The first book of this trilogy, focusing on McCoy, was a love letter to DeForest Kelley and one of the best Trek books in recent memory. It was also massive, rewarding the reader with an enormously detailed look at a character’s psychology over the span of decades. This set the bar pretty high for the second and third volumes.
The second book was slightly disappointing, because it was much shorter. At the same time, it managed to explore a subtle aspect of Spock’s psychology by taking an unexpected direction with the on-screen continuity. The focus on character exploration, particularly Spock’s motivations over the years, made sense within the context of the book. It was a capable enough extension of the core idea.
So when the final book came along, the expectation was something similar: a chance to see Kirk’s motivations in a new and intriguing way. Unfortunately, the author determined that this would be predictable, and chose instead to tackle the concluding installment as more of an action piece. Not only that, but the novel weighs in at half the length of the first volume, with a lot more rehashing of on-screen action than in either previous book.
The effect is crushing. First, the reader is immediately aware of the fact that the promises made in the first two books of the trilogy will never be fulfilled. Shortly after that, the reader becomes annoyed with the enormous focus on plot points from “Generations”, a story that falls apart on close inspection. And quite soon after that, the reader is struck by how confusing the various layers of time travel can be when the story is told from the perspective of the same character in overlapping versions of himself!
I don’t want to say that this is a horrible novel. Taken on its own merits, it’s decent enough, even if it’s not what I particularly enjoy. But it’s the concluding novel in a trilogy built around a central theme, and so there were expectations. One can meet the general expectations of depth and complexity and still satisfy a desire to explore unpredictable ground. Instead, much of what made the trilogy exciting and substantial was stripped away for the final volume, and it made for a much less enjoyable story.
Rating: 5/10
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