Gateways #1

I am a loooong time fan of ST. However, I never forayed into reading any of the books, beacause the couple of times I picked one up, the writing [was bad]- effectively turning me off to furhter attempts for a very long time...One day I sat down and started reading this book for the heck of it and was immediately drawn in. All the wonderful cheesiness and derring do! of TOS was perfectly captured in this book. I felt just like I was watching an episode of the series - I could even hear the overblown music and see the wonderfully overdawn and totally sixties costumes on the alien women...I was excited when the ending left me hanging for more...I eagerly picked up the next book....and that's where everything went wrong.... Unlike one of the previous reviewers I don't mind going through a series of books...I love it...I personally prefer "Neverending Stories" - but the next book is just awful! The writing is reprehensible at best! The characters are just caricatures of people...I can't say enough about how awful it is...I still haven't forced myself to finish the second book...Eventually I suppose I will because I want to know what happens to Capt. Kirk...but oohhhhh - how painful it is Read and love the first book...but be prepared for a massive let down with the second....(I've subsequently started to read some other Trek books and I can't recommend Sarek by A.C. Crispin highly enough...WOW!!!)

An exciting start to a major epic. Editor John Ordover has been doing wonders with Pocket's entire "Star Trek" line, and I especially appreciate these event storylines that never seem too forced while they jump between the various incarnations of the franchise. Susan Wright's opener to the "Gateways" storyline sees her in fine form. I'm an avid reader of these books, and quite frankly nobody catches the voices and mannerisms of these time-honored characters better than she. In "Gateways" Ms. Wright keeps Kirk, Spock and McCoy's motivations "pure" to each character, meaning that I never hear the author editorializing through them, nor do I catch her manipulating them in order to forward the storyline. Finally, Ms. Wright deftly retrofits "Trek" continuity that we might have learned in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or even in "Voyager" back into the time of the original series (e.g. Klingon references to Kahless) without distracting "in-your-face" bravado. I'm looking forward to seeing how she helps wrap up the storyline in the final "Gateways" jam session!

This is the best series I've ever read! This book is full of adventure. It's definately a must read.

I thought that this was a very fun book to read. It was a little slow at times as some of mechanics of the computers were being explained in detail, but it was well worth the read. I especially liked how it is based at the end of a previous Star Trek episode, and how the author took it even further. This would have made a great 2nd part of the episode. The characters, both old and new, were portrayed well. I would recommend this book as well as the next book in the Gateways series.