duane@anasazi.UUCP (Duane Morse) (09/25/85)
The jacket reads: "The ship is crippled in orbit around a dangerous, living, breathing planet, and a desperate peace mission to the Orion Arm is stalled. Kirk has never needed his crew more. But a lithe, alien woman is casting a spell of pacifism -- and now mutiny -- over the crew. Suddenly Captain Kirk's journey for peace has turned into a terrifying war -- to retake command of his ship!" If you've never read a Star Trek novel, thinking that such books are all just cheap, juvenile rip-offs from the TV series, think again. I've read about half a dozen Star Trek novels, and they seem to be pretty representative of SF in general, running the gamut from dull to very exciting. MUTINY ON THE ENTERPRISE is a good example. The story is well paced, and there are two or three things going on at the same time. Further, the "alien woman" mentioned on the jacket isn't as one-sided as you might think. The book presents a couple of interesting ideas, and seems to be true to the spirit of Star Trek in general. About the only criticism I have is that there's one too many Spock vs. McCoy spats. This book doesn't have the depth and complexity of two other Star Trek books I've read, THE PRICE OF THE PHOENIX and THE FATE OF THE PHOENIX by Marshak and Culbreath, but I still enjoyed it very much. I give the book 2.5 stars (i.e., good). -- Duane Morse ...!noao!terak!anasazi!duane (602) 870-3330