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Star Trek #9
Star Trek 9
Ninth in a series of Star Trek: The Original Series episode adaptations. Includes six stories: Return To Tomorrow, The Ultimate Computer, That Which Survives, Obsession, The Return Of The Archons, The Immunity Syndrome.
(from the back cover)
Explore the outer reaches with the Enterprise and her crew as they exchange bodies with an alien intelligence; engage in deadly war games; pursue a vaporous creature to a desolate planet; and probe a fearsome zone of darkness that threatens to destroy them all.
(from the back cover)
Explore the outer reaches with the Enterprise and her crew as they exchange bodies with an alien intelligence; engage in deadly war games; pursue a vaporous creature to a desolate planet; and probe a fearsome zone of darkness that threatens to destroy them all.
183 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1973
About the author
James Blish
429 books298 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 23, 2023
This is the ninth collection of short stories adapted from screenplays of the original Star Trek series. In his prefatory remarks, Blish for the first time acknowledges the contribution of his mother-in-law, Muriel Lawrence (Muriel Cameron Bodkin was a well-known writer from the pulp days; she even sold to Weird Tales in 1933, and was in the same issue as the first publication of Robert E. Howard's Conan story, The Tower of the Elephant), who had been an uncredited collaborator since the sixth volume, as was her daughter, Blish's wife, J.A. Lawrence. Anyway, the Blish team continued to produce good, accurate, clear and simple versions of ST episodes. There are six stories in this volume: Return to Tomorrow, The Ultimate Computer, That Which Survives, Obsession, The Return of the Archons, and The Immunity Syndrome. It's set in Space, see, which is the Final Frontier, and each story is one of the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, which is on this five-year mission to do cool sciency adventure stuff and boldly go where no man has... ooops...was that spoilery?
September 6, 2019
These books have improved over the course of the series. I'm glad the author's foreword has returned; it was fun to read about the surprisingly high attendance at the first Trek convention; who knew it would still be going strong all these years later?
July 23, 2011
Blish's prefaces to these books went AWOL for a couple of volumes and the fans wrote to complain! I don't blame them as Blish is more rewarding than most authors when talking about his own books. In fact, when talking about anything, as illustrated by The Issue at Hand,More Issues at Hand: Critical Studies in Contemporary Science Fiction and Tale That Wags the God. (Note that Athling was a Blish pseudonym.)
More fun with Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty et al.
More fun with Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty et al.
April 4, 2017
I loved this book! The best bit was the start, the end wasn't as good.
Even though the slight error or two, a great read.
Even though the slight error or two, a great read.
August 18, 2017
When i was a kid, my older sister's friend GAVE me the entire collection. (I know!) Over the next few years, I read them all in order, starting the first one the day after I finished the last one. Loved them. I'm not sad that I didn't hang onto them and can only hope they still exist to make some other fan happy. (But I doubt it because...well, paperbacks, you know?)
The adaptations got better in the later volumes, but it was Star Trek whenever and wherever I wanted with having to put up with the spastic tripe William Shatner calls acting.
Frankly, I can't remember which story was in which volume, so my rating reflects my enjoyment of the set...which I am hoping will come out in e-book form very soon.
The adaptations got better in the later volumes, but it was Star Trek whenever and wherever I wanted with having to put up with the spastic tripe William Shatner calls acting.
Frankly, I can't remember which story was in which volume, so my rating reflects my enjoyment of the set...which I am hoping will come out in e-book form very soon.
February 3, 2019
There are six short stories in this collection! Return to Tomorrow and The Ultimate Computer were 2 of my favorites! The other four stories were pretty solid as well! 4 stars! I'm a Trekkie!
October 4, 2016
Essentially a novelization of six episodes from the original series. Blish didn't add much to the plot, leaving each to be a straight forward adaptation. It was enjoyable for what it was and perfect for my plane ride.
February 14, 2013
In 9 books we've gone from "he could never completely trust his alien first officer" to "his beloved Spock, dearest companion". The power of fandom compels everyone.
March 15, 2016
Great read on the further adventures of the star ship enterprise
July 19, 2024
I devoured these books as a kid in the 70's. At that time the only other Star Trek around was the animated series and a couple of books and we were at the mercy of the 3 channel universe still!
Basically all twelve books follow the t.v. episodes pretty closely, just with literary filler to make it flow better. Nowadays we would just read a Wiki entry and ignore the books.
The biggest difference is that in some of the earlier books, up to around Star Trek 5 or 6, James Blish would change a few things for narrative flow, and in particular remove the unnecessary death of a the occasional Red Shirt. (Awwwwww!) But by the end of the run he was just basically going through the motions and just writing the script as it was, dead Red Shirts and all (Yeah!).
My one complaint though is that JB would write Scotty's speaking parts in a Scottish Brogue and more often than not I couldn't make head or tales of it.
Still, would have not missed reading them for anything. I was an avid Trekkie after all. And for JB it was a nice gig for an over the hill sci-fi writer.
Best part of all was that in grade 9 and 10 high school our English class had a 6 or 12 (I forget which) book reading requirement. And it being a Technical Vocation high school, that requirement caused a furor with so many students who had never read a book in their life. Thank you James Blish and Star Trek. Within a month I already had my 12 book requirement covered. LOL
I decided to up my rating from 3 to 4 stars when I remembered just how much enjoyment these books gave me.
Live Long And Prosper.
Basically all twelve books follow the t.v. episodes pretty closely, just with literary filler to make it flow better. Nowadays we would just read a Wiki entry and ignore the books.
The biggest difference is that in some of the earlier books, up to around Star Trek 5 or 6, James Blish would change a few things for narrative flow, and in particular remove the unnecessary death of a the occasional Red Shirt. (Awwwwww!) But by the end of the run he was just basically going through the motions and just writing the script as it was, dead Red Shirts and all (Yeah!).
My one complaint though is that JB would write Scotty's speaking parts in a Scottish Brogue and more often than not I couldn't make head or tales of it.
Still, would have not missed reading them for anything. I was an avid Trekkie after all. And for JB it was a nice gig for an over the hill sci-fi writer.
Best part of all was that in grade 9 and 10 high school our English class had a 6 or 12 (I forget which) book reading requirement. And it being a Technical Vocation high school, that requirement caused a furor with so many students who had never read a book in their life. Thank you James Blish and Star Trek. Within a month I already had my 12 book requirement covered. LOL
I decided to up my rating from 3 to 4 stars when I remembered just how much enjoyment these books gave me.
Live Long And Prosper.
March 9, 2022
James Blish set out to adapt the original STAR TREK episodes into easily digested short stories, at this he succeeded. Each volume of the series contains an assortment of stories, usually not in any particular order. This may frustrate some fans, or perfectionists who would prefer it to have been more orderly.
Sadly the author passed away before he could chronicle every episode, but he completed a substantial number of stories, collected in several volumes. Volume 9 includes the following novelizations based on the STAR TREK Original Series (TOS) episodes:
RETURN TO TOMORROW
THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER
THAT WHICH SURVIVES
OBSESSION
THE RETURN OF THE ARCHONS
THE IMMUNITY SYNDROME
The adapted episodes tend to make about 25-30 pages of reading apiece, which makes them easily read. There are little details or scenes which might go unnoticed in the filmed versions. I found the stories to be well told -I enjoyed Blish's writing style and pacing- and of course as a TOS fan, interesting anyway.
A fun way to revisit the Original STAR TREK, but also engaging to read the stories rather than just watching them play out on the screen. A must for the well read Trekkie!
Sadly the author passed away before he could chronicle every episode, but he completed a substantial number of stories, collected in several volumes. Volume 9 includes the following novelizations based on the STAR TREK Original Series (TOS) episodes:
RETURN TO TOMORROW
THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER
THAT WHICH SURVIVES
OBSESSION
THE RETURN OF THE ARCHONS
THE IMMUNITY SYNDROME
The adapted episodes tend to make about 25-30 pages of reading apiece, which makes them easily read. There are little details or scenes which might go unnoticed in the filmed versions. I found the stories to be well told -I enjoyed Blish's writing style and pacing- and of course as a TOS fan, interesting anyway.
A fun way to revisit the Original STAR TREK, but also engaging to read the stories rather than just watching them play out on the screen. A must for the well read Trekkie!
June 24, 2024
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!
Best missions in this volume in my opinion are "Obsession" and "The Immunity Syndrome".
Next hardcover: "Star Trek 10" by James Blish (1974).
Best missions in this volume in my opinion are "Obsession" and "The Immunity Syndrome".
Next hardcover: "Star Trek 10" by James Blish (1974).
June 21, 2017
Short story adaptations of the Original series. Short, quick, fun reads, but not real intellectual.
February 13, 2022
The stories in this book were actually exciting. Reading this book is like watching the series in word form. Not much to say about it, other than it is nostalgic.
December 3, 2015
If 1972 had a torrent of James Blish's adaptations (four!), 1973 had a drought. In August 1973 was published that year's sole entry in the series,
Star Trek 9
. This volume adapts "Return to Tomorrow", "The Ultimate Computer", "That Which Survives", "Obsession", "The Return of the Archons", and "The Immunity Syndrome".
In "Return to Tomorrow", the Enterprise encounters three aliens, survivors of an ancient war, who wish to borrow a few of their bodies to build android bodies for themselves. This adaptation isn't bad, but it's really another story that got most of its value from seeing the characters acting unlike themselves, which works much better on television. Reading of the doings of 'Sargon-Kirk' just isn't the same as watching William Shatner, after all.
In "The Ultimate Computer", Dr. Richard Daystrom, the brilliant scientist who built the Enterprise's computer, has invented a new kind of computer, the M-5 multitronic unit, which promises to be so capable as to replace a starship's entire crew, and the Enterprise has been given the honor of testing it. When the computer malfunctions, it's up to the skeleton crew that remains on the Enterprise to regain control of their vessel before their comrades in Starfleet are forced to destroy them. An entertaining story.
In "That Which Survives", the Enterprise and a landing party are attacked by the image of a woman, who is actually a computer-controlled replica defending a dead planet. A threadbare story, indeed. We're meant to feel some sympathy for the woman, and it works a little in the TV episode, but I just don't feel it in the short story. Forgettable.
In "Obsession", the Enterprise encounters a murderous cloud creature that, eleven years ago, killed many members of the crew of the Farragut, on which Kirk served as a lieutenant. As they investigate, the clock is ticking, since the Enterprise must rendezvous with the Yorktown to transport some highly perishable and desperately needed medical supplies. This story works out far too well for Kirk--he clearly is simply obsessed (as the title indicates) with the creature, and his decision to put off meeting up with the Yorktown is clearly a dangerous one, but since he's friends with the writers it turns out he was right all along. I'm not a fan of this one.
"The Return of the Archons" tells the story of yet another society made stagnant by a ruling godlike computer, Landru. And once again Kirk convinces it to kill itself. A fairly entertaining story. I'd like to get some more information on the creation of the computer, its original purpose, whether it was immediately tyrannical or became thus over time, but there's never enough time in an episode for much detail, and these adaptations aren't any different. It's still worth a read, though.
In "The Immunity Syndrome", the Enterprise encounters a giant space amoeba. Which they blow up. The end.
Star Trek 9 is another middling entry in Blish's series of adaptations. A few of the stores are reasonably entertaining, but "That Which Survives" and "The Immunity Syndrome" are rather dull. I admit that at this point I'm really looking forward to the end of this series. Fortunately, there's just one more to go before Alan Dean Foster's Star Trek Log series begins, and then a couple more later on. I can stick with it that far. My advice for this one is just as usual: only get it if you particularly liked one of the episodes adapted in this volume.
In "Return to Tomorrow", the Enterprise encounters three aliens, survivors of an ancient war, who wish to borrow a few of their bodies to build android bodies for themselves. This adaptation isn't bad, but it's really another story that got most of its value from seeing the characters acting unlike themselves, which works much better on television. Reading of the doings of 'Sargon-Kirk' just isn't the same as watching William Shatner, after all.
In "The Ultimate Computer", Dr. Richard Daystrom, the brilliant scientist who built the Enterprise's computer, has invented a new kind of computer, the M-5 multitronic unit, which promises to be so capable as to replace a starship's entire crew, and the Enterprise has been given the honor of testing it. When the computer malfunctions, it's up to the skeleton crew that remains on the Enterprise to regain control of their vessel before their comrades in Starfleet are forced to destroy them. An entertaining story.
In "That Which Survives", the Enterprise and a landing party are attacked by the image of a woman, who is actually a computer-controlled replica defending a dead planet. A threadbare story, indeed. We're meant to feel some sympathy for the woman, and it works a little in the TV episode, but I just don't feel it in the short story. Forgettable.
In "Obsession", the Enterprise encounters a murderous cloud creature that, eleven years ago, killed many members of the crew of the Farragut, on which Kirk served as a lieutenant. As they investigate, the clock is ticking, since the Enterprise must rendezvous with the Yorktown to transport some highly perishable and desperately needed medical supplies. This story works out far too well for Kirk--he clearly is simply obsessed (as the title indicates) with the creature, and his decision to put off meeting up with the Yorktown is clearly a dangerous one, but since he's friends with the writers it turns out he was right all along. I'm not a fan of this one.
"The Return of the Archons" tells the story of yet another society made stagnant by a ruling godlike computer, Landru. And once again Kirk convinces it to kill itself. A fairly entertaining story. I'd like to get some more information on the creation of the computer, its original purpose, whether it was immediately tyrannical or became thus over time, but there's never enough time in an episode for much detail, and these adaptations aren't any different. It's still worth a read, though.
In "The Immunity Syndrome", the Enterprise encounters a giant space amoeba. Which they blow up. The end.
Star Trek 9 is another middling entry in Blish's series of adaptations. A few of the stores are reasonably entertaining, but "That Which Survives" and "The Immunity Syndrome" are rather dull. I admit that at this point I'm really looking forward to the end of this series. Fortunately, there's just one more to go before Alan Dean Foster's Star Trek Log series begins, and then a couple more later on. I can stick with it that far. My advice for this one is just as usual: only get it if you particularly liked one of the episodes adapted in this volume.
October 7, 2007
This is the book that both hooked me on Star Trek and science fiction!
Although I remember seeing the original series broadcast, I was too young to get hooked, but a couple of years later, finding this book caught my eye and imagination. In fact, I first read all of the episodes of the original series before I watched them.
Although I remember seeing the original series broadcast, I was too young to get hooked, but a couple of years later, finding this book caught my eye and imagination. In fact, I first read all of the episodes of the original series before I watched them.
July 28, 2010
These are Blish's novelizations/storyizations of the original Star Trek episodes. Sometimes they are slightly different from the final episode since they were written from shooting scripts as I understand. Although I enjoyed them, it's because of the tie in with the TV series episodes. The writing here is fairly workmanlike and this is really bare bones kind of work.
January 24, 2013
The episodes adapted in this James Blish collection include "Return to Tomorrow", "That Which Survives", "Return of the Archons", and two of my personal favorites, "The Immunity Syndrome" and "Obsession." Blish again pretty much sticks to the scripts and doesn't add much background information beyond what was in the original stories, nor does he stray from the established plotlines by much.
October 2, 2013
When these early novels and stories to Star Trek came out I bought them all, devoured them and loved them. It's been a long time, so today I couldn't even say which of them were really good and which of them I only loved because they were Star Trek. ;)
Just thinking of them and seeing the covers gives me a happy feeling of nostalgia. That alone is worth the rating!
Just thinking of them and seeing the covers gives me a happy feeling of nostalgia. That alone is worth the rating!
June 14, 2021
The quality of the stories in this series is obviously related to the calibre of the corresponding episodes, but still I think these adaptations are slightly better than some of the others.
ONE mind/body swap, TWO deadly-yet-shapeless entities, and THREE Kirk V Computer stories here (and we all know how fond I am of those)
ONE mind/body swap, TWO deadly-yet-shapeless entities, and THREE Kirk V Computer stories here (and we all know how fond I am of those)
September 4, 2009
Another half dozen episodes or so of the Original TV series rewritten as novella-length Sci-Fi stories.
February 1, 2011
Good episode novelizations. Ayup. That's it.
October 15, 2012
Novelizations of Star Trek TOS. Fun to read if you've never seen the original TV episodes.
May 2, 2023
Loved reading the author’s foreword. The quality of writing has definitely improved over the series, even as Blish slowly runs out of episodes to cover.
December 14, 2018
Reread in summer of 1978.
Read January 1977
Read January 1977
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews