The Ashes of Eden (Star Trek) 0671520350Pocket BooksJune, 1995Months prior (Star Trek)

The Ashes of Eden (Star Trek)

0671520350

Pocket Books

June, 1995

Months prior to the prologue of Star Trek: Generations, Kirk decides to resign from Starfleet as his old Academy nemesis Andovar Drake is appointed head of Starfleet Command. Lacking any drive in his life, Kirk accepts a last chance for adventure with the seductive young Teilani who wants him to protect her paradise planet (w/ rejuvenating powers no less!); so Kirk and Scotty take the mothballed Enterprise-A and head for planet Chal where a secret Starfleet cabal seek to exploit the planet for all its fountain of youth properties. The rest of the Enterprise gang hitch a ride on Sulu's Excelsior and together the crew once again save the universe. 
 
 An amazingly well-rounded novel with William Shatner (with assist from Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens) penning appropriately enough the perfect final note in the history of James Tiberius Kirk (the tagged-on epilogues notwithstanding). Like the original series, the novel is at times epic and moving while still finding time to be campy and tacky (63-year old Kirk getting it on with a twentysomething Romulan/Klingon hybrid in the backseat of a hovercar!?) and loaded with some nifty Starfleet espionage which reeks of "the truth is out there" paranoia streak which X-Files has inspired. SNL jibes & toupee jokes aside, Shatner has always given an indelible performance as Kirk and the actor has aged well with the character; and with this novel he proves that the part has been more to him then just another paycheck. Unlike other legends of fiction such as Tarzan, Robin Hood or King Arthur, Kirk has come through his youth and middle-age unscathed to land himself in retirement with no more adventures left to define him. This melodrama of Kirk aging although covered quite well in Star Trek II already, is still poignant here and the authors milk it for all its worth without it going overboard. 
 
 The rest of the cast of characters are well-utilized; the future tracks of Spock & Bones laid down here; however the novel remains very ambivalent about the futures of the rest of the crew. I found it very noteworthy that the author chose the character of Scotty to accompany him to Chal aboard the Enterprise, perhaps a veiled olive branch to actor James Doohan who has been feuding with Shatner for decades; the sequence where Kirk & Scotty sit together at the bar speaks volumes of the estrangement which Shatner must feel towards his fellow castmates. In fact much of the novel's poignancy lies in the double meanings which lace much of the dialogue and narrative, making Ashes of Eden a fictional sequel of sorts to Shatner's previous two autobiographies in which the actor admitted regret over his behavior in the past movies and series. With this added meaning to the story, the novel forms a fitting finale to the legend of James T. Kirk, typing up loose ends both fictional (the death of his son David, his friendships with his loyal crew) and in real life. With all the effort put into making this novel so poignantly final, the tagged on epilogue seems crass at best, paving the way for a new cycle of his legend; Kirk apparently taken up residence in TNG in subsequent novels. Nonetheless For those looking for one last grand adventure for Kirk, this is surely the ticket. To date, "The Ashes of Eden" remains one of my favorite and most memorable reads in The Original Series Star Trek universe. This extraordinary novel serves well in what I'm gathering was William Shatner's desire to stay connected with the universe he helped create. I found this novel and it's follow up novel, "The Return" to both have been extraordinarily brilliant in the way William Shatner and his collaborators, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens were able to perpetuate Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek universe, despite the character having been killed off in Star Trek Generations. Although some of William Shatner's later Star Trek novels in the ongoing story do not quite live up to this first one, I would have to say that he's carved himself a nice niche in the Star Trek universe, at least in the fictional sense. The cover art for this novel is brilliant and exciting, lending very well to the story! The premise: It is six months prior to that fateful day in which the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B is launched under Captain John Harriman and she heads off for her inexorable brush with a destiny that entails the loss of the Federations most renowned captains, James Tiberius Kirk. Captain Kirk finds himself facing the spectre of an unchallenging retirement when suddenly, a very beautiful young woman makes him an offer he couldn't refuse; a perilous voyage to an uncharted planet where he will confront that which poses a very real threat to the burgeoning peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Along the way, he has the opportunity to recapture his youth. Captain Kirk finds that he must turn his back on his closest friends and is that he's also being hunted by Captain Sulu and the USS Excelsior. He also finds that he must stand alone as the chief defender of an incredibly beautiful world and he must choose between conquering the gravest challenge of his career or surrendering to the greatest passion he's ever known. I highly recommend this novel and those Shatnerverse novels that follow for you will find that this incredible writing team of William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are capable of producing some the most memorable Star Trek fiction ever put to print. {ssintrepid} I bought this book at the suggestion of the manager of the local bookstore to keep me occupied during an unwanted month-long trip to Poland. I normally don't read Star Trek novels, because Paramount doesn't recognize them as canon. That means that they never happened. They're basically authorized fan fiction. In fact, this is the first Star Trek novel that I've read all the way through. It's actually pretty good. In fact, I read so much of it at a time that I had nothing to do to relieve my boredom for the rest of the vacation. It's written by William Shatner. Who better to write a Captain Kirk story than James T. Kirk himself? This story is Kirk in his own words. It takes place between the end of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" and Kirk's apparent death in the opening scenes of "Star Trek: Generations". Kirk joins a young woman on a journey to save her homeworld and, perhaps, recapture his youth and be young forever. Sure, we know that he won't be young again. Sure, we know that he'll survive the events of the novel. It's still fun and exciting to read, though. Don't let "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" fool you. Shatner can write. The only complaints that I have are a few typos and Shatner's writing style. He often omits the word "and" in compound sentences, and he often uses incomplete sentences lacking subjects. He also writes a lot of the characters' thoughts into the narrative itself, which is supposed to be neutral. It's as if the narrator knows what the characters are thinking and agrees with them. Other than these things, which you can get used to, it's a good book. Shatner even references events in numerous TOS episodes and all of the TOS movies except for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (which really didn't need to be referenced anyway). The story is bookended with scenes of Spock, standing over Kirk's grave on Veridian III, thinking about his late friend. Some historical notes are contradicted, such as when phasers were invented ("Enterprise") and the time period of Cochrane's first warp flight ("Star Trek: First Contact"), by later canon material, but the main story itself can still fit into the canon. The ending sets up Shatner's next Star Trek novel, "The Return". Overall, "The Ashes of Eden" is a good story and worth your time to read. It IS James T. Kirk.

Star Trek - The Original Crew Movie Collection (Special Edition)

B0000UJLVY

Paramount Home Video

27 January, 2005

Devoted Star Trek fans will surely cite the "even number" rule in evaluating the Original Crew Movie Collection, but all six of these films qualify as rousing entertainment. Undeniably, the even-numbered films in Paramount's lucrative Trek franchise tended to be the best, as demonstrated by the superiority of The Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, and The Undiscovered Country. And yet each film has something to offer die-hard Trekkers, beginning with the epic-scale wonders of the first Motion Picture (presented here as a two-disc special edition). Evolving from Gene Roddenberry's aborted attempt at a second Star Trek TV series, the effects-laden Motion Picture divided fans while proving that Star Trek had a promising big-screen future. Nicholas Meyer's The Wrath of Khan made good on that promise, reviving the Star Trek spirit and proving, in the case of Mr. Spock, that beloved characters "never really die." It's widely regarded as the best of these half-dozen features. With its deadly Klingon confrontation, the Leonard Nimoy-directed Search for Spock was a thrilling (albeit contrived) excuse for Spock's inevitable resurrection, and its somber tone was readily countered by the Earth-based humor of Nimoy's The Voyage Home, combining a planetary crisis with a lively--and phenomenally popular--time-travel plot line. Unfortunately, William Shatner then lobbied for the director's chair, and The Final Frontier--an uneasy mixture of cheesy humor and grandiose themes--was the regrettable outcome. Paramount rallied by inviting Nicholas Meyer to repeat his Khan success, and Meyer rose to the occasion with the sharply scripted thrills of The Undiscovered Country. By ending the film with an official signature send-off from the "classic Trek" cast, the original crew brought their big-screen legacy to a graceful and upbeat conclusion, setting the stage for a transitional adventure in Star Trek: Generations. --Jeff Shannon

Great I just finished what you might call a marathon with this collection. I just had a ball. I have been trying to find the best gift for my hubby of 7 years for his second fathers day. I ran across this on another site, Columbia House, for MUCH cheaper!! The sites and people that are selling you these movies for $156 and upwards are RIPPING YOU ALL OFF. The movies are great, but really try and look elsewhere for better prices. I got my 12 disk set for $67 with shipping included from CH online. Its crazy to think that others are paying WAY more for thier sets, just a warning thats all. The hubby will be so excited that I got him the DVD's wheras before he only had the VHS set. I can't wait to surprise him and he thinks I spent TOP dollar! HAHA!!:) This is a very good buy for anyone who is a Trekky, the box and cd's are to die for in of themselves. However, don't let them fool you in thinking that the first one has been cut down. The enterprise shot in the beginning is just as long as in the older VHS versions. I say this because I had heard with the director's cut it had been spliced down some. 
 The music does make up for this very long scene however, if you're willing to stick around and watch it. Other than that, unlike the star wars series you can pretty much sit back and watch these without having to watch for new scenes that for some reason you don't remember being there.