Christopher L. Bennett
Pocket Books, 2019
STARSTAR TREK:TREK:
THETHE ORIGINALORIGINAL SERIES:SERIES:
THETHE CAPTAIN’S OATHCAPTAIN’S OATH
It’s been two and a half years since the last original series
novel was published, with all the more recent Star Trek
novels focusing on Star Trek: The Next Generation or
Star Trek: Discovery. So it’s good to return to where it all
began: with James T. Kirk. Over the years we have read
various stories about Kirk’s fi rst adventures aboard the
Enterprise, but until now we have not really known about
his previous command, and how this led to him becoming
the captain of the Federation’s fl agship.
The Captain’s Oath is set weeks after Kirk has
become captain of the Enterprise, and as he starts
getting used to a new ship and crew, and getting to grips
with a mission to save an archaeological team, we jump
back to his previous command, the Starship Sacagawea,
where the majority of the story takes place. Here we see
a different Kirk, one who is still learning what it means to
be a starship captain; who is more disciplined and not
yet willing to trust his intuition – something that later will
become one of his best-known traits.
Kirk and the Sacagawea have to deal with Klingons,
space pirates, fi rst contact situations, and various
encounters with a race called the Agni, who could
endanger the whole Federation. It’s the Agni and how
Kirk fi nally allows his intuition to help save the day that is
the focus of the story, but along the way Kirk does make
mistakes, and as such must deal with the consequences
of his decisions and actions.
This is a character-driven story, one where over several
years, Kirk, through his crew on the Sacagawea, learns
a lot about what it means to be in command. It’s his
interactions with his crew – especially Rhenas Sherev and
Mehran Egdor – that I enjoyed the most. We begin to see
his friendship with Leonard McCoy, and his continuing
one with Gary Mitchell, but it’s the introduction of the new
characters and the impact they have on Kirk’s life that for
me made the story stand out. While he is not a prominent
character, it’s also great to see Captain Pike, and the part
he played in Kirk becoming captain of the Enterprise.
Christopher L. Bennett shows us a Kirk that we’ve not
seen before, which makes this story feel fresh. Like his other
novels – such as The Buried Age – it fi lls in a lot of gaps
about the characters, and provides background to events
that the TV series just didn’t get time to show. This isn’t your
typical original series story, but it is a very enjoyable one.MICHAEL CLARKTRICORDER: REVIEWS