Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780743463560
ISBN number: 0743463560
Label: Star Trek
Manufacturer: Star Trek
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: August 01, 2004
Publishing house: Star Trek
Sale Popularity Level: 819489
Studio: Star Trek
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
Following their bestsellers Vulcan's Forge and Vulcan's Heart, Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz embark on a new trilogy chronicling the latter-day adventures of one of Star Trek's most beloved characters, shedding new light on his world's shocking history.
One year after the end of the Dominion War, the Romulan Star Empire comes under attack by a mysterious and alarmingly powerful enemy calling itself the Watraii, a species with a long-standing vendetta against the Romulans. Yet though they remain tenuously allied, the Federation, the Romulans, and the Klingons are unready to become embroiled in another sustained conflict, forcing Ambassador Spock, Admiral Uhura, Admiral Chekov, Captain Saavik, and some unexpected allies to defy their governments in order to meet the new threat head-on. But the very first blood drawn may prove to be among the dearest of all.
Unknown to the defenders, the secret behind the Watraii's attack is buried in Vulcan's violent ancient past, during the time of Surak himself, when the proto-Romulans -- staunch opponents of Surak's reforms -- were compelled to take their chances among the cold and distant stars. Now Spock must begin the very first leg of a long and dangerous road to learn the truth...before his hopes for the future become ashes.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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While the book can be quite enjoyable in its own right, the authors don't seem to be familiar with the much better series of books written by Diane Duane. Her history of the Sundering and the creation of the Romulan (Rihannsu) culture is better established in five previous books, and quite frankly makes better sense considering the way the Vulcan people turned out in the canon shows.
Books are never completely canon when the shows and movies can change details at any moment, but the books could at least be a part of the time line. Based on [...] information Chekov would be 132 and Uhura 138 years old in this trilogy. And I've never seen a hint of Saavik being married to Spock in the shows- that is sort of incestuous considering their early history. It seems a little too pat to have some of these details in the book and feels more like fannish wish fulfillment than good story-telling.
Rated by buyers 
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Major chronology/continuity issues with this one. Dissappointing, as I liked Shwartz & Sherman's other work.
1. Saavik had to wait 75 years to make Captain? Heck, if that were me, I would've resigned long before...
2. Uhura and Chekov are still alive?? Excuse me?
3. Authors treat the Dominion War as if it happened what, a year, after the movies, forgetting there is a 75 year period of time in between.
This novel just doesn't live up to the excellence of the authors' previous work. Star Trek authors should really watch all of the shows before attempting to write anything.
Rated by buyers -
The idea behind this book is quite interesting and could be catchy for many readers. With it's style of 'one chapter in present times, one chapter in the past etc.' it resembles a little "Spock's World", which is a really good book.
BUT...
The authors's style itself is rather clumsy and seems forced.
Some examples:
1) Admiral Chekov? Admiral Uhura?
Using those ST:Classic characters who might still be available, however old they may be, to nourish a story about Vulcans and Romulans is dull at best.
Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz are most likely satisfying their own sentimentalities in unnecessarily "reviving" these characters for their book...or is it just a desperate endeavor to attract more ST:Classic fans?!
2) Vulcanoids have purple blood - common knowledge among Star Trek fans.
Nonetheless we are being informed about this fact almost every other page. Something/one has always a blood-green tone, shines in the brightest blood-green, resembles the purple of healthy blood, has a streak of purple blood upon his face etc...
After about 50 pages it made me wanna scream: "YES, I GOT IT! PLEASE STOP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!"
I highly doubt, that Vulcanoids are running around constantly judging the tone of everything purple and reminding themselves, and thus also the reader, that THIS is the colour of their blood, not red. Fascinating, that these Vulcanoids almost never see any other colour worth mentioning in this book, just green.
Did Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz try to underline the exoticism/alienism of Vulcanoids this way? If so, it's a primitive and seriously unnerving attempt.
3) Vulcans are a very intelligent, precise species and know how to calculate without a computer. Nothing new!
Nonetheless Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz feel the need to remind the reader of this fact almost every other page (again!). Their Vulcans make comments about the PRECISE chances for whatever situation (however ridiculously uncalculable it may be) all the time.
Here just ONE example out of SO MANY: "Wouldn't it be wonderful, if the moment could last?" Saavik asked. "If we could all stay so amazingly unified. Of course," she added, "that is logically not possible." There was less than a .00035563 chance of such an intense feeling of unity lasting any longer...(Spock's thinking)
Where did he get all the necessary data to calculate such an amazingly precise number...for something as variable as humanoid behaviour? And why does he do it every other page, whether it's necessary/useful or not? Is it logical to constantly waste part of your concentration on something absolutely useless (and impossible)? Does that properly support the image of an intelligent and logical man/race?
4) Surprise, surprise - did you know, that Vulcans follow a philosophy that revolves around logic? If not, this book makes sure you will notice and never ever forget it!!!
Perhaps Vulcans (or just the authors?) don't have such good a memory and don't exactly know what logic actually is, cause it seems they have to remind themselves and others of the logic in this and that every now and then. If the situation, action, case has something to do with logic or not is rather irrelevant.
If you're just looking for a story and further background information about Vulcans and Romulans, this book will be quite interesting for you. Should you be the kind who likes good writing too, your money would be wasted.
PS: Please forgive my grammar and spelling, but english is not my mother tongue.
Rated by buyers 
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Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz have crafted one of the finest examples of "Star Trek" fiction that I've come across in "Star Trek Vulcan's Soul Book 1 Exodus", which is a thoroughly engaging look at Vulcan at the time of "The Sundering" coupled with the mysterious appearance of the Watraii, an alien race dedicated to the total destruction of the Romulan Star Empire's homeworlds of Romulus and Remus. I am surprised that Admiral Pavel Chekhov can be as spry as he is, given his advanced age, but nonetheless, I did welcome his appearance as well as Admiral Uhura's, in this well conceived story involving Star Trek: The Original Series characters set a year after the Dominion War. However, the most engaging characters are those from "The Sundering", most notably the engineer Karatek, who eventually becomes a disciple of Surak's, and flees Vulcan in one of the Exodus starships leaving a nuclear war-ravaged planet. The literary quality of the authors' prose is much better than what I have read from virtually most of the recent Star Trek fiction I've come across. I am looking forward to reading the sequel, which will be the second book in a trilogy devoted to Spock and Vulcan's history circa "The Sundering" and its repercussions for the United Federation of Planets, Klingon Empire and especially, Romulan Star Empire.
Rated by buyers 
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Apart from the plot of the book, I'm curious as to how Uhura and Chekhov can still be active Starfleet officers at well over 140 years old. They're only human! Dr. McCoy showed up on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 2363 or so, and he was obviously not in any shape to be on active duty. I find it hard to believe that Uhura and Chekhov are in much better shape, being only a few years younger. Obviously, there would be medical advances in the almost 400 years between now and then, but if medicine has advanced so much that humans are living a couple hundred years, why was Dr. McCoy in such decrepit condition? In "Generations", Picard remarks that there are more days behind him than before him, and I've never heard anything indicating he is over 100. It's nice to have the old characters around, I know, but it just doesn't make sense. Of course, none of the books are "canon", so I suppose that allows for some leeway, but some sort of rationality would be nice.
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