Star Trek: Vulcan's Forge

By Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz

After the death of Captain Kirk aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B, the crew of the original Enterprise must find a way to go on without their long-time leader. Captain Spock, still stung by the loss of his closest friend, is forced to action when an old enemy from his childhood resurfaces with a plan that may destroy a world. To save a planet, Captain Spock must review the most difficult choice of his life and make the toughest decision of his Starfleet career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Oct 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471107160

Josepha Sherman

Josepha Sherman was an American author, folklorist, and anthologist. In 1990 she won the Compton Crook Award for the novel The Shining Falcon. She died in 2012, and is remembered for her large and diverse output of both high-quality fiction and nonfiction.

Reviews for Star Trek

[ffortuna_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A robust Star Trek novel, with authentic characterization and a thoughtful structure. The action doesn't move particularly quickly, but the real plot isn't in the action. It's the exploration of Spock's motivations, how he decided to join Starfleet, and then how he transitioned from a Captain in the movie era to an ambassador to the Romulans in the TNG era. Plus a lot of desert survival, with an original character who ought to seem like an expy of Kirk but emerges as his own person, reminding Spock just enough of his other friend. (And I loved the meaty role for McCoy, and the way their relationship works not only after all this time, but after McCoy has carried Spock's katra.) I also really liked the use of Rabin's Jewish heritage and how it resonates with Leonard Nimoy's own life and what he brought to Spock's character. It adds an extra dimension to Spock and Rabin's relationship, and how Rabin is able to reflect on Spock. A very enjoyable and readable story, despite the slow pace.

[rbeene-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love the back and forth from the past to the present.

[themadturtle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book featuring Spock. The audiobook is narrated by Leonard Nimoy, himself, which is reason enough to listen to it, IMHO. There is some assumption made that the reader knows exactly what happened before, which is confusing if you're coming to the book without knowledge of previous events - i.e. - Kirk's death (which one?), Sarek is alive and well, so that presumes a timeline squarely in TNG, but if Kirk's death is Generations, this is confusing. You have to be forgiving of the context in which this book is written, but it's still a very enjoyable book.