River of Blood (Star Trek The Original Series: Errand of Vengeance, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Kevin Ryan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Star Trek: Errand of Vengeance | Publication Date: August 1, 2002

Captain James T. Kirk and his crew, new to exploring the galaxy, must learn some difficult lessons -- and things are not always as straightforward as they seem. At the very start of their five-year mission to explore the galaxy, Captain Kirk and his crew must balance the needs of the Federation to know what the universe contains against the perils they inevitably encounter on their expedition through space. Their ethos is one of non-interference, and every effort is made not to harm the things they have come to learn about. But in the process, they discover that sometimes the efforts they make to avoid doing harm can lead to the greatest harm of all.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743446003
• ISBN-13: 978-0743446006
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #523,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Star Trek-TOS: River of Blood: Errand of Vengeance, September 18, 2002

By 

Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: River of Blood (Star Trek The Original Series: Errand of Vengeance, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Star Trek-The Original Series: River of Blood: Errand of Vengeance written by Kevin Ryan is the third installment of this trilogy (The Edge of the Sword, Killing Blow, and River of Blood). This trilogy is a Klingon based story, a story of cunning, deception, vengeance, murder, intrigue, and Kahless's truth and honor.

This third book takes up where the second book left off and add a great deal of richness to the story plot. The plot being to kill Captain James T. Kirk by a surgically altered Klingon infiltrator Kell/Jon Anderson. Sworn to destroy the enemies of the Empire... even at the cost of their own honor, Kell/ Jon Anderson is having second thoughts. Why, you say? Well it seems that the propaganda mill of the Klingon Empire is working overtime, and an honorable Klingon does NOT go to war... especially if there is no honor in it, according to Kahless.

We read a lot about honor and truth, but there is guile, cunningness, and knavery also. As the Klingons prepare for a war with the Federation, they need Starship Grade dilithium crystals. A planet is found by the Orions, not too far from the Federation/Klingon boarder on the third planet in Systen 7348, but this planet in inhabited by a pre-warp society... a Klingon-like society.

What I liked about this book is that even though Kirk was to be killed, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were not the focus of this series... the focus was on how Kell/ Jon Anderson evolved and had second thoughts... a good fleshing out of the character as he and Parrish have a romantic involvement, but Kell/Jon Anderson pulls away as his mission becomes a burden.

There is another interesting subplot in this book and that is Kell's brother Karel as he learns the truth about the war with the Federation. Karel is on a Klingon warship and is a follower of Kahless. Honor and truth are what Karel leads his life by, but there are challanges along the way. There are many roads to Sto-Vor-Kar but only one path as both Kell and Karel learn.

If you like Klingon based stories this is your cup of Bloodwine. This is a fast paced, well-written story and is enlightening about Klingons.

The next series of books to arrive is the Star Trek-Deep Space Nine Mission Gamma. This has four book in the series, (Twilight, This Gray Spirit, Cathedral and Lesser Evil). If you haven't been keeping up with DS-9, might I recommend that you read Avatar Book One and Two by S.D. Perry, Section 31: Abyss by David Weddle and Jeffrey Lang, Gateways: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Horn and Ivory fron the Gateways: What Lay Beyond. You'll need some background material as the first book in the series draws from these books

S...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book - horrible editing, January 4, 2007

By 

Sarah J. Frey "Illini fan and bibliophile" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: River of Blood (Star Trek The Original Series: Errand of Vengeance, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book, as I did the whole series, but the editing was horrible. The first time Starbase 42 was mentioned, it was Starbase 43. It switched from Starbase 43 to Starbase 42 a mere two lines later. There were numerous problems such as the following: "Now let them they try to find us." (top of page 167 in the first paperback ed.) Thinking back there were similar problems in the entire series. Lt. West was originally called Ensign West, but in the middle of the scene it changed to Lt. with no explanation. It actually detracted from my enjoyment of the book. In addition, to beginner typo editing mistakes, the editor also failed to notice writing mistakes that any beginning editor could have corrected. Ryan did a great job letting us know that Klingons don't take prisoners and won't be taken prisoners (even though true Trek fans already knew this), but an observant editor could have corrected the fact that the reader was given this information approximately four times within 30 pages, and the repetition was unnecessary to move the plot forward. I own and have read most of the Star Trek fiction from Pocket Books, and this was, by far, the worst editing I've ever experienced.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great end for a great series!, January 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: River of Blood (Star Trek The Original Series: Errand of Vengeance, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

What can I say? Mr. Ryan has done it again whith his third book in the "Errand of Vengeance" trilogy. I won't go into plot summaries or anything like that (there are plenty of those in other reviews), but I will say that if you've started the trilogy, you'll love the ending. And I'll say this again, if you're a hardcore ST fan, Mr. Ryan won't dissapoint. There are plenty of hidden gems in all three books (other than the wonderful stories themselves) to feed any Trekkie's or Trekker's appetite.

I really enjoyed these books and hope Mr. Ryan writes many more.