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The Lost Years
Rating: 
Series: The Original Series
Published: 1989
Author: J.M. Dillard
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or |
As the flyleaf of this book asks "Do you ever wonder what happened to the crew of the Enterprise between the end of the TV series and the movie "Star Trek - The Motion Picture"?
J.M. Dillard does an admirable job or filling in the blanks in this book, as well as the following one "A Flag Full of Stars" and then, Irene Kress's "The War Virus". Read this one first and then go find the other two.
"The Lost Years" starts immediately after the Enterprise docks following her return from the original 5 year mission. The cast and crew are all happy to be home, but unsure of what they will be doing and where they will end up during the 2 year re-fit of the ship. Kirk is in an extremely lousey mood, given that Fleet Admiral Nogura, for whatever reason (that he won't divulge) has put Kirk's future orders on hold for 6 months.
McCoy is retiring, Spock is either going home to Vulcan, or teaching at Star Fleet Academy, or taking over a science vessel as Captain. The personal conversations prior to them leaving each other are an interesting study in emotion, or lack thereof, and gives the reader some interesting insight into their true feelings about each other and future unknown.
In the meantime, we are given another history lesson about Vulcan. And what transpires thousands of years prior to the start of our story will influence our heroes far into the future. I'm not going to tell you what, but the Romulans are around to muck up the works, as usual.
We are introduced to three very interesting women in this book, Spock's intended wife (surprise!) T'Sura, Kirk's new boss Admiral Lori Ciana, and McCoy's traveling companion, Dr. Keridwen Llewellyn. These three have a profound impact on the three men emotionally and they serve to drive the story ahead at warp speed. We also see Kevin Riley, an old friend from the series, we are introduced to Will Decker, who takes over the "big chair" on the ship during the re-fit, Uhura has an adventure with Ambassador Sarek, and we meet T'Sai, the High Priestess of the Kolinahr Monestary.
Into this interesting group of cast and crew, we now add a diplomatic mission to disentangle the Inarii and Djanai and their long term feud, the crazed Vulcan/Romulan Sekar/Zakal, Fleet Admiral Nogura's directives to Kirk and Ciana, and Spock's friendship with McCoy (don't tell Spock they are friends - he'd never believe you anyway.)
Some of the actions and interactions are a little silly, but all in all, this story does serve a purpose in answering lingering questions. Why was Spock at Gol, immersed in the study of Kolinar, instead of married or teaching? Why does McCoy have a little "drinking problem" and why in the world did Kirk ever let them promote him to Admiral? This one is a good and easy read. J.M. Dillard has managed to keep alot of the personalities and conversation intact, she makes a great effort at keeping the interpersonal banter going, and adds character detail that is important to future events.
Read this one, it's worth the price at a used book store.
Title: The Lost Years
Author: J.M. Dillard
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or
