To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh - Greg Cox

I have to admit to reading this book before but have never reviewed it as it was before I started posting my opinions on the internet. I decided to re-read it as I am having a bit of a Star Trek moment and I adore Khan - I believe this was mentioned in a previous post. Everyone has their guilty pleasures and I am afraid this is mine. I am not ashamed of this.

On to the book and away from my confessions. This novel fills the gap between the episode Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan. It depicts the plight of the genetically engineered supermen and their survival on Ceti Alpha V. Cox recreates the characters perfectly and it is a real credit to them. There is never a point where Khan acts in a non-Khan way and the same can be said for the rest of the cast too. Cox has fortified Marla's character with some iron so she manages to survive in the world and not fall prey to the environment or the squabbling of the other characters. Yet she retains the same naivety and innocence that she had in Space Seed. She is a strong central character and was a joy to read about.

The technical aspects of this book are brilliant too. The language was easy to read and still engaging. Although I have read this before, more than once, it still had me turning the pages wanting to know what happened next. There are no dull moments in this story and it gives valuable insights into the characters we know from the Star Trek films; from Khan's madness to Kirk's remorse, all are covered in this book. Cox also has the ability to manipulate the point of view of the reader. You end up feeling genuinely sorry for the stranded supermen, some of the events they have to face are too cruel to think about. I'll not go into any details as I want you to go and read this yourself. I won't ruin it for you.

I'll not rattle on and on about the wonderful aspects of this novel; its great and if you're a Star Trek fan, it is a must read. If you ever wondered what happened on Ceti Alpha V, this is the book for you. Cox is a fabulous author and the novel is a joy to read.

Star Trek: Into Darkness - Alan Dean Foster

So, I loved the film and as I am unable to go and see it again, I decided to try the book. Alan Dean Foster wrote the novel for the film Alien so I had rather high expectations. Here's what I thought.


As far as a film novelization goes, the book is fine. It followed the storyline exactly. There were no deviations from the plot line, even the speech was nearly word perfect, which was a nice recap if that is what you are after. I was hoping for a bit more than this. Maybe I was foolish to expect some further insights into character motivations and feelings. I mean, I know it was meant to follow the film and such but was it too much to expect a little more life breathed into them? The actors need to do this with their bodies, authors do so with words and as far as I am concerned, this book fails to do so.

Don't get me wrong, some parts of this novel really get the pages turning. The action scenes are a real pleasure to read; the space battles are fraught, fast paced and well read.The characters are true to the originals as well, there was no point that Spock, for instance, did anything un-Spock-like. Kirk was still the cheeky, rough and ready Star Ship Captain and Khan was still the revenge hungry ego-maniac he always has been. This, at least, is spot on in the novel and is a credit to the author.

Here's another downside; some of the language is a bit confusing. The sentences were too long which clouded the meanings somewhat. I had to read some of them several times to understand what the author was getting at - and this wasn't during the uber science parts either. This made it a bit frustrating at times but didn't detract from the overall read.

All in all, this book was an alright read but it lacked some of the insights into the characters that I have come  to expect in other novels. Still, it's not bad and worth a read.