I stumbled upon this at a local used book store in Lebanon, OH (Chapters – pretty nice little place) and had to buy it. I was always a bigger reader than my brother, but he had a whole horde of Star Trek tie-ins, none of which I read. I just wasn’t that big a Star Trek fan much less a fan of cheap, quicky movie (and tv) tie-ins. I remember this particular line of books on his shelves from when we were kids so I figured I’d give it a try when I saw it at the store… if for no other reason than nostalgia.

Fascinating (ahem) read… the book was published in 1967 (while the original show was still on the air and before it was Star Trek: The Pop Culture Thing) and is seven novelizations of episodes from the show… each around twenty pages. I find it far more interesting how marketing of tv tie-ins has changed since the time it was published. If they were written now, each would be its own book at three pages in length. Not sure if this is progress!

The stories? They are perfunctory versions of each episode. They get right to the point with minimal characterization, descriptions, etc. I didn’t find any of it bad since each story was over so quickly and the book didn’t overstay its welcome. If this had been twice as long, I’d have lost patience.

Still, it’s interesting to see how things were written and interpreted in the Trek universe from the very earliest days. I almost enjoyed it more for the anthropology than the quality of the work.