One more time: into the crucible!

I selected four Star Trek books to take on vacation with me. I had only a few pages to go on the latest "Enterprise" novel, "The Good That Men Do". I also had Book 2 of "Errand of Fury" ("Demands of Honor"), plus... the third and final "Vulcan's Soul" book ("Epiphany") which came in the day before I left.

But, as soon as the "Enterprise" book was finished (more on that one later) it was straight into the surprisingly slim David R George III novel, "Crucible: Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering". It's Part Three of a trilogy, the first two instalments of which were mighty meaty reads (ie. "Crucible: McCoy").

This time, George goes for the unexpected, and much of the story revolves around Kirk's Nexus encounter in "Generations", opposite Antonia, Guinan and Picard, rather Edith and "The City of the Edge of Forever".

Once again, the author pays homage to many episodes of TOS. Across the three volumes, he ensures that every episode gets at least one reference each. Filmation's animated ST series of the 70s (TAS) is also well represented: the S.S. Huron, helmeted Orions, the magical planet of Megas-Tu, Lieutenant Anne Nored (only an ensign yet, passed in the corridor), life support belts, a tribble-eating glommer, and a street named for Robert T April! Across the three volumes, David George ensures that every TAS episode also gets at least one reference each. I spent today updating my Toon Trek pages and my Lower Decks novel pages yet again. It now includes many more "Crucible" TAS references.

Now I can't wait to see if David George is going to tackle the exciting seven-year mission he postulates for Kirk and the Enterprise in "Crucible", which fits between ST:TMP and ST II.

I'm happy to recommend the "Crucible" trilogy to any Star Trek fan hungry for new insights into Kirk, Spock and McCoy.