Customer Reviews

Killing Time (Star Trek, No 24)

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

 

 

The reason this book is out of print (and so few fans have read it) is because it was yanked off the market for being "in bad taste" around the time that Roddenberry began cracking down on Trek novels that he personally didn't like. (In the mid-1980s. See chapter 17 of his biography, "Star Trek Creator," for more on that aspect of Trek history.) At any rate, the very idea of a censored Star Trek novel was so intriguing to me, I just had to track down a copy and read it!

The plot opens with a number of Enterprise crewpersons having some very disturbing dreams. In the case of Kirk and Spock, they both have the same dream, in which Spock is captain of a starship that's not the Enterprise, and Kirk is a young ensign aboard that same ship. As it turns out, the dreams are really bleed-throughs from another universe that was created by Romulan time-tampering. The Romulans, in an attempt to go back and change history in a way that would eliminate the Federation, have created Second History -- and it's not stable. On a deep subconscious level, many people in Second History are still linked to First History (the original timeline) and, in cases where their roles are not the same in both worlds, the disparity is causing insanity. And its spreading. If the original timeline is not restored soon, the whole universe is in danger of going mad.

What might be offensive to some people is that Ensign Kirk of Second History is a pretty messed-up character. He's a bitter young man who gets into fights with other crewmembers, has spent some time in prison (although, it is pointed out, the evidence used to convict him was was circumstantial and he maintains his innocence), and was drafted into the Fleet against his will. (The draft is one of the differences that Second History introduces.) He's also misusing a dream suppressant drug to try and stop the nightmares. This is certainly not the way we want to see Our Hero portrayed -- but then again, it fits the plot. I mean, if the Romulans really want to put the Federation out of commission, wouldn't it make sense to get the highly-competent James T. Kirk out of the picture? Besides, we've seen Kirk acting "weird" before under various alien influences, so why would this scenario be any worse? There's also an element of "there but for the grace of God go I" in this story, making us realize that, given the wrong circumstances, anybody's life can take a bad turn. And it can also be righted again.

Eventually, the Second History versions of Kirk and Spock figure out what's happened. (A nice touch is that this is accomplished by a mindmeld that taps into the deep friendship between them in First History, which still links them on the subconscious level.) Ensign Kirk quits the drug cold turkey, gets his life together, and helps Spock try to figure out a way to save the universe. To tell you any more would be a spoiler, except to say that this book is well worth reading --- that is, if you can find a copy.

I read this book almost on one day. It is really thrilling, especially all about the time-thing. The idea of a parallel-universe always fascinates me. The story is quite fast reading and you get all the pictures you need in your head to see how the reaction of the charakters would be.

The most I liked (as a K/S-Shipper) was the special bond between Kirk and Spock. It seems like the author took that fact as something you must not discuss about it, because it was seen all over the years in the show and the movies. And I think she was right. The most important of it - it worked.

Alright, it is a book for fans of Star Trek. But I think that no one else read book about Star Trek beside Star Trek Fans...

From the reviews I've seen and the people I've talked to, you either love this book or you hate it, I am among the former; I loved it!

My favorite original Trek episode was 'The Enterprise Incident' and I liked the character of the Romulan Commander. However, I always felt that she and Spock had to meet again, and while other novels like 'Blackfire' and 'Dwellers In the Crusible' broached the idea, none came up with such a unique idea to make it happen. I think the Romulan Commander got a bad shake. This story makes up for it!

In "Killing Time," the Romulans have hatched a time tampering scheme where an alternate universe is created in which the Federation was founded and primarily ran, not by Earth, but by Vulcan. This, of course, is all part of a Romulan plot to undermine the Federation's strength and thus, build the Romulan Empire.

Although the premise of the story is promising as the story progresses the plot seems to become uninspired and the storyline fails to have very compelling "twists and turns" which you'd like to see in Trek (as well as most other fiction for that matter). Furthermore, I did not think the development of the characters "Captain Spock" and "Ensign Kirk" were as satisfying as they could have been. "Killing Time" does provide an interesting "version" of the Romulan Commander from the Classic Trek episode "The Enterprise Incident". I say a "version" because I believe different Trek novels have had varying treatments of her fate after that episode.

For the most part I wouldn't recommend this novel unless you are a Romulan die-hard. While not terrible, I'd give it about a 4 on a scale of ten, which is why I gave it 2 stars. If you're looking for a good classic Trek novel on time travel (and the Klingons as well) I'd suggest Star Trek (#40 Timetrap).

I, like many other reviewers, don't expect a lot from Star Trek novels and read them mainly because I have been a fan of the show since childhood and because they aren't particularly demanding to follow. However, this is one of the worst ST novels I've read. The storyline itself isn't terrible, if not terribly original - an alternate reality created by alteration of the past via time travel. But the writing is less than wonderful. Either the author was a moron (the "illegible" used instead of "inaudible" mentioned by a prior reviewer is one of the least sloppy examples) or her editor was a moron and neither owned a dictionary. It seems like every other page has a glaring error, usually word usage, that goes beyond personal style and into the realm of ignorance of the proper use of language. Also, as mentioned by prior reviewers, those who are fond of "slash" will probably enjoy this - at time it seemed like this novel was merely a vehicle for the author to find as many ways as possible to describe in stilted prose the emotional intimacy between Kirk and Spock. Simply terrible.

Unless, like me, you are stubbornly determined to read every Star Trek novel ever published (in which case you have my condolences for sharing my unfortunate compulsion) there is no reason to waste your time with this book. It is a bad story, badly written. Granted, it is not the WORST Star Trek novel I've ever read; it is not, for instance, anywhere near as bad as "Spock, Messiah", nor even quite as bad as James Blish's "Spock Must Die", or Sandra Marshak's "Triangle" (Original Series #9). But it is a poorly conceived story, handling the concepts of time-travel and alternate time-lines as badly as I've ever seen them handled; the characterizations are mostly poor and one-dimensional, the dialogue is stilted and awkward, and (sorry if I'm being overly picky here) authors who don't know the difference between "illegible" and "inarticulate" (as in, "an illegible cry tightened his throat",) (pg 66) shouldn't be published, and editors who don't know enough to fix that mistake shouldn't be in the business either.

I have read virtually all of the Star Trek books ever written, so when I came across this gem I never would have thought it to be substantially unique from the basic Trek storyline. Think wrong. This story actually gets things done-- it deviates from the basic clear cut idea of nothing lost and nothing gained attittude of most books. This is the most dramatic and bittersweet tale the world of Trekdom has yet rendered. From its ingenious plot that revolves around a sinister offshoot of history to the powerful and artfully constructed dialogues between Kirk and Spock, it is a wonder that this book never gained the well deserved notoriety that would have brought it to my attention sooner. I am shocked that many fans have never read this book, and believe it is an excellent addition to anyone's sci-fi collection. This is the one Star Trek book that you really cannot pass up.

This book could be called Slasher's Delight. The story itself wasn't bad for a ST novel.

Why only two stars? Two words: Embedded Quotes.

Any author or editor that would let an entire novel without proper dialogue in it should be throttled for letting a manuscript with this huge problem go to press. Any English teacher wouldn't let that slide.

In a way, it's too bad the ficcers didn't get their hands on this before it went to press. They'd have straightened out the poor formatting.

This book was actually one of the best Star Trek books I have read so far. (About 20 or so) The beginning was kind of corny, before the alternate universe takes over, but from then on it's a blast. There's enough action to keep the story moving, with enough character interaction to keep me extremely happy.

I enjoy a good Spock/Kirk FRIENDSHIP story, and that's what this brought. Although some might argue this could be viewed as slash, (meaning homosexuality) I don't view it that way. The book was that of the bond of brothers through the screw-ups of Romulans. It was immensely personal and sweet between Kirk and Spock getting to know each other and feeling uncomfortable meaning to much to a stranger.

I can understand why Roddenberry banned this book because it doesn't show Kirk as the hero he is, but I like a flawed hero, and all too often we don't get to see that flawed side of Kirk. No character can be pristine and survive the public, and this proves it.

If you can get your hands on a copy, DO IT. It was the best decision in a Star Trek book I've made thus far. The review at the top that has "censored" in the title convinced me to buy it. Please do, you won't be disappointed.

My expectations for a trek novel usually aren't too high, afterall if anyone has watched the shows and movies enough they should be able to echo the characters on paper pretty well.

This book involves an alternate universe, that is not the Mirror Mirror one. The romulans in an attempt to rid themselves of the Federation have gone back in time and killed the founders of the idea of having a Federation (this is even before first contact). The deaths of these three men alter history. It affects our beloved characters mainly in Kirk being demoted to a very very unhappy Ensign and Spock being the captain of a ship--that is not the enterprise, since the Federation does indeed, not exist.

However, the universe is unstable and is exerting itself to return back to its original state, there are all sorts of interesting complications because of this. I liked the use of Pon Farr in this--though I did feel that the author relied too heavily on Kirk and Spock's "bond" she almost implied at one point that their link was helping Spock supress his Pon Farr desires...

For the most part I enjoyed the characters, new and old, only other nitpicky thing i have to say is that some of the language seemed very out of place. "suing for child support" ehh, I don't imagine that happening in the Federation for some reason, seems too petty.