River of Blood: Errand of Vengeance Book Three

I really enjoyed this book, as I did the whole series, but the editing was horrible. The first time Starbase 42 was mentioned, it was Starbase 43. It switched from Starbase 43 to Starbase 42 a mere two lines later. There were numerous problems such as the following: "Now let them they try to find us." (top of page 167 in the first paperback ed.) Thinking back there were similar problems in the entire series. Lt. West was originally called Ensign West, but in the middle of the scene it changed to Lt. with no explanation. It actually detracted from my enjoyment of the book. In addition, to beginner typo editing mistakes, the editor also failed to notice writing mistakes that any beginning editor could have corrected. Ryan did a great job letting us know that Klingons don't take prisoners and won't be taken prisoners (even though true Trek fans already knew this), but an observant editor could have corrected the fact that the reader was given this information approximately four times within 30 pages, and the repetition was unnecessary to move the plot forward. I own and have read most of the Star Trek fiction from Pocket Books, and this was, by far, the worst editing I've ever experienced.

Much better than book two, however. This book probably could be read as a stand-alone, but it obviously works much better if one reads the series in order. This book has a bit less character development than either of the first two in the series, but then, the story is well along and moving toward a climax in this book, and most of the character development has already been done. Some readers will doubtless feel that there is too much focus on action and combat in this story; again, if the trilogy is read as one long story, this is the climactic action scene; as such, it can't help but be combat-heavy. Other readers will be ecstatic at a book so totally action-packed; I suppose it depends on what you read Star Trek for.

What can I say? Mr. Ryan has done it again whith his third book in the "Errand of Vengeance" trilogy. I won't go into plot summaries or anything like that (there are plenty of those in other reviews), but I will say that if you've started the trilogy, you'll love the ending. And I'll say this again, if you're a hardcore ST fan, Mr. Ryan won't dissapoint. There are plenty of hidden gems in all three books (other than the wonderful stories themselves) to feed any Trekkie's or Trekker's appetite. I really enjoyed these books and hope Mr. Ryan writes many more.

Star Trek-The Original Series: River of Blood: Errand of Vengeance written by Kevin Ryan is the third installment of this trilogy (The Edge of the Sword, Killing Blow, and River of Blood). This trilogy is a Klingon based story, a story of cunning, deception, vengeance, murder, intrigue, and Kahless's truth and honor.This third book takes up where the second book left off and add a great deal of richness to the story plot. The plot being to kill Captain James T. Kirk by a surgically altered Klingon infiltrator Kell/Jon Anderson. Sworn to destroy the enemies of the Empire... even at the cost of their own honor, Kell/ Jon Anderson is having second thoughts. Why, you say? Well it seems that the propaganda mill of the Klingon Empire is working overtime, and an honorable Klingon does NOT go to war... especially if there is no honor in it, according to Kahless.We read a lot about honor and truth, but there is guile, cunningness, and knavery also. As the Klingons prepare for a war with the Federation, they need Starship Grade dilithium crystals. A planet is found by the Orions, not too far from the Federation/Klingon boarder on the third planet in Systen 7348, but this planet in inhabited by a pre-warp society... a Klingon-like society. What I liked about this book is that even though Kirk was to be killed, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were not the focus of this series... the focus was on how Kell/ Jon Anderson evolved and had second thoughts... a good fleshing out of the character as he and Parrish have a romantic involvement, but Kell/Jon Anderson pulls away as his mission becomes a burden. There is another interesting subplot in this book and that is Kell's brother Karel as he learns the truth about the war with the Federation. Karel is on a Klingon warship and is a follower of Kahless. Honor and truth are what Karel leads his life by, but there are challanges along the way. There are many roads to Sto-Vor-Kar but only one path as both Kell and Karel learn.If you like Klingon based stories this is your cup of Bloodwine. This is a fast paced, well-written story and is enlightening about Klingons.The next series of books to arrive is the Star Trek-Deep Space Nine Mission Gamma. This has four book in the series, (Twilight, This Gray Spirit, Cathedral and Lesser Evil). If you haven't been keeping up with DS-9, might I recommend that you read Avatar Book One and Two by S.D. Perry, Section 31: Abyss by David Weddle and Jeffrey Lang, Gateways: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Horn and Ivory fron the Gateways: What Lay Beyond. You'll need some background material as the first book in the series draws from these books S...

After all, he gave the name of the group's leader Jon Anderson to a Klingon spy. But seriously, this trilogy as a whole is unique in terms of the Star Trek body of work as a whole. Although the characters in the other Trek settings have more depth as people, Kirk & Co tend to remain standard TV sci fi Buck Rogers types--as the old Beatles number "Bungalow Bill" lyric says: "the all-American bullet-headed Saxon mothers' sons". Necessarily so, I suppose--if you did a huge one-eighty on something around this long, you'd alienate people who are used to it. The complexity of Spock is merely the exception that proves the rule and always has been. The dogmatic "loyalty" of the TOS zealots notwithstanding, I think Star Trek reached adulthood with Picard and the TNG people, and reached its full maturity with Sisko's DS9 crew. That's what makes this trilogy so unique--it brings to the original cast even more character development than they achieved in the feature films. The main story here is of the Klingon operative Kell, aka "Jon Anderson". Raised and trained with his culture's propaganda about the "earthers", the biggest thing this guy experiences is the scales falling from his eyes about how much bull he's been fed all his life about the subklingon "vermin" of the Federation. He gets involved in an affair of the heart with a fellow officer on the Enterprise, breaks up with her to avoid getting "too close"--after all, he is a deep cover spy--then feels guilty about it. You know you've come to recognize a lady as a real person when it hurts you to break her heart. Then Kell/ Anderson starts to admire the man he's been sent to assasinate--Kirk. This dude he has the duty to whack has as much moxie as the greatest warriors he knows from his own people! And to top it off, he begins to see the "enemy troops" he's serving with as comrades--he has no qualms about fighting alongside them. The combat sequences thoughout this trilogy are as gritty as war stories should be--non of this sanitized-for-prime-time pseudo-action we saw this cast get involved in on the tube. Were it not for the fact that it would have been longer than a Wouk, Clancy or King epic, the whole trilogy should have been one book. So my advice is that you get all three books--reading just this one will only send you scrambling after the other two anyway.