Product Description: On an urgent mission of mercy to a dying colony, the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM is diverted from its course by Enowil, an unpredictable exile in charge of a world gone mad. With a Klingon and a Romulan warship already under his control, Enowil puts Kirk and his crew through an agonizing, dangerous test of wits while the colonists of Epsilon Delta 4 await evacuation--or certain death....
CAPTAIN'S LOG, STARDATE 6191.8
I am faced with one of the most difficult decisions of my career. Three days ago, the Enterprise was ordered to proceed at maximum warp to Epsilon Delta 4, where 700 colonists are slowly dying of radiation poisoning. Our journey there was interrupted when Enowil, an eccentric being of unbelievable power, seized control of the ship, as well as one Klingon and one Romulan star cruiser. Offering anything in his power to give as a reward, he has asked all of us for help in solving what he refers to as a "private matter." I've seen evidence of his power: it's incredible. If I decline, if I take the ship and leave, both the Romulans and the Klingons have a chance to obtain what could be an unstoppable weapon...and change the galactic balance of power. But if I stay, I am surely condemning the 700 colonists on Epsilon Delta 4 to a slow and painful death....
Trek to Madworld The Enterprise takes Kostas Spyroukis and his daughter back to his new home planet. Spyroukis is an explorer and renowned colonizer of worlds, and has decided to settle on his final world. On the way home he collapses, and dies. Dr. McCoy discovers that the cause is a combination of argon in the planet's atmosphere, and zeton radiation emitted by the sun. Alone, neither of these things is harmful, but together they make up a slow poison. Captain Kirk sends the ship off on a mission to remove the colonists from the deadly planet, but on the way they are intercepted by a powerful being calling himself Enowil, who identifies himself as an Organian split with his fellows, and living in an uncharted region of space. He has brought the Enterprise, as well as a Klingon and Romulan ship to his home to help him answer the question of what he is missing. The first to discover will be given anything they desire. Kirk determines that he must participate, lest one of the others discover the answer and wish for an unbeatable superweapon.
The writing here is rather pedestrian, not what you would expect from a seasoned s-f writer such as Goldin. Too often I found myself saying, "Why don't they just.....?" The usual answer is, because then the problem would be solved and the book would be even shorter than it is (179 pages). Couldn't Kirk ask Enowil to intervene on the colony world, and set that problem aside? Eliminating the argon from the world's atmosphere would seem to be an effective method.
This book also suffers from a malady common to the Bantam paperbacks, which all seem to have a title with some variation of "world" in it. It involves an extremely powerful machine or being, which Kirk and crew must outwit, or persuade to their side, or some such. This was also a frequent problem on the TV series, and is a symptom of lazy plotting. With a nearly omnipotent agent, virtually anything can be accomplished, and any plot holes the writer puts him/herself in can be dodged. However, it also leads to many "why don't they" questions.
I can't recommend this book, unless you are a real ST novel completist. It's not bad, really, but there's not much to get excited about.
Only slightly entertaining... This book was written in the 1970s - and it's very...primitive. The Klingons are power-hungry bullies out for blood at any cost - this was really annoying. And Romulans with a strict code of honor? The two species seemed somewhat reversed. And the "guessing game" got real old, real fast. Also, there were many unnecessary, confusing scenes. For early Trek, it's okay, but it doesn't live up to current expectations.
not good i would not recommend it for reading, trust me.
Floppy This book is totally terrible. Confusing. It doesn't make sense. It is full of inaccuracies.
For example, if Romulans in Goldin's pathetic excuse for a story are honorable, then why did the Romulan try to shoot a defenseless woman? Second thing is this book is racist stuff. If Goldin cited all Klinons are treacherous, then he must be implying all Germans are nazis, Irish are alcoholics and terrorists, etc. I would not say those words. I don't even imply them.
Major conscience decision for Kirk. This is one of the pre Pocket Books Star Trek novels. Published in the late 70's as part of the ramp up for a second series, this is a new adventure molded in the shape of the TOS series.
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