Customer Reviews

Surak's Soul (Star Trek Enterprise)

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

 

 

The purpose of this review is to say whether or not "Surak's Soul" is worth shelling out ...hard-earned cash for. Yes, in this case, the entertainment was well worth the exchange.

Five stars, A+, a "good-job" sticker, and high praise for J.M. Dillard.

So far, I like Dillard's book better than all of the others written for the Enterprise series (with the exception of "Broken Bow" which is the novelization of the pilot TV episode. I found "Broken Bow" useful to get a grip on the "new" Star Trek crews' characters).

I unreservedly say that Dillard wrote the best Enterprise story so far. Her book reads like a good TV episode. At first, I was exceedingly apprehensive about spending the money on a book with rather larger print and only 218 pages, but I took the chance. I am glad I did. I read the story slowly to savor it and found that I really enjoyed the book.

Other reviews may give synopses of the storyline, so I'll make mine very brief since the purpose of my review is really only to say whether or not I think a book is worth the money it costs. I will take it for granted the you already know who the main characters are and what their relationships to each other are.

T'Pol accidently kills an alien and creates a severe philosophical trauma for herself. While she's working to resolve her inner conflict, the Enterprise crew, and ultimately Earth, are threatened by an alien entity. T'Pol must decide whether or not to aid the crew by using violence or not. The story is filled with philosophy (which I never enjoy, but it was essential to the story), emotion (Dillard did a very good job in this department), and action (again, she did a great job with the action scenes).

To sum up, I am very well pleased overall with "Surak's Soul" as a new edition to the Enterprise series. I haven't been tremendously happy with the other books in the series, but Dillard revived my hope that Pocket Books found a great voice for telling Enterprise stories. I hope Dillard will write many more books for this new fun group of Star Trek stars.

Also, I would like to praise the cover-designer as well. Good job.

It has been a very long time since author Jeanne M. Dillard has written an original Star Trek novel. Her work the last few years has primarily been episode and movie novelizations, most recently the novelization of Nemesis. With the Enterprise novel Surak's Soul, she has fashioned a pleasant enough story but regrettably, while the novel is very readable it is not particularly original, complex or lengthy.

When the Enterprise responds to a distress signal they find a civilization on the brink of extinction, the entire population dead or dying from a mysterious illness. T'Pol, forced to kill the last remaining survivor in order to save Hoshi, undergoes an identity crisis. She cannot help fearing that her time on board the Enterprise is leading her to forsake the teachings of Surak and his philosophy of non-violence.

While the Enterprise remains to investigate the mysterious disease, they learn more about the planets inhabitants, the Oani, a society whose reverence for life has sadly led to their own demise. Offered assistance by a mysterious alien entity, an energy being they call the Wanderer, the Enterprise and its crew soon begin to exhibit the same symptoms as the Oanis. Did they bring the illness back on board despite their precautions, or is there a more sinister plan afoot?

Surak's Soul moves at a good pace and I really enjoyed Ms. Dillard's characterization and attention to the small details. Unfortunately that is not enough to overcome the periods of tedium the story generates. Despite the dire circumstances the crew finds themselves in the story fails to generate a sense of urgency or real danger.

T'Pol's philosophical soul searching, the issue of when violence is or is not justified, is the major theme of the novel. Unfortunately, in the case of Surak's Soul, ethical contemplation is not enough to sustain the story on its own.

I bought this book while on vacation in Virginia. I'm a Trekker, but I'm not that enamored with T'Pol, but I needed something to read. I was delighted to find that this story is truely an ensemble story. Each character on Enterprise is afforded a good amount of the story. I was especially happy to find that Lt. Malcolm Reed had several good scenes. I will definitely reread this book again.

This is, overall, a fair to middling Star Trek story; the action is good, the characterizations are better than average, the plot fair if not terribly original. The problem is, it is mostly spoiled by a rather wishy-washy, unsatisfying ending. Since I can't say much more about the ending than that without giving away major plot points, suffice it to say that I found both the climactic point AND the post-climax epilogue to be very implausible and to be a cheap out for the major focus of the story.

I was quite disappointed with this book, as most of Dillard's other Star Trek novels have been excellent. This one was sadly predictable; neither the dialogue nor the narrative sustained my interest for long. I gave it two stars because she does some good work with a few of the characters, but overall, this is not a book I can recommend.

This relatively short Star Trek novel by a veteran writer concerns itself with a less-than-perfect first contact with a new humanoid species. In it, Vulcan Sub-Commander T'Pol has to come to terms with her training in the pacifist tradition all Vulcan's learn at an early age, and how to reconcile this with the reality of everyday circumstances. This concept was developed very well by the author J.M. Dillard, furthering the understanding of Vulcan's and their way of thought. In addition, part of this novel is devoted to how some other crew members feel towards T'Pol, considering her as "incredibly intelligent, courteous, refined, dignified", adding to her lure. This book is well worth reading, done in fine Star Trek style.

Surak's Soul I think stuck to the spirit and feel of the Enterprise show. While it could be more accurately named, Wanderer, I think it is a good idea for anyone looking for Enterprise material to read.

Wanderer -- I suggested this title because the whole plot of the book revolves around a character of this name -- I won't reveal and major plot points but I take it you've read the summary? So T'Pol kills a alien and feels guilty -- the truth is, little of the plotline deals with her internal guilt over this act. So if you are expecting to recieve a deeply rooted story exploring T'Pol dealing with guilt over murder than don't expect this.

Surak's Soul is a good book but really deals little with T'Pol's guilt -- her guilt plays a part but not as much as I had expected. Surak's Soul has Hoshi as one of its key focuses, so, if you are like me -- a Hoshi fan, than this is an very good book and deals more with Hoshi and T'Pol than previous Enterprise books.

This is a decent novel. It's like an above average TV episode. Recommended if you want a quick, entertaining read.

I really enjoyed this book as I could relate it to Enterprise. The author really knows the characters. It is a great book to read and will keep you in suspense.

Star Trek-Enterprise: Surak's Soul written by J.M. Dillard is a well-written book about a first-contact with a humanoid race.

This book is written as a character driven book as each of the Enterprise crew tries to cope with who they are and the understanding who they can be. Written as an ensamble, this book delves into the the character of T'Pol and her teachings as she is pulled from the teachings of Surak to Captain Archers on-the-fly behavior and impulsive attempts to make first contact.

T'Pol is true to her heritiage and vows to foreswear violence, she tells Captain Archer that she will never kill... even if she is ordered... but will she endanger the Enterprise and her crew in the future? This book does some real soul searching and has an unusual plot, but in the end some serious questions get resolved, making this one of the better Enterprise books.

The series is very slow to develop... I'm suprized at how slowly this series is taking to develop as this is the fifth book in the Enterprise series and this is the best so far. What this series was lacking in the frist four was strong characters this book fleshes them out and makes the book tell a better story from the points of view within the ship.

Although this story is told well, I hope the books in the future will hold on to strong character development so this genre of TREK can fine its place.