Shatner's version of the early years

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Product Description

If you think you know how it all began, think again...

Young Jim Kirk wants nothing to do with Starfleet, andnever wants to leave Earth. In the summer of 2249, he's a headstrong seventeen-year-old barely scraping by in San Francisco, haunted by horrific memories from his past.

In the same city, a nineteen-year-old alien named Spock is determined to rise above the emotional turmoil of his mixed-species heritage. He's determined to show his parents he has what it takes to be Vulcan -- even if it means exposing a mysterious conspiracy at the heart of the Vulcan Embassy, stretching to the farthest reaches of the Federation's borders. There, a chilling new threat hasarisen to test the Federation's deepest held belief that war is a thing of the past and that a secure future can be forged through peaceful means alone. But it is in San Francisco, home to Starfleet Academy, where that threat will be met by two troubled teenage boys driven to solve the mystery that links them both.

In time, the universe will come to know these young rebels as Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock...two of the Federation's greatest heroes. Yet before they were heroes, they were simply conflicted teenagers, filled with raw ambition and talent, not yet seasoned by wisdom and experience, searching for their own unique directions in life -- a destiny they'll discover on one fateful night in San Francisco, when two lives collide, and two legends are born.

Star Trek: Academy -- Collision Course sets the stage for an exciting new era of Star Trek adventure, and for the first time reveals Kirk and Spock as they were, and how they began their journey to become the Kirk and Spock we know today.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #344141 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416503972
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
William Shatner is the author of nine Star Trek ® novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ashes of Eden and The Return. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Get a Life! and I'm Working on That. In addition to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, he stars as Denny Crane in the hit television series from David E. Kelley, Boston Legal -- a role for which he has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. More information is available at williamshatner.com.

Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens are the authors of more than thirty books, including numerous New York Times bestselling Star Trek novels. Their newest novel of suspense, Freefall, is a follow-up to their Los Angeles Times bestseller, Icefire, and is set against the political intrigue and historical conspiracy surrounding the next race to the Moon.

In keeping with their interest in both the reality of space exploration and the science fiction that helps inspire it, in 2003 Judith and Garfield were invited to join a NASA Space Policy Workshop for the development of NASA's new goals as put forth in the agency's 2004 Vision for Space Exploration. Then, for the 2004 television season, the couple joined the writing staff of Star Trek: Enterprise as executive story editors. For more information, please visit www.reeves-stevens.com.

Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens are the authors of more than thirty books, including numerous New York Times bestselling Star Trek novels. Their newest novel of suspense, Freefall, is a follow-up to their Los Angeles Times bestseller, Icefire, and is set against the political intrigue and historical conspiracy surrounding the next race to the Moon.

In keeping with their interest in both the reality of space exploration and the science fiction that helps inspire it, in 2003 Judith and Garfield were invited to join a NASA Space Policy Workshop for the development of NASA's new goals as put forth in the agency's 2004 Vision for Space Exploration. Then, for the 2004 television season, the couple joined the writing staff of Star Trek: Enterprise as executive story editors. For more information, please visit www.reeves-stevens.com.

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Customer Reviews

An enjoyable start to a promising series
As a previous reviewer has noted, this novel is not intended to be great literature, but it is far more fun to read than that stuff anyway! It is obviously directed to fans of the Original Series, so my comments are only applicable to those readers. Yes, you will be required to suspend your disbelief in some parts, but if you do you will greatly enjoy the ride. I was very pleased that the events and characters hold very closely to canon, and any deviation was not enough to distract me. In reading Trek novels, I will generally put them down if they take too much liberty with the canon history or characterizations, but in Collision Course I repeatedly found myself smiling at familiarity and a uttering few "ahs" at how the authors wove canon history into this invented history.

I will culminate my opinions on the book with this: I hated to reach the end and I am anxious for the next in the series to be published. What better positive comment can a book of this type receive? To my fellow OS Trek fans, read and enjoy!

Good read from William Shatner's view
This is an important book for at least two reasons. First, it fills in much detail of the events on Tarsus four and Kodos the executioner. The original series was written so well and with so much imagination that entire novels are spun from just the background information of a single episode. This is one such example, Burning Dreams is another.

Second, it is written after all by William Shatner and portrays a young James Kirk as Shatner would like to have him seen. It is in a sense Jim Kirk through the eyes of Shatner with all his cynicism, strength, humor, and flaws. It also gives a good deal of background about Kirk's brother Sam, father Joe, and the familial relationships at play.

I give it four stars cause the action takes a while to get started, but for the reasons above it takes on an importance all its own, and is almost a necessary reference work.

This Book is Cool, but Star Trek XI is Better
It's really hard to say what this book is. A joke? The truth? Another parallel universe?

The story is about teenage James T. Kirk and his first encounter with Spock. It explains how a brash and confused Jimmy Kirk ends up at Starfleet Academy after fighting a criminal gang with his newfound Vulcan friend.

The first thing I noticed was that the writing was just all over the place. The narration bounced between great and ugly, exciting and boring, and witty and dull. Classy dialogue was followed by tacky sentences. It was as if the novel had schizophrenia...guess that's what happens when you have three authors for a single book.

Also, the Trek in this book didn't ring true. Come on, "bicorders" are the commercial version of tricorders? And speaking of money, it seemed like Earth was far too commercial for Star Trek of the 23rd-century.

On the other hand, it was nice to see that the writers included historical tidbits about the Star Trek universe. But then they went overboard, and I got really tired of how every building or hall in Starfleet Academy was named after characters on Star Trek: Enterprise or Zefram Cochrane or Lily Sloane (both from ST: First Contact).

Overall, the plot was compelling and exciting. The portrayals of Kirk and Spock were done well, but the other characters did not have very distinct or memorable voices. It was enjoyable to read, but definitely less entertaining than the new 2009 Star Trek movie.