F/SF

The stories in Star Trek 4 span the entire run of the series, from the adaptation of the first pilot "The Cage" to the nest to last third season episode, "Tomorrow is Yesterday". Reading the episodes in order, this is the 11th book finished, but since it was written early in the run, it includes some of the best first and second season episodes - The Devil in the Dark, Journey to Babel and The Enterprise Incident. The adaptations are short though, with no padding. A Piece of the Action is particularly short changed, at only 17 pages. The humor really needs the acting, it doesn't come across as well on the written page. ( )

James Blish books are like chocolate: I think, I'll have a nibble. Then I have another nibble. Shortly there-after I find that I've consumed the entire bar (or book) and immediately start searching for another. James Blish is particularly good when I'm ill or feeling down; it's easy to read yet thought provoking. If I really don't want to think, then it's usually a rollicking adventure story, too.

I've read nigh-on everything else Blish wrote, leaving the Star Trek books to last because I thought they could not be as good as his independent material. It turns out they aren't, but they are still fun and enjoyable and distinctively Blish who seems to have, Zen-like, mastered Style - No Style in his writing. So this is like slightly cheaper chocolate, Cadbury's milk chocolate, rather than dark Cote D'Or or Lindt. But it's still chocolate...is there any more? ( )

These adaptations were quite good then, and now. ( )

This collection of six story adaptations of episodes gave me pleasure out of proportion to the small size of the book. Six stories, one of which "The Menagerie" differs quite a bit from the broadcast episode (but probably rings true to the original pilot episode released many years later). Blish explains why he chose to edit out the wraparound story and include the original ending. I've watched a dozen or more of the original episodes on TV the last couple months (kudos to BBC America for really high quality presentations). Many of the episodes reveal the weaknesses of the show - however the story adaptations manage to ring very true and are an honorable testament to the original series. I was glad to have read these and will read more.

included was:
ix • Preface
1 • All Our Yesterdays
23 • The Devil in the Dark
45 • Journey to Babel
69 • The Menagerie
95 • The Enterprise Incident
117 • A Piece of the Action ( )