One thing the book unavoidably brought to my attention was the sheer contrivance of Kirk running into so many old acquaintances during the 5YM. The guy's light years out from Earth for five full years, and yet he encounters his brother, the governor of a colony he used to live on, his old history instructor, and THREE old girlfriends! TOS probably went to that well a few too many times just for the sake of drama.
Well, not all of those were random. In "Operation -- Annihilate," it's unclear what brought the E to Deneva. It had something to do with Spock tracking the wave of mass insanity, but maybe Kirk got the ship assigned to deal with it once he learned it was targeting Deneva, because he knew his family was there. And in "The Conscience of the King," Leighton specifically diverted Kirk to Planet Q to alert him to Karidian/Kodos. In "Patterns of Force," they were actively searching for John Gill, so again, maybe Kirk requested that assignment because of the past acquaintanceship. As for the old girlfriends, Janet Wallace may have specifically requested the E, and Janice Lester deliberately lured Kirk to Camus II.
Yes, but even as you list them, the coincidences abound, and the galaxy is a big place that Janice Lester his old girlfriend on Camus II could rely on the fact that the Enterprise would be near, that Ekos and Zaion where his old teacher was would also be in their patrol sector, and that Janet Wallace would specifically request the Enterprise, and that Deneva is also in their area of space - separately they're not hard to believe, taken together I think they're a stretch.
It's amazing how close-minded some fans can be. It's too bad. If this guy opened his mind a bit, he might find something to enjoy.
