Order from
amazon.com! |
The Abode of Life
Rating: 
Series: The Original Series #6
Published: May, 1982
Author: Lee Correy
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or |
This is another one of the original Star Trek Books, written almost 20 years ago. Unfortunately, it is not a very good one. If you feel like reading the whole "Original Series" books on after the other over the cold and dark winter nights, this is one you can probably whiz through in a weedend.
The basic premise is that the Enterprise, in trouble and broken again, after a wild ride thru space on some strange warp beam/trick, ends up near the previously unknown or explored planet Mercan. Needing to make repairs, and not having the materials to complete the job, Kirk and the gan beam down, only to find themselves in the midddle of a dispute between the factions living on Mercan.
To make matters worse, the Mercans are incapable of believing that they are not the only once living in the Universe. The appearance of our stalwart heroes throw the Mercan's into a tizzy. Now, there is one group, called the Technics, that may be open to the idea that there is "intelligent life out there", but that group is always under attack by the Guardians (kinda like the state cops) and the Proctors, who are the "High Priests" of the local religion.
Mercan has a problem with an unstable star that upsets the balance of things every so many years. The Proctors and the Guardians decide who, when the star heats up, gets to hide in the underground "Keeps" while the planet surface is uninhabitable. What a mess!
So, of course, Kirk gets stuck in the middle, has to arrange repairs to the Enterprise and solve the star problem, as well as get these three factions to talk to each other, all without violating the Prime Directive.
I guess, as the earlier books, go, it wasn't that bad. but there is alot of not really necessary ruminating about the PD, and the silliness of the three factions can be rather boring. There is no real expansion of our favorite characters, which is unfortunate since the book was written so long ago when we didn't yet really know what made these guys tick. The inhabitants of Mercan aren't really worth much of a mention, shallow and narrow-minded. Yeah, as alwaysm they eventually end up all being friends due to Kirk's "gun boat diplomacy" but you can figure that part out practically before you start reading. Typical Trek stuff. Go ahead and read it, great way to kill a rainy/snowy weekend, or sleepless nights.
Title: The Abode of Life
Author: Lee Correy
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or
