Malcolm McDowell on why Kirk's death was a waste

[StarFuryG7]

Along the same lines as the last post:

Over at io9:

Malcolm McDowell explains why the death of Captain Kirk was such a waste

Just in case you needed another reason to love Malcolm McDowell, here you go. The Clockwork Orange star, who played the villain Soran in Star Trek: Generations, explains in a new interview with Metro why he thought Kirk's death was a waste: "Poor old Captain Kirk," he said in a telephone interview...

More » io9.com/5942874/malcolm-mcdowell-explains-why-the-death-of-captain-kirk-was-a-total-waste

[CRAMBAM]

Eh. He still doesn't get that killing Kirk at ALL was stupid.

[Mel]

In the comments section, someone mentioned that Shatner wrote a book about the Borg reviving him (The Return; there's a summary at Wikipedia). Anyone read the book? Any good?

Btw, today while online I read that Shatner is an atheist. Is he really? That surprised me.

[CRAMBAM]

As far as I know, Shatner's Jewish.

As you can imagine, I read The Return 5 minutes after it came out.

You have to think of The Return as part one of a two parter.

It wasn't the perfect story by any means, but it accomplished its goal of bringing Kirk back in the 24th century, and setting things right.

With Shatner as the main author, it was very Kirk-centric, and my biggest complaint about the book was that it made Riker look like a prick, but aside from that, it was one of, if not my favorite Star Trek novels.

It was one of, if not THE best selling Trek novels ever, and made Paramount look even more stupid for not bringing the character back.

The Return was actually the SECOND book in the story. The first book, Ashes of Eden, was a post-Star Trek 6/pre-Generations story, which introduced a character that would become very important in later books in the series (though not The Return).

Other than what I felt was butchering Riker (something they fixed in later books), the biggest flaw of The Return was it ended on a cliffhanger, which of course was resolved in the 3rd book, Avenger.

After Avenger, they started a new trilogy which dealt with the mirror universe. And after that, there was a third trilogy, which I guess I need to re-read because I barely remember it.

Then there was one final book which told an origin of how Kirk and Spock met. I haven't read that.

What I really liked about the books was that they really brought together the entire Trek universe, with very good continuity. Obviously, that credit goes to the co-authors, the Reeves Stevenses, who obviously knew their stuff, and had a talent for even correcting the stupidity and laziness of the Berman/Braga era. They also were good at rehabilitating dumb creative decisions even if they didn't violate canon.

[captainbasil]

Thanks for the review. I have only read some of Shatner's Tek books. I may see if I can pick up a copy of The Return . Since my wife belongs to Science Fiction Book Club it shouldn't be too tough a job. ;D

[CRAMBAM]

Definitely.

I would recommend the first 6 books.

In order:

Ashes of Eden (takes place in the 23rd century)
The Return
Avenger

You can stop here if you don't like them.

But if you do:

Spectre
Dark Victory
Preserver

Also a good place to stop if you want.

There are 4 more after that. A third trilogy and then a prequel.

[TrekBeatTK]

Yeah, I started "The Return" years ago but never finished. Probably shortly after it came out.

Started Ashes of Eden too, but only got about a chapter in. There was one factual error though that bugged me (there was some passing reference to the episode "Who Mourns For Adonais" that was erroneous). May finish it at some point.

-TK

[CRAMBAM]

It's interesting, but as this became a topic, I have been working my way through the Shatner novels--audio versions. I had them awhile, but never bothered listening to them. I do about 30 minutes a day during lunch, and I just finished THE RETURN.

The audios are awesome, but it's interesting what they decide to cut out. It's been awhile since I read the book, but I noticed a few major plot points missing. One involved Worf and Kirk fighting. And surprisingly, they cut out McCoy entirely.

[Mel]

I would recommend the first 6 books. In order: Ashes of Eden (takes place in the 23rd century), The Return, and Avenger. You can stop here if you don't like them. You can stop here if you don't like them. But if you do: Spectre, Dark Victory, and Preserver.

Thanks Cram, and others, for the feedback on The Return. I want to read it. It sounds interesting, and I'd like to read a Shatner book. (I read a couple of the Tek ones.) Do I *need* to read the first one before I read The Return? I'm not sure I care about the trilogy.

[CRAMBAM]

Well, the Return does sort of end on a cliffhanger, and the resolution of the cliffhanger, as well as the second trilogy, has a character that was created in the first book.

I guess technically, you don't need to read the first one, but if you don't, you'll be relying on the explanation of who this character is, without having experienced the adventure yourself.

It's not vital to read Ashes, but it's better.

Interesting that I just finished the audio of The Return and Avenger, and in both cases, they cut out McCoy, who played a role in both books.