Lost to Eternity is the latest Star Trek novel by Greg Cox and is definitely one of the better releases in some time. The novel is a little complicated because there are three story threads interwoven throughout the pages until the common threat comes to light. It serves as a sequel to the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but it’s more of a treat than just that.
It begins in the present year of 2024 with a true podcaster named Melinda Silver who has decided to examine the peculiar circumstance surrounding the disappearance of marine biologist Gillian Taylor, who disappeared almost four decades earlier. Of course, the aforementioned film reveals that Dr. Taylor joined Captain James Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise who had hijacked a Klingon warship, traveled through time to retrieve a couple of humpback whales to communicate with a probe that was tearing Earth apart in the twenty-third century. None of that is known to Melinda as she interviews several witnesses that tell her of a strange man who jumped into the whale tank, a Russian who was captured on a United States naval vessel that same day, and an old woman who grew a new kidney while at the hospital.
In the year 2268, Captain Kirk and his crew are sent to find an apparently abducted Federation scientist who is also being sought by the Klingons as well. The search takes them to a primitive world where a mysterious man is ruthlessly trying to achieve immortality.
The next mission takes place in 2292 and has Captain Kirk and his crew to participate in an effort to convince an ancient race known as the Osari who have decided to come out of isolation and interact with its galactic neighbors. The Osari are also interested in meeting the Romulans and the Klingons. The diplomatic mission seems to have a promising start until one of the Osari is apparently killed and a familiar Starfleet officer and Romulan subcommander are missing and presumed dead. Yet again, a secret adversary is manipulating the crisis, and the quest for eternal life has continued but at a fatal price.
I can sometimes be critical of Star Trek novelists spending too much dredging up sequels of old episodes or films, but Cox actually does it pretty uniquely here. He turns some of the extra bystanders into real characters here. I was actually motivated to rewatch the film a few days ago to identify the potential characters who Melida interviewed. Of course, it’s a fun movie overall.
The adversary is a new threat to the crew and their missions, so that was most welcome.
Cox does get a little overindulgent on referencing prior episodes at times, but for the most part, this contribution hits all the right marks. The main characters are depicted pretty accurately. There is an appropriate number of space battles and phaser fights.
Books that are tied to television or film franchises are often hit or miss, but Cox hits what could be a metaphorical bullseye here.
After my brief return to the twenty-third century, my next read will bring me to Tibbehah County, Mississippi where Sheriff Quinn Colson has some fixing up to do in The Broken Places by Ace Atkins.
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