The sadly late Majel Barrett had one of the longest and most involved roles in the Star Trek franchise outside of Gene Roddenberry and Rick Berman.Her first on-screen role (of several!) was as Number One in the unaired pilot episode. A strong, logical character who sadly we didn't really get to know. Now on the 50th anniversary of the first Star Trek broadcast a new trilogy of books is being released and the first one is out already.
Captain to Captain tells the story of an Enterprise away mission gone awry under Number One's watch whilst serving under the first captain of the USS Enterprise Robert April. And it tells the story of how she tried to put it all right years later.... but she had to do it whilst on the run from Captain Kirk and his crew.
There are Klingons. There are Romulans. There's a mysterious new alien threat with a weapon that could change the balance of power in the galaxy. And there's Captain Una (Number One) who makes Kirk look like a stickler for rules and decorum as she fights to save her friends and shipmates who've been lost for decades...
And it ends on a cliffhanger too...
It is actually one of the best Star Trek novels I've ever read. Most have been poorly written and unimaginative (or too imaginative with crazy weird story moves that make little sense). This just kept the pace up, kept the story moving and had enough drama to draw you in. Don't read up on the next two instalments as the synopsis will give away one of the key twists of this tale! Sit back, relax and enjoy a good old fashion Star Trek story. There's not better tribute to the series than that!
