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The Entrophy Effect
Rating: 
Series: The Original Series #1
Published: June, 1981
Author: Vonda N. McIntyre
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or |
Well, I went through the boxes of Star Trek books in the garage and came up with this one. According to the old lists, this was the first Star Trek novel written. The lists have been revised and it is now listed as #2, following the novelization of "Star Trek - The Motion Picture". Personally, I prefer the old list. Of course, it s now long out of print, but according to our friends at Amazon.com, you can find it in their "out of print" section, or look for it in a used bookstore, which is where i found my copy.
This book is set sometime in the first year of the voyages of the starship "Enterprise. James T. Kirk is, of course, in command, and he is surrounded by all the old familiar faces. As the book opens, Enterprise is in orbit above an unusual phenomenon, a singularity that has mysteriously appeared. The ship is held in orbit in a rather tenuous position, requiring all the skills of Hikaru Sulu at the helm, and Scotty down in Engineering. Kirk and Dr. McCoy and the rest of the crew are basically bored, cranky and ready to move on to their next mission. And Mr. Spock is having quite the time studying the singularity. Actually, he is the ONLY one studying it!
A surprise message, coded "ultimate" is received and the mission is abandoned, much to Spocks displeasure, and off they all go to Aleph Prime, having not a clue what they are in for. On arrival, we are introduced to Ian Braithwaite, the planets' Prosecutor, and find out they are going to deliver a prisoner, Dr. Georges Mordreaux, to a rehabilitation center.
Seems he has been playing with "time travel" (shades of Dr. Who!) and has been convicted of murder and breaking a lot of Star Fleet and Federation rules, regulations and laws. The Dr. is an old teacher and college of Mr. Spocks' and Spock is hard pressed to believe the allegations. The mystery deepens when Spock finds that ALL records of ALL Dr. Mordreaux's work has disapeared.
Adding to the confusion, we are introduced to another ship, The Aerfen and her captain, Hunter. Another old girlfriend of Captain Kirk (why are we not surprised) and an unusual collection of crew members assigned to the Security Section on the Enterprise. Seems that Mr. Sulu has a life after all!
This is a very well written murder/mystery/who did what to who? novel. As the official novel on "The Original Series", I was a bit skeptical, expecting it to be rather shallow and undetailed, kind of like the first "Star Wars - Splinter of the Mind's Eye" ( a rather bad book). I was pleasantly surprised. Vonda McIntyre has done a rather good job of developing the characters, adding more layers onto their personalities and back-stories.
There is, as usual, alot of technical mumbo-jumbo that, since i never passed Algebra, was quite incomprehensible to me. Physics is not my personal best. But it was almost understandable and didn't detract from the book to the point that I skipped over most of the techhie parts.
There are alot of twists and turns in this book! Scotty and McCoy are both tested, personally and professionally. Spock is his usual self, Ian Braithwaite is a wonderful pain in the butt, and Sulu finds and looses a friend. I definitely recommend that if you can find it, buy it and read it!
Title: The Entrophy Effect
Author: Vonda N. McIntyre
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or
