Planet of Judgement, by Joe Haldeman
Second paragraph of third chapter: Much of the land area of Anomaly is jungle, and the planet has a very active, almost Mesozoic, ecology. Its surface and seas are aswarm with creatures man-sized and larger, mostly quite aggressive. So I've selected both the landing site and the landing party with some care.
As mentioned before, I picked up a few Star Trek novels by well-known SF authors a few years ago, and this was one of them. Trek isn't one of my core fandoms, but I like it enough to appreciate some of what Haldeman does here (alien intelligence with some good wrinkles, spooky bits where key members of the crew are presumed dead and have to convince others that they are alive, some very nice characterisation of McCoy in particular) and also to spot the standard elements (throwaway characters introduced to be killed off, back-stories invented for regulars which will never be used again). Enjoyable enough for what it is is, which is 150 pages that cost me £2.
This was the most popular book on my unread shelves acquired in 2012. Next on that particular pile is Paul Cartledge's biography of Alexander the Great.
As mentioned before, I picked up a few Star Trek novels by well-known SF authors a few years ago, and this was one of them. Trek isn't one of my core fandoms, but I like it enough to appreciate some of what Haldeman does here (alien intelligence with some good wrinkles, spooky bits where key members of the crew are presumed dead and have to convince others that they are alive, some very nice characterisation of McCoy in particular) and also to spot the standard elements (throwaway characters introduced to be killed off, back-stories invented for regulars which will never be used again). Enjoyable enough for what it is is, which is 150 pages that cost me £2.
This was the most popular book on my unread shelves acquired in 2012. Next on that particular pile is Paul Cartledge's biography of Alexander the Great.