Book Review - Star Trek: Enterprise, The First Adventure
Title: Star Trek Enterprise The First Adventure
Author: Vonda N. McIntyre
Year of Publication: 1986
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 371
First Line: Blood flows in strange patterns in zero gravity - Jim Kirk cried out and flung himself forward, reaching - “Gary, no -”
Summary: He was the youngest man to captain a starship in Federation history. His crew included an untried first officer - and a maverick ship’s surgeon. In the years to come, the voyages of Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise would become legend.
But before their historic five-year mission began, before the crew meshed into the superb unit that would journey across the galaxy, before the legend took shape, there was the mission that brought them together for the first time.
Here, at last, is that untold story - the first voyage of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and all the rest of the Enterprise crew - the most eagerly awaited Star Trek adventure of all!
Source: Back of book
Review: The First Adventure takes us back before the historical five year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Captain James Tiberius Kirk has just been promoted to Captain - after a horrific shuttle crash displays his natural leading abilities. He inherits a ship of crewmen who are very apprehensive towards his captaincy and they question his ability to command. Not only this, but his best friend Gary Mitchell is not assigned as his First Officer - instead he’s left with Commander Spock.
In this novel, the crew is sent on a milk-run - a safe, unadventurous tour of Starfleet Federation stations. They are escorting a rag-tag circus group around to the stations for entertainment. Lo-and-behold, Kirk is not too pleased with this mission, but the beautiful Lindy and her genetically altered horse Athene are distracting enough. The crew meets an emotional Vulcan, a vengeful Klingon and an exciting new species who apparently have the ability to control the universe. It’s a unique first contact that set the story apart from many of The Original Series episodes. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, Kirk manages to save his crew, gain their trust and save not only the entirety of Federation space, but Klingon space too! The plot is fascinating enough to keep the reader interested.
The First Adventure is the very first Star Trek novel I ever bought. It has taken me well over a year to get around to reading it, and I’m kind of disappointed I never read it sooner. I really enjoy McIntyre’s writing style, which is rather straight forward and descriptive. The novel switched between points of view quite often, and I found the most interesting to be Uhura’s POV, Koronin’s (evil Klingon) POV and Sulu’s POV. With that said, I can say that McIntyre gives an interesting introduction to the bridge staff on the U.S.S Enterprise. We see that the strong dynamics between the crew in The Original Series are not so easily made. But by the end of the book, there is a sense of belonging and trust within the crew.
The characterisation in this novel is somewhat awkward. There are great moments which give insight to Chapel, Uhura, Sulu and Kirk, however there is a certain lack of maturity among the characters which I find a little frustrating. I understand they’re all younger than in The Original Series, but sometimes Kirk and his crew behaved how I would expect teenagers to behave. The only relationship I'm pleased with in this book is that between Kirk and McCoy - it's very similar to that in The Original Series and seemed quite realistic. Unfortunately, there were not enough scenes between the two. The vaudeville circus characters seemed a little clichéd; Lindy, the beautiful ring leader, was a very whiny and immature character. Both her, and her circus crew were subpar characters for me - very replaceable. Overall, the book was enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down - even through the less than stellar parts. I would recommend this book to any Star Trek fan.
Worst part: Some parts of the book read a little slow.
Best part: When Jim saves the day at the end of the book. Not only does he save Spock, but he also saves Federation space and Klingon space from being completely annihilated.
Personal Rating: 7.5/10 - I would say the character Lindy and her band of circus performers as well as their character development were a factor in bringing the rating down.
Other Books by This Author: Duty, Honor, Redemption; The Entropy Effect.