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4.0 out of 5 stars
Just Before The End, Oct 29 2003
After producers decided to kill off Captain James Kirk in the film Star Trek Generations, his alter ego, actor William Shatner came up with an idea that would bring the character back in a series of novels. Shatner and his collaborators (ghost writers?), Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, came up with an interesting storyline that begins with Ashes Of Eden. First published as a novel, the folks at DC Comics, asked the trio to adapt "Ashes" as a graphic novel in comic book form. Although the orginal novel had the benefiit of being able to go into greater detail, the graphic novel is still a solid read.The story takes place after Star Trek VI: TUC and just before Generations and continues the "send off" of the classic cast of The Original Series. The Enterprise-A is about to be decommissioned.It's famous crew is now scattered across the galaxy. Kirk is without a ship and a mission. In a defining moment Kirk decides to abandon Starfleet and live out his remaining days on the planet Chal, whose people believe they are doomed, they seek a defender of their way of life, a hero. Kirk gets more than he bargained for though, as he is caught up in a plot that spreads throughout Klingon and Federation space. The original authors do a fairly good job adapting their story within the comic book arena. Even though there are fewer pages in this version nothing is lost. The story's main plot is given its due. There are even some nice character bits that found their way in the graphic novel as well. Artists Steve Erwin and Jimmy Palmiotti do the beloved classic space heroes and their universe great justice within these pages. Everything that is familiar, looks as it should, while the stuff created in the novel, is how I thought it would be. Colors are bold and brilliant, which enhances this read greatly. Still worth a look, even if you have already read the original novel, recommended. The book has 94 pages.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
James T. Kirk in His Own Words, July 2 2003
I bought this book at the suggestion of the manager of the local bookstore to keep me occupied during an unwanted month-long trip to Poland. I normally don't read Star Trek novels, because Paramount doesn't recognize them as canon. That means that they never happened. They're basically authorized fan fiction. In fact, this is the first Star Trek novel that I've read all the way through. It's actually pretty good. In fact, I read so much of it at a time that I had nothing to do to relieve my boredom for the rest of the vacation. It's written by William Shatner. Who better to write a Captain Kirk story than James T. Kirk himself? This story is Kirk in his own words. It takes place between the end of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" and Kirk's apparent death in the opening scenes of "Star Trek: Generations". Kirk joins a young woman on a journey to save her homeworld and, perhaps, recapture his youth and be young forever. Sure, we know that he won't be young again. Sure, we know that he'll survive the events of the novel. It's still fun and exciting to read, though. Don't let "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" fool you. Shatner can write. The only complaints that I have are a few typos and Shatner's writing style. He often omits the word "and" in compound sentences, and he often uses incomplete sentences lacking subjects. He also writes a lot of the characters' thoughts into the narrative itself, which is supposed to be neutral. It's as if the narrator knows what the characters are thinking and agrees with them. Other than these things, which you can get used to, it's a good book. Shatner even references events in numerous TOS episodes and all of the TOS movies except for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (which really didn't need to be referenced anyway). The story is bookended with scenes of Spock, standing over Kirk's grave on Veridian III, thinking about his late friend. Some historical notes are contradicted, such as when phasers were invented ("Enterprise") and the time period of Cochrane's first warp flight ("Star Trek: First Contact"), by later canon material, but the main story itself can still fit into the canon. The ending sets up Shatner's next Star Trek novel, "The Return". Overall, "The Ashes of Eden" is a good story and worth your time to read. It IS James T. Kirk.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the World of Star Trek Mr. Shatner!, Jun 28 2003
Welcome to the World of Star Trek Mr. Shatner!
Or should the ST world of literature welcome him. I had already read his Tek War books. Then they killed Kirk off in the movie GENERATIONS. I was disappointed because Kirk was always the star of ST for me. He had the kahoneys to write THE RETURN which was the second ST novel he wrote. I had tried to like the Star Trek books that came before Shatner returned to the world of ST but they were mostly mediocre at best. Well I liked the return and immediately read Shatner's first ST novel, Ashes of Eden. Shatner leads the reader astray a bit. At first you are thinking you are in the midst of a story written to satisfy an old guy who is in the middle of late life crises. You think it is a simple story of a man needing a young babe and a new mission. But it is a set up for a real interesting story... I'll let you read the rest for yourself. The novel is also the first of what became a double trilogy. This first trilogy is followed by THE RETURN 1996 and then AVENGER 1997. The next trilogy starts with a real good one called SPECTRE, 1998, followed by DARK VICTORY, also good, and concluding with PRESERVER, 2000. PRESERVER was a bit of a disappointment, but I also never actually read the book, having bought the Audio CD instead. William Shatner and friends, I am glad you stopped by the ST literature; your contributions are worthy reads! I wish you had written the 4 book series on the DOMINION WAR.
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by William Shatner
by William Shatner
