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Star
Trek: The Original Series: Gemini by Mike W. Barr check out website: www.simonsays.co.uk and www.startrek.com
The first books were produced from the original scripts by James Blish, followed by those based on the animated series. But fans wanted more. There were fanzines and, later, websites. Now there are well over 400 books, many of them original novels. Mike Barr has been a fan from the beginning.
Nador is a world hoping to become part of the Federation, having become unified and peaceful. The Enterprise is arriving for the final vote and if all goes to plan, to take part in the ceremonies. Nothing, however, can be expected to go smoothly. There is a faction that doesn't see Federation membership as an advantage and from the time of the Enterprise's arrival, there is a concerted effort to kill the planet's rulers, the conjoined twins Abon and Delor. These attacks are arranged to make it look as if some of the agitators are Federation citizens and after one attack, whilst the Princes are visiting the Enterprise, Medical Officer McCoy is forced to separate them in order to save their lives. A complicating factor, as far as Captain Kirk is concerned, is that his nephew Peter, keeps getting involved, apparently on the wrong side. Each of the books in the series is written to strict guidelines but there is scope for the imaginative author within them. Here, the characters are easily recognisable as those portrayed in the TV series, including the sniping between McCoy and the Vulcan First Officer, Mr Spock. In some of these books, greater insight of characters is gleaned from the unfolding story. In Gemini, though, nothing new is added. While this adventure falls neatly inside the parameters of the series, as a straight SF novel for the uninitiated, it has flaws. Just as within the time allotted for a programme slot, there is no opportunity to explore the complex politics that would exist in a real situation. Here, too, they are very much simplified. If an aircraft carrier, was sent as an observer of a free and fair referendum, for example to join the EEC, the captain would not be expected to take a mere handful of men ashore to sort things out if they turned nasty. Instead, we have a novelisation of exciting television. As long as you don't look for sophistication and deep philosophical insights but rather treat it as a bit of escapist fun and a few hours of light reading, it has done all it intends. Pauline Morgan
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OTHER REVIEWS - February 2004
BOOKS The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold The Separation by Christopher Priest First Meetings In The Enderverse by Orson Scott Card Dragon Venom by Lawrence Watt-Evans The Dolphins Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey Reach For Tomorrow by Arthur C Clarke The Mammoth Book Of Best New SF # 16 edited by Gardner Dozois 1610: A Sundial In A Grave by Mary Gentle Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss Trading In Danger by Elizabeth Moon Richard Matheson: Collected Stories Vol. 1 edited by Stanley Wiater The Gates To Witchworld by Andre Norton Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Mission Gamma: Lesser Evil by Robert Simpson The Killing Of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld Star Trek: The Original Series: Gemini by Mike W. Barr MUSIC COMPUTER GAMES Wallace and Gromit - Project Zoo RPGs & WARGAMES MAGAZINES On Spec: The Canadian Magazine
Of The Fantastic vol 15 no. 2 & 3
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Little did Gene Roddenberry realise the phenomenon
he would unleash upon the world when he completed the pilot for
the original Star Trek series back in 1966. Not only have there
been the spin-off series, vastly expanding the original universe
but there are models, toys, games and a plethora of books.
Gemini is an adventure featuring the original crew of the
USS Enterprise and could easily have been an episode of that first
series. Here we see the starship approaching the planet of Nador
when it is attacked. 
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