Star Trek: The Original Series: Lost to Eternity
Written by Greg Cox
Published by Pocket Books
KIRK: No, no, no. All I need is the radio frequency to track them.
GILLIAN: What are you talking about? I’m coming with you.
KIRK: You can’t. Our next stop is the twenty-third century.
GILLIAN: I don’t care? I’ve got nobody here. I have got to help those whales!
(Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
And so, cetacean specialist Dr. Gillian Taylor disappeared from San Francisco that morning in 1986, never to be seen again. Or not for a long time, at any rate. What did her friends and co-workers think about her disappearance? Was there a police investigation? When combined with the other strange occurrences in those three days, like the capture and loss of an odd Russian spy aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier, that same spy’s disappearance from a local hospital the next day, and odd happenings around Golden Gate Park, did Dr. Taylor’s missing person’s case raise any red flags in the United States government? Well Greg Cox’s new Star Trek book has that covered, and more so.
Star Trek: The Original Series: Lost to Eternity takes place in three time periods: in 2024, following podcaster Melinda Silver and her producer, Dennis Berry, as they try to track down leads on that 1986 cold case for their true-crime podcast; in 2268, following the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk during the third year of the Enterprise’s mission as they investigate a missing persons case of their own; and in 2292 (a year before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), following the Enterprise-A under the command of Captain James T Kirk, escorting delegates from a first contact species to a conclave with representatives of the Federation and the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Cox loves balancing stories in multiple timelines, which has become a sort of calling card of his writing. Here, he expertly balances each storyline, bringing all of them to an action-packed and stirring conclusion.
For my money, the most interesting story by far takes place in 2024 as Melinda interviews supporting characters from the story told in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home—people who interacted with Gillian at the Cetacean Institute, the pizzeria, and the hospital, and with Kirk, Spock, Chekov, and others throughout the film. As her investigation heats up, she and her conspiracy theorist producer find themselves in increasing danger and their journalistic drive and ethics are severely challenged. Melinda Silver is a spunky and resourceful journalist, and the tale told here feels very much of our time, bringing a freshness to the Star Trek stories I grew up loving.
The 2268 story is harrowing and filled with action, teasing out some of the boundaries of adherence to the Prime Directive in a situation where our crew must retrieve a kidnapped scientist whose research could be deadly in the wrong hands. In this, we see Kirk and his crew at their prime, working undercover and clashing with Klingons and many others. Of special note is Kirk’s Klingon counterpart on the planet, a smoky Klingon spy reminiscent of a buff Emma Peel. I greatly enjoyed this part of the adventure.
I was delighted to see Saavik on the cover of this novel. She plays a major role in the 2292 storyline, and it’s fantastic to see this part of the story through her eyes. While this is the era in which everything finally comes together, it is the weakest of the three storylines. Though Cox takes great pains to craft distinct personalities for each of the Klingons and Romulans, the Klingon captain with whom Kirk interacts the most is just an annoying, shouty impediment to progress. I prefer Kirk’s main adversaries to be clever and worthy of respect.
That said, the delights of this book far outweigh the slight annoyances. Cox has taken the question of “What happened after Gillian Taylor disappeared in 1986?” and run with it in fascinating and fun directions. Every page is layered with references to previous Trek adventures as characters believably connect what they are currently doing with their past experiences, enriching both the characters’ inner lives and the fun for the diehard fan reader. And in the Osori, Cox has crafted a new alien species with a unique and interesting take on immortality and space exploration, an approach that challenges the worldviews of the Federation and its sometime foes. The package is all wrapped up in the hopeful idealism that marks the best of Star Trek.
This book is a lot of fun and rewards both the casual fan and the committed Trekkie alike.
Available Now
Greg Cox’s Star Trek: The Original Series: Lost to Eternity was released by Pocket Books on July 23. You can order it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle e-book.
Lost to Eternity is also available as an audiobook on CD now and also Audible.
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Okay fine I am buying this one! Been a long time since there was a Trek novel I wanted to buy!
Weird timing. I just finished watching Voyage Home on Pluto and wondered at the end whatever became of Dr. Taylor. Gonna pick up this book pronto! Thanks!
shame savvik was written out of the OS movies but glad they did not bring her back in TUC so she would become a villain.
means she can reappear either in books or maybe on screen one day.
I wonder if the book will touch on Chekov leaving 23rd century tech (a Klingon communicator and phaser) with the FBI, when he ran from the room where he was being questioned aboard the naval vessel USS Enterprise (CVN-65).
It should be the basis for the tech Cochrane uses for the Phoenix! I guess McCoy didn’t blunder nearly as much as Pavel hahaha
Having finished it- no, it does not. :-)
This so sounds like it will be my next audio book binge! I just hope it is offered in that format given the story’s narravitve story telling. In Generations I always thought if “Antonia” was not going to be Carol she totally should have been Gillian. Like WTF about Antonia? Talk about no heart tugs driving the story at all!
Yeah, I don’t get it, either.
Just another of Generations many flaws.
Taylor was in (or at least referenced IIRC) in the first Department of Temporal Investigations book. Her time in the 23rd century has been poked at before, but I love the idea of the podcast in 2024. Why aren’t they doing anything this interesting on Paramount+?
Just another example (Star Wars included) of how these companies are wasting their best writers on print only and not licensing their work or plots for film / tv. (Una McCormack not withstanding)
Excellent. Just finished reading it. It answers some questions about the Voyage Home, while some questions it doesn’t. I won’t say anything because of spoilers, but in some parts it feels like you are watching a Original Series episode because Kirk and company and their mannerisms are spot on from the show. I highly recommend it. Read it only in 15 days which is good for me.
I haven’t read a Star Trek novel in years. Back in High School I read a lot of them, but then I kind of got disillusioned for three reasons. One was that they had no bearing whatsoever on continuity. I understand that there was a recent reset in the novelverse thanks to post-Voyager/Nemesis etc. stories not adhering to what has been shown in the new ST series like Picard and Prodigy.
The second reason was that, as sci-fi books, they weren’t particularly imaginative or groundbreaking. I mean, they’re not Dune, or Ringworld, or a Peter Hamilton, Stephen Baxter, Benford, Brin, Bear, or Poul Anderson novel or short story collection. They’re pretty light weight in that regard, not really that substantial. Part of that is the fact that they are written by some first time writers and the like. There are exceptions. I gave away a lot of my ST books but I kept the ones I thought were the best. Greg Bear actually wrote one, Corona, I think it was. I really liked the two Diane Duane books I read too. And I actually have a couple of the major ones that I have yet to read.
I can tell you that the worst books I read were those by Sondra Marshak. They’re awful.
This book by Greg Cox, though, sounds interesting. Maybe I’ll pick it up.
I must be the only person on Earth who likes the Marshak/Culbreath books. Except TRIANGLE, now that is a steaming pile — but I love the first three, I think they got the character voices amazingly right. Though it is kind of weird, I never saw the antagonist in their PHOENIX novels as he was described, I just always see Darth Vader! Must have been proximity to when STAR WARS came out.
Yeah, I know I read Triangle and the Phoenix book. I thought both were really boring and I think these two ladies are Kirk-Spock shippers, am I right?
Anyway, I hated everything I read from them.
Even so, you might get a kick out of their Shatner biography, SHATNER WHERE NO MAN, there is a lot of espousing of ‘alpha male’ theory that is off the charts weird (along with some stuff I find of interest, like drawing parallels between Kirk/Spock and Alexander/Hephaestion), but the good stuff is a really terrific 40 page chapter where Nimoy and Shatner sit down in a restaurant called The Captain’s Table and really do some talking!
BTW, there are actually two PHOENIX books; the second one seems to be more popular with folks, but I think it is a little windy. It does have a great line from Omne when their ship is about to crash, “we are about to make planetfall – the operative word is fall.”
Kinda wish Moore and Braga had stolen that for Data in GENERATIONS. Might have had more legs than, “oh shit.”
Yeah, it might’ve LOL!!
The Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies are really good IMO. Also Federation. A shame they didn’t license those two trilogies as the legacy series for Paramount+ rather than what we got w/ Picard. They would have been great
Thanks for the recs, nkc. I’ll read the 2 I haven’t read yet. There was a Peter David TNG book that I really liked. Peter David is just a really entertaining writer, both in books and comics.
I want to pick this up. t’s awesome to see the spin-off characters from the movies featured.
I hope from Paramount Plus that they do TV-movies with Sulu, Chekov, Saavik, Harriman, and Dr. Gillian Taylor.
the great novels they’ve done would be an excellent opportunity to do non-satrical anime style shows. I bet they would out perform much of the newer series. First, the stories are generally pretty solid and w/ animation you can have good voice actors and not worry about re-casting issues. Kirk will look like Shatner enough, etc….
Interesting that the cover illustration depicts the Robin Curtis Saavik, as opposed to Kirstie Alley…
The novels featuring Saavik that I’ve read all seem to follow Vonda McIntyre’s lead, retaining the character’s dual heritage instead of the awful retcon Nimoy sprung on us (and poor Curtis) by making her straight Vulcan in TSFS. But I always see Curtis when I think of the character, because Alley just came off like a jittery cheerleader to me in most of TWOK. Her ‘prepare for warp speed’ line is just as bad as Curtis’ ‘david is dead’ but the difference is that nobody could play the latter without getting a bad laugh, whereas anybody should have been able to do the former without causing flinches across the viewing audience.
I still think most of Alley’s acceptance from fans came from the fact she took her jacket off long enough to show she had a significant bustline.
Saavik is Spock’s baby momma
That was the intention, I believe, at the time of STIII from Harve Bennett, anyway.
Nimoy, I believe, killed that idea. I think it’s sad. That could’ve been a really interesting development for Spock, learning he had a kid with Saavik and not (I assume) remember the whole Pon-Farr episode on the Genesis planet. Actually, maybe he did remember it.
I wonder whether they could still use it? Have Spock’s son-daughter show up in Legacy if it’s ever made or something like that, taking place at least some years after STVI. You could get Robin Curtis to reprise Saavik possibly.
Anyway, again, I was bummed that Nimoy killed that possible storyline. IIRC Deforest Kelly joked in a post STIII interview that he was ready to deliver Spock’s child. I think he said he’d probably have trouble with the ears. Oh well.
I’m already enjoying reading this book a second time. I always wanted to know more about Gillian. She’s among my favorite characters from the movies. I just wish Gillian, along with George, Gracie and their baby were seen more throughout the entire framework of the story.
That said, Melinda Silvers is another character I’ve enjoyed getting to know. She’s another ordinary Human person with alot of heart. She doesn’t want to give up her quest. Her curiosity just doesn’t want her to give up. She simply doesn’t want to give up on Gillian, no matter where it leads her.
I also like that Saavik is included as well. She’s another character who has grown on me over the years. I like that Melinda is welcomed into the future by her as a new friend. What is not indicated is if Saavik is now Spock’s wife, fiancee or significant other.
During this second reading, I’ve decided to read through each timeline individually. It’s helping me sort through the various aspects of the story and how they actually fit together. I can follow the overall story a bit more clearly.
There is definitely a novel with saavik as his wife, think it is set early in century 24.
I liked the 2024 thread more than the other two era plots but they all tie up nicely enough.
I was listening to the audio book and there were a couple of times when the reader transposed ‘Melidna’ and ‘Gillian’ which was annoying but not a crime. Was curious if that was also in print or just a quirk of the audiobook.
Also – the reader does a very nice Sulu, decent Bones, and a hilarious use of Shatner’s ‘sabotaaaage’
I definitely want to read this new book. Always wondered what happened to Gillian. I haven’t been keeping up on the literary side of Star Trek the last few years, but have been watching all the new shows. Any other books worth buying? I am a long time Star Trek fan ( just turned 70). In the process of downsizing so have been selling my Star Trek collection on eBay. Hard to pack it up and watch it go out the door! Probably should not buy any more books since I have over 100 paperbacks (OS and TNG) and several hardcover books I need to sell. Duh! I will buy an e-book! This will be my first Star Trek e-book! Now I am really excited! If appropriate, please suggest other Star Trek books. This is the first time I have ever commented on something like this so not sure of the guidelines. Thanks!