Tiff steps away from the Voyager novel series with one from an earlier time...
Written by the New York Times
Bestselling Author Greg Cox, A Child of Two
Worlds is set in the Star Trek: The Original Series timeline and I must warn
you that this review does contain spoilers.
As a fan of The Original
Series, I was really looking forward to reading this book, my first by Greg Cox
and one of only a few novels to focus on this time period, reuniting Captain
Pike, Dr Boyce, Number One and a young Spock after the events of The Menagerie and The Cage.
The story begins with a
prologue of Spock’s seventh birthday; He is struggling to maintain a
Vulcan veneer, despite the constant interference of his human tendencies. We are then plunged headlong
straight into the action onboard the USS Enterprise.
It is the year 2255, Captain
Pike and his crew are dealing with a critical outbreak of Rigelian Fever on
board the ship. There is however an
experimental ‘cure’ on a Cyprian colony nearby (a rare mineral that may help
the fast ailing crew). True enough whilst en route
to the colony, they receive a distress call from a Cyprian ship under attack by
Klingons!
Events spiral out of control
and crises overlap when it emerges that one of the crew of the ship rescued is
a child abducted and raised by the Klingons who lay claim to her, demanding her
return (by force if necessary!).
More complications arise as
it turns out the girl, Elzy, didn’t actually want to be rescued, certainly not
by her biological sister. Elzy becomes a symbol for her peoples’ ambitious politicians who have been menaced by the nearby Klingons for
many years populist Mob politics create a situation that it seems is almost
impossible for Pike to solve.
The theme of the book is
clear from the start, literally a child of two worlds whose destiny seems
enforced by vested interests, Elzy serves to remind Spock of his own personal
dilemmas. It creates some great
character moments for Spock as he witnesses Elzy’s burden, being reconciled
with her family on one hand, while her Mother disapproves of her insistence
that she is a Klingon. Indeed this can be further
seen within the relationship between Spock and his half brother Sybok as he
reflects on the path his brother took when he chose to reject Vulcan logic in
favour of exploring his emotions instead.
But this familial crisis can
be seen throughout the novel. Captain
Pike, bound by his Starfleet ethics but trying at the same time to do his best
for his crew and all concerned in the dispute around Elzy. The author does a wonderful
job with the characterisation especially with the more familiar crew members and
it’s heart-warming to have a chance to revisit Dr Boyce and Number One and especially
the younger, less mature Spock.
The novel provides a
wonderful insight into this rather neglected time period. Readers may also find some
similarities here to The Next Generation episode Suddenly Human. There are some shortcomings
most notably the style of the novel is rather less mature than other Star Trek
novels I have read.
My first impression was that
it was written in the style of a Young Adult novel and my fear is that the
author has misinterpreted the unique style of The Original Series. Instead he has created a more
simplistic read, both in style and format racking up the tension to almost
unbelievable levels before miraculously, a solution is presented.
Today, we have a tendency to
view The Original Series as bright, nostalgic and a little silly at times and
it’s true that people have misinterpreted this as a simplistic version of Star Trek. Indeed this novel at times
encapsulates that within its Young Adult style. The Original Series at the time of its’
original airing was groundbreaking and covered a great many difficult and at
time controversial issues and it’s a shame that A Child of Two Worlds doesn’t
represent this.
That being said, as a light
read, I enjoyed it immensely. It was fun to read, but ultimately very
forgettable.
Follow us on Twitter
+1 us on Google+
Add us on Tumblr
Join the conversation on Star Trek: Risa
No comments:
Post a Comment