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Typhon Station is a very fastpaced PBeM RPG with skilled, experienced
players and a warm sense of bonding and community. We play at the
turn-of-the-century, 2400, and are located in the Typhon Expanses,
bordering the Neutral Zone, proximate to the Romulan Empire, and near
the Iconian Digs, and are on the first warning route of the original
Borg Incursion.
We have three stations to post from, SB 185, USS Odyssey, and USS
Wraith. They all have general and particular storylines and all
interact. This game is not for the faint of heart! The writing is
superb and comes hot and heavy. We have some open spots and also we
will consider character suggestions. So, longtime RPGers and novices,
check us out. See if you want to make Typhon Station your home away
from home.
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Posted:
12:10:17 on October 21 2002
By: Steve Krutzler
Dept: Reviews - Books | Divine Treasury forum
Star Trek: Captain’s Peril
By William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Hardcover, 2002
384 pages
Buy now to support TrekWeb
"The Dominion War is over. The Federation is at peace. What better time for two legendary starship captains to set aside the demands of duty and simply take some well-deserved time off? But when James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard arrive on Bajor to dive among the ruins of an ancient sunken city, conditions are far from what they had planned. The small group of scientists the captains have joined suddenly find their equipment sabotaged -- isolating them from Deep Space Nine™ and any hope of rescue -- as one by one, a murderer stalks them..."
Written for TrekWeb by Bill Williams, edited by Steve Krutzler
Synopsis: The latest in William Shatner’s Star Trek novel series focuses on Kirk and Picard investigating a series of murders at a Bajoran diving expedition while recounting Kirk’s anxieties over the first casualty under his command of the original Enterprise.
Review: Each time that a new Star Trek hardcover novel is released, especially one “written” by William Shatner, I get a little bit excited yet at the same time a little bit apprehensive, because each book in the series of Kirk’s 24th century adventures plays fast and loose at times with the Star Trek mythos. For those who do not know about Shatner’s novels, allow me to provide a brief refresher.
In 1995, after the release of “Star Trek: Generations,” William Shatner proposed a continuing series of adventures about James T. Kirk set in the 24th century. Each novel was conceived from a springboard idea by Shatner, who doesn’t appear to actually write any of his novels, and fleshed out into full novel format by the writing duo of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, authors of one of the most excellent Trek novels ever, “Federation.” The first book in their collaboration, “The Ashes of Eden,” set the tone for Kirk’s return after “Generations” in the aptly titled “The Return” and continued each year in three-book arcs. In the most recent entry, “Preserver,” Kirk suffered the devastating loss of his wife Teilani and retired again from active Federation duty.
In “Captain’s Peril” Shatner and the Reeves-Stevenses attempt to return Kirk into action once again. The novel begins with a lengthy sequence – three chapters long, mind you! – as Kirk and Picard journey to Bajor via orbital skydive. The attempt of building suspense by drawing out the orbital skydive sequence across multiple chapters does not necessarily work in this case and could have been easily handled within one introductory chapter. Instead what we are given is Kirk and Picard laughing in the face of danger. Hardly suspenseful, in my opinion.
Once Kirk and Picard arrive at the site of a Bajoran diving expedition, they immediately are thrust into a murder mystery. A leading Bajoran archaeologist has been murdered, and members of the diving expedition pop up dead one by one. When Picard is incapacitated and believed dead in one of the investigations, it is up to Kirk to discover the murderer and his (or her) intentions for wanting everyone dead.
The novel then jumps back in time to the 23rd century to a time just before the events of TOS's “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” as Kirk is settling into command of the Enterprise after five months. Both his medical officer Dr. Piper and his first officer Mr. Spock are bucking for transfers, much to Kirk’s dismay. But such arguments are put on hold as Kirk and the crew are thrust into a life or death crisis: an unknown alien vessel has entered the galaxy with warp speed technology beyond all known Federation specifics. The technology comes at a dangerous price: whoever wins at a race of the alien’s choosing gets to keep the ship. Whoever loses, dies.
As with the previous six volumes, Shatner provides the initial concept for the Reeves-Stevenses to flesh out into full novel form. Shatner is most comfortable in knowing Kirk, but here Kirk takes center stage once again in both eras at the expense of everyone else involved. Picard’s role is reduced to that of supporting player instead of equal, and at one point the ending from “Generations” is echoed with the roles reversed. Kirk’s exposing of the murderer I could predict from early in the story, and the reasons for the murderer’s intention are clear for viewers of “Deep Space Nine”. The finale of the story features one of the most outlandish and almost unbelievable sequences to occur since Kirk’s Frankenstein-like rebirth in “The Return”. But it does mirror modern-day scientists’ thoughts on religion versus science.
The 23rd century segment, however, while enjoyable, is treading on territory already established in earlier Trek novels. How many more times must the writers cover the events from the beginning of Kirk’s command up to the events before and after “Where No Man Has Gone Before”? There’s only so much room for such events to occur, and with “Captain’s Peril” that time frame continues to be mined even further. The villain of the 23rd century segment is hardly an original villain; for those who remember the dreaded “Spock’s Brain” episode of the Original Series – Kirk gets seduced by yet another attractive female. To echo McCoy’s line in “The Undiscovered Country,” what is it with him anyway?
The novel ends very neatly and tidily and sets up the events to come in the upcoming book “Captain’s Blood”, so we can expect another trilogy of stories from Shatner and the Reeves-Stevenses.
“Captain’s Peril” is not the greatest Star Trek adventure, nor is it the worst, though it does have its legitimate pedigree of past Trek references. A fairly good adventure, although for kicks I would like to see Shatner write a Star Trek book – or any book, for that matter – by himself.
TrekWeb's Rating:
Bill Williams is a columnist and reviewer for TrekWeb, previously contributing reviews of the "Broken Bow" and "Endgame" novelizations and ENTERPRISE's "Acquisition," as well as the Evolution of STAR TREK: GENERATIONS and ST:TMP Original Score Retrospective feature articles.
