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Star Trek: Movie Novelizations #1
Star Trek
Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
Are you willing to settle for an ordinary life? Or do you think you were meant for something better? Something special?"
One grew up in the cornfields of Iowa, fighting for his independence, for a way out of a life that promised only indifference, aimlessness and obscurity. "You will forever be a child of two worlds, capable of choosing your own destiny. The only question you face is, which path will you chose?"
The other grew up on the jagged cliffs of the harsh Vulcan desert, fighting for acceptance, for a way to reconcile the logic he was taught with the emotions he felt.
In the far reaches of the galaxy, a machine of war bursts into existence in a place and time it was never meant to be. On a mission of retribution for the destruction of his planet, its half-mad captain seeks the death of every intelligent being, and the annihilation of every civilized world.
Kirk and Spock, two completely different and unyielding personalities, must find a way to lead the only crew, aboard the only ship, that can stop him.
"The wait is over."
Are you willing to settle for an ordinary life? Or do you think you were meant for something better? Something special?"
One grew up in the cornfields of Iowa, fighting for his independence, for a way out of a life that promised only indifference, aimlessness and obscurity. "You will forever be a child of two worlds, capable of choosing your own destiny. The only question you face is, which path will you chose?"
The other grew up on the jagged cliffs of the harsh Vulcan desert, fighting for acceptance, for a way to reconcile the logic he was taught with the emotions he felt.
In the far reaches of the galaxy, a machine of war bursts into existence in a place and time it was never meant to be. On a mission of retribution for the destruction of his planet, its half-mad captain seeks the death of every intelligent being, and the annihilation of every civilized world.
Kirk and Spock, two completely different and unyielding personalities, must find a way to lead the only crew, aboard the only ship, that can stop him.
"The wait is over."
8 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2009
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1,787 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
462Ìýbooks1,956ÌýfollowersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
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February 7, 2017
A new parallel universe is born!
This is the novelization of the film "Star Trek" (2009), introducing a new parallel universe in the franchise.
PARALLEL UNIVERSE, THE FINAL FRONTIER
When I watched the film, I wasn't aware that the intention was to creat a new parallel universe.
I thought that it was a prequel movie telling the events of how James T. Kirk and Spock have met.
So, when I watched so many things changed and some "big" changes in the stellar cartography in that story, I thought odd that it remained just like that.
Since usually, there was some "big change" involving time travel, some daring crew would go back in time and restore the timeline and the Department of Temporal Investigations was happy again and they can "file" the case.
But no, this time, recognizable characters got dead...
...some worlds are no more...
...and all that remains just like that and the heroes go forward accepting those things.
A new parallel universe was born.
STRANGE NEW DIMENSIONS
It took me some time to assimilate this (pun intended while there isn't any Borg here).
However, now I embrace this new universe as another "spin-off" series of the popular franchise.
Another option for new adventures and stories.
While I have watched the film a lot of times by now, I wanted to read the novelization seeking for further details of the story and even some "scenes" that were left out of the film giving me some deeper insight about it.
However, it wasn't the case, since while indeed they were some new "scenes", nothing was so relevant that it changed my previous knowledge of the story.
Also, there are some odd "bad editing", making contradicting/illogical comments in several "scenes".
After all...
...it was a good reading experience.
But don't take me wrong, with the time (and several watching of the film) I learnt to embrace this "Abramsverse" (Yes, I know that the technical term is Kelvin Timeline, but a step a time, I already accepted this new parallel universe, later I may be used to that "technical term"), and I enjoyed to the fullest the other two movies in this new take in the Star Trek franchise.
This is the novelization of the film "Star Trek" (2009), introducing a new parallel universe in the franchise.
PARALLEL UNIVERSE, THE FINAL FRONTIER
When I watched the film, I wasn't aware that the intention was to creat a new parallel universe.
I thought that it was a prequel movie telling the events of how James T. Kirk and Spock have met.
So, when I watched so many things changed and some "big" changes in the stellar cartography in that story, I thought odd that it remained just like that.
Since usually, there was some "big change" involving time travel, some daring crew would go back in time and restore the timeline and the Department of Temporal Investigations was happy again and they can "file" the case.
But no, this time, recognizable characters got dead...
...some worlds are no more...
...and all that remains just like that and the heroes go forward accepting those things.
A new parallel universe was born.
STRANGE NEW DIMENSIONS
It took me some time to assimilate this (pun intended while there isn't any Borg here).
However, now I embrace this new universe as another "spin-off" series of the popular franchise.
Another option for new adventures and stories.
While I have watched the film a lot of times by now, I wanted to read the novelization seeking for further details of the story and even some "scenes" that were left out of the film giving me some deeper insight about it.
However, it wasn't the case, since while indeed they were some new "scenes", nothing was so relevant that it changed my previous knowledge of the story.
Also, there are some odd "bad editing", making contradicting/illogical comments in several "scenes".
After all...
...it was a good reading experience.
But don't take me wrong, with the time (and several watching of the film) I learnt to embrace this "Abramsverse" (Yes, I know that the technical term is Kelvin Timeline, but a step a time, I already accepted this new parallel universe, later I may be used to that "technical term"), and I enjoyed to the fullest the other two movies in this new take in the Star Trek franchise.
February 24, 2012
When I was getting my teaching certificate, they told us to lead off with the good points about students� projects, and only after boosting their egos, point out what needed improvement.
It is in that spirit that I begin this review of Star Trek, the adaptation of JJ Abrams� reboot of the franchise:
Good Points
Zachary Quinto (“Spock� in Abrams� movie) does a rather good job of reading the novel. He � of course � nails Spock but he’s got a wide enough vocal range to handle all of the other characters, and makes it easy to follow what’s going on. He’s particularly good with Nero, sounding uncannily like Eric Bana, and with Chekov (I’m no expert on dialect but I liked his “Russian� accent more than Yelchin’s in the movie).
Alan Dean Foster is a past master of movie novelizations. When I was younger, I kept copies of , , , , and others close at hand for when I was bored and wanted quick, easy-to-read and well written brain candy. The best movie novelizations retain the good points of the movie but add depth and detail to the characters and plot that give future viewings of the film greater meaning (see, outside Foster’s oeuvre, Vonda McIntyre’s adaptations of & or Terry Brook’s of ). Foster does that in this book in several cases. One of the best is the scene where Kirk is forced to defend himself for altering the Kobayashi Maru simulation. I understand why � if it was filmed at all � it was cut from the movie but it’s instructive to watch Kirk and Spock spar (though � as Sulu warns Bailey in “The Corbomite Maneuver,� � “try to cross brains with Spock, he'll cut you to pieces every time�). Another one nearly as good is a scene between Kirk and his older brother before he steals his step-father’s vintage car. We get a glimpse of the straight-laced, near martinet that Kirk was in the Academy of the original timeline (“Where No Man Has Gone Before�), and a reason behind why in this timeline he’s the only genius-level multiple offender in the Iowa juvie system. There are also points where authorial decision makes more sense than the movies�, e.g., rather than have Chekov race through the ship to the transporter room to beam Kirk and Sulu up from the plasma drill, Foster has him transfer the controls from there to his helm station via the computer (the 23rd century version of GoToMyPC). And there are small touches � just a sentence or clause � like having both McCoy and Sulu pick up on “something� going on between Uhura and Spock.
It’s not all to the good. As another points out, there is some truly awful dialog, but overall Foster does a good job with the story.
What Needs Improvement
Unfortunately, the story is a large part of the problem in Star Trek, and Foster’s task proves thankless in the end. I don’t want to spend too much time dissecting the novel but below are nine things that really bothered me:
One: What the hell is a pregnant woman doing on board a Starfleet vessel in the middle of a mission? The decision to put families aboard Enterprise always soured me on TNG. Really? The galaxy is full of unknowns that could kill us at any moment so let’s expose our spouses and children to them. I’m sure everything will work out for the best (just ask Benjamin Sisko).
Two: The Narada is a mining/ore processing vessel. Why does it appear to have the most advanced shielding and weapons on offer in the Romulan Empire? I know that the Romulans are a highly militarized society but it’s a mining ship not a frakking dreadnaught.
Three: Related to (2), Nero is chief of a mining crew not a soldier. A failure in both the movie and the book is that you never get a sense of why Nero is doing what he’s doing, or why his crew is so fanatically loyal over the course of the 25 years they have to wait for Spock Prime to show up. Yes, we know that Nero’s pregnant wife was on Romulus when it blew up, but that’s such a clichéd motivation that readers/viewers are left shaking their heads in dismay at such lazy story-telling. And, outside of a penchant for homicidal rages, what hold does Nero exercise over the other Romulans? There’s little effort to develop Nero as a plausible villain. Compare this to Khan Noonian Singh � “Save your strength, Captain, these people have sworn to live and die at my command two hundred years before you were born.�
Four: What did the Narada and her crew do for the 25 years they were waiting for Spock? I understand that there’s a comic series that fills in the gap but I shouldn’t have to go outside of the book (or the movie) to learn that.
Five: Red matter. Yet again we have an ultimate weapon that will probably never be mentioned again. If ST: The Wrath of Khan had a serious weakness it was the Genesis Torpedo, a weapon that not only destroyed the enemy but then could reconfigure him into “a living breathing planet, capable of sustaining whatever life forms we see fit to deposit on it.� The Borg � launch the Genesis Torpedo and let them assimilate that. The Dominion � launch the Genesis Torpedo. Qo’noS rendered uninhabitable by Praxis� destruction? Launch the Genesis Torpedo & viola a whole new homeworld.
Here again I blame lazy story-telling on the part of the original writers (Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman).
Six: I’m old school Trek. Kirk, Spock & McCoy never met before being assigned to Enterprise. None of them, nor any of the secondary crew, are contemporaries. Both Spock and McCoy are considerably older than Kirk, as is Scotty, and McCoy never attended the Academy (see “The Ultimate Computer� and the reference to Captain Dunsel). At best Uhura, Sulu and Chekov may have been first-years at the Academy when Kirk was graduating.
It’s what I call “The Star Wars Syndrome� � the need to cram every character into every story, regardless of how illogical it might be (e.g., shoehorning both C3PO and R2-D2 into the prequels � only one of their many sins).
With a bit of thought, you could have gotten them together (and even slipped in the Spock/Uhura romance) without the ridiculous contrivances settled on.
Seven: Delta Vega. Where exactly is Delta Vega? If we go by “Where No Man Has Gone Before,� it’s somewhere near the edge of the galaxy. Very, very far from Vulcan’s sun, 40 Eridani. But it’s an homage to the original series so I’ll accept the name. What I can’t accept (my willingness to suspend belief only goes so far) is that it’s near enough to Vulcan so that Spock can watch a black hole swallow the planet. Our closest interplanetary neighbor � the Moon � is about a quarter of a million miles away, and � at best � it’s about the size of a large coin in our sky on some nights. Beyond Luna, our nearest neighbors are Mars and Venus. And under perfect conditions for viewing and excellent eyesight, they’re still little more than largish dots.
If Nero had wanted Spock to watch Vulcan’s end, he would have kept him on the ship or put him in a lifeboat in orbit around the planet.
Eight: Another WTF moment: All of Starfleet is off on the other side of the galaxy doing something, so the only defense the Federation can muster against Nero is an ad hoc fleet crewed by a bunch of recently graduated cadets?
Nine: Kirk’s alteration of the Kobayashi Maru was pretty lame. He made it so that the Klingons dropped their shields? That’s original thinking? Or is the “original thinking� for succeeding in cracking the program’s encryption?
Either way, David Marcus was right � “he cheated� � and I’m not sure what Starfleet was thinking when they commended him in either timeline.
Referring to the movie, if I may in this book-oriented review, I like the recast crew and only hope that upcoming films have better stories. In regards to this book, I can only recommend it to fellow Trekkies, and then only tepidly.
It is in that spirit that I begin this review of Star Trek, the adaptation of JJ Abrams� reboot of the franchise:
Good Points
Zachary Quinto (“Spock� in Abrams� movie) does a rather good job of reading the novel. He � of course � nails Spock but he’s got a wide enough vocal range to handle all of the other characters, and makes it easy to follow what’s going on. He’s particularly good with Nero, sounding uncannily like Eric Bana, and with Chekov (I’m no expert on dialect but I liked his “Russian� accent more than Yelchin’s in the movie).
Alan Dean Foster is a past master of movie novelizations. When I was younger, I kept copies of , , , , and others close at hand for when I was bored and wanted quick, easy-to-read and well written brain candy. The best movie novelizations retain the good points of the movie but add depth and detail to the characters and plot that give future viewings of the film greater meaning (see, outside Foster’s oeuvre, Vonda McIntyre’s adaptations of & or Terry Brook’s of ). Foster does that in this book in several cases. One of the best is the scene where Kirk is forced to defend himself for altering the Kobayashi Maru simulation. I understand why � if it was filmed at all � it was cut from the movie but it’s instructive to watch Kirk and Spock spar (though � as Sulu warns Bailey in “The Corbomite Maneuver,� � “try to cross brains with Spock, he'll cut you to pieces every time�). Another one nearly as good is a scene between Kirk and his older brother before he steals his step-father’s vintage car. We get a glimpse of the straight-laced, near martinet that Kirk was in the Academy of the original timeline (“Where No Man Has Gone Before�), and a reason behind why in this timeline he’s the only genius-level multiple offender in the Iowa juvie system. There are also points where authorial decision makes more sense than the movies�, e.g., rather than have Chekov race through the ship to the transporter room to beam Kirk and Sulu up from the plasma drill, Foster has him transfer the controls from there to his helm station via the computer (the 23rd century version of GoToMyPC). And there are small touches � just a sentence or clause � like having both McCoy and Sulu pick up on “something� going on between Uhura and Spock.
It’s not all to the good. As another points out, there is some truly awful dialog, but overall Foster does a good job with the story.
What Needs Improvement
Unfortunately, the story is a large part of the problem in Star Trek, and Foster’s task proves thankless in the end. I don’t want to spend too much time dissecting the novel but below are nine things that really bothered me:
One: What the hell is a pregnant woman doing on board a Starfleet vessel in the middle of a mission? The decision to put families aboard Enterprise always soured me on TNG. Really? The galaxy is full of unknowns that could kill us at any moment so let’s expose our spouses and children to them. I’m sure everything will work out for the best (just ask Benjamin Sisko).
Two: The Narada is a mining/ore processing vessel. Why does it appear to have the most advanced shielding and weapons on offer in the Romulan Empire? I know that the Romulans are a highly militarized society but it’s a mining ship not a frakking dreadnaught.
Three: Related to (2), Nero is chief of a mining crew not a soldier. A failure in both the movie and the book is that you never get a sense of why Nero is doing what he’s doing, or why his crew is so fanatically loyal over the course of the 25 years they have to wait for Spock Prime to show up. Yes, we know that Nero’s pregnant wife was on Romulus when it blew up, but that’s such a clichéd motivation that readers/viewers are left shaking their heads in dismay at such lazy story-telling. And, outside of a penchant for homicidal rages, what hold does Nero exercise over the other Romulans? There’s little effort to develop Nero as a plausible villain. Compare this to Khan Noonian Singh � “Save your strength, Captain, these people have sworn to live and die at my command two hundred years before you were born.�
Four: What did the Narada and her crew do for the 25 years they were waiting for Spock? I understand that there’s a comic series that fills in the gap but I shouldn’t have to go outside of the book (or the movie) to learn that.
Five: Red matter. Yet again we have an ultimate weapon that will probably never be mentioned again. If ST: The Wrath of Khan had a serious weakness it was the Genesis Torpedo, a weapon that not only destroyed the enemy but then could reconfigure him into “a living breathing planet, capable of sustaining whatever life forms we see fit to deposit on it.� The Borg � launch the Genesis Torpedo and let them assimilate that. The Dominion � launch the Genesis Torpedo. Qo’noS rendered uninhabitable by Praxis� destruction? Launch the Genesis Torpedo & viola a whole new homeworld.
Here again I blame lazy story-telling on the part of the original writers (Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman).
Six: I’m old school Trek. Kirk, Spock & McCoy never met before being assigned to Enterprise. None of them, nor any of the secondary crew, are contemporaries. Both Spock and McCoy are considerably older than Kirk, as is Scotty, and McCoy never attended the Academy (see “The Ultimate Computer� and the reference to Captain Dunsel). At best Uhura, Sulu and Chekov may have been first-years at the Academy when Kirk was graduating.
It’s what I call “The Star Wars Syndrome� � the need to cram every character into every story, regardless of how illogical it might be (e.g., shoehorning both C3PO and R2-D2 into the prequels � only one of their many sins).
With a bit of thought, you could have gotten them together (and even slipped in the Spock/Uhura romance) without the ridiculous contrivances settled on.
Seven: Delta Vega. Where exactly is Delta Vega? If we go by “Where No Man Has Gone Before,� it’s somewhere near the edge of the galaxy. Very, very far from Vulcan’s sun, 40 Eridani. But it’s an homage to the original series so I’ll accept the name. What I can’t accept (my willingness to suspend belief only goes so far) is that it’s near enough to Vulcan so that Spock can watch a black hole swallow the planet. Our closest interplanetary neighbor � the Moon � is about a quarter of a million miles away, and � at best � it’s about the size of a large coin in our sky on some nights. Beyond Luna, our nearest neighbors are Mars and Venus. And under perfect conditions for viewing and excellent eyesight, they’re still little more than largish dots.
If Nero had wanted Spock to watch Vulcan’s end, he would have kept him on the ship or put him in a lifeboat in orbit around the planet.
Eight: Another WTF moment: All of Starfleet is off on the other side of the galaxy doing something, so the only defense the Federation can muster against Nero is an ad hoc fleet crewed by a bunch of recently graduated cadets?
Nine: Kirk’s alteration of the Kobayashi Maru was pretty lame. He made it so that the Klingons dropped their shields? That’s original thinking? Or is the “original thinking� for succeeding in cracking the program’s encryption?
Either way, David Marcus was right � “he cheated� � and I’m not sure what Starfleet was thinking when they commended him in either timeline.
Referring to the movie, if I may in this book-oriented review, I like the recast crew and only hope that upcoming films have better stories. In regards to this book, I can only recommend it to fellow Trekkies, and then only tepidly.
December 18, 2015
Could have sworn I wrote a review for this before but oh well :)
*Just noticed this is my 500th review, wicked!*
I usually don't read movie adaptation books, wary how they could possibly compare to the movie (Lone Ranger was an exception but it still felt awkward and the X-Men ones for the first two were good... ).
So the main reason for me picking up this one?
Couldn't resist seeing how Zachary Quinto would be as a narrator... some actors are better at this kind of things than others so I was cautiously excited for it.
Zachary knocked it out of the park for me... besides Spock's voice of course ;-), He did a great job of doing the voices of the other characters (his voice for Bones was my favorite) and keeping the pace of the story. He made the just "okay" parts of the book sound better.
The story itself... wasn't bad. There was some awkward/bad writing in spots but overall it was a decent movie novelization... it seemed some of this was a from a first draft of the script maybe? (If I'm wrong, be gentle... I haven't looked it up)
One scene which was completely different and not in a good way was one where
That scene was very awkward to listen to, even with Zachary doing his best with it... only time I wanted to fast forward through the audiobook.
Not a perfect read but a nice way to spend your time... there's not a lot of "insight" or "extended scenes" from the movie but that didn't bother me really.
Narrator - Five Stars
Story: 3.5 stars
Happy reading!
Alejandro's review here He explains it all well :)
*Just noticed this is my 500th review, wicked!*
I usually don't read movie adaptation books, wary how they could possibly compare to the movie (Lone Ranger was an exception but it still felt awkward and the X-Men ones for the first two were good... ).
So the main reason for me picking up this one?
Couldn't resist seeing how Zachary Quinto would be as a narrator... some actors are better at this kind of things than others so I was cautiously excited for it.
Zachary knocked it out of the park for me... besides Spock's voice of course ;-), He did a great job of doing the voices of the other characters (his voice for Bones was my favorite) and keeping the pace of the story. He made the just "okay" parts of the book sound better.
The story itself... wasn't bad. There was some awkward/bad writing in spots but overall it was a decent movie novelization... it seemed some of this was a from a first draft of the script maybe? (If I'm wrong, be gentle... I haven't looked it up)
One scene which was completely different and not in a good way was one where
That scene was very awkward to listen to, even with Zachary doing his best with it... only time I wanted to fast forward through the audiobook.
Not a perfect read but a nice way to spend your time... there's not a lot of "insight" or "extended scenes" from the movie but that didn't bother me really.
Narrator - Five Stars
Story: 3.5 stars
Happy reading!
Alejandro's review here He explains it all well :)
October 14, 2017
Solid book from the Abramsverse Star Trek universe, Alan Dean Foster is always good with movie tie-ins.
August 21, 2019
I got this on audiobook solely so I could listen to Zachary Quinto tell me about Star Trek, but he only got out eight words before I had to pause him to snicker. He is Putting On A Voice for the narration. You can practically hear his smoking jacket. He's in a leather armchair by the fireplace. There's a hunting dog at his feet. He gently tamps down the tobacco in his pipe. He's wearing an ascot. It sounds like he's trying way too hard to record the message on his voice mail, and it's really distracting. He kills it with the Vulcan characters and the science stuff and the computer voices and even a lot of Kirk's swagger, but his Romulans all sound like Batman (Christian Bale version) while his McCoy also sounds like Batman (Lego Batman Will Arnett)—I don't even want to talk about Chekov or Scotty—and his female characters are all embarrassingly breathy except for, thank god, Uhura.
Also the writing is terrible. The word choices are ridiculous, and it goes into a lot of detail without managing to say anything. Like there's lots of talk about sensors and what they're sensing, but we don't learn a damned thing about what Winona does on the Kelvin besides be pregnant.
Contains: Descriptions of childbirth, injuries, torture; body horror; violence.
Also the writing is terrible. The word choices are ridiculous, and it goes into a lot of detail without managing to say anything. Like there's lots of talk about sensors and what they're sensing, but we don't learn a damned thing about what Winona does on the Kelvin besides be pregnant.
Contains: Descriptions of childbirth, injuries, torture; body horror; violence.
February 7, 2011
I really wanted to like this book.
In my experience, movie novelizations fall into two categories: bland recaps of the screenplay, or fleshed-out stories which serve to compliment and expand the movie. Luckily, this book falls into the latter category. Some things were nicely explained, such as a more in depth look into the Spock/Uhura moments. There were also nice bits of back-story with Nero and how the rest of his Romulan crew reacted to the attempted destruction of Earth.
Some of the details, however, were obviously changed or just plain wrong. (Baby!Kirk has brown eyes? Spock decided not to warp away from Earth prior to detonating the black-hole inducing red matter?) These may be due to changes made between rewrites of the script and during production. Most book versions of movies I've come across have these sort of differences, so I won’t hold anything against this one.
My problem comes with the actual writing of the story, which is a real shame. I’ve never read a book from this author before, but this felt rushed and could have used a whole lot more editing. The passive verbs slowed down the pace of the action, made little to no sense in places, and generally drove me insane.
There was something seriously wrong with the dialog � probably compounded by the fact that I listened to the audio version. No one, no one talks like the characters in these books. Not the movie characters, not the TV show characters, and certainly not real people. It’s like they all swallowed a truckload of thesauruses and spent the entire story regurgitating long, obscure (and I’m sure, technically correct) words to out-vocab one another. It went beyond techno-babble� I would have welcomed techno-babble.
For example, this is the dialog from the movie’s script:
“H±ð±ô±ô´Ç.â€�
“I am Captain Christopher Pike, to whom am I speaking?�
“I am called Nero.�
Now the same bit, transcribed from the audio book version:
“Your valor does you great honor, Captain, and the skill of your crew surpasses -- however uselessly -- any that has preceded it.�
“To whom am I speaking?�
“My formal designation is Oh’ren, with an accent and syllabic stress that is difficult for the human larynx to deal with. As it is not uncommon, reversing and softening the entire process yields a name you can pronounce. Address me as Nero.�
The hell, man?
These characters were just engaged in a really intense space battle a few seconds before... is this really the time for a lesson on Romulan pronunciation?
This type of inane discourse also had the effect of changing the basic characterization of the main characters. In the movie, Nero was insane and arrogant and he showed that partially by his informality: addressing a captain with, “Hello� and calling Captain Pike by his first name, Christopher.
In the book he comes off as arrogant because he’s insane, and not insane because he’s arrogant. It’s a subtle difference, but a very important one.
Words were repeated with such frequency that I was a little taken aback. �Turning away from the engineer, Kirk turned to his other companion.� Where is the editor? Seriously, did anyone proof this?
There were also times where the details conflicted with one another. “� even at this altitude the air was still and there was virtually no wind.� Then, just few lines later: “Now he was hanging upside-down as the wind blew him back and forth.� So, which is it? Wind or no wind? These are easy mistakes to make in the first draft, but things that should not be in a finished product.
Overall the story itself was satisfying, but that was due in most part to the original screenplay and the fuzzy feelings I still had left over from the movie. This book felt unchecked, and incomplete. I’m not sure if I should blame the editor or the writer, but someone needed to polish it more before it went to print.
I have to give this book 3 stars. It's still better than other movie tie-in's I've read, but fails to capture any of the spirit of the characters from the show or the movie. It's a pity because other novelizations of previous original Trek movies went above and beyond and really complimented the original scripts. They were good in their own right. This was clunky and forgettable.
June 20, 2010
I've never seen any Star Trek - not even a few minutes of a TV episode, and all of my knowledge of the fandom comes from the parodies in episodes of Futurama and so forth - and it took me a while to see the movie a few weeks ago... in the end I only went because my friends couldn't stop talking about it. I was surprised by how captivating I found it.
I think seeing the movie first and then reading the book after made it even more enjoyable. I knew what was going to happen next but it was nice to find out the 'hidden' and deeper meanings between everything and see it all from a different angle, as no two people can see the same movie in the same way. To read it, It makes things so much clearer as well.
I will really have to listen to Quinto's narration sometime, because everyone who's heard it has been swept away by it.
Eta: listened to audio book in June 2010. Love Zach Quinto so much.
I think seeing the movie first and then reading the book after made it even more enjoyable. I knew what was going to happen next but it was nice to find out the 'hidden' and deeper meanings between everything and see it all from a different angle, as no two people can see the same movie in the same way. To read it, It makes things so much clearer as well.
I will really have to listen to Quinto's narration sometime, because everyone who's heard it has been swept away by it.
Eta: listened to audio book in June 2010. Love Zach Quinto so much.
June 10, 2024
I have been reading through the Star Trek movie novelizations over the last few years, and I quite enjoy the process of revisiting these great Star Trek stories. (I only have 3 movie novelizations left for Star Trek!)
This book is...servicable. Foster does an adequate job of retelling the story from the movie. There are a very few scenes (maybe a page or two here or there) that Foster added, including some backstory for George Kirk (Jr) and Jim, as well as an extended scene with Spock and (old) Spock. Generally, the book stays very faithful to the script, rarely deviating.
Foster has a long history with Star Trek, as far back as writing the Star Trek logs in the 70s and even writing a story treatment for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (which is probably why they tapped him for this novelization). Foster unfortunately does not fit the bill for me with what I want in my novelizaitons, as both this and his Force Awakens novelization add little actual extra material.
Foster can and has written very good Star Trek though, as his novel "The Unsettling Stars" (also a Kevin Timeline book) was excellent! I just think his deficit is in the way he writes novelizations.
There are a few added dialogue moments from the cast (particularly Sulu, Chekov, and especially McCoy) which felt very in character and prove that Foster has a good handle for their voices.
If you want a ton of extra material and context and new scenes, this isn't the novelization for you. If you enjoy straight retellings, this might work well for you. Overall, I'll give this novelization a 6 out of 10.
*Note: My rating is for the quality of the novelization, not the quality of the story in the movie, which I would rate much higher*
This book is...servicable. Foster does an adequate job of retelling the story from the movie. There are a very few scenes (maybe a page or two here or there) that Foster added, including some backstory for George Kirk (Jr) and Jim, as well as an extended scene with Spock and (old) Spock. Generally, the book stays very faithful to the script, rarely deviating.
Foster has a long history with Star Trek, as far back as writing the Star Trek logs in the 70s and even writing a story treatment for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (which is probably why they tapped him for this novelization). Foster unfortunately does not fit the bill for me with what I want in my novelizaitons, as both this and his Force Awakens novelization add little actual extra material.
Foster can and has written very good Star Trek though, as his novel "The Unsettling Stars" (also a Kevin Timeline book) was excellent! I just think his deficit is in the way he writes novelizations.
There are a few added dialogue moments from the cast (particularly Sulu, Chekov, and especially McCoy) which felt very in character and prove that Foster has a good handle for their voices.
If you want a ton of extra material and context and new scenes, this isn't the novelization for you. If you enjoy straight retellings, this might work well for you. Overall, I'll give this novelization a 6 out of 10.
*Note: My rating is for the quality of the novelization, not the quality of the story in the movie, which I would rate much higher*
July 28, 2016
So I have been a long time warming up to the reboot, I will be honest. I didn't watch this movie until the second one came out, and I haven't read the novelization until after I saw the third one (in the theatre and in 3-d). Quite frankly, the third movie is the best of the three, but I find this reboot to far superior to say Star Wars Force Awakens.
But about this novelization. It's a good novelization. Foster has little touches that work nicely, and in particular gives Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov more to do (he even, to my mind, improves upon a weak point in the movie). Of course, when takes a step back and starts looking at plot, there are a couple issues - and not just how Kirk is a special snowflake in this movie and book (where he really wasn't in the OST).
Still, a nice enjoyable quick read.
But about this novelization. It's a good novelization. Foster has little touches that work nicely, and in particular gives Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov more to do (he even, to my mind, improves upon a weak point in the movie). Of course, when takes a step back and starts looking at plot, there are a couple issues - and not just how Kirk is a special snowflake in this movie and book (where he really wasn't in the OST).
Still, a nice enjoyable quick read.
May 18, 2020
Manchmal macht es wirklich Spaß ein Buch zum Film zu lesen. Die passenden Bilder im Kopf vom Film, das schmunzeln auf den Lippen, weil die Worte dazu passen und die richtigen Emotionen vermitteln.
May 14, 2009
As a novelization of the screenplay, this book is fairly exceptional. It manages to capture the emotional intensity of the story in ways that many other books based on movies fail to accomplish. Unfortunately, the author does not risk adding much depth by analyzing the characters' motives to any real degree. It does however add a lot of humor to an already hilarious script. I laughed out loud several times and was brought to tears more than once. But I have to say that I credit Zachary Quinto's performance as narrator as what earned most of my respect. His voices and characterizations are brilliantly rendered, to the point of making himself unrecognizable when he is voicing Nero and Bones. His Spock is as dead on as his performance in the film. At times, the highland brogue of Scotty is a bit over the top, but I imagine that's partially due to the nature of the accent itself. And his female characters manage not to sound at all like caricatures, which I have found to a be a problem in other audiobooks I have listened to. I'm not sure I could recommend the book itself to anyone, but I can say that anyone who enjoyed the film and wanted it to go on, would be well served to spend eight and a half hours listening to this recording. Could help to tide you over until the DVD comes out. I will certainly be listening to it again.
April 30, 2020
if they never make a fourth aos!star trek film...
February 2, 2011
Before I got this audiobook, I didn't usually read too many movie/tv tie-in books, and so when I read this, the floodgates opened. The writing is a bit sappy at first, especially when the U.S.S. Kelvin is being attacked by the Narada, but this lessens up into a fun, well-written adaption of the 2009 Star Trek movie. What's really nice about this tie-in is that it gives you a lot more of what the characters were thinking, even when there weren't spoken lines at that moment in the film, and there is a bit more of everyone's backstory included in this written adaption as well. Some moments were even exaggerated or changed a little from the film, this was especially enjoyable when Kirk met Spock (prime) in the cave, after Spock says the infamous "I am, and always will be, your friend." While Kirk's reply was golden onscreen, it's just a good if not better in the book.
I'm not going to lie, the reason I succumbed into getting this audiobook in the first place was because Zachary Quinto narrated it. For those who do not know, or have just had your head stuck in the sand for the past two years, Zachary Quinto played freaking SPOCK in the latest Star Trek movie, and as a audiobook narrator, he delivers! He changed back and forth between the character's inflections and cadences and the baseline narration flawlessly, and perfectly captured the accents and mannerisms of the actors who portrayed the characters in the film.
My only problem with this book was a particular scene that took place on the Narada when Kirk and Spock beam onto the ship to rescue Pike and destroy the black hole device. In the film, Spock simply mind melds with a stunned guard to find the location of both, but in this tie-in, he, and I quote, "can't seem to mind meld because Vulcan and Romulan minds are too different." And therefore proceeds to beat the crap out of the Romulan guard until he finds out what he needs to know. What. The. Heck?! Okay, first off, Romulans and Vulcans come from a common ancestry! So don't give me any of this "too different" crap! Secondly, in the original series, Spock mind-melds with pretty much anything that has a face, and some things that don't...including the infamous which a silicon-based life form! Okay, getting off my soap box now...it was just something that annoyed me.
Seriously though, apart from that one tiny thing, this book is A+, and is a great read for any trekkie, or anyone that enjoyed the latest movie.
I'm not going to lie, the reason I succumbed into getting this audiobook in the first place was because Zachary Quinto narrated it. For those who do not know, or have just had your head stuck in the sand for the past two years, Zachary Quinto played freaking SPOCK in the latest Star Trek movie, and as a audiobook narrator, he delivers! He changed back and forth between the character's inflections and cadences and the baseline narration flawlessly, and perfectly captured the accents and mannerisms of the actors who portrayed the characters in the film.
My only problem with this book was a particular scene that took place on the Narada when Kirk and Spock beam onto the ship to rescue Pike and destroy the black hole device. In the film, Spock simply mind melds with a stunned guard to find the location of both, but in this tie-in, he, and I quote, "can't seem to mind meld because Vulcan and Romulan minds are too different." And therefore proceeds to beat the crap out of the Romulan guard until he finds out what he needs to know. What. The. Heck?! Okay, first off, Romulans and Vulcans come from a common ancestry! So don't give me any of this "too different" crap! Secondly, in the original series, Spock mind-melds with pretty much anything that has a face, and some things that don't...including the infamous which a silicon-based life form! Okay, getting off my soap box now...it was just something that annoyed me.
Seriously though, apart from that one tiny thing, this book is A+, and is a great read for any trekkie, or anyone that enjoyed the latest movie.
September 13, 2015
Since I thoroughly enjoyed the new Star Trek movie I purchased the Tie-In novel in hope that it would fill certain gaps and cover new ground that the movie couldn’t. Overall, I have to say that I was disappointed as the novel is basically a retelling of the movie. Yes, it does add a few tidbits but nothing worth buying the book if you have seen the movie. For example, that boy a young Kirk drives buy in his Corvette joy ride was actually his older brother, George Kirk and Nero’s name is actually Oren (since the Federation types have trouble speaking Romulan names, they reverse it to make it easer?). Nothing earth shattering. I am really surprised the novel was released after the movie. After doing research I learned that Alan Dean Foster was allowed to watch the whole film before writing the novelization and that the novel contained some scenes that were cut.
I am not going over the plot of the movie or book again. If you have seen the movie then you got the premise and if not, then you need to run to nearest movie theater ASAP or be in danger of losing your geek card.
The Audio Book is narrated by Zachary Quinto who plays Spock in the movie and Sylar on Heroes. At first I was somewhat leery about the whole the idea of the actor reading the book but I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason Mr. Quinto nailed Spock’s voice perfectly. He also did an excellent job with the other voices including my favorite, Scotty. He got pretty close to Simon Pegg’s accent and did a fine rendition of the grouchy McCoy. But my favorite was the monster noises when Kirk is attack on the ice planet. I had to stop the playback because I started laughing so hard I was missing the story.
Alan Dean Foster is the granddad of movie novelizations and does an adequate job in relaying the story. Obviously, it is hard to capture the incredible visuals and tight action sequences from the movie. I had no qualms with the book except that it was a direct retelling of the movie and I was hoping for more.
In my opinion, if you are considering purchasing this novel then get the Audio version just to listen to Zachary Quinto. I believe the written version will be a little boring if you have watched the movie but Mr. Qunito spices up the story enough to make an entertaining listen.
I am not going over the plot of the movie or book again. If you have seen the movie then you got the premise and if not, then you need to run to nearest movie theater ASAP or be in danger of losing your geek card.
The Audio Book is narrated by Zachary Quinto who plays Spock in the movie and Sylar on Heroes. At first I was somewhat leery about the whole the idea of the actor reading the book but I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason Mr. Quinto nailed Spock’s voice perfectly. He also did an excellent job with the other voices including my favorite, Scotty. He got pretty close to Simon Pegg’s accent and did a fine rendition of the grouchy McCoy. But my favorite was the monster noises when Kirk is attack on the ice planet. I had to stop the playback because I started laughing so hard I was missing the story.
Alan Dean Foster is the granddad of movie novelizations and does an adequate job in relaying the story. Obviously, it is hard to capture the incredible visuals and tight action sequences from the movie. I had no qualms with the book except that it was a direct retelling of the movie and I was hoping for more.
In my opinion, if you are considering purchasing this novel then get the Audio version just to listen to Zachary Quinto. I believe the written version will be a little boring if you have watched the movie but Mr. Qunito spices up the story enough to make an entertaining listen.
February 11, 2017
As my first audiobook, it was hard to not feel awkward about being read to for the first time in about 18 years. But hey, if it's gonna be Zachary Quinto who reads it, then who am I to complain?
While there is an actual story that I should probably be reviewing, I gotta give credit to Quinto (seeing as it was in fact the audiobook version) and that's half the job, because no matter how amazing the story, if you're gonna read it with a dead-pan voice, it's gonna boring as shit. So give me a moment to fan about this guy's reading, if you will.
It took about 20 minutes for me to get into the swing of things and forget that it was audiobook and by then I was laughing (out of amazement) at Quinto's reading and accents of each of the characters. He flawlessly sets the tone (punnot intended) for the individual parts of the story that are based on Earth, Vulcan, the Enterprise and the Nebula, while still portraying the humour and sass that is so common in all these great characters. He even does the roar of the monster on the icy planet where Kirk finds future Spock. I mean...!
(You stunned me, Spock)
Ok, moving on - the story line was pretty good, maybe a tad drawn out in parts towards the end, but I loved the extra back story added to Kirk and Spock at the beginning, it helped the characterisation flow a lot better and made more sense, especially like when we see Kirk steal the car at the start of the movie - the added story with his brother and step father made much more sense and upon watching the film again, I enjoyed it a lot more.
However, I was greatly disappointed when this great line:
Was COMPLETELY LEFT OUT.
I was sitting there waiting for the line, with a stupid grin on my face, and then - NOTHING.
REALLY, Alan Dean Foster..??!
Other than that, a really great .... listen? Read? Either way, a thumbs up from me!
While there is an actual story that I should probably be reviewing, I gotta give credit to Quinto (seeing as it was in fact the audiobook version) and that's half the job, because no matter how amazing the story, if you're gonna read it with a dead-pan voice, it's gonna boring as shit. So give me a moment to fan about this guy's reading, if you will.
It took about 20 minutes for me to get into the swing of things and forget that it was audiobook and by then I was laughing (out of amazement) at Quinto's reading and accents of each of the characters. He flawlessly sets the tone (pun
(You stunned me, Spock)
Ok, moving on - the story line was pretty good, maybe a tad drawn out in parts towards the end, but I loved the extra back story added to Kirk and Spock at the beginning, it helped the characterisation flow a lot better and made more sense, especially like when we see Kirk steal the car at the start of the movie - the added story with his brother and step father made much more sense and upon watching the film again, I enjoyed it a lot more.
However, I was greatly disappointed when this great line:
Was COMPLETELY LEFT OUT.
I was sitting there waiting for the line, with a stupid grin on my face, and then - NOTHING.
REALLY, Alan Dean Foster..??!
Other than that, a really great .... listen? Read? Either way, a thumbs up from me!
May 4, 2022
I really like this book! It’s a pretty solid addition to the 2009 movie and its script.
Not groundbreaking, but a good, fun novel that adapts the existing material very well. I think Alan Dean Foster handels the characterizations of the reboot characters incredibly, and does a fantastic job of adding his own ideas to it.
The writing style for most of the novel - whilst not too flowery and poetic - is clean, quick and flows very well. And in my opinion, that fits the movie best. It’s fast paced and action-filled. Every once in a while I thought it was a bit too quick - he could have let the story breathe in some places, let the scenes linger for a bit, but overall it didn’t bother me that much.
I especially think Foster handeled the relationships between the characters very well:
Kirk’s and Uhura’s friendship, the respect that grows between the two of them even after Kirk’s flirting, is portrayed much better than it is in the movie: She genuinely likes him well before he even becomes captain of the Enterprise, and there’s a constant, deep-rooted respect for her abilities and intelligence that isn’t really shown in the movie.
Uhura herself is handled remarkably well, especially considering she only has limited screen time. She felt real, 3-dimensional and every bit the smart, emotionally intelligent Lieutenant I know and love. Her relationship with Spock (in my opinion still a…questionable decision the reboot series made) definitely felt more natural in this book than it ever did on screen and I found myself actually enjoying their romance to some extent for once. So props for that
Kirk is definitely better in here than he is in the movie (and btw I LOVE the 2009 movie, even as a die-hard TOS stan! Not trying to throw shade or anything here): Jim is smart, quick-thinking, empathetic and all-in-all a headstrong young man with his heart in the right place. He’s cheeky, fun and always moving - he becomes the heart of the story in a way I wish he would have in the movie.
We see Jim’s insecurities and fears, stay with him during his darkest moment, watch him fall down - and get up. For me this book captured a likable, yet flawed & realistic main character that, whilst being his own person, reminds you of his classic, original counterpart in a really nostalgic, respectful way.
Kirk and his character is probably my favorite thing about this book.
Now for my biggest point of criticism: Kirk and Spock’s relationship (or rather, the lack thereof�).
A little disclaimer before: I 100% believe that this isn’t Alan Dean Foster’s fault! Just like with Uhura, he did the best with the limited content the movie gave him. (And AGAIN, I’m not hating on the movie or anything, but this has always bothered me about it)
Jim Kirk’s and Spock’s relationship is the heart and soul of the Original Series (and the following movies). If they don’t appear in a trio with Doctor McCoy, they’re together. Always. Time and time again it is proven that their strong interpersonal bond is what protects not only the Enterprise, but also themselves. They’re inarguably the most important people in each other’s lives. Spock Prime himself says so.
So wheeeeere was all of that in 2009?! (Cause Into Darkness and Beyond handled them much better.)
One could argue that they were young; that especially for Kirk this was also somewhat a coming-of-age story, that they needed to hate each other first to grow closer together in the end, and ok. I’ll give you that.
Great idea, mediocre execution.
I feel like even in the end, their relationship felt cold and distant. OF COURSE - again - these were only the beginnings of their friendship. But I can’t help but feel we were always TOLD that they would be close, and friends, and rely on each other and all that stuff - but never SHOWN. Which is something that was definitely missing in this book. And also on screen. It's a huuuuge waste of potential.
Conclusion? Conclusion. aight so-
All in all, I really enjoyed the book!#
Apart from the few points I talked about here, for me personally, it didn’t do much wrong.
It was a super fun nostalgia trip for the 2009 movie which I also really love, and the points that DO bother me in this book are things that also bother me about the movie it adapts. So there's not much the author could have done about them I believe.
The relationships were handled very well; the characterizations were accurate, 3-dimensional and lovable; the writing style fit the story and genre, and apart from a few scenes that felt rushed, I do believe that was the right choice for this novel.
A solid 4/5 stars! :)
Not groundbreaking, but a good, fun novel that adapts the existing material very well. I think Alan Dean Foster handels the characterizations of the reboot characters incredibly, and does a fantastic job of adding his own ideas to it.
The writing style for most of the novel - whilst not too flowery and poetic - is clean, quick and flows very well. And in my opinion, that fits the movie best. It’s fast paced and action-filled. Every once in a while I thought it was a bit too quick - he could have let the story breathe in some places, let the scenes linger for a bit, but overall it didn’t bother me that much.
I especially think Foster handeled the relationships between the characters very well:
Kirk’s and Uhura’s friendship, the respect that grows between the two of them even after Kirk’s flirting, is portrayed much better than it is in the movie: She genuinely likes him well before he even becomes captain of the Enterprise, and there’s a constant, deep-rooted respect for her abilities and intelligence that isn’t really shown in the movie.
Uhura herself is handled remarkably well, especially considering she only has limited screen time. She felt real, 3-dimensional and every bit the smart, emotionally intelligent Lieutenant I know and love. Her relationship with Spock (in my opinion still a…questionable decision the reboot series made) definitely felt more natural in this book than it ever did on screen and I found myself actually enjoying their romance to some extent for once. So props for that
Kirk is definitely better in here than he is in the movie (and btw I LOVE the 2009 movie, even as a die-hard TOS stan! Not trying to throw shade or anything here): Jim is smart, quick-thinking, empathetic and all-in-all a headstrong young man with his heart in the right place. He’s cheeky, fun and always moving - he becomes the heart of the story in a way I wish he would have in the movie.
We see Jim’s insecurities and fears, stay with him during his darkest moment, watch him fall down - and get up. For me this book captured a likable, yet flawed & realistic main character that, whilst being his own person, reminds you of his classic, original counterpart in a really nostalgic, respectful way.
Kirk and his character is probably my favorite thing about this book.
Now for my biggest point of criticism: Kirk and Spock’s relationship (or rather, the lack thereof�).
A little disclaimer before: I 100% believe that this isn’t Alan Dean Foster’s fault! Just like with Uhura, he did the best with the limited content the movie gave him. (And AGAIN, I’m not hating on the movie or anything, but this has always bothered me about it)
Jim Kirk’s and Spock’s relationship is the heart and soul of the Original Series (and the following movies). If they don’t appear in a trio with Doctor McCoy, they’re together. Always. Time and time again it is proven that their strong interpersonal bond is what protects not only the Enterprise, but also themselves. They’re inarguably the most important people in each other’s lives. Spock Prime himself says so.
So wheeeeere was all of that in 2009?! (Cause Into Darkness and Beyond handled them much better.)
One could argue that they were young; that especially for Kirk this was also somewhat a coming-of-age story, that they needed to hate each other first to grow closer together in the end, and ok. I’ll give you that.
Great idea, mediocre execution.
I feel like even in the end, their relationship felt cold and distant. OF COURSE - again - these were only the beginnings of their friendship. But I can’t help but feel we were always TOLD that they would be close, and friends, and rely on each other and all that stuff - but never SHOWN. Which is something that was definitely missing in this book. And also on screen. It's a huuuuge waste of potential.
Conclusion? Conclusion. aight so-
All in all, I really enjoyed the book!#
Apart from the few points I talked about here, for me personally, it didn’t do much wrong.
It was a super fun nostalgia trip for the 2009 movie which I also really love, and the points that DO bother me in this book are things that also bother me about the movie it adapts. So there's not much the author could have done about them I believe.
The relationships were handled very well; the characterizations were accurate, 3-dimensional and lovable; the writing style fit the story and genre, and apart from a few scenes that felt rushed, I do believe that was the right choice for this novel.
A solid 4/5 stars! :)
December 12, 2019
I'm a big fan of watching sci-fi movies, including really bad ones, to pass the time. For some reason though I'd never watched Star Trek or Star Wars which are like THE sci-fi films. Anyway, I recently watched the new Star Trek trilogy with Chris Pine and I really loved it! My grandparents have always been massive fans of Star Trek so I started watching the original series to my Grandma's absolute delight. In short - I'm loving it! The production is hilariously terrible.
Because of this development, my Grandma sat me down and went through their entire Star Trek cabinet with me (cause we're a family of nerds). Amongst all of her old VHS of the seasons and what not was this book so I was like done deal, I'll read that.
It is exactly like the movie! I've always been wary of reading books based on a movie rather than the other way around but this has changed my perception of that. It was just like re-watching the movie in written form with a bunch of extras. Plus, it was written really well. Now that I've read this I'll probably go back and watch the movie (again) because it provides so many little things that you wouldn't quite pick up on in a movie.
June 24, 2019
Easy review: Did you like the movie? Then you'll like the book. Zachary Quinto does an admirable job with the voices and accents and the action isn't brought up short at any time thanks to his wonderful narration.
There's some stuff that isn't in the movie (inside-voice stuff) and it helps understand a little more about what is going on but there's not much else different. It does help having seen the movie, and I can tell you that it doesn't matter if you saw it oh say a decade ago when released because it was still easy to follow and remember the scenes. Except for Nero...had to Google that to remember what the Romulans looked like and tbh I still couldn't tell you. Eh. Still a good story that was thankfully not hindered too badly by the writer's strike. (Can't say the same for the writing teams other movie that year, Transformers 2, but then maybe that was always cinematic trash).
But I digress.
Loved the book, and I can't echo everyone else here enough: The audio book version is great.
There's some stuff that isn't in the movie (inside-voice stuff) and it helps understand a little more about what is going on but there's not much else different. It does help having seen the movie, and I can tell you that it doesn't matter if you saw it oh say a decade ago when released because it was still easy to follow and remember the scenes. Except for Nero...had to Google that to remember what the Romulans looked like and tbh I still couldn't tell you. Eh. Still a good story that was thankfully not hindered too badly by the writer's strike. (Can't say the same for the writing teams other movie that year, Transformers 2, but then maybe that was always cinematic trash).
But I digress.
Loved the book, and I can't echo everyone else here enough: The audio book version is great.
December 14, 2023
Mittlerweile dürften viele wissen, dass ich eine unhealthy obsession mit dem Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline Filme/Bücher habe. Da darf natürlich auch das movie-tie-in Buch nicht fehlen und guys, es war enorm schwierig dieses Buch überhaupt aufzutreiben. Das Weihnachtsgeschäft reißt an meinen Nerven und ich schaffe es nicht komplexe Bücher momentan zu lesen - was also bietet sich besser an, als ein Buch zu lesen dessen Film ich fast auswendig kann?
Und Leute, es hat mich überraschenderweise nicht enttäuscht. Dieses Buch folgt zwar der Handlung und den Charakteren desselben Films, aber manche Konversationen, Gedanken oder sogar Handlungen sind erweitert, umgeändert und vervollständigt worden. So sollte ein movie-to-book Buch eigentlich sein. Es sollte das nehmen, was da ist und uns mehr geben, über dem Tellerrand hinausschauen. Von Alan Dean Foster habe ich bereits ein Star Trek Buch gelesen und das hier beweist mal wieder, dass er sich bestens mit der Materie auskennt.
Ich habe es zur passenden Zeit gelesen und kann es kaum erwarten das Buch von Into Darkness dann zu lesen.
Und Leute, es hat mich überraschenderweise nicht enttäuscht. Dieses Buch folgt zwar der Handlung und den Charakteren desselben Films, aber manche Konversationen, Gedanken oder sogar Handlungen sind erweitert, umgeändert und vervollständigt worden. So sollte ein movie-to-book Buch eigentlich sein. Es sollte das nehmen, was da ist und uns mehr geben, über dem Tellerrand hinausschauen. Von Alan Dean Foster habe ich bereits ein Star Trek Buch gelesen und das hier beweist mal wieder, dass er sich bestens mit der Materie auskennt.
Ich habe es zur passenden Zeit gelesen und kann es kaum erwarten das Buch von Into Darkness dann zu lesen.
June 19, 2019
Review from 2016
3.5 stars. It definitely was a novelisation of the film, it followed the same Rhythm as the film and had the same funny characters that made me love the film. I mainly read it to see if the author would include more things that the film didn't and it had some amazing moments that would have been great in the film also but it was only a couple of things in all honesty. I would only read this if you loved the film :)
3.5 stars. It definitely was a novelisation of the film, it followed the same Rhythm as the film and had the same funny characters that made me love the film. I mainly read it to see if the author would include more things that the film didn't and it had some amazing moments that would have been great in the film also but it was only a couple of things in all honesty. I would only read this if you loved the film :)
October 8, 2021
The challenge in writing a good movie novelization lies in not only capturing the source material, but presenting it in a way that makes the reading experience as entertaining and enjoyable as watching the movie while also taking advantage of the opportunity to get into the characters' heads as one only can in writing. Foster is an old pro at this art and puts his skills to good use. Now, of course, I absolutely feel the need to watch the movie again, pronto.
December 15, 2021
I believe 3.5 Stars is a very fitting rating for this novel. It didn't wow me as it was quite predictable in how close it mirrors the film it is based on. That being said the extra descriptions and small conversations or bits of context were greatly appreciated. Those alone made this a much more exciting and appreciable read. Part of me wants to give 4 stars but I'm just not quite sure it's THAT good.
May 16, 2009
I saw the movie before I read the book. I will really have to listen to Quinto's narration sometime, because everyone who's heard it has been swept away by it. But for my first run-through I wanted the story, not the drama, and so resolved to read it myself.
As many have indicated, Foster hasn't fleshed much out beyond what the movie provides. This is good in some ways - the novels were never considered canon so the fact that he hasn't deviated from the script any keeps things mostly in-universe. On the other hand, the expansion of characters has traditionally been the driving focus for many novels, which gives this book something of an action movie feel.
i'm not complaining too much about this. The whole reinvention of Star Trek has had that; expanding the exploration remit by providing the younger and perhaps more modern-looking audience with action and adventure within the boundaries of today's special effects, rather than those of the 1960's. having seen the film, it's evident that this influence is that of the screenplay, and that's what the writer had to work on, of course. Foster cannot be held accountable for the reboot, and in fact has admirably managed to tie character traits we know and love into a new, fresh take on the Star Trek universe.
On to the story itself, then. my biggest major gripe is the way in which Kirk manages to relieve Spock of duty. before he gets marooned, he tries the line "I'm citing you as being emotionally compromised and therefore unfit for continuing in the position of captain of a Federation vessel." All well and good, but Spock denies this, as is typical for the stoic Vulcan. kirk returns and gets the crap beaten out of him, and only then does Spock turn to mccoy with "Doctor. By order of Starfleet Regulation Six-nineteen I hereby relinquish my command on the grounds that I have been - emotionally compromised."
I don't have a problem with this scenario per se, but the idea that Kirk tried something, failed, then pretty much used a similar technique (but threw in a few insults and threats) and had it work the second time around rankles. I don't remember his first attempt being in the movie, which makes it all-the-more believable when the second Spock suggests it. if Kirk had tried to outwit Spock the first time around, logically, then came back with the emotional guns a blaze, I'd have been happy. but you cannot have it all.
my only other quibble is the ranks. others have noted the alarming way Kirk is propelled from cadet to captain, with official backing at the end. Unless I've failed to understand the military, people generally proceed through the ranks. even the gifted ones. that, and the fact that Kirk has Lieutenant's stripes even without any formal duties makes me wonder just what Starfleet command are thinking.
Of course the argument for all this is that with the introduction of the Narada in 2233, a new time line is created. From that moment on, anything that happens is part of the "rebooted" universe, in which this book (and naturally the movie) is set.
A neat explanation, except it doesn't really count for anything. new time line or not, the federation had only encountered the Narada twice - first in 2233 (as per the opening scenes of the film and the first few chapters of the book), and then in the year 2258 (25 years on), where the remainder of the book takes place. After the first encounter, the federation is one starship down but James Kirk is only a kid. After the second encounter, Kirk has pretty much single-handedly been the one to face the Narada, all-be-it backed by a very good crew.
But herein lies the problem: is one mission enough to skip someone from the lowest rank in Starfleet's arsenal all the way to captain? Even his crew are left in their assumed senior positions. In fact, the whole theory of the entire Federation fleet being occupied whilst some dangerous catastrophe befalls a core Federation world, resulting in a fleet of cadets being sent to deal with the situation, is quite frankly laughable.
People said the same thing about Picard and crew being the only ones capable of going back in time to stop the Borg. the difference is that we already had a movie, not to mention seven series of television shows and ample Borg history to back up the choice. If Kirk and company have really been reinvented and the time line really is completely new, separate and distinct, then we have no basis on which to say "oh, yes, he's qualified. he's cheated at his latest test and has no actual field experience, but what the hell, we'll send him anyway. throw in a few of these cadets while we're at it."
yet again, I have to reiterate that this isn't Foster's fault. he wrote a novel from a script and had to incorporate everything in that script. in fact, I quite liked the novel. I enjoyed the movie too, of course, but missed out on the visuals that have earned it such praise. For me, a novelisation will always take the top seat, because I can absorb it as well as anybody, blindness or no. the whole Star Trek world has been reset. Rebooted. Started again from scratch (or at least from the 2230's onwards). it's a new playground, with familiar characters but open vistas of possibility. As one of the first written fiction works set herein, I'd say that I am duly impressed.
As many have indicated, Foster hasn't fleshed much out beyond what the movie provides. This is good in some ways - the novels were never considered canon so the fact that he hasn't deviated from the script any keeps things mostly in-universe. On the other hand, the expansion of characters has traditionally been the driving focus for many novels, which gives this book something of an action movie feel.
i'm not complaining too much about this. The whole reinvention of Star Trek has had that; expanding the exploration remit by providing the younger and perhaps more modern-looking audience with action and adventure within the boundaries of today's special effects, rather than those of the 1960's. having seen the film, it's evident that this influence is that of the screenplay, and that's what the writer had to work on, of course. Foster cannot be held accountable for the reboot, and in fact has admirably managed to tie character traits we know and love into a new, fresh take on the Star Trek universe.
On to the story itself, then. my biggest major gripe is the way in which Kirk manages to relieve Spock of duty. before he gets marooned, he tries the line "I'm citing you as being emotionally compromised and therefore unfit for continuing in the position of captain of a Federation vessel." All well and good, but Spock denies this, as is typical for the stoic Vulcan. kirk returns and gets the crap beaten out of him, and only then does Spock turn to mccoy with "Doctor. By order of Starfleet Regulation Six-nineteen I hereby relinquish my command on the grounds that I have been - emotionally compromised."
I don't have a problem with this scenario per se, but the idea that Kirk tried something, failed, then pretty much used a similar technique (but threw in a few insults and threats) and had it work the second time around rankles. I don't remember his first attempt being in the movie, which makes it all-the-more believable when the second Spock suggests it. if Kirk had tried to outwit Spock the first time around, logically, then came back with the emotional guns a blaze, I'd have been happy. but you cannot have it all.
my only other quibble is the ranks. others have noted the alarming way Kirk is propelled from cadet to captain, with official backing at the end. Unless I've failed to understand the military, people generally proceed through the ranks. even the gifted ones. that, and the fact that Kirk has Lieutenant's stripes even without any formal duties makes me wonder just what Starfleet command are thinking.
Of course the argument for all this is that with the introduction of the Narada in 2233, a new time line is created. From that moment on, anything that happens is part of the "rebooted" universe, in which this book (and naturally the movie) is set.
A neat explanation, except it doesn't really count for anything. new time line or not, the federation had only encountered the Narada twice - first in 2233 (as per the opening scenes of the film and the first few chapters of the book), and then in the year 2258 (25 years on), where the remainder of the book takes place. After the first encounter, the federation is one starship down but James Kirk is only a kid. After the second encounter, Kirk has pretty much single-handedly been the one to face the Narada, all-be-it backed by a very good crew.
But herein lies the problem: is one mission enough to skip someone from the lowest rank in Starfleet's arsenal all the way to captain? Even his crew are left in their assumed senior positions. In fact, the whole theory of the entire Federation fleet being occupied whilst some dangerous catastrophe befalls a core Federation world, resulting in a fleet of cadets being sent to deal with the situation, is quite frankly laughable.
People said the same thing about Picard and crew being the only ones capable of going back in time to stop the Borg. the difference is that we already had a movie, not to mention seven series of television shows and ample Borg history to back up the choice. If Kirk and company have really been reinvented and the time line really is completely new, separate and distinct, then we have no basis on which to say "oh, yes, he's qualified. he's cheated at his latest test and has no actual field experience, but what the hell, we'll send him anyway. throw in a few of these cadets while we're at it."
yet again, I have to reiterate that this isn't Foster's fault. he wrote a novel from a script and had to incorporate everything in that script. in fact, I quite liked the novel. I enjoyed the movie too, of course, but missed out on the visuals that have earned it such praise. For me, a novelisation will always take the top seat, because I can absorb it as well as anybody, blindness or no. the whole Star Trek world has been reset. Rebooted. Started again from scratch (or at least from the 2230's onwards). it's a new playground, with familiar characters but open vistas of possibility. As one of the first written fiction works set herein, I'd say that I am duly impressed.
April 7, 2021
I'm no fan of the Kelvin time line, but kudos to Alan Dean Foster for addressing any number of issues I have with the storyline of the film. He manages to add considerable depth while maintaining a concise page count. An efficient, skillful prose adaptation by someone who knows his Trek.
May 17, 2023
Yes, I'm a Trekkie!
This audiobook, read by Zachary Quinto, Mr Spock in the newest Star Trek movies, is based on the 2009 movie, Star Trek.
The arch-nemisis of the Federation, the Romulans, have destroyed the planet Vulcan and are now looking to destroy Earth. An enjoyable read.
This audiobook, read by Zachary Quinto, Mr Spock in the newest Star Trek movies, is based on the 2009 movie, Star Trek.
The arch-nemisis of the Federation, the Romulans, have destroyed the planet Vulcan and are now looking to destroy Earth. An enjoyable read.
September 17, 2020
A herculean effort by Alan Dean Foster to improve the movie's story. In this case, the book really was better than the movie.
June 10, 2012
I enjoyed this book. I liked the movie so much that I wanted to read the book to see if there was a more fleshed out plot. I was happy to see that there was added character development by reading the book, especially in the relationship between Spock and Uhura. I also liked the added background on Kirk from his childhood. There was one scene I thought was completely out of character for Spock; I could definitely see why it was left out of the movie.
I would love to give this novel four stars, but there were two style issues of the author that annoyed me as I read. First, in describing the actions and circumstances of characters, he repetitively says something like this, "If this character had been like this, he would have done this, but he did this instead" or "If it had been this situation he would have thought this, but he thought this instead." I found it weird for the author to keep telling me what a person would have done or thought if the situation had been something else. Case in point: "If I walked into the kitchen and saw my child playing with paint, I would have smiled, but instead, I saw my child next to a broken cookie jar and frowned." Why mention the paint and smile at all because that isn't what is going on.
Second, in the same vein, the author kept mentioning superfluous information. An example is when Spock and Kirk are getting ready to beam onto another ship. The author mentioned they aren't taking food. O-Kay. Of course they aren't. When have we ever seen someone on Star Trek beaming over to another ship in attack mode and taking food? Those kinds of statements just struck me as so odd.
I would love to give this novel four stars, but there were two style issues of the author that annoyed me as I read. First, in describing the actions and circumstances of characters, he repetitively says something like this, "If this character had been like this, he would have done this, but he did this instead" or "If it had been this situation he would have thought this, but he thought this instead." I found it weird for the author to keep telling me what a person would have done or thought if the situation had been something else. Case in point: "If I walked into the kitchen and saw my child playing with paint, I would have smiled, but instead, I saw my child next to a broken cookie jar and frowned." Why mention the paint and smile at all because that isn't what is going on.
Second, in the same vein, the author kept mentioning superfluous information. An example is when Spock and Kirk are getting ready to beam onto another ship. The author mentioned they aren't taking food. O-Kay. Of course they aren't. When have we ever seen someone on Star Trek beaming over to another ship in attack mode and taking food? Those kinds of statements just struck me as so odd.
June 29, 2013
"As always, Spock, whoever you choose to be, whatever course you decide to take through life, your journey will always be accompanied by a proud mother."
I'll be the first one to admit that I am a huge bitch when it comes to movie novelizations. Never liked them. Always thought they were terrible. Vowed to never pick them up. But Star Trek is making me break all of my rules. *laughs* Because here I am, about to joyful talk about how much I love this book. :) I guess it's true what they say and that people can change. ;)
So, anyway, this book is pretty great as far as movie novelizations go. I was really impressed with it. Basically it follows the storyline of the 2009 Trek movie by JJ Abrams, but with a lot more fleshing out of the characters. And this is the aspect that won me over. I fell completely in love with these characters and wanted to know more about them. That's where this book comes in. Lots of feelings and thoughts that were previously unknown are explored in this book, really giving me a chance to get inside the heads of the characters that I know and love.
This is a fantastic book and would recommend it to any Trek fan!
This review can also be found on my blog:
I'll be the first one to admit that I am a huge bitch when it comes to movie novelizations. Never liked them. Always thought they were terrible. Vowed to never pick them up. But Star Trek is making me break all of my rules. *laughs* Because here I am, about to joyful talk about how much I love this book. :) I guess it's true what they say and that people can change. ;)
So, anyway, this book is pretty great as far as movie novelizations go. I was really impressed with it. Basically it follows the storyline of the 2009 Trek movie by JJ Abrams, but with a lot more fleshing out of the characters. And this is the aspect that won me over. I fell completely in love with these characters and wanted to know more about them. That's where this book comes in. Lots of feelings and thoughts that were previously unknown are explored in this book, really giving me a chance to get inside the heads of the characters that I know and love.
This is a fantastic book and would recommend it to any Trek fan!
This review can also be found on my blog:
July 21, 2013
This book is a thrilling book about Kirk and his adventure on the star ship enterprise. He is the main character and has to save Earth for being destroyed. I decided to read this book because I find the Star Trek movies interesting and exciting. This book fits into a Science Fiction or Fantasy book on the bingo board. The category is interesting because it shows you a different type of genre from some books that you would normally read. I found the old Spock interesting because he knew all of this information and helped Kirk stop Nero from destroying there world. My favourite quote from the book was "It is astonishing how quickly people can go from imminent catastrophe to the boredom of daily routine". This is my favourite quote because it shows that even if your world is at state or if you do something terrific the world will carry on as normal. I learnt from this book that even if your home is destroyed and your family's dead you shouldn't fight back and destroy someone else's home because yours is destroyed.
July 12, 2013
Ok, so this is the first Star Trek book I've ever read, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. I'm a huge fan of the movie. I thought I'd try the novelization to get finer details and explanations. I'm glad I did. The book explains some things that the movie viewer has to guess at.
That being said, some things are drastically different. The part in the movie when Kirk and Spock beam aboard the Romulan vessel and take out a bunch of Romulans? Well, in the book, Spock doesn't mind meld with one of the stunned Romulans to find the ship holding the red matter and Captain Pike. He uses his impressive computer hacking abilities to do the job. Cool... But not as cool as a mind meld! There are several other scenes that are different as well, but I won't go in to them unless I get comments asking about them. The overall story remains the same though.
It was well written, overall. I plan on reading the novelization of Into Darkness, written by the same author.
That being said, some things are drastically different. The part in the movie when Kirk and Spock beam aboard the Romulan vessel and take out a bunch of Romulans? Well, in the book, Spock doesn't mind meld with one of the stunned Romulans to find the ship holding the red matter and Captain Pike. He uses his impressive computer hacking abilities to do the job. Cool... But not as cool as a mind meld! There are several other scenes that are different as well, but I won't go in to them unless I get comments asking about them. The overall story remains the same though.
It was well written, overall. I plan on reading the novelization of Into Darkness, written by the same author.
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