Assignment: Eternity (Star Trek: The Original Series) (Paperback)

~ Greg Cox (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Captain Kirk first encountered Gary Seven on twentieth-century Earth. Now Seven, a time-traveling operative for unknown alien forces, makes a surprise visit to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kirk is on an urgent mission to bering relief to a disaster ravaged planet, but Seven has an agenda of his own -- and he's not above hijacking the Starship Enterprise and sending it on a perilous journey deep into the heart of the Romulan Empire.

Kirk must date to trust Gary Seven once again, as he confronts the possibility that the enigmatic stranger may bring death and destruction to Kirk's own era.

Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671001175
• ISBN-13: 978-0671001179
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #680,255 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic., December 9, 2000

By	Julius Caesar "caesargj" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

Greg Cox has done a stellar (har) job with this book; here's an author who *knows* Star Trek. Repeated references within the text to various episodes of the series, at entirely germane moments (indeed, the book begins less than a week after the last episode of the series in which Kirk body-swaps with the evil Dr. Janice Lester. Don't ask, if you don't know). Beyond TOS, since this is at its heart a time-travel story, Gary Seven makes references (at least internally) to future Trek history; the Khitomer peace accords, Pardek and Romulan reunification, etc. Additionally, the element of Roberta Lincoln and her 1969-isms is quite fun; such pop-culture references include: The Questor Tapes, The Prisoner (both treated as investigations carried out by Lincoln and Seven), Watergate, Kubrick's 2001, James Bond ("Roberta had outwitted that bald megalomaniac with the white Persian on his lap...") and so on. A great deal of fun. Beyond these 'easter eggs' to find, the story is well-plotted, with all the good paradoxes that any real Time-travel story should have; the characterization of Kirk, McCoy, and Spock in particular are apt, and Seven is written masterfully as well. Kudos to Greg Cox; this one's for the permanent Trek collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grokkin' Spock!, December 28, 2002

By	Bruce Rux (Aurora, CO) - See all my reviews

This book is more 1960s than anything written or aired in the '60s. It's a pop-culture mavin's dream. Cox livens his story up with so many '60s touches, it'll really tickle your fancy if you grew up then - and probably if you didn't. Its numerous references include events from contemporaneous T.V. and movie fare such as James Bond, The Avengers, The Prisoner and Stanley Kubrick's 2001. There's even a backstory incident dropped in from another failed Gene Roddenberry pilot of the early 1970s, The Questar Tapes.

Picking up the ball T.V. dropped in 1968, Cox takes the characters from the original series' "Assignment: Earth" and gives them a whole new story to play in. That episode was intended as a pilot for a series all its own, and of course that pilot never took off. With any luck, Cox will continue more adventures with extraterrestrial secret agent Gary Seven and his Greenwich Village hippy-chick assistant, Roberta Lincoln - and Seven's other "female" sidekick, Isis the cat - and spin them off into the series they should have been on T.V. If so, he couldn't have gotten off to a better start than this entry in the Star Trek book series.

This time around, Seven's future colleague, Septos, sends a cry for help from his base deep undercover in Romulan space, where an especially vicious Romulan secret policewoman commander named Dellas has appropriated much of his superior alien technology for an attempt on the life of Mr. Spock that will destroy the future reunification of the Romulans and the Vulcans. In order to prevent this catastrophe, Seven, Roberta and Isis teleport into the Enterprise's time, taking Captain Kirk and his crew to Romulan space - where, if they're not careful, they'll end up causing an interplanetary war even without Dellas' clandestine machinations.

The characters are all brilliantly written, Seven and Roberta especially, without a false note to be found in the bunch. In addition to Cox's many pop-culture references are as many from not only the original Star Trek episodes, but several from the '80s and '90s movies and even The Next Generation.

Unbelievably, this gem is out of print. Hunt it down. Especially since Cox is taking the characters further now, with his Eugenics War series - tying Seven into the origin of Khan Noonien Singh.

A real feast for Trekkies and '60s kids, and even non-series fans will probably enjoy it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The James Bond of STAR TREK Returns!, December 23, 1999

By	Capt. Gray Banner (Saginaw, Michigan U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

Gary Seven, after all, was the James Bond of the TREK Universe. If "Assignment: Earth" had become a series, it would have joined so many other great Bond clones such as THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., I SPY, THE PRISONER, and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, some of which are referred to in the novel ASSIGNMENT: ETERNITY. It's a great read and perfectly captures the feel and trends of the '60s. Bring on more Gary Seven adventures and this TREK fan will be eternally grateful.