Series
Genres
Publication
Boston, MA : Gregg Press, 1986, ©1982.
Description
CAN THE GALAXY'S GROWING VIOLENCE BE STOPPED? Captain Kirk and his crew are on a mission to investigate the mysterious wave of violence that has overtaken the Helvans -- revolutions, mass riots, horrible tortures. This chaos is all part of an experiment by an unimaginable power that soon grips even the crew of the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM. Captain Kirk is plagued by violent hallucinations and removed from command. Spock takes charge but his orders seem irrational -- even cruel. Unless this terrible power can be stopped, not only the Starship Enterprise, but an entire galaxy will be ensnared in the deadly grip of the... Prometheus Design.
User reviews
LibraryThing member lycomayflower
All the Star Trek books by Marshak and Culbreath I've read have been idea books--they take some philosophical concept and tease it out by putting the Triumvirate through their paces. The result is usually far from the Star Trek adventure formula, and, I think, better for it. I first read their The
(An oddity of this book I've never seen in any other Star Trek novel: all of the references to canon are footnoted. This struck me as particularly odd since most of the references were to firmly established canon (i.e. the show or the film--there was only one film at the time the book was published) rather than ST novels, and they should have been quite easily recognizable to the kind of audience one would expect to read an ST novel. And furthermore, the references could all have been taken at face value; knowledge of the canonical event itself would not have been necessary to understand the reference in this story. I'd love to know what the authorial thinking/intent behind these footnotes was.)
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Price of the Phoenix at about thirteen or so and the exploration of power negotiation and the concept of the alpha male in that book absolutely boggled my poor adolescent brain. (I loved it.) The Prometheus Design also takes the issue of power (particularly what happens when one James Kirk is forced to confront individuals and situations which compel him to yield) as one of its ideas, though the bigger issues here are the seeming coupling of aggression and high-order thinking; the detriments of categorizing beings into "self" and "other"; and the tendency of intelligent life to use for their own purposes the lives of those they perceive to be "lesser." Recommended for those who like or can accept a Star Trek novel which does not strictly conform to the atmosphere of canon. (An oddity of this book I've never seen in any other Star Trek novel: all of the references to canon are footnoted. This struck me as particularly odd since most of the references were to firmly established canon (i.e. the show or the film--there was only one film at the time the book was published) rather than ST novels, and they should have been quite easily recognizable to the kind of audience one would expect to read an ST novel. And furthermore, the references could all have been taken at face value; knowledge of the canonical event itself would not have been necessary to understand the reference in this story. I'd love to know what the authorial thinking/intent behind these footnotes was.)
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Language
Original publication date
1982-03 (eng.)
1987 (deu.)
Physical description
190 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
0839829361 / 9780839829362
Other editions
The Prometheus Design by Sondra Marshak (Paperback)