Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Academy: Collision Course

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

 

 

As a previous reviewer has noted, this novel is not intended to be great literature, but it is far more fun to read than that stuff anyway! It is obviously directed to fans of the Original Series, so my comments are only applicable to those readers. Yes, you will be required to suspend your disbelief in some parts, but if you do you will greatly enjoy the ride. I was very pleased that the events and characters hold very closely to canon, and any deviation was not enough to distract me. In reading Trek novels, I will generally put them down if they take too much liberty with the canon history or characterizations, but in Collision Course I repeatedly found myself smiling at familiarity and a uttering few "ahs" at how the authors wove canon history into this invented history.

I will culminate my opinions on the book with this: I hated to reach the end and I am anxious for the next in the series to be published. What better positive comment can a book of this type receive? To my fellow OS Trek fans, read and enjoy!

This is an important book for at least two reasons. First, it fills in much detail of the events on Tarsus four and Kodos the executioner. The original series was written so well and with so much imagination that entire novels are spun from just the background information of a single episode. This is one such example, Burning Dreams is another.

Second, it is written after all by William Shatner and portrays a young James Kirk as Shatner would like to have him seen. It is in a sense Jim Kirk through the eyes of Shatner with all his cynicism, strength, humor, and flaws. It also gives a good deal of background about Kirk's brother Sam, father Joe, and the familial relationships at play.

I give it four stars cause the action takes a while to get started, but for the reasons above it takes on an importance all its own, and is almost a necessary reference work.

I liked this novel a lot. For a quick "Star Trek" read involving our friends Kirk and Spock, this is about as good as these novels get. The author is a decent writer, and this book mostly avoids sappy sentiment. Spock's conflict with Sarek is well done and realistic. I am not so sure that I buy the author's interpretation of young James T. Kirk. Here, Kirk is portrayed as a very confused and conflicted young man, hard to reconcile with the Kirk that we know. On the other hand, the author's use of the Tarsus IV incident maybe explains this.

All in all, I enjoyed this more than I usually enjoy Star Trek novels. Trekkies (like me) will enjoy this one.

I am a casual fan of Star Trek and do not follow full cannon. I picked this up expecting this to be a time waste read because i needed something to read and this was the most interesting out of the selection. I was pleasantly surprised that this was a strong story that that makes since to my knowledge of the universe. It also left enough to have a great tie in for a series that could be strong. I was not the best read for me but it was entertaining.

A fun novel for teens. Not as good as the rest of the Shatner Reeves Stevens collaberations.
Lots of plot holes but good spirited fun, adequately written and some more background about what happened on Tarsus IV

It's really hard to say what this book is. A joke? The truth? Another parallel universe?

The story is about teenage James T. Kirk and his first encounter with Spock. It explains how a brash and confused Jimmy Kirk ends up at Starfleet Academy after fighting a criminal gang with his newfound Vulcan friend.

The first thing I noticed was that the writing was just all over the place. The narration bounced between great and ugly, exciting and boring, and witty and dull. Classy dialogue was followed by tacky sentences. It was as if the novel had schizophrenia...guess that's what happens when you have three authors for a single book.

Also, the Trek in this book didn't ring true. Come on, "bicorders" are the commercial version of tricorders? And speaking of money, it seemed like Earth was far too commercial for Star Trek of the 23rd-century.

On the other hand, it was nice to see that the writers included historical tidbits about the Star Trek universe. But then they went overboard, and I got really tired of how every building or hall in Starfleet Academy was named after characters on Star Trek: Enterprise or Zefram Cochrane or Lily Sloane (both from ST: First Contact).

Overall, the plot was compelling and exciting. The portrayals of Kirk and Spock were done well, but the other characters did not have very distinct or memorable voices. It was enjoyable to read, but definitely less entertaining than the new 2009 Star Trek movie.

Anything with a title like "Star Trek Academy: Collision Course" is not great literature and has no pretentions in that direction, but that doesn't justify slopping plotting or characterization. This book suffers from both, though more of the former than the latter.

On the characterization front, the story glorifies Jim Kirk, which, considering Shatner's one of the writers, should surprise no one. I think the annoying POV quirk that sometimes makes his own brother think of Jim as 'Kirk' rather than the more logical 'Jimmy' is part of this. I also think Spock's portrayal is weighted too much toward telling as opposed to showing, but it can be lived with.

A more serious issue is the way the plot depends on Kirk and Spock being -- despite Kirk's street-smarts and technical aptitude, and Spock's scientific brilliance -- complete blockheaded idiots. It takes far too long for Spock to realize that his father might have been set up, and after the fifth ridiculous contortion of logic Kirk uses to justify his distrust of Starfleet, I was about ready to tear my hair out. But they're teenagers, so I suppose the idiocy is not as far-fetched as it would be during series canon.

My final objection -- and this one can't be explained away by general teenage insanity, since the people making this decision are adults -- is that during the climax of the story, the Starfleet ships (that are later revealed to have been in position around Neptune for several hours) wait and do *nothing* until the absolute point of no return, instead of doing something sensible and proactive, such as taking out the Orion ships the minute they fly up out of Neptune's atmosphere. That is the worst kind of deus ex machina plotting, and no vague talk about 'Project Echion' will justify it.

But if you can get past those flaws, the book is a breezy, enjoyable read. The pacing is good, the revelations about Kirk's past on Tarsus IV are interesting, and the subplot about his brother, Sam, is sadly all too believable. (Spock gets less development, though he does have a cute moment with a midshipman during the plot climax.) There are a lot of threads left open for a sequel -- the immediate villain was defeated, but the guy behind him is still at large -- and I care enough about what happens next that I will keep my eye out for the sequel at my local library.

It is a super novel all fans of star trek classic will read it with pleasure