Publication Date:March 30, 2010 Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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ISBN13: 9781439102190
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Condition: New
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Product Description A social experiment was conceived. Its goal was to breed the best, the brightest, the most malleable and most loyal soldiers to ever serve. To this end, the Romulan Empire used its own children, blinded by the belief that anything that would bring glory to the praetor was justified. And when the winds of politics changed, these children were abandoned, left to die on a world so horrifying that it was dubbedâby those who dared to cling to lifeâHellguard.
One wild child, Saavik, was rescued by Spock. He took the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan child home to his parents, knowing that if anyone could reach and rescue Saavik, it was them.
Now a Starfleet officer, Saavik has striven to honor her mentor and her Vulcan heritage. But recent events have shaken her. Left behind on Vulcan while the rest of the Enterprise crew goes to face court-martial for stealing and destroying their ship, the young science officer is adrift when two men from her past confront her. Tolek, another Hellguard survivor, tells Saavik that the survivors are being killed one-by-one and only they can discover who and why. The other, a Romulan who claims to be her father, swears it is the Vulcans who are eliminating the Hellguard survivors because they are an embarrassment to all of Vulcan, but that she has the power to stop it, by bringing down the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek.
Not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom to trust, Saavik must find her own answers, and discover who she truly is.
This is supposed to be 'Star Trek'?May 8, 2010 Raving Reviewer(New York) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was looking forward to learning more about Saavik's character and how the author devised her own introspection, but as I turned the pages I realized that the characterization and indeed the story itself deviated horribly from the 'Star Trek' formula.
Author's are, of course, free to take established 'Star Trek' characters and run with them, but what this book does is completely re-invent Saavik. It presents us with an established character acting in unbelievable ways within a weakly structured plot, forcing her to become something unbelievable. It's true that Saavik received limited development in the three 'Star Trek' movies in which she appeared, but we still got a feel for who she was and how shye behaved. In this story, however, the suspension of disbelief never occurred and that made it an effort to get through the book.
As even the most basic 'Star Trek' fan knows, Vulcans (and even half-Vulcans when one considers Spock's blood and Saavik's assumed half-Vulcan heritage) strive towards an ordered life of logic and non-emotion. They abhor any and all gestures associated with intimacy (especially in connection with non-Vulcans) and keep their own biological necessities tucked away out of sight--and even then they are ashamed of them. Granted there are gross exceptions to this, but as a whole 'Star Trek' has established for us a race committed to logic, rationality, purpose, and the repression of all emotion. Both Kirstie Alley's and Robin Curtis's portrayal of the Saavik character attempted to do this. The only weakness we were allowed a glimpse of was Saavik's tears during Spock's funeral, but by the end of "Star Trek III" we saw that her emotions were bottled and contained following both David's death and Spock's resurrection. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Saavik (even we accept the author's backstory of her conflicted past and upbringing) is a typical Vulcan in command of her faculties.
This book, however, reverts her into an emotional savage with self-esteem issues and character weaknesses strong enough to make her betray the esteemed Vulcan family that took her in. No way. Saavik would not do this nor even pretend to do it. The author went way too far and stepped out of line. This storyline is more of a fit to Lieutenant Valeris's character from 'Star Trek VI'.
The plot may have had potential in certain places, but the shifts in point of view and time setting made my head spin at times. The only relief were the instances of tie-in to actual 'Star Trek' movie events. It were those instances when I was temporarily grounded back into the 'Star Trek' reality. A great Saavik story should have focused instead solely on her recovery from the Grissom/Genesis tragedies and perhaps explored some of her internal conflicts as she recovered from the pon farr with the young Spock. An even bolder approach would have been a pregnancy and maybe some sort of story behind Saavik's attempt to either accept it or hide it. The nonsense in the book that centered around her rash actions and partaking in a cover-up and/or betrayal (which at times were difficult to follow) is absurd. She behaved more like a full-blooded Romulan than someone with substantial Vulcan training.
I didn't give the book one star because at least the author writes well, although the use of the fabricated pronouns "s/he" and "hir" was annoying. "It" and "its" would have sufficed. I got the point that the Deemonots were asexual. I still don't fully understand the use of the title 'Unspoken Truth' and question what Pocket Books was thinking when designing the book's cover. If Saavik is the protoganist, shouldn't it follow that her image be on the cover? It's clear that the publishers and other staff members of the 'Star Trek' line of novels should be people well versed in the 'Star Trek' universe. Poor Gene Roddenberry would not be happy with recent literary developments.
Look elsewhere if you're attempting to find a solid story with Saavik as one of its main characters.
I wouldntMay 2, 2010 Mark A. Pasciak 1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Very slow moving story that gets dull at times and with almost no action. In my opinion a bad pick for a character introspective. Saavik is a little outside the loved group of characters. I've read everyone of the original series novels and this is only the 2nd I could'nt get throuh and had to force myself to finish.
Unspoken Truth : Star Trek at its very BestApril 29, 2010 James R. McCain, Jr.(Shreveport, LA) Unspoken Truth is classic Star Trek the way Gene Roddenberry intended it to be. This story involve Saavik immediately after Star Trek III The Search for Spock and concurrent with Star Trek The Voyage Home and a bit after that. While it explores some of her background on the planet Hellguard it also explores her relationship with an out of the ordinary scientist on a mission of exploration and the first contact with a very interesting new intelligent species of worms called the Deemanot and the second half of the book deals with her playing a roll as a spy on Vulcan. The familiar players are all well drawn even though Saavik, Sarek and Amanda are the ones we see the most. The spy story comes to a conclusion and then there is a nice leisurely 42 page wind down to the story that I thought was very appropriate. I highly recommend this novel for all Star Trek fans and especially fans of the original Star Trek.
FINALLY! After all these years! SPOILERS though - be careful!April 28, 2010 TJAMES03(CA) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I cannot see how anyone would not give this book five stars. I read this in two days because it was so engaging. The MUCH ignored character of Saavik is FINALLY fleshed-out! There is no way that Gene Roddenberry and co. would have taken this character where MWB has. Awesome!
I also LOVE how a good portion of the Tiburon species is depected (especially Zora....who's actions are finally explained, but still has mystery to her).
Very cagey of MWB to mention Peter Preston as only someone with great TREK knowledge would know the friendship between Saavik and himself.
I SO urge you to read this book if you ever even had an inkling whatever happened to Saavik (also see the book "The Pandora Principle" beforehand as reading that book first might give you a better understanding of what the planet Hellgaurd was all about).
Thought-Provoking and MovingApril 21, 2010 SciFiChick(Fishers, IN USA) 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Introduced in early Star Trek films, Saavik is a half-Vulcan, half-Romulan protégé of Spock. This is her story. As a child, Saavik was rescued from Hellguard along with other children that the Romlulans had abandoned after a failed biological engineering experiment. Spock brought Saavik home to Vulcan to be raised by his parents, Sarek and Amanda. Saavik is now an officer in Starfleet with a bright future. But her world is turned upside down when childhood friend Tolek, tells her that the now-grown survivors of Hellguard are being hunted down and killed. Then, a Romulan confronts Saavik with news that he is her biological father and that she must help him destroy her adoptive father Sarek's career as an ambassador. If Saavik doesn't agree, not only will she be killed, but Sarek as well.
This ambitious novel tracks the life of a minor character (though certainly an interesting one) in the Star Trek universe. Despite Saavik having been portrayed by two different actresses (Kirstie Alley, Star Trek II and Robin Curtis Star Trek III & IV), we are only given a glimpse of her relationship with Spock, and nothing about her origins. Author Margaret Wander Bonanno wrote of one of my favorite Trek novels - Strangers from the Sky. And here, she fills in the blanks about where Saavik came from and her connection to Spock and his family. Bonanno fleshes out this complex character and gives her incredible depth and motivation.
It is not a requirement, but definitely helpful to have a good knowledge of Star Trek films II-IV as the novel references all of her scenes and the circumstances with Spock's death and regeneration. But then, what original series fan doesn't know the movies well?
Drama, mystery, intrigue, and first contact - this story will appeal to any true Star Trek fan. The plot is as complex as Saavik herself. It's thought-provoking and moving, yet full of wonder and excitement - this is why I love science fiction and Star Trek novels in particular. I will now be tracking down Bonanno's novels that I haven't yet read. First the classic Strangers from the Sky, now this inspiring Unspoken Truth - I am dually impressed.
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