The Return was originally conceived by William Shatner while he was filming Star Trek: Generations, wherein Captain Kirk was killed. While Paramount rejected Shatner's proposal to resurrect Kirk in the films, that story idea became an excellent novel.
Picking up immediately where Generations left off, Ambassador Spock has come to Veridian III to pay his final respects to his friend James Kirk, who had been buried on the planet's surface by Captain Picard after having fallen in battle. Also on Veridian III is Commander Riker, heading an honor guard to remove Kirk's remains from the planet for a proper burial. Suddenly, an unknown alien ship attacks, transporting Kirk's remains away. It turns out that the alien ship is part of a Romulan/Borg alliance, led by a female Romulan Commander who wants revenge on Kirk, who she holds responsible for the death of her father. The Borg resurrect Kirk using alien technology, and brainwash him for use as an assassin. His ultimate objective is the murder of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who the Borg see as a particular threat given his prior experience as a part of the Borg Collective.
The resurrected Kirk spends most of the book in a state of confusion. He is uncertain of his own identity, but is manipulated by the Romulans to attack various crew members of the recently destroyed Enterprise-D on his trail to assassinate Picard. Picard, meanwhile, is on a covert mission, along with Beverly Crusher, to infiltrate and investigate the Borg in hopes of preventing a suspected invasion. Eventually, the Romulans' hold over Kirk is broken, and he, Picard, and the crew of the Enterprise-D (along with Scotty and a very aged Dr. McCoy) travel to the Borg homeworld for a final confrontation with the Collective. Characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine also appear in the novel.
Shatner really makes an effort not only to tell an entertaining Kirk story (as only the man who portrayed him for so many years can), but also crafts a fine novel set in the timeline of Star Trek: The Next Generation that allows those characters to shine. In fact, I would argue that in its blending of the two generations of Star Trek characters, this novel was more successful than the Generations film. It is also interesting that Shatner chose an epic confrontation with the Borg as a follow-up to Generations, as this was of course the approach taken by the next film, Star Trek: First Contact. That film and subsequent episodes of Star Trek: Voyager probably contradict some of the Borg material in this novel, but I'm not the type of Star Trek fan who is bothered by that sort of thing. I would rather have a cool story first and let the continuity sort itself out later. And, indeed, Shatner's depiction of the Borg here is really fantastic. Giant, multi-limbed Borg, Borg animals, interlocking Borg cubes, Borg space stations inside transwarp space, the Borg Homeworld, and a suprising connection between the Borg and the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture are all elements that make for a really exciting science fiction adventure, regardless of whether or not they fit into established Star Trek continuity.
I basically loved everything about this novel. Captain Kirk vs. Captain Picard. Captain Kirk and Captain Picard allied against a Borg/Romulan threat. An epic adventure that spans the galaxy, and an ambiguous ending that suggests Kirk's adventures in the twenty-fourth century are only just beginning. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough. If this isn't great Star Trek fiction, I don't know what is.
The Return is the second book in the "Odyssey" trilogy, preceded by The Ashes of Eden and followed by Avenger.
No comments:
Post a Comment