Amazon.com
Note that this is an abridged edition of this title.Book Description
Best known as Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise^TM and Captain of the Starship Excelsior, George Takei is beloved by millions as part of the command team that has taken audiences to new vistas of adventure in Star Trek^®--the unprecedented television and feature film phenomenon.

From the program's birth in the changing world of the 1960s and death at the hands of the network, to its rebirth in the hearts and minds of loyal fans, the Star Trek story has blazed its own path into our recent cultural history, leading to a series of blockbuster feature films and three new versions of Star Trek for television.

The Star Trek story is one of boundless hope and crushing disappointment, wrenching rivalries and incredible achievements. It is also the story of how, after nearly thirty years, the cast of characters from a unique but poorly rated television show have come to be known to millions of Americans and people around the world as family.

For George Takei, the Star Trek adventure is intertwined with his personal odyssey through adversity in which four-year-old George and his family were forced by the United States government into internment camps during World War II.

Star Trek means much more to George Takei than an extraordinary career that has spanned thirty years. For an American whose ideals faced such a severe test, Star Trek represents a shining embodiment of the American Dream--the promise of an optimistic future in which people from all over the world contribute to a common destiny.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

He's Not Just Sulu.
I just finished reading George Takei's autobiography the other night. This guy has led a fascinating life.

When he was younger, he met Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr. His first job in show business was helping to dub "Rodan" into English. Before "Star Trek", he did movies with Richard Burton and Alec Guinness. And during the run of the show, he did a movie with John Wayne.

Till I read this book, I also didn't know that he had spent 11 years on a commission in L.A. that was responsible for getting their subway system built.

Interestingly, he doesn't go into a huge amount of detail about the show, though he makes his (and other cast members') reasons clear for not liking Shatner. And given certain revelations about Takei's personal life over the last few years, any discussion about relationships outside of his family and career are strangely absent from the book. Still, it's a good read.

I do agree with other reviewers, however, that even with a length of 400 pages, this book seemed too short. Given that it came out in 1994, I would love to see Takei update and re-release it.

oh myyyyy.....
George Takai is great on the stern show, he has such a great sense of humour.

Oh Qua Tanzen Wan...

I think it needed more Sulu and less Takei
When I saw this book at a used bookstore, I immediately snatched it up. As an original Trekkie, I try to read everything I can about Star Trek and the people who made it. While this is a good book and Takei has led an interesting life, I found myself wanting more information about his life in Star Trek than it contains. This is not to say that Takei has not led an interesting life, quite the contrary. His family was dislocated and interned as "potentially subversive" Japanese-Americans during World War II and he has been a political activist most of his life.
The problem is within me and I am no doubt similar to many others. We want to know all we can about Star Trek, and to that end, the personal lives of the actors takes on a secondary role. This is not to say that Takei doesn't spend a great deal of time discussing his life in Star Trek, he does. It is just that a lot of it is complaints about the arrogance of William Shatner and the personal conflicts in the actor's egos. There is also discussion about Takei's attempts to negotiate higher salaries and a greater role in the series and movies. He has some extremely nice things to say about Leonard Nimoy and his high level of integrity.
I enjoyed the book, the disappointment that I felt was personal, and I wanted less Takei and more Sulu. Takei has every right to make his autobiography about himself. However, more so far unpublished insights into the doings of Star Trek would have made the book more interesting to the diehard Trekkie in me.

Interesting autobiography
George Takei's autobiography proves to be an interesting reading material as he related to his life. First half of the book dealt with his life as a Japanese-American, dealing with wartime as well as post war racism. His story of his life in the internment camp was quite moving.

Unlike Jimmy Doohan's book, at least Takei remembered why he's so famous and why people wants to read about his life. Takei's book got interesting tidbits and background information on his role as Mr. Sulu and Star Trek material. As a Star Trek fan, I found this part of the book to be most interesting. It was interesting to read his take on John Wayne and the tribute Takei pay to him when Takei was working with him in Green Beret. I think that story need to be expanded a bit more. But Takei tells a good story from how he was initially interviewed by Roddenberry to the Star Trek VI movie when his character finally won the command of the ship of his own (and probably reduced Takei to a bit player on the film).

[...]

George Takei obviously didn't like William Shatner very much. Maybe it has to do with ego clashing or screen time sharing. In that, he joined with Jimmy Doohan in their dislike of Shatner. He probably didn't care about the way his character was being treated and in that he joined with Nichelle Nichols as only two minority members of the crew trying to improved their lot.

But overall, this proves to be a pretty decent autobiography, now that he's out of the closet, maybe George Takei can update his own book and relate to what it mean to be the only gay member of Star Trek (that we know of so far).

An eloquent piece of work..
George Takei is a wonderful role model for Asian Americans in this country!As an Asian American actor in Hollywood,George had to endure quite a bit compared to some of his contemporaries but handled his experiences with great class!George refused to let himself be pigeonholed into stereotypical roles later on in his career and fought for dignity for his character Sulu which I greatly admired..

His book is a fascinating glimpse into a life of a Japanese American who was incarcerated simply because of his race during World War II..funny enough..even though the US was at war with Germany and Italy at the same time you never saw German Americans or Italian Americans incarcerated....

Although George and his family experienced this undignified treatment,George writes quite eloquently about his experiences and how they drove him to be the best he could be in his chosen profession..

He realized he had a great responsibility to his character in such a highly visible and popular TV show and fought to make his character more visible and succeeded!He peppers his book with anecdotes about his experiences on the set of Star Trek and his relationships with his fellow castmates.

As a writer George is very talented and he also has a website where he keeps a monthly journal of what's going on in his life and career:

http://www.georgetakei.com/

George is truly an inspiration and a talented writer.I think you will really enjoy his book! ... Read more

Book Description
This book was written for the purpose of paying tribute to George Takei and for acting as a general reference for new fans to the world of Star Trek. Welcome to the wonderful playground created by Gene Roddenberry, a visionary before his time.Within these pages you will discover information relating to Takei and his latest adventures. There are also interviews, quotes, and trivia to peruse through. This book could not have been made possible if it were not for all the input from fans across the globe. It has been a pleasure and an honor to have met George as well as sit and chat with him on many occasions over the years. He's a great man and a true inspiration. This book has been written in his honor. Thanks for giving your all, George - you are truly loved. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of George (Hosato) Takei, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 860 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting Book
Interesting book about George Takei and the life of being a Japanese-American.He told some things about the period that Nikkei were interned in WWII that I didn't know about. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Best book I have read that was written by a celebrity.
This is the best book that I have ever read that was written by a celebrity.It was written many years before it became the fashion for Star Trek stars to write science fiction books.I have read many of the other ones that have come out over the years and Mirror Friend Mirror Foe is the best so far.Of course with a co-author as good as Robert Asprin it would be hard to go wrong.The is a very good science fiction book to read even if you don't consider who the authors are.

Very good sci-fi , hard but a bit naive , and cute.
I have just finished the book. I could feel how Takei was writing himself into Hosato (the protagonist).

Good action ,the ninja part was cool ,and the charecters were fine. What made the book a 4* instead of 5 ,is that it felt a bit clumsy when compared to books writen at about the same stage of sci-fi development ,a bit naive.

It was cute ,with Lucy ,Hosato's robot side-kick ,being his best friend.

Worth the read.

An outstanding Sci-Fi adventure with lots of action/suspense
I'm impressed with this book every time I pick it up and read it.And I've read it several times.It has all the elements of a great Sci-Fi story.I'm still waiting for a sequel from the two authors.

Mirror, Mirror: Off the Wall
If they made a movie of this book, they would probably re-title it "Ninja in Space".This is a pretty entertaining read, if you go in for this sort of thing.

A ripping good yarn
A ripping good yarn, combining the irony of Robert Asprin with the first attempts of George Takei, the original Star Trek Ensign Sulu.

It's a futuristic ninja/spy thriller, well written and consistantly brilliant, without the lapses often found in many new author's fist books. ... Read more

Book Description

In the most spellbinbing Star Trek audio program ever, experience the incredible sensation of ambisonic 3-Dsound as it envelops your mind and transports you to the center of the action inSTAR TREK: TRANSFORMATIONS, the first Captain Sulu audio adventure.

Star Date 11611.8: As Starfleet diplomat Captain Hikaru Sulu speeds alone across the galaxy in his state-of-the-art shuttlecraft, he is abducted by powerful, frightening dreams that return him to the once desolate, desert world of Sigma Cameron Four. It was here as Commanderof the U.S.S. Excelsior twenty years earlier, that he discovered traces of the ancientShalakai -- a ruthless culture who, legend held, had once uncovered the secret to eternal life. Driven to find that secret, Sulu's brilliant science officer, Commander Flynn Konner launcheda fateful mission whose outcome would forever haunt the Excelsior crew.

Now, twenty years later, as the distinguished archeologist Dr. Constance Allenwood moves closerto uncovering the Shalakai's secrets on Sigma Cameron Four, Sulu must race to stop her before sheunleashes a disastrous chain of events. With it's dazzling audio effects and original score, STAR TREK: TRANSFORMATIONS is sure to leave you breathless. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Good Beginning
This was a thouroughly interesting story that held my attention for its duration.The 3-D sound was great and listening with headphones made it come alive!What bothered me about it was that the story is comprised of log entries and letters so that there is virtually no interaction between the actors.It therfore gave the impression of being closer to an audio book than an audio drama, except that the readers read their parts in the first person (mostly).I was hoping for more, as I suppose I'd been a bit spoiled with all the wonderful Doctor Who audios out these days, but I am certainly looking forward to the others in this series and hope that Star Trek uses the full cast audio realm more in the future.

Sulu At His Best
Star Trek: Transformations -- A Captain Sulu Adventure. It was an intriguing title. It was on audio. I had only heard one other recording like it, so I decided to buy it. I'm glad I did. About 6 months before my listening to this tape, I had heard the CD Cacophony. The plot deteriorated in the middle of the recording, the casting was awful, most of thecharacters were unbelievable. All except for one outstanding personality and voice. He was familiar with his character, and did an outstandingperformance. This character was Captain Hikaru Sulu, as played by George Takei.Takei delivered an even better performance in the first Sulu adventure, Transformation. This time all the characters were all believable. All three of them. The plot was great. I loved every minute of it, except when I had to exert energy to turn the tape over. Overall, Transformations is the audio tape to get! It is extremely awesome in the dark with headphones on. The 3-D sound and your imagination will bring the story to life.

Ambassador Worf out.

Sign me up for the crew!
As a big fan of the original series and of the character of Sulu, it was great to see him made Captain at last in Star Trek VI.These wonderful audionovels allow fans who want more to get just that.Mr. Takei is awonderful actor who has a great distinctive and effective voice. Theexcellent vocal cast on this audio novel also was a pleasure to listen to. It definately transported the mind to the final frontier... It is great tolisten to on long drives or trips on planes or trains.Much like the now'ancient' radio programs of old, audio novels let you use your bestentertainment center, your imagination to it's fullest.Having a familiarand treasured character like Sulu connects you to the story in a great way. This was one of the best of the Captain Sulu audio series. Scary at times,a great mystery to unravel.All of the Captain Sulu stories in fact arequite good and I'd love to hear more...even better let's see a Captain Suluseries!Afterall the Adventure should always continue! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Three Classic Star Trek Adventures
Three Classic Star Trek Adventures with Narration by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei and James Doohan on 4 CD's

Disk 1:

* Introduction
* Enterprise: THE FIRST ADVENTURE - Part I

Disk 2:

* Enterprise:THE FIRST ADVENTURE - Part II
* FINAL FRONTIER - Part I

Disk 3:

* FINAL FRONTIER - Part II
* STRANGERS FROM THE SKY - Part I

Disk 4:

* STRANGERS FROM THE SKY - Part II ... Read more

Book Description
The first Japanese immigrants to the United States came to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations, quickly followed by others who came to mainland cities. Their images of America were formed by popular guidebooks with titles such as Mysterious America and Come, Japanese! that promised, "Gold, silver, and gems are scattered on [the] streets. If you can figure out a way of picking them up, you'll become rich instantly." The Japanese arrived with the hope of making a better life for themselves. Their experiences, however, were often far different from what they had expected.The Japanese American Family Album documents the lives of generations of Japanese immigrants through their own diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, articles from newspapers and magazines, and personal reflections. This personal history tells us--in their own words--what it was like to leave the beloved homeland for a life as different from life at home as could be imagined. The Issei--members of the first generation of Japanese immigrants--faced racial prejudice and even laws that effectively stopped Japanese immigration from 1924 until 1965. By then there were well over 100,000 Japanese immigrants on the U.S. mainland who daily faced unfamiliar customs, terrible working conditions, and strong anti-Japanese sentiment. Even in the face of such adversity, Japanese Americans formed labor unions, successfully purchased land and built farms, and established flourishing communities in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, and Salt Lake City, as well as the Hawaiian cities of Honolulu and Hilo. The very success of these farmers and other Japanese immigrants caused jealousy and fear, and the Album also tells of anti-Japanese groups, boycotts against Japanese shops and businesses, discriminatory laws, and even violence. With World War II came the nightmare of the concentration camps, and then the struggle to heal the many wounds caused by internment.A strong sense of family, religion, and a resilient spirit allowed Japanese Americans to survive the prejudice in their new homeland. Profiles of noted Japanese Americans such as Daniel K. Inouye, Patsy Takemoto Mink, and astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka are testaments to the success the Japanese American community has achieved. The heartfelt words and remarkable family photos in The Japanese American Family Album tell a true American story that is an important part of our history.Eighty-eight year old Osuke Takizawa, who emigrated to the U.S. as a young man, says in The Japanese American Family Album, "I believe children and grandchildren must know the way their grandparents walked." The precious stories and pictures of the Japanese Americans from our past and present show us the way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Some corrections
I do not want this to be a case of one-upmanship but I cannot resist pointing out that the authors' descriptions of ToruMatsumoto on pages 12, 43, and 97 are factually incorrect.
The authors say on page 12 that Toru Matsumoto emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. However, it was in 1935 that Toru Matsumoto first visited the United States. Moreover, he did not emigrate to the U.S. then but just visited the country to attend the 2nd U.S.- Japaese Students Conference.
On page 43, the authors state that Toru landed in San Francisco. It is incorrect; he landed in Seattle. And it was his brother Tsuyoshi, not a friend, that arranged for him to meet Jay and Mary.
On page 97, the authors write that Toru Matsumoto was living in New York city with his American wife Emma. Emma was not an American but a Japanese citizen then.
Lastly, Toru Matsumoto was never an American citizen throughout his life. He came back to Japan in the wake of WWII and remained in Japan until his untimely death in 1979.
For further details, please consult my Between Two Worlds: Matsumoto Toru and His Age (M.A. Thesis: Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM).
Otherwise, the book is a good introduction to the subject.

Summary of the Japanese American Experience
This book is one of the few that actually tries to tackle the long story of struggle and assimilation by Japanese Americans into American society.It starts off with an intro by George Takei and then dives into the historyof emigration, era of laborers in Calif and Hawaii, settlement by families,the concentration camp experience, and the post war assimilation.The bestpart of the book is the numerous pictures and quotes from books/newspapersfrom famous figures in Japanese American lore:Yoshiko Uchida, DanielInouye, Isamu Noguchi, Ellison Onizuka, etc..For somebody looking foreasy reading material (without the philosophical discussion of racism thatyou may find in Takaki's books), I recommend it highly. ... Read more

Book Description
While on the U.S.S. Excelsior, Captain Sulu receives top priority orders to proceed by shuttlecraft to Starbase Three. He is to act as the Federation's envoy to a historic peace ceremony between the Krikiki and the Den-Kai--the two dominant, warring races in that sector. Sulu's role is to hand over a young Krikiki prince to the Den-Kai as a symbol of peace, but once Sulu learns of the physical hardships and isolated life that are to befall the prince, he is faced with one of the most difficult choices of his career: carry out his orders and protect another being's life only to see it taken away, or interfere and risk destroying the fragile peace,and violate the Prime Directive in the process. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Weak story
listened to audiobook... very poor story... boring.. annoying sound effects. almost trashed it after 10 minutes... and entire book is only about an hour.

A Good Not So Solid Story
This is in review of the Audio version (1 Cassette, 1 hour run time). I was, overall, disappointed in this story.The thought of Captain Sulu crawling around on hands and knees through ductwork was humerous (although Kirk did it at least once).Takai sounds wooden in his acting role, and is at times drowned out by the sound effects (at least when listening in an automobile).I did enjoy the story, but it jumps around a bit, and the thought of a Star Base or base of any kind easily being taken over is ludicrous.

Star Trek Envoy- a Valiant Effort but Not As Good As Some
The writers and producers of ST Envoy had a great story idea in mind. It does present a philosophical question, though in my opinion it is not explored nearly enough. The story takes a back seat to the sound and music, which I personally do not like. Not only is the story too little explored, the production itself is as corny as anything I've ever heard. The sound designers intended this to be a splended 3-Dimentional sound performance, which it was. However, the sound effects are in some cases a distraction, which prevents the listener from being able to hear some of the dialogue without blasting their eardrums in the process. The alien languages were created with good intention, and in some cases they're not bad, such as the singing of the Pod, but in most cases, especially where there are several of them talking at once, it sounds like a mental institution gone wrong. It sounds terrible, but it is also laughable. The acting is tolerable. The head Admiral reminds me of one of my elementary school teachers who I absolutely hated because she was exactly like a drill sargeant, but that's just my opinion. Sulu is the only truely great performer in this production. If you want a good laugh and can handle a little bit of childish, embarrassing acting it's a nice buy, but I would recommend buying another book in most cases because they are usually better than this.

Crap!
I should have known it was crap, but ever the optimist I decided to give it a try. It was not just bad; it stunk: `Star Trek: Envoy' was garbage from the word go. The CD had one (1) track, and my cars CD player only lets you skip tracks (no fast forward - but it does hold 6 CD's). Instead of reading the story, these morons added sound effects, background noise, and had different people reading different parts. I got through about 10 minutes before I went to the next CD. It was loud, pointless, annoying, and endlessly repetitive - pure crap! I didn't even get to any of George Takei's dialog.

Star Trek Envoy - A fairly interesting premise!
Some years ago, George Takei, a.k.a. Captain Hikaru Sulu took the opportunity to capitalize on his character becoming the captain of the USS Excelsior in "Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country."Star Trek "Envoy" a Captain Sulu adventure is one of those ventures.

Overall, the entire premise of the story and the all out production for this audio CD is well worth the price and the time.The only downside to the entire adventure is that in its attempt to create a realistic atmosphere, they use alien language in the background while Sulu listens to the universal translator.Thankfully, this isn't used too often in any of the episodes because it provides a major distraction to what's important, the story.

While it has been the rare L.A. Graf story that I've been enthralled with over the years, this story is quite good for this writing team.

The premise:

Captain Sulu is ordered away from the Excelsior in a shuttle craft on a mission to act as the Federation's envoy between two warring races, the Krikiki and the Den-Kai.Captain Sulu finds himself in a grave moral dilemma as he is to deliver a young Krikiki prince over to Den-Kai as a peace offering, but that prince will have to undergo isolation and physical mutilation.

What follows from there is a fairly interesting story that I would recommend to any and all fans of Star Trek fiction as it makes for a great hour or so while driving down the highway.{ssintrepid} ... Read more

Book Description
Six feature films, the wildly successful  television spin-off Star Trek: The Next  Generation, endless reruns, videotapes,  conventions, a line of best-selling novels, and William  Shatner's New York Times  best-seller Star Trek Memories have  kept the Star Trek spirit alive  and well, even 25 years after its cancellation. Now  this must-have book for all Trekkers -- which  covers every episode of the original series, the  pilot, and all six movies -- reveals all the bloopers,  continuity errors, plot oversights, equipment  malfunctions, and goof-ups that discerning, die-hard  fans love to spot, but may have missed. Written  especially for all those who find themselves  thinking, "Hey, if the transporter is broken, why  don't they just use a shuttlecraft?", this  nitpicky volume includes Kirk's toupee watch; an  examination of the logic of the miniskirted female crew  members; number of times Kirk violated the Prime  Detective and lots of trivia questions, fun facts,  quizzes, and more. Live long and nitpick. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Classic Trek foul ups and blunders
I had a copy of this book when it first came out, but I lost it and thought it was out of print. I was delighted to see it still available and ordered it, especially since I have the TV series and movies on DVD now. I this book, author Phil Farrand goes through each and every episode of the Original series and the six feature films. In each he discusses changed premises, plot oversites, equipment oddies, and props that don't work like they should. Also he points out scenes that were cut when the show was syndicated, and what stills where shown during the end credits. Also Farrand also includes what are called tote boards, that lists things like the number of times Kirk's shirt gets torn, number of people who slap Spock, number of times McCoy pronounces someone dead etc. This book is a must for fans of Classic Star Trek.
PS, in the episode The Savage Curtain, during a fight scene, Kirk is on his back, and he draws up his legs to push away his opponet, his pants cleary split!! I laughed until i almost could'nt breathe.

A lot of nitpicks in this book are invalid
For example he picks on one Trek ep for mentioning the Euygenics Wars of the 1990's and the fact that in the real life 1990's the Eugenics wars never took place. Also, he mentions inconsistencies beween the TOS and TNG shows. If these are nitpicks they should be in the TNG nitpickers guide. Also I hate when he talks about how Miri would be a shorter show if they (the landing party) could talk to the ship. Wrong author Phil! It would be a different show if they could talk to the ship.

This Trek Fan Loved It
I loved this book. Whenever I'm in need of a laugh I still return to it. Every blooper, every continuity problem and and every single episode is discussed in this veryfunny guide. The authorwas obviously a huge fan of Star Trek.

Surprise!A reference book that is actually humorous.
Phil Farrand does a wonderful job here of pointing out things the creators of Trek got wrong (and right!)--small things most of us would never give a second thought to.My favorite glitch:

"Return of the Archons--Just after Festival begins, Kirk & the others scamper for cover.In one shot, a rock about the size of a cantaloupe arches down and whacks a crew member on the top of his head.Surprisingly, the man seems unaffected, and the rock simply bounces off.Now that's the kind of guy you want to take on landing party missions!"

I couldn't stop laughing for about five straight minutes after I read this one.If you like Star Trek, and you like to laugh--get Phil Farrand's Nitpicker's Guides for Trekkers.You will not be disappointed.

CITY ON THE EDGE OE FOREVER
Kirk and spock are sweeping the floor when spocks notices a man using small tools, the sceen cuts and shows the man's hand picking a a sharp looking tool, then the sceen changes back to Kirk and Spock some words are passedthen sceen shows the man's hand again doing the same motion. ... Read more

Book Description
Ravaged by a killer virus, the Romulans enter Canara, where the only antidote can be found. Desperate, they incite a victorious U.S.S. EnterpriseTM attack on one of their vessels, but Kirk discoves their ruse.

Meanwhile the central computer has fallen in love with him, severely crippling the Starship EnterpriseTM. Somehow Kirk must overcome the lovesick computer and bring the antidote to the Romulans, before the galaxy crashes over the brink of war.Download Description
The Enterprise's central computer becomes infatuated with Kirk just as a Romulan warship attacks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

another fun and exciting trek story
mix some of the best characters in science fiction with an author who KNOWS how to write then and what do you get? A fantastic star trek book.

this books reads like a great, classic star trek episode.Character interaction, a seemingly impossible situation, interesting subplots..everything a fan of star trek likes about the show is in this book..

And the villains...a book like this is usually only as good as its villains and I found the romulans' depiction quite...fascinating, as spock would say.And the villains aren't all romulan either ;)

with lots of tense moments, great dialogue, good character intereraction , a large plot with possibly disastrous repercussions, AND some nice nods and tie ins to several of the original series episodes, and you have a great read on your hands.

highly recommended.

More detail about the Romulan politcial machinations would have been better
The Romulan Empire is in deep trouble. A plague is rapidly killing them and the only cure is grown on the planet Canara in Federation space. Fearing that the Federation would use the knowledge to destroy the Empire, the Romulans attempt to take the antidote by force rather than ask for help. However, the Canarans are fiercely loyal to the Federation and strongly oppose the Romulans. While they cannot hope to resist by force of arms, the Canarans set destructive charges that will destroy all of the material that can be used to make the antidote to the plague.
As the story unfolds, we learn a great deal about the Romulan political system, the Praetor is the highest political figure and the position is currently being held by a greedy, self-serving individual. He sends one of the most loyal and effective Romulan commanders on what is a suicide mission into Federation space and also calls back into service an aged commander whose loyalty to the Empire is greater than any personal animosity he has for the Praetor and his political machinations.
There are two subplots that complicate the situation. The first is that the computers on the Enterprise recently underwent maintenance and the technicians decided that they needed more of a personality. Therefore, they programmed the main computer to have a personality, including emotions. The computer falls in love with Kirk and considers him the only person in the universe. It ignores all other members of the crew, so nothing works for anyone else. The crew is largely helpless to do anything about the situation, which is supposed to be amusing. I didn't find it amusing at all, and thought that this subplot was too much of a distraction to the real story. A simple reboot using core memory should have solved the problem.
The second subplot involved Admiral Iota, who hates the Romulans so bad that he barricades himself into auxiliary control on one of the Federation ships and fires on the Romulans. Once again, the crew of the ship is helpless to stop him. This is absurd; no Starfleet vessel would be constructed without some way to disable the weapons outside of auxiliary control. Furthermore, the idea that one man could barricade himself into an area and control the entire ship was one I found ridiculous.
The two subplots spoiled the story for me. Had the author concentrated on the inner workings of the Romulan Empire and the actions of the Praetor and the Romulan commanders, the story would have been much better.

Excellent! A Star Trek Must Read!
The timeline for this story is immediately after the original series Star Trek episode, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday". This is where the computer has been reprogrammed to be seductive and affectionate -especially towards Kirk(of course)!

The characters -Romulan and Enterprise, are handled competently.

Some guest appearances:
Yeoman Janice Rand (not a love interest here!)
Ensign Garrovick (from "Obsession")
Lt. Kyle (Transporter Chief)

The plot is fascinating(as Spock would say) and unfolds excellently. The writing isprofessional and stays right on in the ST Universe. The plot is similar to the ST movie: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", but here the Romulans face a disaster. Kirk and McCoy are not captured here either.

If you have to choose a few original ST books to read then choose this one amongst the others.

Read on...

An excellent story.
This is by far the best of the numbered series of Star Trek novels up to the point at which it was written, with the possible exception of #7, "The Wrath Of Khan". The characters are handled competently, theplot is interesting, and the writing is fluent, professional, andlively.

There is a certain similarity between the plot of this story, andthe plot of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", but that isno fault of this story, since it predates the other. There is also acertain similarity between its plot and that of "Dr.Strangelove", although this is not a comedy. This story is set in thetime immediately after the original series Star Trek episode,"Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; the computer has not yet beenreprogrammed, and is still overly affectionate toward Kirk.

If you enjoyStar Trek: the original series, you should definitely read this book; it isone of the better books in the Star Trek series. Even if you aren't a bigfan, but are only lukewarm toward Star Trek, you should give this book atry. ... Read more

Book Description
In the twenty-first centruy humanity has united after countless years of warfare, and turns toward the stars. But when an alien spacecraft crashlands in the South Pacific bearing visitors from another world, the Vulcans, Earth must decide whether to extend the hand of friendship, or the fist of war.

In the distant future, horrible dreams torment Admiral James T. Kirk, dreams prompted by his reading of Strangers From the Sky, a book about that historic first contact. He dreams of an alternate reality where he somehow changed the course of history, and destroyed the Federation before it began. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

~ Earth's first contact with Vulcuns~
You won't find a better book in the Star Trek genre. Well written, close to canon. Bonanno captures Kirk,Spock and McCoy thoroughly, you can hear their voices as you read the story. Excellent, if you are a Trek fan don't miss this classic.

An oldie but a goodie
This is the rerelease of a book written in the early-to-mid 80's. It's still a great read. Bonanno brings the strengths of book-writing to a film property - flash backs, out-of-sequence story-telling and a wider landscape, and makes it all work.

Since it was written pre-almost-everything-else, there are a few anachronisms that must be forgiven, but I didn't find them distracting.The characters are spot on, the dillemma interesting, and the pace brisk.I remember reading this when it was first written and really enjoying knowing what was going on after the TV show and before the second movie. This time it takes a bit to re-orient where everything takes place (has this happened yet? No? Okay...)
The new characters are likable and instantly accessible.Of all the 40th Anniversary books, this is the one to read.

Separating fact from fantasy
A controversial best seller has been sweeping through the Federation and the Enterprise was no exception but when Dr. McCoy offered his copy to Capt. Kirk, Kirk was oddly resistent to reading it.When he finally began reading though he found that he could not put it down, that it even began to invade his dreams and sent him on a pilgrimage to one of the locations of the story.Had Kirk's obsession with the book driven him to madness?

When McCoy called in Spock to help him save Kirk they discovered that Kirk was not the only one who had a strange reaction to the novel, leading them all to question what was fantasy and what was reality.After all, everyone knew when Vulcans and humans first made contact and it was long before Kirk and Spock were born.Wasn't it?

Bonanno has woven a compelling story, her characterizations of the Enterprise crew that we all know and love is excellent.They, and the rest of the characters in the book all come to life as reasonable, believeable and engaging.She also manages to keep the various threads of the story interesting as they begin to wind their ways towards the climax.

This is a definite 'don't miss' for fans of the series and would also be enjoyable to anyone with more than a passing interest in classic Trek, particularly the earliest episodes.

A minor complaint.
While the book is good, my problem with it is the new foreword by the author.She mentions that the book was written six years before the official first contact between humans and Vulcans depicted in the movie "First Contact" set in 2063 - wrong.That was not the first contact between humans and Vulcans in the STAR TREK universe.The TRUE first contact in the official cannon STAR TREK universe was depicted in the STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE episode "Carbon Creek" in which a Vulcan science vessel observing the launch of the Earth satellite SPUTNIK 1 on October 4, 1957, crashed and it's survivors had to interact with humans (the humans not knowing that they were aliens, of course) while waiting for a Vulcan rescue ship to come for them.A minor objection, of course, but MWB should have realized this.

Kirk and Spock remember the First Contact before "First Contact"
In the "Star Trek" novel "Strangers From the Sky," there is a controversial best-selling book of the same title that James T. Kirk picks up to read on the recommendation of his old friend Leonard McCoy.The book by Garamet Jen-Saunor challenges the well establish fact that Earth's first encounter with alien life occurred when the UNSS "Icarus" first encountered the humanoid people of Alpha Centauri in 2048.Instead, Jen-Saunor argues that humanity's first contact with an alien species happened years earlier and whatever happened was so monumentally important and dangerous that all records of the incident have been erased and both worlds have kept the secret for almost two centuries.The theory is interesting enough as alien contract conspiracy theories go, but when Kirk starts reading the book he starts having nightmares.Then the Admiral discovers that Spock is having the same dreams and the two old friends get together to do a Vulcan mind meld, to see if they can unlock the past.

"Star Trek" fans have to be a bit confused because as the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" movie "First Contact" taught us, when Zephram Cochrane lauched the "Phoenix" on Apri 5, 2063 and achieved warp drive for the first time, he caught the attention of the "T'plana'hath," a Vulcan survey ship, which lands on Earth and makes first contact with humans.But all you need to do to make this all work out is to replace what happened in "First Contact" with the story of the "Icarus" and it still works out.In fact, the idea that we are now talking about Vulcans instead of Alpha Centaurians makes everything resonate a bit more.So I do not see a major problem with making most of what is here with the official canon and you can sort things out as you will.

Margaret Wander Bonanno divides her "Strangers From the Sky" novel into two books.The first takes place in "those nebulous years" between the encounter of the "Enterprise" with V'ger in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," and the death of Spock in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."The second book takes us back to when Captain Kirk was the new commander of the "Enterprise," and much closer to Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell, Lieutenant Lee Kelso, and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (who you should recognize as characters from the first-season episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before"), than he is to his Vulcan first officer.

What is interesting in this novel is seeing more of the Kirk-Mitchell relationship before it all when horribly bad, and contrasting that with the awkward early stages of the Kirk-Spock relationship.This would be worth pursuing against lots of storylines, every without (yet another) time travel plot, although involving the Vulcans does bring the relationship between Kirk and Spock into sharper focus.Bonanno also does a nice job of working in Kelso and Dehner into the plot as well, so that a much better appreciation of their characters.So this is an above average "Star Trek," which does fill in some of the blanks for the early years of Kirk and Spock, which is always a plus with these books.You can also see "Strangers From the Sky" as part of the long string of stories, part of the canon and otherwise, that have explored the tensions between Earthlings and Vulcans.There sure are a lot of those. ... Read more