Gene DeWeese delivers a pretty standard Trek tale for this week’s instalment of the Book Shelf. This is his third Trek novel, and while it’s not a horrible tale, it’s just a run of the mill story.

Set during The Original Series, the Enterprise is called to a pair of warring planets to mediate their dispute, but things quickly escalate into trouble for Captain James T. Kirk, his First Officer, Spock, and his Chief Medical Office, Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy.

While dealing with one of the leaders on the Enterprise, who seems to have his own ulterior motives for the supposed peace talks, McCoy and Spock beam down to the neighbouring planet… and vanish.

They are taken hostage, and eventually, as far as Kirk believes, executed. Now without the counsel of his two trusted friends, Kirk must navigate diplomacy and war, and all the threats in between.

Meanwhile, Spock and McCoy, very much alive, are working to get word back to Jim and the Enterprise that the forces behind the conflict aren’t native to the planet. They’re Klingons!

Like I said, fairly standard fare, but handled capably, and the novel is entertaining, but coming on the heels of The Lost Years book two, this one doesn’t feel quite up to par. That being said, I do like the fact that DeWeese knows his Trek well enough to make references to episodes, and tie the story into the greater fabric of everything we know this crew has gone through to date.

But it definitely felt lacking to me. I wasn’t able to visualise this one in my head unlike a number of the other Trek books I’ve read. Of course, before A Flag Full of Stars I was kind of floundering with those novels as well.

I know I’m not getting tired of Classic Trek yet, I get excited each time I see a new cover, but this one just didn’t reel me in.

But that’s ok, there’s always more to come, and my book shelf isn’t getting any smaller, though it does feel like its getting fuller.

So don’t necessarily pass this one by, or any of the other ones I’ve moaned about recently, just don’t expect the calibre that they had been striving towards previously. But I bet we see an uptick in quality and storytelling again soon.

And the Human Adventure continues. Let’s see where the Enterprise takes me next as I boldly go…