Ice Trap (Star Trek, Book 60) (Mass Market Paperback)

by L.A. Graf (Author) "LEONARD McCoy GLARED at the transporter from which he, Kirk, and Spock had just disembarked..." (more)
Key Phrases: Captain Mandeville, Lieutenant Chekov, Nordstral Pharmaceuticals (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sent to the icebound planet of Nordstral to investigate a mysterious outbreak of insanity, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ find themselves drawn into another, even deadlier mystery upon their arrival. A team of research scientists has disappeared on Nordstral's frozen wasteland, leaving no clue to their whereabouts, and no hint of their fate.

WHile Uhura and Chekov tackle the mystery surrounding the scientists' disappearance, Kirk and McCoy search for the truth behind the outbreak of mental illness. But both teams soon find themselves in danger, as the planet undergoes a series of massive earthquakes and electromagnetic disruptions. Unable to contact he U.S.S. Enterprise, both teams must fight for their lives as they try to solve the mystery of Nordstral -- before the world tears itself apart!

From the Publisher
Sent to the icebound planet of Nordstral to investigate a mysterious outbreak of insanity, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise^TM find themselves drawn into another, even deadlier mystery upon their arrival. A team of research scientists has disappeared on Nordstral's frozen wasteland, leaving no clue to their whereabouts, and no hint of their fate.

While Uhura and Chekov tackle the mystery surrounding the scientists' disappearance, Kirk and McCoy search for the truth behind the outbreak of mental illness. Both teams soon find themselves in danger, as the planet undergoes a series of massive earthquakes and electromagnetic disruptions. Unable to contact the U.S.S. Enterprise, both teams must fight for their lives as they try to solve the mystery of Nordstral, before the world tears itself apart.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 277 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek; First edition. edition (July 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671780689
• ISBN-13: 978-0671780685
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #857,085 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Captain! Our suspension of disbelief is overloading!, May 31, 2000

By	Charlene Vickers (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The authors who publish under the pseudonym L.A. Graf have turned out some of the best Original Series professional fiction available. "Ice Trap", unfortunately, is one of their worst collaborations. The characterizations are poor, the setting is highly derivative, and the writing is uneven and choppy.

One of the reasons we read Original Series profic is that we love the characters. What a shame it is, then, that the most important characters in this book are portrayed so badly. I was embarrassed by Uhura's overt sexuality while on duty and annoyed by Chekov's neurotic whining, but Spock: poor Spock comes across as a pathetic bookworm who loves the sound of his own voice and who wouldn't lift a hand to save his own captain.

The poor characterizations make it difficult for the reader to suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy this book. Unfortunately, the setting compounds the difficulty. The writers seem to have written this book as a tribute to Canada; the original characters are mostly Canadian, and the alien world, Nordstral, is astonishingly similar to northern Canada -- or to what a Californian might think Northern Canada was like if they'd never actually been there. It's as if they got everything from an outdated copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. It's distracting and at times unintentionally hilarious: in one scene, a character swears there are no sailboats in Calgary, which might not have been as funny had I not been on a sailboat in Calgary at the time I read it.

To top it all off, the writing is weak and very uneven. It's as if one writer contributed the A story, the other the B story, and both collaborated on the bridges. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

This is perhaps the weakest of the L.A. Graf collaborations. I don't recommend it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sailing, Sailing, on an Iceberg too, November 21, 2006

By	barbre (Troy, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Wow. This has to be one of the dumbest novels I've ever read. The characters are presented lamely, the story should have been solved days before the Enterprise arrives, and the iceberg....

Throughout most of the story Kirk is a Captain. However, for one chapter he becomes and Admiral. Then he is a Captain again.

Did you know you can use a tent to turn an iceberg into a sailing ship?

The most common reaction to anything by any crew member is to "gasp".

Vulcan's can't go to cold planets or they will die.

Kraken's get goo-goo eyed over communications officers wearing masks.

The story consists of Chekov and Uhura running from bad guys, and Kirk and McCoy trying not to drown.

I cannot even begin to imagine how drunk the authors had to be to envision this as a good story. I also cannot imagine what publisher would have printed this garbage.

2.0 out of 5 stars Tedious. Graf has done better, December 28, 2008

By	Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sorry, but I thought that this one was tedious, predictable, and relatively hard to follow. Plus, it just did not impart that "sense of wonder" that characterize the best Star Trek stories. Basically, Chekov, Uhura, and McCoy beam down to a planet which has a strange ecology undergoing an ice age. Just about everything about this planet is unhelpful--the transporter won't work, sensors from the Enterprise don't work, phasers work poorly and some stupid decisions deprive the Landing Party of phasers anyway. Plus, some fairly obvious problems cause most humans to go insane after a brief stay on the planet. All of this is very apparent from the first portion of the novel, and it makes the ending relatively predictable.

This novel was not particularly absorbing, and I was glad when I reached the relatively predictable ending. There are better Star Trek novels out there.