David R. George III
reviewed by Randy Landers
A well-written time-travel story is an inherently difficult thing to achieve because it's simply too easy to create a temporal paradox. Even the most accomplished of writers have failed in this regard, and while David George is a prolific Star Trek writer, he is not an accomplished writer. His fiction tends to be dry and pendantic, unengaging and ultimately boring. This novel is no exception, and as the third book in the Crucible series, it was a relief--not a joy--to finally finish the tale.
Following his disappearance, James T. Kirk finds himself reliving various cruxes in his life, from Edith's death to breakfast with Antonia. Basically, the entire premise is that the Jim Kirk in the Nexus has to perform a series of Sam Beckett-like fixes on various temporal anomalies that are popping up around his life. The end result is that Kirk is not dead after the events of Generations, but now in hiding, living a life as he hops around the galaxy.
Like all of George's works, the novel never engages the reader, never pulls the reader into the story. It's yet another blandly written piece that doesn't entertain.
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