Great book for the western story readeer or Clint Eastwood fan.

It was an interesting concept, one that was handled well, and in general the story did a fine job of maintaining established characters. Further, the primary representative of the alien species is given a plausible, interesting personality, and the plot flows well. There was an interesting (but implausible) sidebar in that for a part of the story, Lt. Uhura is left in charge of the Enterprise; this would have been a nice touch, except that Sulu was neither incapacitated nor absent, and as ranking officer, should have taken the Captain's chair before she did; still, it was nice to see her given a bit more of an active role for a change.

All in all, a fine episode, even in spite of the fact that the author (not Foster, presumably, but David Gerrold, who wrote the script for the episode) couldn't resist the bad pun of naming the main alien character Ari bn Bem; for those of you not in the know, "BEM" is a term given to aliens in bad science fiction; it stands for "Bug Eyed Monster".

As I've said, I have the entire series, including the two latest books that I know of, "Son of Spellsinger" and "Chorus Skating". At the time I discovered these I had just purchased and read the last, "Time of the Transference", so completing, as I had thought, the series. I was pretty thrilled as I hadn't figured there were, or ever would be, any further sequels, as the last, "Time of the Transference", had been written quite a while ago. As often as you tell yourself, "The more sequels, the more risk of a decline in quality", I don't think anyone would be able to help getting a little excited in similar circumstances.

Oh the horror! Poor old Foster must been kidnapped by desperate fans unable to cope and forced to continue the Spellsinger story. It's too horrible--God, the humanity!

Well, I survived. I suppose maybe, forcing myself to be openminded, these two books aren't that bad. They just don't measure up to the previous six. And after all, it's not as if this series ever pretended to be great literature, just great entertainment. Still, you have to forgive me when I say that up till the time I lent my series out I had "Chorus Skating" and "Son of Spellsinger" stuffed away on one of my dustiest, most infrequented shelves, and now would not be too horribly dismayed if my younger cousin should "forget" to give those particular two back.

Unfortunately I fear he has, while a poor conscience, better taste.

Well, since you probably would prefer hearing a little about "Time of the Transference" to my vented spleen, it is classic Spellsinger--funny, action-packed, and with some unexpected twists and turns. I figure(sniff) Foster intended this to be his last and best(before he made the ill-fated decision to write the two afore-mentioned vile mistakes).

For Mudge fans out there, this the last time you're getting your idol in all his untamed and licentious glory. It may be pathetic of me to say this, but a Mudge with grey fur and a paunch sucks.

Don't get me wrong... Gene Roddenberry is a great guy and I think we're all very greatful to him for creating Star Trek. My belief is that this book came up extremely short of the standard of Star Trek novels, and novelizations especially. Granted, this book was written almost 25 years ago, but still, it was not all that good.

Admiral Lori Ciani, Kirk's wife? Where did this come from? It comes out of thin air. Nobody knows anything about this woman. And apparently they were "married" during Kirk's stint on Earth. Not a necessary part of the book.

In my opinion, this could have been a lot better.

This novelization of the plodding movie that detractors call Star Trek - The Motionless Picture was ghostwritten for Roddenberry by Alan Dean Foster, the man who penned the unoriginal concept story the script was based on. Although little more than the script in narrative form, Foster gives the tale a sense of urgency and tension that the film sorely lacked. It also reads better than it plays. Still it's strictly for Trek buffs.

A nice read but not up to Fosters usual high standard.

A tremendously compelling book!

I didn't read the first book in this series, so I can't make comparisons, but I did like the story.

Six hundred thousand humans are slaughtered on Treetrunk, a remote planet. Their destruction is mythodical and complete. However, one man survives by taking a worn out shuttle and leaving the planet before the death squad reaches him.

Once found, the survivor recovers and recounts the horrific events, but no one believes him when he reveals who was responsible for the planet's genocide.

I decided who the 'bad guys' were early on. Figuring that out so early usually ruins a book for me, but I kept reading because I wanted to see how it all turned out.

Foster cleaned up all the story lines and created a new one right at the end -- perfect planning for a sequel.

Enjoy!