Garth of Izar

We start with a fascinating question: In the original series episode, "Whom Gods Destroy", the villain of the piece was "Garth of Izar", a former starship captain then an inmate in a mental institution for the criminally insane. By the end of the episode, Kirk and the Enterprise have successfully delivered a new drug that is supposed to cure his insanity, and it shows every sign of working. SO....if he's been cured, and is no longer dangerous or insane, what do you do with him? Surely, the Federation and Starfleet have sufficiently progressive ideals that they would not continue to penalize a man for what he did while clinically insane after he's been cured, don't they? Not to mention, they wouldn't deprive themselves of the services of one of their best captains when it was no longer neccessary to do so, would they? So if the cure worked, and Garth was reinstated at full rank, how come we've never heard of him again?This book does an excellent job of answering those very good questions. And other than the fact that for the first ten pages, they can't seem to make up their minds whether his most famous exploits were at the expense of the Klingons or the Romulans (a mistake that probably comes from having two authors working together, but which it is unforgivable that no one, authors or editors, caught before going to print) the book is reasonably if not spectacularly well-written.Not a great Star Trek book, but a good one; an excellent idea, tolerably well-handled.

Star Trek-The Original Series: Garth of Izar written by Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski is a novel that continues the television episode "Whom Gods Destroy."The legend of Captain Garth is known Federation-wide and his exploites are taught at Starfleet Academy and read by Captain James T. Kirk. Garth sustained some rather extensive injuries while on Antos IV. Antos IV is a planet of shape-shifters and after Garth sustained his injuries the tried to bring Garth back to his former health, but now he has shape-shifting abilites and the cure has proved to be worse than his injuries driving Garth to insanity.Captain Garth is sent to Elba II due to the madness that the Antosians inadvertinatly passed to Garth while being treated. Now, Captain Garth has been "returned" to service after being treated for mental illness... and Garth has returned to mediate a crisis on Antos IV as Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew come to Garth's aid.The book was well-written and I found it to be better than this duo of writers did on "Heart of the Son" TOS #83 and "Across the Universe" TOS #88. I found the storyline to be captivating and the reintroduction of Garth to be a strong character to balance the character of Kirk.I enjoyed the book as it was a very quick read at 263 pages with a larger print made this book easy to read. This book is, so far, the best work by this pair of authors as found in the genre of TREK. I have always wanted to know of what became of Captain Garth from the television series and this book fills in that gap. We get a good fleshing ourt of the character of Garth.

"Garth of Izar," by Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski, is a "Star Trek" novel that continues a story begun in an episode of the original TV series. The TV episode "Whom Gods Destroy" introduced the book's title character, a legendary Starfleet captain. Garth went insane after being granted the shapeshifting abilities of the Antosian people. As the novel starts, Garth has been declared cured of his insanity and boards the Starship "Enterprise" for a mission that will take him back to the Antosians' planet.Overall, I enjoyed this continuation of Garth's story. Garth is a compelling figure. In this book he is very much a man caught between two worlds; although he shares the Antosians' shapeshifting ability, he is not one of them. He thus has a foot in both the Antosian world and his world of Starfleet while being an "outsider" in both spheres. The authors make some effective use of the shapeshifting element as the story progresses.

Kirk's new mission: escort Captain Garth, now cured of his insanity and reinstated in Starfleet, back to Antos IV. But is Garth truly cured? And what set him off in the first place when he tried to destroy the Antosians (as mentioned in the classic Trek TV episode Whom Gods Destroy)? Does the Federation face a new threat from a race of shape-shifters... or have the Antosians been the victims of a catastrophic cultural contamination as the result of their unfortunate contact with Garth?Authors Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski bring their characteristic intelligence to the story, investigating the Antosians as a culture but not neglecting Kirk and Garth, the book's main focal points, as complex individuals facing troubling uncertainties. A terrific adventure in the spirit of the Original Series -- and a smart sci-fi yarn that will appeal to Trek fans and the general reading audience alike.