Star Trek #1580: Avenger

Category: ST Novels: The Shat
Last article published: 1 February 2009
This is the 3rd post under this label

PUBLICATION: Kirk Series Book 2, Pocket Books, May 1997

CREATORS: William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

STARDATE: Unknown (two years after previous novel, between First Contact and Insurrection)

PLOT: The Federation is in trouble as many of its worlds fall victim to the "virogen", a plague that prevents plants and crops from growing and that is carried even by animal life forms. The scheme is the work of a resurgent eco-terrorist movement Sarek once belonged to before certains cells became violent, trying to teach the Federation about the dangers of modifying the interconnectedness of the galaxy by introducing alien species, etc. Pieces of the puzzle variously discovered by the Enterprise-E, Ambassador Spock, and Kirk himself, having survived his encounter with the Borg two years before. He teams up with the crew of an Oberth-class vessel stationed at Chal, the planet where his lover Teilani is still alive. Each group is drawn together to uncover the conspiracy and cure the plague before it's too late.

CONTINUITY: There's a reason why Sarek never mindmelded with Spock and it's that he was trying to hide he and Amanda's membership in what became a terrorist group along with, among others, Kodos of Tarsus IV (The Conscience of the King). Ki Mendrossen (from "Sarek") was also in on it. The way Kirk survived the destruction the Borg homeworld gives explanations not only for the continued Borg threat in First Contact (which came out between the two books), but other discrepancies as well. Kirk is rid of his nanites by a colony of Hughs (prefiguring the events of Picard Season 1). Spock has brought a Romulan delegation (Unification) to Babel (Journey to Babel). His aide is the grandson of Stonn and T'Pring, who also appear and are among the conspirators. Kirk returns to Chal to find an older Teilani, making this a sequel to Shatner's own The Ashes of Eden. An EMH (by all accounts, Robert Picardo's Mark I) makes a couple of appearances; McCoy is confirmed a part of his matrix. Among the many references to old episodes and movies, there is a joke about Kirk's safe combination (The Tholian Web), which was the object of that famous SNL sketch.

DIVERGENCES: Though it's possible he has a bigger family than what is seen on Strange New Worlds, Dr. M'Benga's descendant in this story is suspect. If the Federation was, for weeks, on the verge of collapse, we sure didn't hear about it on Deep Space Nine.

SCREENSHOT OF THE WEEK - Vulcan's spacedock, just another place to escape from

REVIEW: Shatner's novels always include SOME fun bits, though the Reeves-Stevens have to be largely responsible - or does the Shat lie when he says never watches Star Trek and has never seen an episode of TNG? Because somehow the TNG crew keeps appearing in his books, which are laden with continuity references. Not just filled with them, but HINGING on them. Case in point Avenger, which starts from an intriguing question: Why DID Sarek never mindmeld with his son? The answer may or may not enchant. Sarek and Amanda in cahoots with Kodos, the genocidal tyrant Kirk's youth. These retcons still fit continuity (one of the ghost writers' greatest skills), but they won't be to everyone's tastes. With its abstract threat and very talky middle section, Avenger isn't as exciting as the completely bonkers The Return, but it has its moments - cool ship action, a holodeck escape, and a fun way to include McCoy into the adventure as well. There is still a lot of padding as three different groups come to similar conclusions separately so they can converge. If everyone manages the same feats, it takes away from Kirk's (or whoever's). The contention that everyone should want to have sex with a 62-year-old Kirk probably comes from Shatner and only Shatner, but for the most part, the characters are well drawn, and Kirk's new (one-off) crew has potential.