Star Trek: Web of the Romulans (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Ravaged by a killer virus, the Romulans enter Canara, where the only antidote can be found. Desperate, they incite a victorious U.S.S. EnterpriseTM attack on one of their vessels, but Kirk discoves their ruse.

Meanwhile the central computer has fallen in love with him, severely crippling the Starship EnterpriseTM. Somehow Kirk must overcome the lovesick computer and bring the antidote to the Romulans, before the galaxy crashes over the brink of war.

From the Publisher

Ravaged by a killer virus, the Romulans enter Canara, where the only antidote can be found. Desperate, they incite a victorious U.S.S. Enterprise^TM attack on one of their vessels, but Kirk discoves their ruse.

Meanwhile the central computer has fallen in love with him, severely crippling the Starship Enterprise^TM. Somehow Kirk must overcome the lovesick computer and bring the antidote to the Romulans, before the galaxy crashes over the brink of war. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (September 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671700936
• ISBN-13: 978-0671700935
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,063,628 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent story., July 28, 2000

By	James Yanni (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is by far the best of the numbered series of Star Trek novels up to the point at which it was written, with the possible exception of #7, "The Wrath Of Khan". The characters are handled competently, the plot is interesting, and the writing is fluent, professional, and lively.

There is a certain similarity between the plot of this story, and the plot of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", but that is no fault of this story, since it predates the other. There is also a certain similarity between its plot and that of "Dr. Strangelove", although this is not a comedy. This story is set in the time immediately after the original series Star Trek episode, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; the computer has not yet been reprogrammed, and is still overly affectionate toward Kirk.

If you enjoy Star Trek: the original series, you should definitely read this book; it is one of the better books in the Star Trek series. Even if you aren't a big fan, but are only lukewarm toward Star Trek, you should give this book a try.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More detail about the Romulan politcial machinations would have been better, May 1, 2006

By	Charles Ashbacher "([e-mail])" (Marion, Iowa United States([e-mail])) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Web of the Romulans (Star Trek, No 10) (Paperback)

The Romulan Empire is in deep trouble. A plague is rapidly killing them and the only cure is grown on the planet Canara in Federation space. Fearing that the Federation would use the knowledge to destroy the Empire, the Romulans attempt to take the antidote by force rather than ask for help. However, the Canarans are fiercely loyal to the Federation and strongly oppose the Romulans. While they cannot hope to resist by force of arms, the Canarans set destructive charges that will destroy all of the material that can be used to make the antidote to the plague.
As the story unfolds, we learn a great deal about the Romulan political system, the Praetor is the highest political figure and the position is currently being held by a greedy, self-serving individual. He sends one of the most loyal and effective Romulan commanders on what is a suicide mission into Federation space and also calls back into service an aged commander whose loyalty to the Empire is greater than any personal animosity he has for the Praetor and his political machinations.
There are two subplots that complicate the situation. The first is that the computers on the Enterprise recently underwent maintenance and the technicians decided that they needed more of a personality. Therefore, they programmed the main computer to have a personality, including emotions. The computer falls in love with Kirk and considers him the only person in the universe. It ignores all other members of the crew, so nothing works for anyone else. The crew is largely helpless to do anything about the situation, which is supposed to be amusing. I didn't find it amusing at all, and thought that this subplot was too much of a distraction to the real story. A simple reboot using core memory should have solved the problem.
The second subplot involved Admiral Iota, who hates the Romulans so bad that he barricades himself into auxiliary control on one of the Federation ships and fires on the Romulans. Once again, the crew of the ship is helpless to stop him. This is absurd; no Starfleet vessel would be constructed without some way to disable the weapons outside of auxiliary control. Furthermore, the idea that one man could barricade himself into an area and control the entire ship was one I found ridiculous.
The two subplots spoiled the story for me. Had the author concentrated on the inner workings of the Romulan Empire and the actions of the Praetor and the Romulan commanders, the story would have been much better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! A Star Trek Must Read!, August 10, 2003

By	Russell L. Winkler "Russ" (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The timeline for this story is immediately after the original series Star Trek episode, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday". This is where the computer has been reprogrammed to be seductive and affectionate -especially towards Kirk(of course)!

The characters -Romulan and Enterprise, are handled competently.

Some guest appearances:
Yeoman Janice Rand (not a love interest here!)
Ensign Garrovick (from "Obsession")
Lt. Kyle (Transporter Chief)

The plot is fascinating(as Spock would say) and unfolds excellently. The writing is professional and stays right on in the ST Universe. The plot is similar to the ST movie: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", but here the Romulans face a disaster. Kirk and McCoy are not captured here either.

If you have to choose a few original ST books to read then choose this one amongst the others.

Read on...