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Internal pressures, enormous military expenditures, and the destruction of their primary energy source have brought the Klingon Empire to the verge of catastrophic collapse. To avert disaster, Gorkon, Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, proposes negotiations between the Federation and Klingon Empire, negotiations that will put an end to the years of hostility between the two powers, and herald a new era of peace and cooperation. Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise are dispatched to escort the Chancellor safely into Federation space. But a treacherous assassination brings negotiations to a sudden halt and places Kirk and Dr. McCoy in the hands of the Federation's greatest enemy. With time running out, Spock and the Enterprise crew work to uncover the deadly secret that threatens to propel the galaxy into the most destructive conflict it has ever known.… (more)
User reviews
This is an adaptation of the movie by the same name. I generally like novelizations of movies because they add depth that you just can't have on the screen. You tell stories differently
That said, ST-IV adds very little in the way of depth to seen that you see on the screen. There is a bit about the Klingons attacking a couple of Federation colonies with the bird of prey that could fire while cloaked. Kirk's lover, Carol Marcus was badly injured in one of these attacks, but as extra motivation for Kirk's hatred of the Klingons,, it seemed superfluous.
The main letdown I felt was that we didn't learn anything from being inside anyone's head. The story is told by an omnipotent narrator and the POV changes pretty much as it does in the film, but in spite of getting additional back story of Valeris, we gain no insight into why she betrays Spock and the Federation, We get no inner dialog when she is placed in charge of the search for the magnetic boots. We get no indication that it is she who orders Burke and Samno to prepare for their parts in the conspiracy to kill Gorkon (were they recruited before the mission or on route, or after they made the rude comments about the Klingons when they, the Klingons beamed aboard?). We get no idea of the inner turmoil Valeris must have been going through. That alone knocked a star off my rating.
This was an OK, easy read that (I hope) will help me reach my goal this year, but it was not the best Star Trek book I've ever read. The novelization of ST:The Motion Picture was better.
Strains your belief at times but hey, this is science fiction, right? It's SUPPOSED to be out there, to make you think, wonder and dream.