LOST TO ETERNITY - Greg Cox

STAR TREK WEEK

In 2024, investigative reporter Melinda Silver tries to track down whatever happened to Gillian Taylor, an influential marine biologist who walked away from a great job at Sausalito’s Cetacean Institute, never to be heard from again. Slowly, Melinda begins to put together a picture of the people she had been with - people for whom there is no other searchable data. The only possibility it too far out there to possibly be true.

In 2268, Captain James T. Kirk must delve into unknown, and off-limits territory in order to rescue and recover a Federation scientist whose secrets are wanted not only by the Federation, but by the Klingon Empire as well.

In 2292, the Klingons, Romulans, and the Federation come together for a joint mission when the Osori, a race so ancient that they consider the other three races 'young.' But the mission begins to unravel when an Osori enjoy is killed and each believes the other is responsible.

Author Greg Cox weaves each of these three stories into one exciting rollercoaster ride.

I've long admired Greg Cox's work, and, it's no secret, I'm a huge Star Trek fan, particularly the Original Series. So getting to read this new, original story is really great. I love that the story takes place in three different eras. I was really afraid I wouldn't like - too often this kind of time-jumping within a book gets confusing - but I never had any trouble knowing immediately where and when I was.

The investigation into the disappearance of Gillian Taylor is just brilliant.  Why has no one written this before now?  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was a huge box office hit, it only makes sense to follow up on that story. Do this from a modern reader perspective with an investigator trying to uncover what happened is just brilliant concept.

The story of the missing scientist gets just a little muddled and lost in the other stories. It's probably the most Star Trek-like of the stories (it could easily have been an episode in the late 1960's) and maybe it's because of that that it less interesting to me.

The Osori story also has a lot of what we might think of as Star Trek themes - older, almost god-like races that decide it's time to come make some proclamations. This brings about some of the good conflict in the book and it's great, from a fan point of view, to have familiar races, such as Klingons and Romulans.

The stories do seem pretty divergent, but have faith that things will come together. There's a reason these three stories are being told.

It's pretty clear that Cox is a fan himself.  He slips a lot of classic Trek references and Easter Eggs. I can't help but wonder how many I catch and how many pass over my head.

I used to read a lot of Star Trek novels but quit when they started coming out so often that I couldn't keep up. I'm slowly getting back to reading more and I'm really glad that the quality seems to have improved as well.

Looking for a good book? Lost to Eternity by Greg Cox is a Star Trek: The Original Series novel spanning many generations, from the 1980's to the 2020's and beyond. Fans of the series will really enjoy this well-told story.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

Lost to Eternity

author: Greg Cox

series: Star Trek The Original Series

publisher: Pocket Books

ISBN: 9781668050057

paperback, 400 pages

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