The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Greg Cox (Author) "ROBERTA LINCOLN PACED NERVOUSLY OUTSIDE THE Russian Embassy, hugging herself against the chill of the cold night air..." (more)
Key Phrases: Gary Seven, Sarina Kaur, Number Seven (more...)

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Product Description

"The most critical period in Earth's history." -- Gary Seven, Supervisor 194

Even centuries later, the final decades of the twentieth century are still regarded -- by those who know the truth of what really happened -- as one of the darkest and most perilous chapters in the history of humanity. Now, as an ancient and forbidden technology tempts mankind once more, Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise™ must probe deep into the secrets of the past, to discover the true origins of the dreaded Eugenics Wars -- and of perhaps the greatest foe he has ever faced.

1974 A.D. An international consortium of the world's top scientists have conspired to create the Chrysalis Project, a top-secret experiment in human genetic engineering. The project's goal is nothing less than the creation of a new, artificially improved breed of men and women: smarter, faster, stronger than ordinary human beings, a super-race to take command of the entire planet.

Gary Seven, an undercover operative for an advanced alien species, is alarmed by the project's objectives; he knows too well the apocalyptic consequences of genetic manipulation. With his trusted agents, Roberta Lincoln and the mysterious Isis, he will risk life and limb to uncover Chrysalis' insidious designs and neutralize the awesome threat that the Project poses to the future.

But he may already be too late. One generation of super-humans has already been conceived. As the years go by, Seven watches with growing concern as the children of Chrysalis -- in particular, a brilliant youth named Khan Noonien Singh -- grow to adulthood. Can Khan's dark destiny be averted -- or is Earth doomed to fight a global battle for supremacy?

THE EUGENICS WARS: Volume One is an engrossing and fast-paced thriller that explores the secret history of the twentieth century -- and the rise of the conqueror known as Khan.

About the Author
Greg Cox is the author of several Star Trek novels including the bestselling Next Generation Q Continuum trilogy: Q-SPACE, Q-ZONE and Q-STRIKE.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743406427
• ISBN-13: 978-0743406420
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #439,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trek Nation Loves Eugenics Wars!, June 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

Greg Cox's delightful 'The Eugenics Wars' explains why Earth history as detailed on Star Trek seems different from Earth history as we lived through it from the late 1960s to the end of the last millennium. It's not because the Trek writers guessed wrong, but because most of us have no idea of the influence Gary Seven and his colleagues exerted on global affairs. This hilarious rewriting of current events, which covers most of the period from Watergate to the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavik, follows the secret agent from 'Assignment: Earth,' his associate Roberta Lincoln and his mysterious feline Isis as they try to protect humanity from its own self-destructive impulses.

In this case, the efforts of Seven, Lincoln and Isis center on a genetic engineering project called Chrysalis, which will ultimately produce Khan Noonien Singh's crew from 'Space Seed' (and later 'The Wrath of Khan'). However, one doesn't need to have seen the episode or the film to enjoy this novel -- in fact, one doesn't even really need to be a Star Trek fan, though numerous references to the series and its characters keep regular viewers entertained. There's enough mystery, intrigue and humor to make this book successful with any reader who enjoys stylized spy novel drama.

The Eugenics Wars begins with a framing story in which Kirk and his crew must negotiate with a colony that practices genetic engineering on humans. This volatile situation inspires the captain to do some research into historical records for the late 20th century, when a group of genetically engineered super-humans attempted a global coup and were secretly launched into space when their efforts failed. The real story opens with Roberta Lincoln in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, wishing she could be more like Emma Peel as she attempts to elude East German psychopaths during a Cold War raid on the Russian Embassy. Her boss, Gary Seven, has recently discovered evidence of a massive genetic engineering project that has recruited the best scientists of a generation, and although Roberta resents his extraterrestrial superiors' meddling in human affairs, she understands enough about the potential hazards to help infiltrate Project Chrysalis.

Chrysalis' attempts to improve the human genome take place in a secret complex beneath India's Great Thar Desert, under the guidance of a brilliant scientist named Sarina Kaur. Unfortunately, Kaur has a megalomaniacal streak to go along with her belief in aristocratic government; as she works to breed a better sort of human, she also tries to develop a flesh-eating streptococcus bacterium to wipe out the billions of lesser men and women cluttering the planet. By tracking the specialized equipment sought by Chrysalis, Gary Seven has developed a pretty good sense of Kaur's plans for world domination. While he follows the lab equipment to its hidden destination, Roberta and Isis infiltrate Chrysalis by posing as a progressive geneticist and her pet cat. Soon they all realize the extent of the threat posed by Chrysalis and its offspring, but Kaur's ruthless ambitions for her son "Noon" and the other selectively bred wunderkind won't easily be deterred, not even by an alien-reared human and a woman who can turn into a cat.

Against this backdrop, the better-known history of last 30 years plays out as expected. In addition to his knowledge of Romulan and Borg genetic experiments, Seven uses dividends from investments into Kodak and cell phone technology to assist his research. Roberta reads Jonathan Livingston Seagull to ward off boredom and compares the Chrysalis cover-up to Watergate. As events unfold, she does some female bonding with marine biologist Gillian Taylor before the latter vanishes into the future along with a pair of whales. Roberta also meets Kathryn Janeway's ancestor Shannon O'Donnell during the engineer's tenure at Area 51, but the circumstances aren't the best, for Roberta has come to retrieve the equipment left behind by Chekov in Alameda.

Numerous Trek characters receive mention alongside Sally Ride, Louise Brown, Michael Crichton and dozens of other familiar names from real life. Young Khan's life is shaped by familiar history as well; anti-Sikh prejudice in Delhi and the disastrous chemical spill in Bhopal have a far greater impact on him than his encounters with a human raised by extraterrestrials. Gary Seven tries to recruit the exceptional young man, but remains concerned that in addition to great strength and intellect, Sarina Kaur endowed her son with unnatural ambition and a lack of empathy for "lesser" humans. This dilemma resonates for Captain Kirk as he studies it in the future, trying to decide whether it's worth admitting to the Federation a group of genetically eningeered humans who might otherwise throw in their lot with the Klingons.

Cox writes with great wit and an obvious love of Trek lore, though his greatest accomplishment lies in the way he links together seemingly unconnected 20th century events into a complex conspiracy that makes The X-Files seem unsophisticated. The novel is full of delightful details -- Kaur referring to Gary Seven as 007, Roberta drawing comparisons between the geeks at genetics conferences and science fiction conventions, Isis interfering with a Reagan-Gorbachev photo op, Khan using a chakram to defend himself (the latter being both in character for a Sikh and a clever homage to Xena, Warrior Princess). Cox's historical notes in the afterword set the record straight, offering tidbits about secret tunnels under the Kremlin and secret missions of NASA space shuttles.

At 404 pages, 'The Eugenics Wars, Volume One' makes for a long and satisfying read, though it breaks at an awkward point in the framing story just after Khan has become an adult. I imagine that most of the criticism of this novel will focus on the fact that it costs $25 but leaves the reader hanging in anticipation of the next expensive installment. Still, it's worth it. The larger book format (think 'Pathways') contains more content than most Trek hardcovers, and this is a book worth reading more than once.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start to the series., December 5, 2001

By	Michael Hickerson (Augusta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

Greg Cox has never been my favorite Trek author. I found his Q Continuum trilogy to be entertaining at first, only to fizzle out at the end and Assigment: Eternity to be just a pretty decent read, but nothing to write home about.

So, I must admit that while I looked forward to the Eugenics War, I was a bit hesistant going into it.

All I've got to say is--so far, so good.

The Eugenics War, Book 1 is an enjoyable read. Cox takes the subject of giving us Khan's backstory set against the background of recent history and does a nice job of weaving them together. There's just enough real world, actual events in the story and reference through the actions of Khan, Gary Seven, Robert and Isis to give the book a "alternate history" feel without feeling like it's stretching the truth too much to fit the fiction Cox is trying to tell. Cox's novel gives us the first few years of Khan's life--from his creation as a genetically enhanced child to his early teens. The story is told as a flashback of sorts--Kirk is sorting out a colony that wants to use genetic manipulation and looks to Khan's story to find out the strengths and weaknesses inherent in such research. The framing story of Kirk and company is well told, though it's not too intrustive in this book. It's enough to keep interesting and neither plotline feels like it's taking away from the other in any way.

And Cox has a good grasp of the orignal series crew in the limited time that we encounter them.

But the real success of this books rests on Cox's recreation of Khan, Gary Seven and Robert Lincoln. Cox's Seven is intriguingly developed and we really get to see the payoff on some of the promise of Assignment: Earth. (Admittedly it's not one of my favorite Trek episodes, but Cox takes the characters and really runs with them.) Of course, there are references to the entire continuity of the first four Trek shows. I caught many of them, but I am sure that others just flew over my head. That's another strength of this book--if you get the references, it adds to your enjoyement. If you don't get them, you don't feel like you've missed anything.

The book is a real page-turner, though I will admit it took about 50 pages for me to get into it. Once I managed past those, the other 250 pages flew by and left me anxious for more when part 2 arrives in April.

All in all, the Eugenics War, Book 1 is a nice start and shows strong promise to this series.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting tale with lines from many Star Trek stories, August 17, 2002

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

This review is from: The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

As movie reviewers Siskel and Ebert once said, the success of a good versus evil story is generally not due to the level of goodness of the hero but to the strength of the villain. Khan Noonien Singh was clearly one of the best characters ever developed in the Star Trek genre and "The Wrath of Khan" is still my favorite Star Trek movie. In this book, you learn the origins and early life of this fascinating character.
However, while Khan is the emerging character, the main ones are Gary Seven and Roberta, introduced in another original Star Trek episode. Engaged in a mission to save the world from itself, these two perform many acts that are intertwined with the events that took place in the years following the time frame of the episode where they were introduced. The assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, the mass gassing of people in Bhopal, India, the rise of Gorbachev and the fall of the Soviet Union are all woven into the fabric of the story. This makes the book one of historical fiction as well and really makes it interesting.
An additional intriguing aspect of the story is the appearance of several other characters and consequences from the different Start Trek story lines. While these appearances will be well understood by those familiar with all of the stories, it will confuse those who are not. For example, if you have not seen the episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where Quark and Odo are transported back in time to Earth and land at Roswell, the references to the Ferengi will mean nothing to you.
There is also a separate story line where the Enterprise with Kirk at the helm is renewing contact with a colony of genetically enhanced humans. The Klingons of captain Koloth of tribble fame are also there and stirring up trouble.
I enjoyed the book immensely and was left with a feeling of loss when it ended with crises in two of the story lines. I am now searching for the sequel and can't wait to get my hands on it.