September 18, 2006

The Last Roundup

In this Star Trek novel, author Christie Golden adds several Native American touches. Foremost among them is the supporting character of Admiral Laura Standing Crane, whom Kirk supposedly has known almost as long as Spock. Standing Crane wears her hair in a braid, swears by the Great Spirit, and smudges to cleanse her quarters. When a group of Starfleet officers explains Earth's history to an alien, one officer notes that his ancestors killed or oppressed Standing Crane's ancestors.

Also, when McCoy is training interns on Klingon anatomy (this story takes place after The Undiscovered Country), they have to dispose of a dissected Klingon body. One of the interns mutters something about "the only good Klingon...," whereupon McCoy berates him for using a racist phrase first applied to Indians.

Overall, it's just a good ST novel, not great. Rob's rating: 7.5 of 10.

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