Star Trek Movie Tie-In

Written by Alan Dean Foster

Narrated by Zachary Quinto

"Are you willing to settle for an ordinary life?or do you think you were meant for something better? something special?"

One grew up in the cornfields of Iowa, fighting for his independence,for a way out of a life that promised only indifference, aimlessness,and obscurity.

"You will forever be a child of two worlds, capable of choosing your own destiny. the only question you face is, which path will you choose?"

The other grew up on the jagged cliffs of the harsh Vulcan desert, fighting for acceptance, for a way to reconcile the logic he was taught with the emotions he felt.

In the far reaches of the galaxy, a machine of war bursts into existence in a place and time it was never meant to be. On a mission of retribution for the destruction of his planet, its half-mad captain seeks the death of every intelligent being, and the annihilation of every civilized world.

Kirk and Spock, two completely different and unyielding personalities, must find a way to lead the only crew, aboard the only ship, that canstop him.
"The wait is over."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: May 12, 2009
• ISBN: 9780743598354

Alan Dean Foster

Alan Dean Foster has written many genres, including fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He wrote the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: The Approaching Storm, as well as novelizations of several films including Star Wars, the first three Alien films, and Alien Nation. His novel Cyber Way was the first sci-fi book to ever win the Southwest Book Award for Fiction. He lives in Prescott, Arizona with his wife, JoAnn Oxley.

Reviews for Star Trek Movie Tie-In

[khaalidah-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Since I've seen the movie, I didn't really gain all that much in the reading of this book, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. I've read other movie tie-in books by Foster, namely The Chronicles of Riddick and I think that for the most part my like for the book is heavily influence by my like of the movie. And in this case, even more by my love for the franchise of Star Trek the original series in particular.
This time I listened to the audio recording. It was read by Zachary Quinto who has impressed me hugely with his version of Spock, who is and always shall be my favorite ST character.
This book managed to dig a bit deeper, I think, than the movie, by revealing more acutely each character's personal pain and motivations. I found the relationship between Spock and Uhura very sweet as it seems, unlike Kirk and his conquests, to be born of true respect and kindness and honest feelings rather than some hot and heavy fly by night attraction. I have said many times in many different reviews how much I dislike romance, but this is definitely an example of the kind of romance I not only like but genuinely appreciate. I feel the same about the depiction of the relationship between Spock's parents. And on another note about the sweetness between Spock and his mother.
I can say with certainty that had J.J. Abrams and Quinto gotten Spock wrong the entirety of the movie would have been spoiled for me.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes ST, who enjoyed the movie, or who is interested but hasn't seen the movie yet.

[lyndainoregon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Foster does the best he can with this novelization of the 2009 Star Trek movie reboot, but the unbelievable characterization of James Kirk as a smart-ass young rakehell continues to be hugely problematic. The plot also leans heavily on time travel -- always a slippery fish to land successfully.As with the film, the novel's most impactful moments come after the frantic battle scenes, when the two Spocks come face to face in a conversation that manages to be poignant and full of wistful humor at the same time.We'll give this one three and a half stars for effort, with full acknowledgment of the limitations imposed on the author.

[melrailey-412132 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listed to this book. It was narrated by Zachary Quinto (who played Spock in the movie for those who didn't know). I really enjoyed it. The book isn't classic literature but it was entertaining. It filled in a lot of gaps from the movie and was loaded with humor. Quinto did a great job narrating. There was an absolutely hilarious ending to the book that the movie left out.

[jeeps-4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Some amusing bits that didn't make it into the film, but ultimately contained a lot of unnecessary science wank added by the author, and Kirk doesn't have the benefit of Chris Pine's performance to take him from an obnoxious, self-centred frat boy to a charming, rebellious and somewhat lost young man. Also, unlike the nods to the original series in the film, the shout-outs here made me roll my eyes.

[avoraciousreader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5*Book source ~ Purchased on Audible.comSpace, the final frontier. Or is it? When an insane revenge-bound Romulan flies a war ship into not only Federation space, but into the past he breaks what might be the final final frontier…time. Nero’s heinous actions change the Federation’s past and everything, or just about everything, is new again in this reboot of the Star Trek franchise.My guest reviewers for today are:My 16-yr-old daughter AMy 14-yr-old son TMy 13-yr-old son KMy kids and I listened to this audio a few years after we saw the movie. So, while we saw the movie in 2009 and we do have the DVD it wasn’t fresh in our minds at the time of the listening. Everyone agreed that the book was awesome, funny, action-packed and had more detail than the movie. Everyone also agreed that narrator Zachary Quinto was good and they liked when he did Spock’s voice best. Of course they would since he was the one portraying Spock in the movie. *rolls eyes* A said that she enjoyed that the book had more detail than the movie while K said he didn’t care about the extra detail and T was neutral on the subject and asked if we were done yet. *sigh* A stated she liked the book more than the movie, K liked the movie more than the book and T liked them both equally and said he was missing football on tv.Is everyone getting an idea of what it’s like around here? lolAll-in-all the consensus is: This story is awesome as a book or movie.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book of the film of the television series. My excuse is that I'm going to see the new film soon, and the novelisation was sitting right there on the library shelf! I enjoyed the reboot and have the DVD, but really, Abrams' take on the characters is not a patch on the original, and Alan Dean Foster's write-up of what is purely an action film is perfunctory at best. Novelisations should add to the onscreen experience - preferably character introspection, which is lacking here, or perhaps Abram's recast just doesn't have that amount of depth. I did appreciate the extended dialogue between Spock Prime and both Kirk and Spock, where he talks more about his relationship with Captain Kirk (Prime), and the passing nod to Shatner by giving reboot Kirk brown eyes (at least, that's what I took the detail to be!), but other than that, I think I'll stick with the film.On a minor tangent, the rebooting of Captain Kirk doesn't really stand up to close inspection. Yes, the whole resetting of the future/parallel timeline device excuses the changes to his backstory, but really, I have more respect for Shatner's version. This twenty-five year old overgrown teen blags his way onto the Enterprise, and is suddenly promoted to first officer, and then captain, simply because circumstances - and the existing Star Trek series - demand him in that role? Mind you, the whole casting of the film was similarly rejuvenated, like Star Trek: The High School Years. Don't get me wrong, I love that the concept and characters can endure yet another return to active service, and yes I am going to see Into Darkness (on IMAX, no less), but all that Abrams really brings to the franchise is better special effects (and a new generation of fans!) End rant.

[princess0starr · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I’ll be honest and risk having my geek cred revoked—I’m not a Star Trek fan. I don’t hate it, I just never got into it; I’ve only seen a handful of episodes (largely DS9 and Voyager); most of my working knowledge of the series comes from Futurama, Galaxy Quest and geek osmosis, and I did see the 2009 film. Which is why I saved this book from work, thought I could give it go and see what happens. It’s an enjoyable read, if cheesy and stilted and purpley at times. Foster does bring a touch of humor into the text, which offsets the darker scenes in the book, but otherwise, it’s a standard novelization. The main reason this gets a two star (more closer to two and a half) is because of the aforementioned circumstances. I didn’t hate the book, but it’s not my thing.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The reboot novelization. Foster was perfectly suited to do this job—he knows the franchise intimately; he cares about the plot stuff that doesn’t work on the page the way it works on the screen and alters the story as best he can to make more sense; he gives extra nods to the awesomeness of Sulu and Chekov, though Uhura doesn’t get more here than she did on screen and Gaila practically disappears. There’s not too much reason for this book to exist, but given that it does, Foster is a serviceable choice; someone who cared about women might have asked Diane Duane to do it instead.

[wookiemonster · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm going to try to not give anything away in case there are others who haven't yet seen the movie or read the book...Given the hype surrounding the "Trek reboot," I have to say I'm a bit...disappointed. An alternate timeline, and hence an alternate/parallel universe, I can accept. But the actions of Nero do not account for other "alterations" of the past, nor do they account for the different set of "physics" upon which this alternate universe operates. In short, Abrams and his writing staff apparently never consulted any of the tech manuals written, nor did they give anything more than a passing glance over the episodes and movies. Oh, and the whole plasma cutting to the core and dropping a singularity/red matter bit? Yeah, given that I just read Kevin J. Anderson's Last Days of Krypton, the whole thing screamed of "Rao Beam/Phantom Zone." Also, wasn't it established that Romulans used an artificial quantum singularity to power their ships? If so, the need for "red matter" becomes moot.Future Spock pretty much violated Starfleet regs regarding interfering with the past, though he apparently came from an alternate timeline as well. Or else he would never have sought to escape Nero by going into the past in the first place. And the Federation would never have withheld any help to the Romulans any more than they ignored the Klingons when Praxis blew up. Typhon Pact or no.There are other plotholes and inconsistencies... To make Kirk a genius and make him a Captain right out of the Academy? Kirk learned much from serving on other ships and such, going up through the ranks. Take the lessons he learned from Captain Garrovik on the Farragut. And Chris Pike as a mentor? Again, and having recently watched "The Cage," the whole nods to the original series stuff while ignoring key missions and information just...makes the story a little more annoying.But...what the hell was Nero doing while waiting for Spock for 25 years? If he wanted to make a stronger Romulan Empire while decimating the Federation, he could have started picking off the Federation colonies, caused havoc in the Klingon Empire, and maybe even selling futuristic technology to the Romulans as "inventions." Yeah, he wanted to make Spock suffer. But to wait for 25 years and...do nothing? Furthermore, Starfleet of the future that we know, the 24th Century Starfleet, would have prevented Spock from tampering with the timeline and would likely have sent someone after him and Nero.Speaking of the 24th Century and having your family on board... That, according to canon, is something that didn't happen until well after Kirk's time... What the hell was Winona Kirk doing on the Kelvin?Yes, alternate timeline, alternate history... I get that. There's dialogue beating us over the head throughout. But...it's more than that. And the paradox of Old Spock talking to Young Spock, and being on hand, should Young Spock need advice? My head hurts. Which is why you don't screw around with time. Which is what this story is all about.Change the names of the characters, ships, series, and so on, and it would have been better. But to pass this off as Star Trek in an alternate timeline... Sorry, but there's just too much that doesn't add up.I'll still see the movie, and any sequels that come out, but I prefer the original stuff. Oh, and Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, and David Mack do a MUCH better job of making the original series era more grittier with the Vanguard series. Take some lessons from them, Mr. Abrams...

[dswaddell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very enjoyable read although it diverged from the movie somewhat.

[themadturtle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Generally, I enjoy Star Trek film novelizations. Because they're written from the original screenplay, they often have nice little pieces of back story that sometimes get left on the editing room floor. Reading this film's novelization was a bit different. Some of those back story pieces are in there, particularly as they relate to Kirk. However, what was different for me was the realization that there were obviously things in the film that were "thrown in" or tweaked in the last minute that actually added quite a bit to the film that were missing in the novelization. This isn't so much a criticism of Foster's work as the author as much as it is a compliment or praise to the directors/editors/actors of the film for capturing those moments on film and keeping them in the movie.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Generally I have no time for novelizations of movies, but I do enjoy seeing what kind of information ends up in a novelization that ultimately doesn't make it into the final movie (because of editing or a final script rewrite or what-have-you). And, well, STAR TREK. There's some interesting "extra" bits at the beginning of this one (some about Spock's youth, some about Kirk's), but beyond that, this is pretty much the movie. And not all that well done. The editor should be fired (there's numerous huge continuity problems here that are not in the film) and I remember Foster being a better writer than this. The point-of-view is weirdly distant (particularly for Star Trek, part of whose charm has always been its familiarity) and the text fails utterly at capturing the glee of the film. I'm not exactly disappointed that I bought and read this, though when I think that for the purchase price I could have gone to see the movie again--twice--I'm a little distraught.

[jenson_aka_dl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We all know the characters but due to circumstances beyond their control, things are a little different this time around.In reading this novelization of the movie I'm not sure what I was expecting. What I got was pretty much the script without much elaboration on the author's part, which is kind of a shame because I've read the author's original works and they've been very top notch. However, the movie and the script were sufficiently awesome enough that the book had no choice other than to be quite good as well. There are some small elaborations from the movie to the book that I enjoyed. One is the slight romantic sub-plot (I won't give any spoilers just in case there is anyone left that doesn't know) and the other is the genius of James T. Kirk. Now, from my recollection of the original TV series into the movies Captain Kirk has always been intelligent...but a certifiable genius?? I guess Shatner downplayed that part of his character a little LOL! There are also two parts in the book that were not in the movie at the very beginning and the very end that were moderately interesting and even got a little chuckle out of me.In the end I have to say I quite enjoyed this movie novelization. It wasn't as independently imaginative as The Wrath of Kahn novel (which was simply amazing) but it was well done even without any added revelations.