It was once the oldest unread book in my collection, having existed on my shelves since 1992, when it was first published.
And now, in the fall of 2021, I have finally read it.
Twenty-nine years later.
That is, of course, what this book is all about.
Actually, not really, as you all know.
The book in question is the paperback Star Trek pocket novel number 59 The Disinherited by Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and Robert Greenberger. This was the second multi-author Star Trek book, with The Next Generation book Doomsday World having come out in 1990. That one I read as soon as it was released. The fun secret of these volumes was that they never revealed which authors wrote which storylines.
The Disinherited has three tales entwined together, hence three writers.
Marauders are attacking Federation colonies and Captain Kirk has to find them and stop them. They are fast and dangerous and devastate and keep getting away. Kirk must push his ship and crew to the limit in order to stop them and find out what they want.
Ensign Checkov has just started duty on the Enterprise, and he is really really worried about not doing well. He meets the senior officers and they try their best to encourage and relax him. One big mistake gets him in trouble, and while we know he will recover, it is interesting who helps him get his bearings.
Lieutenant Uhura is being temporarily reassigned to another starship, all to help negotiate with a race who communicate verbally and with hand gestures. She easily gets things done with the aliens, but notices a mystery. As she solves this, she also helps another crewmember deal with longstanding issues.
Like with Doomsday World, I have no clue who wrote what, which is fun and interesting. You can make educated guesses based on the authors past work, but they might have switched it up just to drive the readers crazy.
I found the mystery of the marauders rather easy to figure out, along with all the plot around them. And the Checkov story is nice, but his big mistake feels overblown to put it mildly.
My definite favourite storyline was Uhura’s, which showed how smart and compassionate and dedicated and respected she is. She is wanted for this assignment because of how smart she is, the other crewman confides in her because of how compassionate she is, she solves the mysteries because of how dedicated she is, and everyone seeks out her opinions because of how respected she is. If you are a big Uhura fan, then The Disinherited comes through massively.
As a Star Trek adventure, which takes place during Kirk’s first five year mission, which is the 1960’s show, The Disinherited is okay and features all the characters doing stuff. As a character feature on Uhura, it is really really great. I wish I had read it earlier.
Scoopriches
… is currently reading Star Trek New Frontier Book One and Book Two by Peter David. I read the first one when it came out in 1997, but not the next four in the series. Had these for 24 years.
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