Star Trek: Inception - S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison

Title: Inception
Author: S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2010
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
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Review:
“Inception” by S.D. Perry and Britta Dennison is a Star Trek novel that I wasn’t sure about due to the focus seemingly being on the previous romantic liaisons of both Kirk and Spock. I suppose, I am just not the biggest fan of romance novels, especially when the outcome of the relationships are known anyway due to what we have seen on TV & film.

Anyway, the plot itself is set in a time when Kirk is courting Carol Marcus and Spock has just met a young woman named Leila Kalomi. Both of these women are working on a scientific project on Mars which appears to be an early stage of the Genesis project. However, things get out of hand when some environmental groups decide they don’t appreciate the scientific work being conducted on Mars. Carol and Lelia soon require the assistance of the men they have fallen in love with to help them avert a potential disaster.

The first observation I had with the novel was that writing is very competent and well-structured which ensured I found the book very easy to read and finish. In addition, I felt that the authors had captured the voices of Kirk and Spock to the point that I could easily imagine the delivery of various lines being made by the actors who portrayed them. It was also quite interesting to witness some sort of attempt at exploring the relationship between Kirk and Marcus.

However, there are quite a few niggles I had with the book, the main one being that it wasn’t that exciting. The environmental plot just didn’t really keep me excited or interested as it seemed to be secondary to the overall romantic elements of the plot. This wouldn’t have been an issue if the romantic elements of the story had been deep, complex and really explored how the characters felt about each other.

Unfortunately the relationships between the four main characters felt like something I would see in a school playground. The readers gets subjected to various levels of angst as Carol worries about how to tell Kirk her big news while Leila pines for Spock Leila in particular was a rather irritating character due to her childish reactions and the level of desperation that results. In simple terms, the romantic elements of the story are something I could easily expect to see in a book set in a High School and aimed at 14 years olds.

Of course, the final issue with this book is that the reader already knows where these relationships are going. This results in a severe lack of suspense as you progress through the novel. Whilst this knowledge of what is going to occur in the future isn’t something new for Star Trek novels, I think "Inception" is affected more by the fact that such a large percentage of the book is dedicated to the characters' relationships.

Overall, this book will never go down as a favourite of mine but at the same time I don’t understand some of the scathing comments I have seen around the internet. Yes it isn’t the most exciting story and the romantic elements are rather juvenile but it was still interesting to see someone try and tackle this period and it was a very easy book to read due to the author’s competent writing skills. To be honest, if there are any Star Trek fans out there who also like Young Adult styled High School romance then they will probably love this book.