Star Trek: The Higher Frontier Book Review
3 min read
Star Trek: The Original Series: The Higher Frontier
By Christopher L. Bennett
Book Description:
“Investigating the massacre of a telepathic minority, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise confront a terrifying new threat: faceless, armored hunters whose extra-dimensional technology makes them seemingly unstoppable. Kirk must team with the powerful telepath Miranda Jones and the enigmatic Medusans to take on these merciless killers in an epic battle that will reveal the true faces of both enemy and ally!”
Book Set-up:
Historian’s Note
Prologue
Chapters 1-7
Interlude
Chapters 8-21
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Review:
The Higher Frontier is set in-between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It refers back to Miranda Jones and Kollos the Medusan ambassador from the original series episode Is There in Truth No Beauty?, and the Aenar, the minority group found on the Andorian homeworld (Star Trek: Enterprise: The Aenar). There is also references to Where No Man Has Gone Before.
On Earth, a group of humans who call themselves New Humans are exploring the rise of their telepathic skills, which they credit to the arrival on V’Ger during the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. These humans, including some in Starfleet, have something in common with the Aenar, and when the murders begin to happen to them, it seems there is no safe place for either group; not on the USS Enterprise, not even on a planet in a different dimension. Who these mystery killers are and their motive for murder must be solved before both the New Humans and Aenar are totally annihilated.
The Higher Frontier showed how intolerance and bigotry could be used by others against the being harboring the hatred as well as against the original target.
Captain Kirk was able to make amends for his rather sexist treatment of Miranda Jones in the original series episode. To be honest, I found that unnecessary. As a woman, I consider the original series episodes a product of their times and there is no need for a fictional character to make amends for a show that aired over fifty years ago. Your mileage may vary. Also – the romance between them was totally unnecessary.
It was interesting to see how Miranda Jones has changed over time. Her melding with Kollos has had a positive influence over her, as one have might expected after the events of the original series episode.
The callback to Gary Mitchell was very interesting. Unlike the attempt to fix 1960s writing by having Kirk apologize to Jones, this story element was very welcome, giving Kirk closure and peace.
For me, the most fascinating part of the story was the presence of the Spectres and the effect on their hosts once the hosts were made aware of their presence. I wouldn’t have minded reading more about that.
For the Gary Mitchell bit alone, this book is worth the read, but there is much more to enjoy in Star Trek: The Higher Frontier.
Book Information:
Author: Christopher L. Bennett
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: March 10, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-9821-3366-5
ISBN-10: 198213366x
Pages: 352
Star Trek: The Original Series: The Higher Frontier is available as a hardback for $14.40 on Amazon or as an eBook for $11.99. The Higher Frontier is also available as an audiobook. To order, head to the link located here.
About The Author
