Product Description

Few films have been so keenly awaited or the subject of so much internet debate as the twelfth Star Trek movie -- the first since 2002 -- which is scheduled to be released in May 2009. Directed by J.J. Abrams, creator of cutting-edge cult television shows Lost and Alias, the film is expected to launch the Star Trek franchise into a new stellar era. Going back to the very beginnings of the classic Star Trek, the film tells how James T. Kirk, the half-Vulcan Spock, Dr McCoy, engineer Montgomery Scott and crew members Chekov, Sulu and Uhura first came together as rookie Starfleet recruits, and how they embraced the destiny that would later send them out across the galaxy accompanied by the immortal words: 'These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise...' A largely brand new cast including Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) as Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Karl Urban as McCoy alongside Eric Bana, Winona Ryder and Leonard Nimoy will bring Star Trek to a whole new audience, while at the same time Alan Dean Foster's novelization will enthrall both existing fans and a new generation of readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70609 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-08
• Released on: 2009-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Alan Dean Foster is the author of several bestselling Star Wars novels as well as science-fiction, fantasy, detective, western, historial and contemporary fiction.

Customer Reviews

Star Trek's Zachary Quinto takes us beyond the Final Frontier!
Once you get over the initial very pleasing shock of SEVEN DISCS & EIGHT HOURS OF STORYLINE, and the initaly slight disappointment of a lack of sound effects you're on a roller coaster ride!

Alan Dean Foster is a veteran Star trek writer. He's made excellent use of the story which Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote for JJ Abram's 2009 film, "Star Trek".

On a practical level there are chapters on each disc, so you don't have to "fast-forward" or "rewind" if you're trying to find a bit you missed!
The box set has 3 dividers and it's nicely packaged with a pleasing "Star Trek" logo, looking carefully you'll see the characters from the new film embedded into the letters!

It's a LONG LONG story. So we get more than the film shows us. But that's no problem. Of course we don't have the visuals, or the sound effects.

What we DO have however is a genuinely enjoyable book, read by someone who shows their great enthusiasm for the variety that in essence IS Star Trek.

So how has Zachary Quinto done? Well, his menacing chilling interpretation of the Romulan villain NERO is spot on! Sylar might need to look to his laurels.. We also hear the tender side of humanity as Uhura takes form in this recording. ZQ is capable of a wide range of voice control, emulating feminine voices without pantomime.

As for his interpretation of Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy, that irascible Southern Gentleman's drawl certainly comes close to that of Karl Urban, who in turn is often second cousin to the late marvellous DeForest Kelley.

Zachary Quinto is well known as Sylar from Tim Kring's "Heroes". Of course he is the actor who plays the younger Spock in the film, and was the first actor JJ recruited. ZQ plays the younger version of Spock in the film, and continues his excellent portrayal of everyone's favourite Vulcan Science Officer [well, favourite to all apart from Nero, any number of Romulans, Klingons, etc etc ..].

Personally I'm not so sure of his "Older Spock" voice but then in my opinion nobody apart from Leonard Nimoy is Spock. However - he DOES do a pretty good job. It's logical - he spent quite a time with Leonard Nimoy on the film set and before.

At times the script bring hoots of laughter - especially where Scotty is around, and ZQ does a fair imitation of Scotland's finest Chief Engineer. Simon Pegg did have the edge but when ZQ intones in rich brogue: "I like this ship - it's exciting" it's a good echo of Pegg's nod to James [Scotty] Doohan, so sadly missed now.

As for his "James T Kirk", no, he's not a mini-Shatner, but he certainly shows the various emotions and conflicts of the character through careful voice changes and controls.

Captain Christopher Pike is indeed a senior, well-tried opfficer, and again Zachary Quinto expresses that well, tempered with concern for his crew and a particular new, very raw cadet in particular.

So all in all, the recording is good fun - I've listened to it on my commute to work this week and it's been great! I've got more of the "backstory" to the film and some things are explained more clearly than I expected.

So thanks to Alan Dean Foster for the words, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for the original script, JJ Abram's for his idea to renew this Enterprise, and to Zachary Quinto who exudes such enjoyment for Simon & Schuster's latest recording in the Star Trek series of tie-ins.

Live Long and Prosper [well, at least for 7 discs worth!]

Captain Cohen, Coventry, UK

What a disapointing read
What a disappointing book to read, especially after the brilliance that is the film upon which it is based. Sadly Foster's novelization isn't up to the task, and presents us with little more than a prose version of the script.

I would have preferred to visit more of the characters' heads and seen their thought patterns, but instead, like the film, we stick with Kirk, seeing things from his narrow perspective and getting very little extra information about what's going on inside.

The only redeeming feature to this were the scenes that were deleted from the film... an excellent scene where Kirk as a child is cleaning his step-father's car, and a useful one where Spock is born, which would have been an excellent place to introduce the traditional Vulcan finger rubbing, which could then replace the most out of place scene later on.

Foster completely ruins all the jokes. It's almost as if he's gone through, found them all, and altered them just a tiny bit so they don't work. The most obvious example is when Kirk and McCoy first meet, and McCoy states that all that he has is his skeleton... instead of the correct 'bones'.

Overall, not good, but hopefully everyone who reads it will have already seen the film, which is fantastic, and not be put off by this poor showing.

Excellently narrated
I've been lucky enough to already listen to this, and it's amazingly narrated by Zachary Quinto.

The novel itself is a typical Star Trek novel-not spectacular literature but certainly enjoyable and entertaining.

It differs slightly from the movie, in places (where script edits were made, I assume) but it makes up for it by adding and expanding other scenes.

However, the narration really is the highlight of this audiobook.

Zachary Quinto reads smoothly and does an excellent job with every character voice. I thoroughly enjoyed all eight hours of his reading!