Sequels, it's said, rarely-if ever-live up to the original work they attempt to continue or expand upon.
"The Fate of the Phoenix," Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath's sequel to their earlier "Star Trek: The Original Series" novel "The Price of the Phoenix," is one of those sequels that does indeed live up to the original.
It's just as bad.
Once again, the authors ignore the problems caused by the life-creating machine they introduced in "Price." They settle instead for merely doubling them for the sake of writing a futuristic action-adventure novel instead of a science fiction novel that deals honestly with the issues it raises.
"Fate" resurrects villain Omne, who remains intent on making life miserable for both Captain Kirk and James, the duplicate of Kirk that he produced with his magic life-creating device, if not the galaxy.
James has fallen in love with the Romulan commander from "The Enterprise Incident," who never really loved Spock, despite what you saw in that classic episode. McCoy surgically alters James so he can pass for Romulan and go off with his love to conquer the Romulan Star Empire.
Unfortunately, Marshak and Culbreath depict the still-unnamed Romulan commander as a rough, tough sort who outfights men-and is particularly intent on humiliating James. The authors present his willingness to endure these nasty incidents as proof of not only his lack of human frailty, but also his love. Their notion of sex as a form of conquest left me ice-cold, given the "Trek" franchise's commitment to equality of the sexes.
If that wasn't bad enough, Marshak and Culbreath confuse their plot further by introducing a second Omne, who masquerades as Spock. So neither Kirk nor James knows if he's dealing with the real Spock or with Omne II-and, more often than not, I didn't, either.
Omne II is so evil that the original Omne mellows a bit and helps both Kirks and the real Spock fight him off. Omne II and James eventually disappear through a space vortex that won't open for nearly 54 years, so any rescue attempt is decades off-which is just as well.
More problems abound with "Fate." Kirk and Omne spend much time trying to prove to both themselves and everyone else who's the baddest alpha male in the room, in a fashion more typical of schoolchildren's playground shenanigans than of mature starship captains and antagonists. And, as usual, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov barely exist-for Marshak and Culbreath, "Star Trek: The Original Series" is, and will always be, "The Kirk and Spock Show."
The authors present all this in their trademark style that combines self-important, book-talk dialogue only marginally approximating actual human speech; overwrought prose; and highflown, unclear imagery that blinds the reader's mind's eye. Once again, Marshak and Culbreath seem to think they're writing GREAT LITERATURE, not just a mere TV series tie-in novel.
As was the case with "Price," I bought this to complete my collection of Bantam Books' long-out-of-print, hard-to-find "Star Trek: The Original Series" novel.
And like "Price," "The Fate of the Phoenix" is fit only for rabid completists with very strong stomachs.
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