Star Trek Log Five

These stories are adaptations from episodes of the animated Star Trek series. As adaptations, they don't always conform to the structure of the original episode. However, unlike the adaptations of the original series done by James Blish, these stories are much longer and contain more detail. The three episodes adapted in this book are: *) The Ambergris Element - where Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are marooned on a water planet and the local science converts them into water breathers in order to save their lives. While they are part fish, they learn about the local humanoid species and understand much about how the local humanoids were transformed into creatures that could live under water. Fortunately, the transformation of the indigenous species was not evolutionary; they were altered by their science and therefore the changes in Kirk and Spock are reversible. However, it is first necessary for Kirk and Spock to win the trust of the indigenous creatures before they can obtain the information. *) The Pirates of Orion - in this episode, Spock comes down with a disease that is very minor in humans but fatal to him. The only cure is a drug that is available only in a few locations. The freighter that was to rendezvous with the Enterprise was attacked by Orion pirates and their cargo stolen. When the Enterprise discovers the Orion ship Kirk tries to give them an honorable way to return the drug, but the Orion captain will destroy his ship in order to protect Orion's neutrality. Kirk beams down to the planet with the Orion captain and literally must defuse the situation in order to save the Enterprise and Spock. *) Jihad - in this episode, the Skorr are up in arms over the theft of one of their icons and are about to launch their version of a holy war against the rest of the galaxy. Kirk, Spock and representatives of other species are on a quest to recover the icons so that galactic peace can be maintained. The adaptations of these stories are well done, Foster stays close to the original scripts yet manages to improve the story. As an original Trekkie, I try to read everything I can about Star Trek and the adaptations by Foster are a series that I cannot pass up.

Once upon a time, after the original live-action TV series but long before Star Trek: TNG, the original crew had a series of adventures as a Saturday morning cartoon. It's a pity they haven't received more credit for this; animation freed them from the financial realities of special effects that made so many of Enterprise's crew members human, and the writers took advantage of this.While the live action series episodes were translated into book form by James Blish (Star Trek 1, 2, 3, etc.) the animated series episodes are distinguished as Star Trek *Log* volumes, and were all written by Foster, who gives proper credit to the writer(s) of each original screenplay."The Ambergris Element" - The story opens with a chess game between Spock and M'mir, the alternate-shift communications officer - who is Caitian, and who is currently distracted from the game by a few memories. (The felinoid people of Cait are related to the Kzinti, analogous to the relationship between the Vulcans and Romulans, but much further back - M'mir is living proof that Caitian females can function in the outside world.) The memories allow us to learn something of her background and how she came to be a member of the Enterprise's bridge crew.The Enterprise has entered a region that's only been lightly explored. Argo, the world they're about to survey, has only one apparent peculiarity. Water worlds aren't unusual, but Argo had a substantial land surface until quite recently. The tectonic activity of the planet changed all that very quickly. At least one inhabited Federation planet shows signs of resembling Argo to an uncomfortable degree, so anything Argo can teach them might save lives later on..."The Pirates of Orion" - All the tinkering with Kirk's and Spock's biochemistry in "The Ambergris Element" ended with both of them coming down with choriocytosis. Unfortunately, while this is a nuisance for a human with iron-based blood, it is deadly within days, if untreated, for a Vulcan's different biochemistry - and Spock's mixed ancestry has given him copper-based blood. Since Enterprise is too far away from any source of strobolin, Starfleet arranges ship-to-ship transfers of the drug (can't afford to tie up more than 1 ship of the Enterprise's class at a time). Then Orion pirates hit the freighter Huron just before its rendezvous with the Enterprise."Jihad" - This episode is a particular favourite of mine. The Vedala have persistently declined invitations to join the Federation, or any other such empire, pleading a deep-seated need for privacy. They long ago abandoned their ancient homeworlds to wander through space - but their ships are lovely, small planets in their own right, called 'Vedalan asteroids'. When the Vedala requested the assistance of the Enterprise, the Federation was happy to oblige - a situation serious enough to threaten the free-roaming Vedala can't be any better for civilizations lacking their mobility.The Vedala are trying to avert a holy war by the Skorr th

Star Trek Log Five is a pretty good collection of three stories from the animated television series. The first story, "The Ambergris Element," I though was a little boring. But this is an enjoyable book.