Review of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Cadet Kirk," by Diane Carey

 Review of

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Cadet Kirk, by Diane Carey, ISBN 0671000772

Five out of five stars

The early relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy

 In this book, James Kirk is a Star Fleet cadet, Spock is a Star Fleet ensign and McCoy is a Medical Intern. Kirk is to pilot a shuttlecraft to a conference where the primary passenger is to be computer genius Dr. Richard Daystrom. Through a change in plans, the passenger list is changed so there are three people on board, Kirk, McCoy and Spock.

 While enroute to the conference, the shuttle is grabbed by a tractor beam and forced down on a planet. Thinking that Daystrom is on the shuttle, the goal of the pirates is to take him captive, extract classified information and then ransom him back to the Federation.

 All three of the characters are not yet molded into their final form. Kirk is a very regulation/rule follower, Spock has not yet managed to adapt his Vulcan logic to his interactions with humans and McCoy is not yet an opiniated doctor. In their struggles to overcome their captors and make sure that Daystrom is not kidnapped in the future, the three men must cooperate and overcome their current rough edges in order to triumph. The author does an excellent job in describing how the three men are working their way from being students to the Starfleet legends that they will become. The reader can also see the beginnings of the deep friendship that will be produced.

 This is an excellent story; it is enjoyable to see Cadet Kirk as a stickler for rules and regulations and Spock taking the position that some rules do not apply to their situation. It reminds the people that enjoy the original Star Trek series that the characters were once inexperienced novices.

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