Customer Reviews

Section 31: Cloak (Star Trek)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After two rather disappointing novels (Rogue and Shadow), the Section 31 novels take a dramatic upturn in terms of quality and storytelling with S.D. Perry's third Trek novel in as mnay months, Cloak. Set firmly in Trek's third season, this novel does what the best Trek novels can and should do--take threads from various episodes and weave them into an interesting, intellignet story. The book succeeds in large part because we get to see some background to events that occur during the third season--most notably McCoy's finding out about his illness that we'll hear about in "For the World is Hollow...." and his coming to grips with that. We've got some nice character work done with Kirk and Perry attempts to explain just why Kirk had so many relationships the third season and does a pretty good job of it.

All of the original series characters are in fine form here. Each gets to contribue a little something to the storyline and the premise. Slipping into and out of Cloak is like seeing old friends--you get to remember things about them you'd forgotten. It's a wonderful and enjoying book that's just right for the summer reading season.

The last in the "Section 31" series I read of the four, "Cloak" brings Section 31 to the Star Trek original series era. Now, I feel it only fair to warn that I have truthfully read nearly none of the original era books in the Star Trek line, and don't often pick them up.

The strengths of "Rogue" and "Abyss," however, made me decide to take the plunge and I'm glad I did. "Cloak" is a good novel, has an excellent place in the Star Trek continuum, but fell short in a few ways.

The characters were very well written, and with a depth I must admit I'd not attributed to the original series characters before. The author's choice to place this story in a timeframe near to some major events in the original series television episodes was a good one, especially on the front of Dr. McCoy.

However, "Section 31" barely seems to be involved in the book. Kirk and company find a runaway starship with a dead crew aboard, and try to unravel the mystery of its sabotaged state, but you don't even get a ghost of Section 31 until the near end of the book, and I was left feeling a little bit shortchanged - I'd rather expected to get a little bit more into the origins of Section 31 with this book, but this book delves the shallowest into the organization of all four books in this series.

All of that aside, I did enjoy this book. The inclusion of such things as the Omega Particle was excellent for continuity, and Spock's brush with the Romulan Commander was very well placed. If I could, I'd give this a "3.5" stars, not just 3.

This Section 31 story is pretty routine stuff but the thing about the book that did impress me was author S.D. Perry's firm knowledge of Star Trek continuity. Eagle-eyed fans will notice elements of the book that tie in directly with episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager as well as various episodes of Classic Star Trek. The foreshadowing of McCoy's illness also gives the book a feeling that it is a Classic Star Trek episode placed firmly in the series's third season. I would have enjoyed a little more exploration of Section 31's activities in the 23rd century but all in all the book is a satisfying romp. A good effort that had the potential to be great.

I have found that most of the best Trek novels do one thing: they elaborate on already established novels and/or television episodes. This one does and also foreshadows the events of "For the Earth is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky." We see again the Romulan Commander whom Spock was drawn to in "Enterprise Incident," although she has never been given a name. We also learn about Dr. McCoy's fatal disease. However, in previous novels, didn't Bones have a daughter named Joanna? I know that the novels are not generally considered to be part of the overall Trek cannon but would it not be appropriate to include details as important as the existance of one's children in such an important time in one's life? Especially when the doctor felt that he had no family to tell about his illness.

This story is well-written, and the characters are handled well. The part of the story dealing with section 31 is handled EXTREMELY well, contrary to the complaints of many of the reviewers here; of COURSE the conflict between Kirk & co. and Section 31 is very shadowy; it's a shadow organization, and any time it gets into direct conflict, it has failed in its mission. And I get the impression it doesn't fail often. That's the beauty of Section 31 as a "villain" for a story; it's SUBTLE, and not easily confronted, much less defeated.

Another thing that the story manages well is to place itself squarely in a specific time frame, namely between the original series episodes, "The Enterprise Incident" and "For The World Is Hollow, And I Have Touched The Sky". This lends a real feeling of authenticity to the story; unfortunately, it also leads to the biggest flaw: if James Kirk was aware of the existence of Section 31 from that point on, and was working covertly to fight them (as is suggested in the epilogue) there should have been some hint of this later in the series. The fact that there wasn't indicates that he was not. Therefore, the very feeling of authenticity that the author works so hard to accomplish defeats itself. It would have been better if Kirk had simply been left uneasily aware that something was wrong, but unable to specify what it was. Then the story would have fit into the continuity perfectly, and it would have been a perfect Section 31 adventure: their immediate plot is foiled, but they remain hidden for future plots.

The book is an enjoyable read, but doesn't QUITE handle the subject matter in an ideal manner.

I would recommend starting the Section 31 books with this one. In the DS9 episode "Inquisition" we were informed that Section 31 was on Starfleet's original charter, and was taken off. This book fills in the gap, giving the reader a window to see what happened in Kirk's day, and how the organization started. The storyline is engaging and you can't put it down! The Section 31 series shows what happens when people begin to think the ends always justify the means, and why that is completely unacceptable in a successful society. Once again, Trek has paralleled our current world with the world of the future. This book is the beginning of an excellent series, a must read for any Trek fan.

Few Star Trek novels have done a better job capturing the mysterious and slightly icy mood of the original series, a la first season, than this one. Highest possible recommendation.

This is a very short and enjoyable read that captures that nostalgic feel of the old series, where the characters come to life as they unravel the mystery of a secret organization with the "means and the motive" to carry out its agenda. Section 31 plays a background role here, as it works under the cloak of secrecy; major hints are put out as to how it operates in this time period, but nothing precise or revealing is documented.

I liked how the author delved into the personas of various characters, such as insights about Kirk's love affairs, McCoy's internal struggle with a terminal disease, and Spock's struggle to hold on to order when confronted with passionate feelings for a Romulan commander. We also view the typical Chekov traits on his colorful and naïve views for romance and his profound Russian pride; and we get a view of Uhura's background as she uses her little renowned cryptographic skills when she attempts to decode a disk.

With combination of Kirk's intuition and inquisitive nature to get to the truth and Spock's logical and thorough investigation and reasoning, combined with some luck, they are able to unravel the plot and prevent a catastrophe. In the end a major and extremely important clue is dropped as to how Section 31 came to exist.

Overall this is an enjoyable piece and very well written. I couldn't put the book down. I hope they come out with more books about Section 31, and I also hope to see more works by this author.

The book deals with a secret experiment related to the TV episode where the Enterprise stole a Romulan cloaking device. It starts off very well as Kirk and co. must stop a runaway starship. And ending was also very exciting. But the middle of the book could have been better. Some parts were a little bit slow. Also there was no drama when Dr. McCoy comes down with a terminal disease. Please, you know he's not gonna die. I did like getting into the minds of the supporting characters like Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. Also some good scenes where Kirk's faith in Starfleet is really tested the more he uncovers about this illegal experiment. I just wish the author could have included more alien characters in the story. Like in Star Trek, all the crew members, all the starship captains and all the scientists are human. The Federation has over 600 planets. A little species variety, please.

Very well done. Really captured the flavor of the original series as well as giving new insight to the character of Capt. Kirk. Plus the mystery of Section 31 is always fun especially for "Conspiracy Theory" minded folks.