 | |
List Price: $7.99 | | Publisher: Star Trek
Salesrank: 327803
|
| Our Price: $4.38 |
| Used Price: $0.45 |
|
| Media: Mass Market Paperback |
|
Editorial Review:
During James T. Kirk's five-year mission as captain of the Starship Enterprise,™ a mysterious alien threat called "The Totality" commenced its invasion, intending to conquer the Milky Way galaxy as it had conquered the Andromeda. A war unlike any other is about to begin -- one that threatens to destroy the Federation.
Captain Kirk has encountered the Totality before. It took the beguiling form of Norinda, an irresistible alien who becomes the woman each person most desperately desires. In his first encounter, Kirk almost lost the Enterprise. In his second encounter, he almost lost his child, and watched in horror as the Totality absorbed Spock in its monstrous dimensional tendrils. But now, Kirk faces an even more devastating personal challenge. The battle lines have been drawn, and he and his friend Captain Jean-Luc Picard are on opposite sides.
With Captain William Riker of the Starship Titan caught in the cross fire of the conflict between Kirk and Picard, and with Kirk's own child poised on the brink of a startling destiny millions of years in the making, Kirk must prepare for his final encounter with the Totality. But how can Kirk fight an enemy whose greatest weapon is love? And how can he triumph, when the price of victory is the life of his only child?
Star Trek: Captain's Glory Reviews:
Some background info for lightweight ST fans... like me! 
2009-03-02 - First, a little bit about myself just so you know where I'm coming from. I'm a fairly lightweight ST fan. I've watched all the movies, but I've only watched the various TV series off and on. I can't even claim to have watched all the episodes of TOS and TNG, let alone Voyager or DS9. I've only read one (maybe two) TOS novels in the late-80s, when TNG was just starting out. And given that I barely remember what those novels were about, this book is, for all practical intents and purposes, my first ST novel.
And that brings me to how I came upon this book. Prior to picking up Captain's Glory, I had absolutely no clue what has been going on in ST timeline in terms of novels. So when I saw William Shatner's name on the cover and read the introductory passage on the book's first page at a local bookstore, I was pleasantly surprised to see Kirk speaking with Janeway. I was intrigued to know how Kirk came to be in that era, hence the purchase.
But after only a couple of dozen pages, it became very apparent that Kirk being in post-TNG/Voyager/DS9 era was an established fact, and further that this book was a sequel to a series of previous books.
A quick search on the web revealed that this book is a part of what is unofficially known as "Shatnerverse," which began with the Odyssey (Star Trek) trilogy. Furthermore, I learned that this book was the third and final book of the "Totality" trilogy -- the first two being Captain's Peril (Star Trek) and Captain's Blood (Star Trek).
I considered finding and reading those previous books first, but I decided to just keep on reading this book, as I was already hooked by its story. And now that I'm done, I can say that I've been thoroughly entertained. This is a well-written, fast-paced work of fiction. I very much enjoyed seeing Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Picard, Riker, Janeway, and other familiar faces all working together (and sometimes against each other) to save the universe once again.
If I could start over, I would probably start with the first book of the Totality trilogy, Captain's Peril (Star Trek). Captain's Glory makes several references to past events covered by previous books, and by reading the final book of the trilogy first, I feel I may have irrevocably spoiled myself of the events of the first two books.
Of course, you can simply read this book by itself as I did. The book does a good job of quickly summarizing the past events (with inevitable spoilers), and I can definitely attest that, while knowledge of events in prior books might be desirable, they are certainly not required for getting enjoyment out of this well-written book.
Also, I must note that I do *not* feel spoiled of the events in other Shatnerverse books. On the contrary, I am actually more intrigued by the glimpses and quick references I've gotten from reading this book. In fact, I hope to be able to track down a copy of the Odyssey trilogy books (which unfortunately seemed to have gone out of print), and perhaps check out the Mirror Universe trilogy.
Captain's Glory may not have been the most optimal entry point into the Star Trek novels (or more specifically, "Shatnerverse"), but I can't say I regret it one bit. I look forward to finding and reading other books in this series.
Shatner is showing real growth as a writer. 
2008-08-12 - This book is much better than Shatner's previous books in many ways. I still was a little disappointed with how it ended; a little too much deus ex machina for my taste. Still, it's a very good book; for one thing, Shatner seems to have finally outgrown the tendancy to make Kirk into a demigod; in some of his previous books, it seemed that there was absolutely nothing that Kirk couldn't do, and even when that wasn't the case, he was always showing up Picard, Janeway, and any other Trek character about as thoroughly as a major league ballplayer would show up a minor leaguer. In this book, Picard battles him to a draw in a strategic contest, and given the circumstances, Picard could actually have been said to "win" the draw. Riker was the most level-headed captain of the three of them, and ultimately, Picard pulls Kirk's buns out of the fire. Given all that, I'm willing to accept Janeway being written as a largely irrelevant admiral.
There were a few places in which I felt that Kirk acted out of character, and that combined with the previously mentioned quibbles are why I only rate the book at 4 stars. Still, Shatner has always had good story ideas, and he tells this one better than he's ever done before. His pacing has improved, for one thing. Definitely worth the read.
The Totallity
2008-07-17 - Having recently just lost Spock, Kirk will struggle to find out just exactly what happened to him and where he went. The Totallity has begun it's invasion of our space and is apparently worse than the Dominion. Atleast you could hurt the Dominion, nothing appears to be able to stop these guys... it seems like Shatners version of the Dominion war except worse and it'll only be up to Kirk to figure out how to save the day, as it always is. Great book and story... I just don't like how Kirk has to be the #1 Hero of all time all the time.
How much of this did Will really write.
2008-03-14 - The collaberation between Will Shatner and the duo of Reeves-Stevens has been phenominal. They are by far the best novels in the Star Trek library. I really thought they painted themselves into a corner with the totality but in the end they pulled it out again. Its by the seat of your pants, roller coaster sci fi at its best. I absolutely love how they pull in happenings from old shows in all their novels.
If I am not mistaken it was Reeves Stevens who wrote the best Enterprise (starring Scott Bakula)episodes that went into why the klingons once had no ridges as well as into a Vulcan conspiracy, both of which were 2-3 show story arcs that were out f'n standing.
I want more. Of course I am curious how much Will contributes given his Tek War novels were solid B level work at best and this is A+ stuff.
Shatner does it again
2008-03-09 - I really enjoy when William Shatner puts his name on a book. They are usually very good
