the genetically enhanced nature of Gary Seven, the villainous geneticists in the book, and a framing story set not long after the first encounter with Khan in TOS episode, where Kirk is considering a request by the Paragon Colony on the planet Sycorax request to join the Federation, a human colony long isolated from the Federation and one that had a population comprised entirely of genetically enhanced individuals. The framing story - the "present" of the novel - is interesting though rarely visited, and is a tool for telling the main plot of the novel, as it shows Kirk researching the history of the Eugenics Wars as preparation to the decisions he has to make upon arrival at the colony.

I really enjoyed the interweaving of the novel's plot with previously established events in Star Trek history in the past (such as Kirk and company's visit to 1986 San Francisco to look for whales) and in real world history, many of which are quite cleverly made fundamental parts of the storyline, their importance taking on a whole new light. These historical events are addressed in a nice after word at the end of the book.

All in all I really liked the book; Greg Cox is certainly one of the best Star Trek writers out there. The writing that produced the previous book of his that I read, his excellent Q Continuum Trilogy, is still top notch evidently, demonstrating a very good grasp of the characters and history of the Star Trek universe. My only minor criticism is the cover has little to do with the events of the novel; it appears to show American forces fighting Vietnam (not a part of the novel) and shows Khan a bit older than he appears in the story.

James Bond should be this good.

The original Star Trek series introduced in the episode "Assignment: Earth" two brilliant characters, extraterrestrial secret agent Gary Seven and his assistant, Greenwich Village hippy Roberta Lincoln, in a sadly failed attempt to spin them off into their own show. Author Greg Cox has an eye for what 1960s television execs missed, and presents the pair - with their added helpmeet, Isis the cat - in another excellent story to follow up his first (Assignment: Eternity).

In The Eugenics Wars, Cox credibly ties the Star Trek universe's own 1960s to 1980s time-bound characters together, in an immensely satisfying spy/adventure yarn. Gary Seven - extraterrestrial secret agent with a mission to keep Earth from destroying itself in its crucially developmental period of the late twentieth century - stumbles upon evidence of a dangerous project in 1974. Famous genetic researchers have been mysteriously disappearing from public view, and shipments of biological warfare elements and plutonium-grade fissionable material have been making their way out of the country. Roberta Lincoln goes undercover as a geneticist in a successful attempt to get herself hired onto whatever project the vanished scientists have been recruited for, and Seven tracks his weapons shipments to the same location: a massive underground eugenics program in India called the Chrysalis Project. There, leading world geneticist Sarina Kaur is breeding a future generation of supermen for world conquest - the most promising of which is her son, Khan Noonien Singh.

Bringing Kaur's mad project to an end, however, is only the beginning of a much longer, and even more involving, story. Seven monitors Khan's progress over the years, eventually recruiting him as a pre-teenager to help him and Roberta with their benevolent mission on Earth. Khan, unfortunately, is not so easily trainable. A product of his environment, the young Khan is horrified at atrocities occurring in his native India (a smallpox epidemic and the notorious Bhopur chemical spill) that Seven, with all his superior extraterrestrial technology, cannot anticipate and prevent. The aging mentor and his brilliant protege come to a parting of the ways, followed by overlapping missions of mutual interest, and develop into uneasy allies-cum-antagonists.

The plot and characterizations alone make this book a superior read in the spy-suspense genre, but Cox makes the experience all the more enjoyable by including references to numerous other Star Trek elements - from original series guest characters to Next Generation personages to occurrences in the movie series - and with a prodigiously researched panoply of true-life historical incidents brilliantly interwoven into the story.

This book, and the equally excellent Assignment: Eternity, are well worth the time and money to read. Hopefully, Cox will succeed in turning Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln into their own successful book series. They really are fabulous characters, and he writes them extremely well.

I suspect that the majority of readers of Star Trek are also inveterate fans of both the various incarnations of the original series and the movie sequels. It is no surprise, then, that Star Trek novels, while containing the standard plot devices of all novels, also feature a myriad of allusions to episodes from the moving screen. In THE EUGENICS WARS (volume one), author Greg Cox brings back one of the most celebrated cinematic villains of all time: Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically enhanced ubermench of the twentieth century. In the original Star Trek episode 'Space Seed', Captain Kirk revives a group of previous earth rulers from suspended animation, each of whom is the result of genetic manipulation that enhanced their strength, intelligence, and viciousness. These supermen are led by Khan Noonien Singh, a brute whose lust for power nearly wrecked a pre-Federation earth. In THE EUGENICS WARS, Greg Cox has written the first of a two volume prequel that fills in the gaps between the time Khan is born and when he next appears in 'Space Seed.' It is very nearly impossible to read Cox's book without keeping in mind the superlative job Ricardo Montalban did as Khan. There was much to admire about the swaggering Khan that even Kirk could admire. Cox takes this multifaceted Khan from the moving screen and, in placing him on the printed page, loses nothing of the fearsome if not perverted strength and allure of Montalban's Khan.

Cox uses a writing device often used by dozens of other Star Trek authors--a framing sequence. Here Kirk is discussing with Doctor McCoy the virtues and vices of human genetic tinkering. McCoy reminds Kirk that it was just such a tinkering that led to a ruinous war that exterminated much of earth's 20th century population. Fascinated with the topic, Kirk uses his ship's computers to spin out the complete story. It is this computerized version of history that forms the bulk of the novel. Despite a strong story line and an equally strong Khan as antagonist, much of the power of the tale was reduced by Cox's overuse of a multiple narrative viewpoint and an annoying use of coincidence to make the plot work. Essentially, THE EUGENICS WARS is told from three perspectives: Gary Seven, who is himself the result of genetic manipulation; Roberta Lincoln, who began the televised episode as Seven's secretary but in this book is his trusted assistant; and Khan himself. As I was led from one perspective to another, I had trouble keeping straight as to who the protagonist was meant to be. Was it Seven, who represents the right use of advanced power? Was it Ms. Lincoln, in whose trendy flip women's lib attitudes that the reader should focus? Or was it Khan, whose unwavering sense of destiny stamps him as the world leader that he surely thinks he is? Ironically enough, Khan's criticisms of Seven as one who has the power to change the world but chooses not to do so are not far off the mark. Seven tries mightily to keep the earth from self-immolation, but he clearly fails at critical times. Clearly, Khan and Seven are opposite sides of the same genetically altered coin. As for Roberta Lincoln, she is the weakest of the viewpoints. Her flippant and juvenile remarks about the many villains she faces leads the novel seriously astray. All too often she comes off like a school girl annoyed at a teacher who has given her detention for chewing gum in class.

Much of the novel was a delight with its many references to the original series and its many spinoffs: the Borg, Q, Jack the Ripper, and Roswell. I have not yet read the second volume, although I suspect that it recounts Khan's gradual grabbing of the seat of world dominion. Even though I know the end of the Khan saga from both the television series and from the movie THE WRATH OF KHAN, I still found THE EUGENICS WARS a fun read. More than once, Khan's use of his enhanced body brought to mind that great power breeds great ambition, which, if unchecked by compassion and humanity, must ultimately lead to great ruin. The calamity of a ruined earth surely attests to that.