The Latter Fire (Star Trek: The Original Series)

After being a lifetime Trekkie, I’ve only recently started reading the novels again after a break of many years. This is one of the best I’ve read. I’m giving it 5 stars, which it deserves. James Swallow captured the personality and voice of the TOS crew as well as bringing Arex and M’Ress along from TAS. It was great to read both of those characters as flesh and blood people not cartoons. His Spock, Kirk, and McCoy were spot on as well, and Uhura had some wonderful moments that contributed to the entire plot. The pacing is good. It’s an interesting plot, and the aliens are diverse and interesting. The world building is also well done. You’re not barraged with huge info dumps. You get enough as you go along to paint a picture without getting overwhelmed. All in all it was a lot of fun and very, very TOS.

This is the kind of story that Star Trek is all about. Meeting new species and facing the hardships that may come with that. The Latter Fire is a fairly simple story, and the characters all feel true to their on screen persona... except maybe Scotty, but perhaps that's just me. The write up provides all you need know going in, so I won't get in to that, but the most common complaint I've noticed in the reviews is that TLF is predictable. While there are certainly plot elements that some can say they've seen before, there's still plenty of surprises to make up for that. I did however find a few things that caught my attention: The first is that there is a civilian-ran diplomatic corps. I don't know if this is a new thing, from the mind of the author, or if I simply don't remember any reference to it. Regardless, why do we need a diplomatic corps that's separate from Starfleet if they don't have any of their own resources (ships, supplies, security...)? Seems a little redundant when there's six ST shows where SF officers do diplomatic work. There's also a scene that takes place in the brig, and it uses a force field to contain the captive audience. I don't believe TOS-era ships used fields for their cells just yet, but the only evidence I have off the top of my head is ST V so that may be a non issue. My biggest criticism is of the book's antagonist. Memorable villains are those who the reader/viewer can understand their motivations, and even empathize with their actions to some degree. The one here was so rigid and malicious that he became insufferable very quickly. There are definitely people like him IRL, but they make for poor fictional characters. Nobody would ever take a person like this seriously, and the dialog to/about him because tedious almost instantly... actually there's several conversations that discuss the same things multiple times. The climactic action scene would've been better if it was something other than including the villain one last time, IMHO of course. Other than those nitpicks, I highly recommend this book to the hardcore and casual fan alike. There is some genuinely interesting things here that will be new to a lot of people. It's also very refreshing to read a ST book that actually feels like Trek. Live Long and Prosper!

Mr Swallowed writing is packed with adventure, each character, situation, dialog, and action true to the original that won all of our hearts and turned us into Trekies so many years ago. I look forward with snticipation to sharing his next adventure!

Of all of James Swallow's Star Trek books, this is the best one so far. Fast paced and easy to read. Has some surprises in it. Characters and dialogue were good through out the story, enjoyable original series story in time frame of 5 year mission.

3.5 The story is very engaging, very true to the crew we know so well, and Swallow is a good writer. My only complaint would be that the book is just a bit too long (definitely *feeling* too long at certain points) and would have benefited from harsher editing.

This is a well-written book in terms of style, pacing and plot. I can totally imagine this book as an episode of the original Star Trek (or more appropriately, an episode of the Animated Series). All of the main officers get their moments to shine and all of the characters act as you expect. From that standpoint, it’s a satisfying story. If you are looking, however, for some new insight into the principal characters, or even a new moral/philosophical take on things, then you’ve come to the wrong place.

I really enjoyed this book. It's well written, although I agree with the previous reviewer regarding the use of "hir," it was a bit annoying. The ending was a bit abrupt, but that's not a bad thing as I really wanted the story to continue. Once finished I immediately pre-ordered the next book.

The Latter Fire is a excellent original series novel. Well paced and set at the end of the original series after the Turnabout Intruder and the beginning of the Animated Series The novel was well written. The author has a firm grasp of the characters. The plot was believable. Little touches like the inclusion of the Tikopai class Constitution ship: Altair and the inclusion of another Constitution class ship, the Arcadia added a little more depth to the story. It was refreshing not to see the usual ship candidates Ala Lexington etc being added on. The only problem was that the novel lagged at points. But other than that, I would call this a job well done.

A nice old fashioned novel. Quit entertaining and diverting.

I have read a lot of Star Trek novels over the years and this is right up there with the best of them. If you are a fan of STOS then this is a must read.

Excellent star trek adventure. If you are a trekkie you will have a hard time putting it down.

Due to time constraints i am unable to write my normal length review. But for now: Story finished. Everything we love about Trek is represented in this book. Buy it read it and love it. \\//

Loved it! Big Star Trek fan