Finally finished it! I found it overall an likable, entertaining book. It reminded me of Judith and Garfield Reeve-Stevens's novel Prime Directive, although I'm not sure why.
I remember being baffled by the name of Kirk's ship before Enterprise, and a lot of early stumbling over the name, Sacagawea. By the end I gotten used to it, and the pronunciation flowed easily in my mind everytime my eyes passed over the name. I know it might not be revisited again, but now I'm quite sold on the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Sacagawea. I hope that it opens that time period up for future stories, and is included or incorporated in other novels. Flashbacks to moments on the Sacagawea! Or a novel that has the first third set there, with the remaining two-thirds in the more conventional voyages of Enterprise setting (like Peter David's The Rift). Or even a whole novel set on board the Sacagawea. If it never happens, I'm glad that we still have this book.
Follow-up commentary regarding the time-jumps. (Sorry!)
I said earlier I found the time-jumps towards the beginning of the novel mostly easy to follow, because there are strong transitions at the end of each section before any given jump, and I stand by that. The post-Vega run of the Sacagawea's adventures is conspicuous for it's more linear presentation, compared to the pre-Vega adventures. The post-Vega adventures feel more satisfying in the sense that the jumping around settles down, and works well as I got the sense of Kirk's adventures leading to something bigger that seals the deal for him to move up in the world as a captain. The linearity of the second half of the Sacagawea's storyline makes the early parts seem alarmingly destabilized, in retrospect.
I seem to recall seeing that the novel was originally structure more chronologically. I don't know if that goes even to having all the Enterprise's 1st voyages under Captain Kirk all together at the end of the book. Even if TCO had been reordered more chronologically, I do think the back and forth between Sacagawea and Enterprise under Captain Kirk was the right choice. Those time-jumps work well, and were satisfying for me as a reader.
Having read the book with my eyes, now it will be nice to revisit it in audiobook format. This is how I usually prefer to do it, eyeball-read, then listen when I want to re-experience the story. For this one, I'm toying with the idea of making notes of each section, and on a second listen-through assembling the pre-Vega content in linear order to see what the is like.
The Continuing Voyages of Sacagawea.
Had a grand old time with these. I found the Chenari rescue a very moving storyline, reflecting well on Kirk's ability to interpret General Order One in a generous way that allows for a more humanitarian approach. It works well to counteract the sour note at the end of the Nacmor incident. I like how it shows character growth right away, and shows that Gary makes a good case for something Kirk wasn't able to see in how he's supposed to make decisions. It's nice to see that Gary has this positive influence in Kirk's life, made the friendship seem more believable and likeable.
It was interesting to see that Egdor had an important role in saving the Enterprise; even though I knew the outcome, the Enterprise somehow felt more vulnerable at that moment. I was actually worried.
The captain's log entry about the Xenylon-eating parasites is the funniest log entry I have ever encountered. Have other people already said that? It's also impressive how a string of three short log entries effectively covers three additional adventures for the Sacagwea's crew in record time. It doesn't need more, we can use our imagination to fill in the blanks, and especially with the Xenylon-eating parasites it's better this way.
Kamisha Diaz
Given how we are set up to expect the good times on the Sacagawea to include Sherev, Gary Mitchell, and Dr. McCoy, it's surprising that Diaz is more of an anchor point for what I as a reader see. Although I know this is just the effect of which adventures we see unfolding, because the adventures we are expecting are the ones that show Kirk evolving as a starship captain towards the next level.
So we have Kamisha Diaz as a point of stability on Kirk's crew, after Sherev is put out of commission, and McCoy seems to flake out. I was a little disappointed that McCoy leaves as soon as he does, but it's made worthwhile for insight about the Federation/Starfleet's other humanitarian projects.
Diaz felt like a more effective look at a guest character who usually only appears in one episode of the television show. In that one story they appear in, the situation makes or breaks them, and they move on. It's funny because Diaz has only appeared in this one novel, yet she's a notable presence in several of the stories within the book, creating the illusion that she is a more firmly established character. It's helped by the Nacmor incident, which gave me as a reader context: this is what an old-school TOS episode looks like within the overall scope of the rest of the novel. In short order it's very easy to see her as this rising star in Kirk's crew, and it's great to see an affirmation of Kirk's habit of enabling members of his crew to “learn by doing.” I spotted it out in a couple episodes when I watched TOS in production order, small moments here and there. I'm really happy it's emphasized more here in this novel.
It makes the endgame for Diaz's overall story arc more effective when it comes to fruition in the final situation that deals with the Agni. At least, that's how I experienced it as a reader. Nice set up, very effective payoff. A satisfying modern answer to the constraints of TOS's older mode of storytelling, but I'm not meaning to demean TOS by saying that. I'm glad that the end result isn't a complete break-it thing for Diaz, her circumstances will change for a while, but she could be seen later on, back along the path she wants to walk.
The Agni
Wow, they are really quite an effective alien race. I think maybe they are what make me think of the Prime Directive novel, because of the exploration of a life-form that needs more work to try and understand. Their presence throughout the novel effectively unites all the stories contained in the book into an overall novel that builds toward something bigger. When they first appear, they made me think of the Borg or V'ger, a strange, unfathomable threat. It seems like a situation is going to escalate, except for the little hints and clues that gradually emerge throughout. I like how they give the sense of Starfleet working on long-term problems in between one-off incidents elsewhere that are always so different.
The veiled secret of the Agni is very effective in flipping perspective of the situation completely around. I like how Kirk is initially on the warpath, and his first officer Adebayo is this quiet voice of reason who sows the seed for Kirk to come to his senses. That's very like Kirk in the show, ready to jump to the wrong conclusion, yet also ready to shake it off and recalibrate his approach. He's a flawed character, but he has the right people around him to help his perspective, and he always emerges stronger because he is flexible enough to change his mind when its important that he does so. I've always like the character of James T. Kirk; somehow he seems more likable in this book even though there no sense that he is being characterized in any contradictory way.
Reflecting Current Times
The Agni, and the situation with the Aulacri and the planet Karabos II show nicely how TOS continues to work great as a storytelling format for parables of modern day issues. The Nacmor incident has that, too. The situation of Karabos seemed particularly thoughtful, the hardest one to see (for me), it makes sense that would be the one to show Kirk as a captain dealing with challenges on a new level.
Action
I think there's a good balance of action throughout the book, to mix well with the ideas the stories delve into. There's good innovation with some of these sequences, and none of the action overstays it's welcome. I particularly like a moment during a fight on an extremely low-gravity comet between Starfleet officers and an opposing party. The image of Kirk being pulled back toward the surface on a grappling line while stunning adversaries with his phaser is way cool.
Endings and Beginnings
The book ends well. The epilogue had a wobble moment over the technical details of what they are being sent to investigate, but it's only one moment of technobabble that made my head swim, and since this is a Star Trek novel, I know that technobabble is something that comes with the territory. I'm just glad that the rest of the book had more manageable levels of technical detail.
The last two lines are great! Absolutely nailed it. Very clever, where it leads to. We can all finish that sentence, and know exactly what story we can revisit after finishing this book. Many books, good and bad, end with a weary sense of satisfaction for me. I always feel a little drained. It's fun that after all the struggles and conflicts and adventures shown in The Captain's Oath, the end of it is really just the beginning of something else that is so very familiar. A new set of voyages that we never knew about, that leads us back home.
, I have that version on DVD and the special longer version on VHS).
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