Spoilers TOS: Harm's Way by David Mack Review Thread

[Avro Arrow]

Blurb:
An all-new Star Trek novel—continuing the legacy of the critically acclaimed Vanguard series!

Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise go in search of a missing Federation scientist—only to become trapped between a Klingon warship and Starfleet’s mysterious Operation: Vanguard.

About the Author:
David Mack is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies. His writing credits span several media, including television (for episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), film, short fiction, and comic books. He resides in New York City.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/bo...k/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series/9781668008669

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Looking forward to another visit with the Vanguard gang!

I think this is probably one of the shortest blurbs I've ever seen, so thank you to the publicity staff at S&S for making the review thread setup a little bit easier!

 

[Csalem]

Will be buying this for Kindle later. Just realised it will be the first Trek novel I have bought since Coda Book 3 last December (although I have picked up The Dark Veil on Audible since then).

 

[Corran Horn]

When it came up for pre-order I bought this physical (to round-out my Vanguard all-physical copy collection) months ago and looked for it on my kindle late Monday night/early Tuesday forgetting it was actually coming as a physical delivery...oops.

This is actually my first physical Trek book since they went for the premium format. It's very nice.

 

[Markonian]

Had forgotten to preorder.
Just arrived. It feels like it's been so long since a traditional Trek novel.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

It's been so long since any ST novel.

 

[Ronald Held]

My physical book has arrived, but have one ahead of it, before I start it.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I picked it up on my lunch break. And since I'd left my magazine at the office, I went ahead and started it, getting through Spock's message from his mother, at an insanely slow Denny's.

 

[USS Firefly]

Too bad "Star Trek in tempest's wake" is only released in ebook

 

[Corran Horn]

It's been so long since any ST novel.

boy, I miss the old days. 2-3 new books a month plus a reprint...

 

[RonG]

Loved this book!
a return to Vanguard means a return to one of my favorite sagas in all of Trek, and this was a great addition to the larger VAN saga (along with Seekers and Agents of Influence).

Also, I know this is probably only me, but the fact that we get more VAN means that the Litverse is still with us (yes, i know the official stance on that and won't spoil Coda with details)

 

[Corran Horn]

Also, I know this is probably only me, but the fact that we get more VAN means that the Litverse is still with us (yes, i know the official stance on that and won't spoil Coda with details)

It's not only you.

 

[Ronald Held]

Really need to get a start, based on recent posts.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

"Suppositories for a cosmozoan"?!?

Hmm. The Klingons call the locals "Chwii." So does the hostile superbeing. What do they know that the landing party doesn't?

 

[David Mack]

"Suppositories for a cosmozoan"?!?

Hmm. The Klingons call the locals "Chwii." So does the hostile superbeing. What do they know that the landing party doesn't?

It's stated in the text that…

Spoiler: Harm's Way

…the Klingons have sent survey teams to this planet before. This is not their first encounter with the Chwii.

Hartür let out a low, cynical chortle. “The little bastards learn fast. This is what we get for letting any of these yIntaghpu’ live after resisting our survey teams.”​

​

 

[Jedi Ben]

Trek books are quite a bit more finite in number these days so it's nice to have one come along. And one I got a good few weeks ahead of its official mid-Jan 2023 release.

A bonus is that it is a follow-up to the Vanguard series. Do you have to read that to enjoy this? No, Mack ensures you have the info you need but if you're not intrigued to check it out after hearing that a Shedai colony was deemed a severe enough threat to warrant the Federation and the Klingon Enpire turning a world into zero atmosphere globe of radioactive glass, not sure what else would work.

This story also sees Kirk and Spock dealing with scars from recent TV tales. Spock's reflections on what it would require, personally, psychologically, materially to actually construct and use a planet-killer are excellent. Makes for a clever commentary on Star Wars too.

Add in Kang, a load of Klingons, some Starfleet Admirals, the Saggitarius and you've a nicely volatile brew that develops nicely and concludes well.

Can I haz a sequel pleez?

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

The "suppositories for a cosmozoan" line was almost too much for my bladder! (Then again, I once wrote a SF short story in which suppositories were the preferred form of a recreational drug [something revealed in one of the last sentences of the story].)

And so far, this is shaping up to be the best Vanguard novel ever. By far.

 

[Elwro]

2 hours into the audiobook. It's like meeting old friends, both when it comes to the wonderfully written characters (especially the Sulu / Chekhov match) and Mr. Petkoff :-) I like it very much so far.

 

[Reanok]

I ordered this book but due to weather delays I'll have to wait a little to get to finally read it. It sounds like a great read for fans of the Vanguard books.

 

[Corran Horn]

Can I haz a sequel pleez?

2 hours into the audiobook. It's like meeting old friends, both when it comes to the wonderfully written characters (especially the Sulu / Chekhov match) and Mr. Petkoff :-) I like it very much so far.

Yeah, these are old friends being guided by a master who does what he does very well. I could read a dozen books like this. A hundred. A thousand.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

This gets one of my vanishingly rare "Outstanding" ratings.

I'm actually not particularly fond of Vanguard. But this is right up there with the best of CLB and GC.