Read this again recently. Now I remember why it was never my favorite. Though, for a 1977 Star Trek book...one before the franchise reignited itself...it's not half bad. A bit too philosophical for my tastes. And the dialogue was very hard to follow. A must read for a die-hard Trekker, but not one that you would miss if you skipped it.

Holy shit, this is the slashiest licensed novel ever. Spock is instructed to kiss Kirk like Sleeping Beauty (while Kirk is naked under a "thin sheet") and thinks, constantly, about how Kirk is the only person he's ever bared his "naked soul" to. It's also somewhat incoherent and features a super muscular, kinda butch Romulan commander who (spoiler!) talks a duplicate of Kirk into being her pool boy. I'm half "oh man this is awful" and half "OH MAN i AM SO HERE FOR THIS."

I enjoyed this book - the plot isn't much, and the writing is a little vague, but it's such a guilty pleasure! It's pretty much published, wish-fulfilling fanfic, I guess. And it's a pretty compelling read, which is much better than some of the drier novels that have come out (I'm looking at you, "Spock, Messiah!"). ( )

This book is, frankly, terrible. Why have I kept it? I don't know. There's just something that makes you want to drag it out and endure it every so often. ( )

I wasn't sure how to rate this, because it's both a favorite, but a guilty favorite; not exactly the best science fiction, or even Star Trek fiction, has to offer: it's melodramatic and over the top with slashy overtones between Kirk and Spock. But it's very memorable, and I remember eating it up as a teen, back when just seeing a Star Trek work of fiction was novel, and it makes a lot of the later pro fiction, with their reset buttons and requirement to stay within the lines, look rather bland. Also, unlike most Trek fans, I'm a Kirk fan, not a Spock fan, and say what you will about Culbreath and Marshak, but they give Kirk's heroic dimensions their due. I loved the ending of this one, the challenge that was set to the characters, where they wound up. In that regard though, I did find the sequel The Fate of the Phoenix a great disappointment. ( )