Star Trek--The Lost Years

by J.M. Dillard

Book Overview

What happened to the USS Enterprise crew after the end of their mission? How did that mission end? This book provides the answer, tracing those final hours aboard the USS Enterprise, and how Captain Kirk, Mr Spock and Dr McCoy establish new lives apart from each other and the starship.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671682938
• ISBN13: 9780671682934
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Very good in its own right

I read this book back in the early 90s, I was always a casual Star Trek fan, meaning I enjoyed the TV show and the movies, but never went beyond that. I was in the Navy, and this was in the ships library, I was bored, so I checked it out. The story has stayed with me all these years, it was that good. It has plenty of moments that touch on things from the TV show, but it's also very accessible, I think somebody that has never seen an episode of Star Trek could read this book and not feel like they're missing something. I especially liked McCoy's new love interest, she was a very interesting character, it's too bad she was never in any of the films. I highly reccomend this book, whether you're a Star Trek fan or not.

The Lost Years

Excellent Book! Great characterisations; especially of McCoy and Spock. Spock shows great tenderness and friendship to McCoy instead of stupid arguments. I enjoyed it very much and other books by J.M. Dillard.

This is not good bye......

As the novel opens the five year mission of the Enterprise has come to an end. The crew will be scattered throughout Star Fleet at least until the repairs and upgrades are completed in two years time. Some members of the crew are looking forward to their new assignments, to the promotions, the new challenges and others are not. Kirk has been pressured to accept a promotion to the admiralty but is determined to remain a captain and return to the Enterprise's helm when she is ready. Others, like McCoy and Spock are not so certain that their futures even include Star Fleet at all. Dillard has, as she always does, captured the characters of these much loved figures and remained true to the 'canon' set down by the original episodes. She balances the character interactions well against the action of the plot. The only complaints about this one is that fans of certain characters, like Scotty, Sulu and Chekhov will undoubtedly notice their absences. Fans of Kevin O'Reilly though will be quite pleased to catch up with his life after all these years. This is a definite must read for all serious fans of the series and will be enjoyed by anyone who has even a passing interest in the TOS.

A fantastic look at life after their 5-year mission!

Not to mention the hostage situation that, in a very believable fashion and exciting as well, brings Spock and Kirk back together in order to attempt to resolve it. Space opera at its very best, just like: "2001", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Childhood's End", "Foundation", "Ringworld", "Advent of the Corps", and so forth.

Filling in some of the blanks in Star Trek lore

As a Star Trek fan, I had often wondered how, exactly, the five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise had finished. Had it ended with a dramatic confrontation with either the Romulans or Klingons...with Enterprise limping home scarred yet proud? Why did Jim Kirk accept promotion to the Admiralty? Why did Mr. Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy leave Starfleet? At least some of the major questions posed above were answered in 1989 when J.M. Dillard's Star Trek: The Lost Years was first published. With superb writing and storytelling skills, Dillard (perhaps now best known for writing all the novelizations of the latter half of the Star Trek feature films) paints a materpiece of Star Trek lore, blending the untold story of the breakup of the most famous crew in Starfleet with a tale of an ancient Vulcan mind-lord's revenge upon the "weak followers of Surak," the Vulcans who chose to follow the path of logic and non-violence after centuries of war.The Lost Years (which was the first of a four book series set in the two and a half year period between Enterprise's return to Earth and the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture) captures the essence of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the crew so well, you can almost see and hear the original cast members acting out their most famous roles as you read this wonderfully crafted novel.