Star Trek Book Review | The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- I hope you enjoy this book review!
~Related Links~
my 2016 review of To Reign in Hell by Greg Cox: • To Reign in Hell (aka ...
EVERY TIME I'VE REVIEWED STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (to date):
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Sept. 2022 mini review: • What Else I Saw in Sep...
Feb. 2022 mini review after seeing it in the theater: • What Else I Saw in Feb...
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❤I really liked the books, especially that they kept the same spirit as 'Space Seed' and 'Wrath of Kahn' -- almost as though it was the same writers for all.
The "Assignment: Earth" interjection was a personal pleasure to have in the story.
And, yes...."Kaaaaaahhhnn!"
I love your content Jerome even if you upload during the week or over the weekend. Books or movies, this is the place to be!
*_FIRST!!!_* 🥇🥇🥇
🥂🎉🎆🥂🎉🎆🥂🎉🎆
I'm surprised I've never heard of this, seeing as how I view most applications of eugenics as crimes against humanity!! Thanks for sharing 👍
Agreed😊
This was in the fifties.
@@4CardsMan The books take place in the 70s-90s (except for the frame story in the future) and were published 2001-2002.
At the end of this, I loved your... Khan!!!! 😊🖖
Of the many things that stood out to me was that during the TOS segments that Koloth was the Klingon commander during the negotiations. What it reminded me of was when Jadzia Dax in DS9 speaks of the ruthless negotiator that Koloth was for the empire. His part in this storyline demonstrated just how far he was willing to go to push the interests of the empire.
I love the way you wave your hand as you say goodbye. Also you share good insight and idea's in your reviews. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the book reviews. Greg Cox hangs out on TrekBBS (as I used to), and I mostly enjoyed his interactions with the fans. I haven't read any of his books yet. He seems to keep busy and has produced a lot of Star Trek-related material.
I've read a ton of Star Trek books and, honestly, most are nothing special. There were some good ones though:
- anything by Diane Duane. Later somewhat contradicted by onscreen developments. They form their own subseries with recurring characters, so definitely read them in publication order.
- The Final Reflection and How Much For Just The Planet? by John M. Ford. The first is a Klingon story, (later also contradicted) and the later is Star Trek as Busby Berkeley musical. Really.
- several by David R. George III. The Crucible trilogy, mainly the McCoy installment. The 34th Rule (a Quark novel), Serpents Among The Ruins and One Constant Star (following Captain Harriman and Demora Sulu from the Enterprise - B).
- Imzadi and Q-Squared by Peter David. Also The Captain's Daughter (a Captain Sulu novel).
- several more by Greg Cox. Assignment Eternity (more Gary Seven), The Q Continuum trilogy (tries to reconcile Q with some of the other godlike beings seen thoughout the various series), and No Time Like The Past (Seven of Nine meets the TOS crew. This one was repurposed from a canceled novel set in the Abrams -gag- continuity.
- anything by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephen that are not the William Shatner 'co-written' ones.
If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.
Rome, this may be one of my favorite shows of yours. I spontaneously started clapping when you spoke up against eugenics. Have you ever seen The Boys From Brazil? I think it's a weirdly operatic, even rather goofy, movie, but I also think it remains one of the best arguments against the whole "Let's breed a hero" premise. Whose hero, exactly -- and for what? I'm very pleased to hear an Assignment Earth tie-in, I would like to have seen that tried as its own show. This is an intriguing recommendation. Many thanks, and owl be seeing you.
I meet Nicholas Meyer, who directed Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country, at a "Lawrence of Arabia" screening at the Arrow Theater in Santa Monica. I thanked him for his Sherlock Holmes books. 7 Percent Solution was made into a film. West end Horror, and Canary Trainer. His Trilogy. I read all of Aurther Conan Doyle's Sherlock books. I love Star Trek the motion picture as well.
Thank you for sharing this video. I had no idea these stories existed. I'm very intrigued to find and read these books
Yay!!! I have been wanting to read those! Glad you are giving us a review. and its a midweek JW bonus!
Sadly, I've never read these Star Trek novels. I'll be honest, despite being a Trekkie, I was mostly focused on building up my Star Wars book collection (I'm a Star Wars fan too) at the time these books came out. I haven't even found them in used book stores or at local comic book conventions, geek sales, used book sales or anything like that. Late '90s, Early 2000s, mid-2000s, late 2000s, and 2010s Star Trek novels tend to be left in the dust when it comes to used book stores, geek sales, conventions and used book sales, in favour of the earlier Star Trek novels from the '60s, '70s, '80s and early to mid '90s.
1:00 -- RE: Eugenics and Star Trek; Funny thing, there's another can of worms here which like an absurdity from Lewis Carroll leads into a fantastic rabbit hole of infinite diversity when the fandom gets its grubby mitts on it. I'll try to be very brief with that part of the "map" I can offer.
See also: Roddenberry's "Optimism", The Prime Directive, "the Mirror Universe", and Time Travel.
Nutshell version: The Prime Directive is Federation indoctrination impressed upon Starfleet cadets. For the purposes of the narrative, Earth's history in Star Trek is exactly the same as the one in which we're living, except some of its features were predicted in the 1960s and projected upon the 1990s. Consequently, by the time of the 1990s some of those predictions had to be revised, ie. Retconned.
Lucky for us (the Now modern audience) the 1960s was still close enough to the *actual* period of Earth's history in which the term Eugenics was not being hidden, entirely, and the designation stuck for the War. What has never been made clear is exactly what separates the Eugenics Wars (plural) from the Third World War at some point of the 21st century.
The Mirror Universe matters here, because until Warp Drive was developed it seems Earth's history in the "Mirror" was more or less identical to the universe the Federation occupies. The major difference between either universe is Intention. That is to say, the Federation and Starfleet have a primary ethic which says "Do no harm" in a more or less Hippocratic way; however good their intentions might be, they have to be self-critical in their ability to do anything in order to bring the collective power of Starfleet to bear on it. In the Mirror the primary ethic is "Do as you will especially if you can avoid being caught or killed while doing so," which is probably much more like a universe in which Khan actually belongs.
Gary-7 being included in these novels fascinated me, it was a sensible move.
I'll also add a footnote which someone else pointed out on TH-cam fairly recently which is that Roddenberry and company were never this obsessed with a consistent canon of narrative arcs for all the supporting characters which appeared in various episodes. There's very little change over the various seasons in any of the main cast. It was not until after the 1980s that the fandom got a proper idea of how much excellent material )read: IP) was lying around gathering dust instead of being developed.
🖖🏻 🖖🏻 🖖🏻
Truly interesting subject matter to be tackled, and a quite tricky (and scary) one to address in both a meaningful AND entertaining way. It sounds good, but I'd need a refresher in the whole Khan thing to truly appreciate all the nuances, so, for the moment at least, I can't say much more intelligent than thank you for covering this material.
One tiny little note: I loved the Dr. Hoyt thing: I've always been a big fan of this character actor's work (who else could've brought some meaning and real feeling to the villainous character in ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE? And I well remember his appearance as the first Enterprise doctor....But, uh, talk about a sidetrack to your discussion! ;-7
Thanks again! Well-covered. I might even consider reading these rather long materials (which I've never been too good at getting through/it'd also have to be an audiobook...Wonder if it will become available?)
A friend of mine is a Star Trek novel reader of many years who very much loves any reference to the original series that pops up. I'd like to think of myself as someone who wouldn't need that and would rather just have a well told novel.
I loved these books! Good review.
Yes I have read these books been a long time ago but yes and there was some Star Trek Enterprise references that in there when I noticed it when I read a time or reread it at the time. But as someone who's was considered learning disabled back in '90s and early 2000s when I was in elementary school through high school. the subjects of eugenics is makes me very uncomfortable but yeah like you slippery slope go down. Make people think they're superior. Horrible things will happen and by the way memory serves in the novel some of the augments ( genetically enhanced humans) were involved In the 1990s Balkan wars. So yeah they didn't make it reference indirectly to that horrible events. Ironically the newest Star Trek series strange new worlds had an episode, Turns out the first episode of first officer under captain Pike was in fact a genetic engineered human. Star Trek DS9 had a character of Julian Bashir he was also generally engineered ironically he was born with a Cognitive disability and that's why he got to generic Engineering treatment to begin with. thank you for reviewing theses books
Thanks for this review. I know someone that reads every Star Trek books. Great review.
I’ve read the three books years ago but did struggle to motivate myself to finish them, well the first two because I agree completely with you that To Reign in Hell is the best of the three. I read less than half of volume one and liked how it was going but put it down with the intention of picking it up in a day or two but went back to it three or four months later and had to start from page one again because I hadn’t remembered a lot of what I’d previously read. There’s a lot of good stuff in the books but I’m not sure how I feel about them overall, I’d probably say I liked them, just, but wouldn’t say I loved them. Perhaps my experience reading the books was tainted by my own imagined ideas of what the story should be and maybe knowing the books weren’t officially canon affected me too, although I have read other Trek books that weren’t canon and liked them. Some of the Easter eggs and character cameos were fun but didn’t love some others because I think they can be used as a crutch. I like Gary Seven and Roberta but I probably would’ve liked the story more if it was purely about Khan and the other exiled Botany Bay cohorts. Federation space is huge, the galaxy and universe are vast and there’s thousands of Starfleet ships but all the characters we know from the different shows all seem to come in contact with or reference each-other. In the new show Strange New Worlds there’s a descendant of Khan on the crew of the Enterprise, her name is La’an Noonien Singh and she knows Spock and has met Kirk and both know she’s Khans descendant but never mentioned it later in the original series or Wrath of Khan. I’d always felt safe sticking with live action as canon but now I don’t have a clue. I’ve read the autobiographies of both Kirk and Spock and enjoyed them well enough but the new shows change established events so often I decided it was pointless trying to figure out what’s canon and what isn’t, it’s disappointing but I guess there’s more important things to think about and the series and six films will always be there. Eugenics as a subject is tough to tackle but thought Cox handled it pretty well. Eugenics is scary and very wrong and I think it might actually be something humans attempt at some point in the future and it makes it even scarier.
Thank you for a really interesting review/discussion video on these books, it was great to hear your thoughts on them. A Thank you to Binesh too.
~ Thank you Ms Weiselberry ~
I think you've voiced the confusion and frustration of a lot of longtime Star Trek fans who would like to love everything connected with the fandom, but who find the gluttony of new content just too much. There seem to be an awful lot of screenwriters bent on pursuing their own agenda who don't care so much if it makes sense or fits in with established lore. And, as you say, the space we're talking about is HUGE, so the idea that there are all these coincidences and characters crossing paths and rubbing shoulders is just ridiculous. One or two instances is permissible and it can be effectively done, but do it too much and it feels like you're lazy or don't have any fresh ideas.
Oh yes, I meant to say I was puzzled that there wasn't as much time given to Khan and company, especially in the second book. I did like Cox's take on Gary Seven and Roberta, but they took up so much more of the narrative than I ever would have guessed.
Thanks for your input! And good for you for picking the book up again and finishing the series. I've been in that boat before, and I know it can be almost impossible to drum up the motivation to start over and get through everything you've already read to reach the point where you dropped off the first time. It's a relief if you can get over the hump and finish the book (and even enjoy it!), but that doesn't always happen. So good for you for sticking with it, and I'm glad you liked the books, even though, like me, you didn't love them. :)
Well said!
Did they mention Chekov meeting Kahn in the men's room on the old Enterprise? An old fan joke but a good one.
I am a Trekkie thanks for your insight. WWIII 2026 Eugenics wars 1996 start. BUT my boy is Col. Green!
Miss Weiselberry, thank you for yet another insightful and enjoyable review. However, I hope that you won't mind me saying so but I think you need to put a little more 'Shatner' into your Khaaaaan! Though admittedly you did come pretty close. Live long and prosper!🖖
One, the end ending end, a post-credit scene, if you will, was hilarious. 🤣 I find myself wanting to yell that also as opposed to some of the things I do yell out loud.
Two, we read the books years ago. I remember us enjoying the story. Chances are, my wife read it out loud while we were on a road trip.
Three, clearly, I don't remember, but did either book cover the continuity problem of Chekov never actually meeting Khan? Walter Koenig wasn't in Space Seed, and the fact he saw he was on the Botany Bay has been an inside joke since ST2 came out.
Four, eugenics has been a thing for a long time. And you're correct; it's primarily hush-hush. Those that push the agenda probably look at Hitler and Nazi Germany and think, "We need to be more subtle about this in the future." The little corporal with the funny mustache was really vocal about the eugenics program he and others enacted in the mid-20th century. 😕
The famous continuity issue is taken care of in the third book, To Reign in Hell. If I remember correctly, Chekov is the one who escorts Khan and his group to the surface of Ceti Alpha V. In addition to giving them a chance to have a testy interaction, this makes Chekov Khan's last contact with the Enterprise before his exile. I thought it was a clever addition that explained why Khan would particularly remember him. And it's more meaningful than the old "they saw each other in the men's room" joke. :)
I'm glad you and your wife enjoyed the books together!
🖖 Dif-tor heh smushma (Live Long and Prosper)
Thanks for this neat book review!
Thanks for the review. I've never been a fan of prequels. I think I'll pass on these. LLAP 🖖
It's been many years since I read them, and frankly, I had forgotten about the framing story. I don't remember it bothering me at the time, but I can see how it might come off as a distraction from the main plot. Regarding all the Easter eggs and references, they didn't bother me. I didn't get the sense they were fan service or "wink wink" moments. I rather felt it was Cox's way of acknowledging that all those time travel trips to the 20th century in TOS, STIV and DS9, were not without consequence, and had a real effect on history. In other words, they didn't create alternate realities or alternate universes, they actually had a consequence on the real ST prime timeline. And I think the Dr. Nichols reference was the engineer in STIV that "invented" transparent aluminum, I don't think it was a reference to Koenig and Nichols. As well, I thought Cox was trying to acknowledge that real world history of the 1990s did not include a Eugenics War, so he was trying to find a way to link real world events from the 90s into a shadow Eugenics War that the general public was unaware of, including certain real politic figures (like Idi Amin) and implying they were one of the supermen. I never saw it as fan service, I saw it as a legitimate way of explaining real world events in light of this fictional character. Like you, I did think the last book was the best, but I remember enjoying all three. Since it's been years since I read them, this review makes me want to go read them again. One other thing, I used to be a member of a Star Trek message board many years ago, and Greg Cox was also a member and used to regularly engage with fans. I even exchanged a few posts with him myself, and I just remember he was very fun and pleasant to interact with, and was so clearly a fan himself, and it really came through. Thanks for the review!
Hm, from what I read elsewhere, I was given the impression it was Cox who came up with the name for the pre-existing character, and it seemed too uncanny to just be a coincidence. He shows a tendency to do creative things like that with names. I really like your impression that he was finding a way to show how all those time travel events in the series made a difference and weren't just fluffy "because we can" episodes that happen but are never spoken of again. And I'm glad to hear Greg Cox is a nice guy and a pleasure to talk to! It's very evident from the way he writes how much he loves Star Trek, and it's great that he seems to love the fans as well.
@@Weiselberry you may be right about his intention for that character name, I was just going by the name of the character on IMDB, and he is called Doctor Nichols. Again, I haven't read it in years, but I seem to remember that character in the book being mentioned as an inventor of transparent aluminum so i always assumed it was meant to be him. But I could be mis-remembering, since you've clearly read it recently and I haven't! Thanks again for your review, it's always good to see a Star Trek fan in an unexpected place!
@@chuckpoore Oh, it's definitely the same character. (And Cox even included Madeline!) Could be you're right and that was already the character's name, if it's listed that way on the IMDb page. I have seen information like that added retroactively, though, so it's still a bit unclear to me. I don't know, what do the end credits say? :) You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
@@Weiselberry I just put in my Blu Ray copy of STIV and skipped to the scene. He introduces himself to Scotty and McCoy as Dr. Nichols, plant manager, on screen.
@@chuckpoore Well, that settles it then! Your memory is better than mine, haha. Now I wonder if Cox supplied the Walter or it was already attached.
Hey, Jerome? What are your thoughts on Julia Ecklar's _Star Trek_ book _The Kobayashi Maru_ which was featured in a documentary alongside Greg Cox's Khan books on the DVD bonus features of _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ 2-Disc Director's Cut DVD?
It should be an interesting character study.
@JeromeWeiselberry >>> Great review...👍
Nice review
Your reviews are... superior, JW.
Robert Lansing could only do hard men. I think that they made the correct decision not to do the spin-off.
And Miss Gar HATED doing Trek and would have refused to do Assignment: Earth without a lot of political changes. Or so she says.
Great review😊
A lot of authors mistake over describing with world/character building.
Is this "fan fiction"? I thought that term referred to material not published by the licence holders, this was published by Pocket Books and looks like an official product.
I know that Disney has made most of the Star Wars books and comics non-canon retroactively and was wondering if the same thing applied to the Star Trek franchise. I read the Star Trek paperbacks voraciously in the 80's thru the 90's but haven't kept up with the new TV shows, so I'm just curious of your thoughts on this.
Well, in the sense that it's a novel written by a fan about familiar characters from an existing IP, I would say it is. But I acknowledge there's some disagreement on what the term actually applies to. I don't use it in a disparaging way.
Though I don't know what the status of old Star Trek books is on an official level, I'm sure newer content has had that effect to a degree. But I don't believe they've been negated just because "canon" took a different path. A good book stands on its own. With regard to Star Wars, Disney basically picked what they wanted to use from the Expanded Universe and made it seem like everything else was now obsolete, but I'd say Timothy Zahn's original Thrawn trilogy is still relevant, and I'd take it over any of the newer stuff any day. If someone were to make a new Khan origin book/film/series, Greg Cox's work would still be just as valid. That's my feeling on it.
Nice "Khan!"
Kahn grew a mullet while in exile.
Lol
Te Amo
I've always thought it was strange that with all of Star Trek movies and the endless spin-offs (I'm a hardcore Trekkie and even I don't bother to keep up with all the new shows) more hasn't been done with the Eugenics Wars and Gary Seven. The original Gary Seven episode isn't great but it has plenty of potential for a modern version, and it's kind of amazing that nobody has done an episode (or an entire series) set in the 1990s, where Khan and a bunch of evil genetic supermen are sneaking around and trying to take over the world. It could be kind of an X-Files thing where it's all secret and sinister, and our heroes don't know who to trust. (That would explain why we had a Eugenics War in the Clinton era, but none of us remember it. It was all a big conspiracy!) Paramount seems determined to squeeze every drop of blood they can from Trek, so it's kind of weird that they've got these two TOS spinoffs just sitting there, waiting to be shows, but then they never happen.
These are great, read them ages ago, but unfortunately lost them at some point.
STAR TREK!!!!! LETS GOOOOOO!!!!!
I have the Audio books and there on TH-cam also good Audio books.