Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 13 August 2019)

Series: Star Trek: The Original Series

Length: 11 hours and 34 minutes

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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My bold new voyage down into the depths of Star Trek extended fiction continues as I review the latest exciting novel tied into Star Trek: The Original Series, The Antares Maelstrom by Greg Cox.

Get ready for a good old-fashioned “gold rush” on the outskirts of Federation space, as vast quantities of a rare and valuable mineral vital for energy production is found on the remote planet of Baldur-3. The sparsely populated planet is quickly overrun by a horde of opportunists from all over the galaxy, seeking to make their fortunes as miners and prospectors. Hailing from a variety of planets and made up of a number of different species, these determined but often under-prepared prospectors are pushing Baldur-3’s infrastructure to its limit. Despite not being part of the United Federation of Planets, Baldur-3 requests assistance from Starfleet, which dispatches Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise to help in any way they can. However, upon their arrival in the sector, Kirk discovers several major problems that require him to split his personnel.

While Kirk and the Enterprise remain above Baldur-3, Sulu and a small contingent of the ship’s crew are left behind at the local Deep Space Station S8 to help manage the prospectors in transit to the planet. While there, Sulu is forced to deal with a multitude of issues, including a malevolent saboteur, the return of an old romantic flame, and foolhardy adventurers attempting to cross the dangerous Antares Maelstrom to find a fabled shortcut to Baldur-3. At the same time, Spock and Chekov travel to a nearby planet, inhabited by a pre-spaceflight race of humanoids, where alien items have started appearing in the hands of the locals in what is clearly a severe violation of the Prime Directive. As Spock and Chekov investigate, they find themselves dragged into a sophisticated smuggling ring involving a rare tea that could prove disastrous for the planet’s future development. Each of these groups will experience mortal peril as they attempt to uphold the values of Starfleet and assist all those in need.

I have really been on a roll with Star Trek novels lately, having already read several fantastic pieces in the last few months, including The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett, Available Light by Dayton Ward, The Way to the Stars by Una McCormack and the first volume of the Boldly Go comic book series. The Antares Maelstrom by Greg Cox is another fun and enjoyable Star Trek novel that I had a wonderful time listening to on audiobook. Cox is an experienced writer of tie-in fiction, having written novels related to a number of different media franchises, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, Underworld, The Librarians and titles from DC and Marvel comics. However, his most consistent body of work has been his Star Trek tie-in novels. Since 1995, Cox has written around 20 Star Trek books, set across the various television series. He has already written several books related to The Original Series, as well as three books that show the life and times of iconic franchise villain Khan.

This particular Star Trek adventure is set during the Enterprise’s five-year journey (2265 – 2270), meaning that this story occurred around the same time as the episodes of The Original Series. The Antares Maelstrom turned out to be an interesting change of pace from some of the other Star Trek books I have previously read, as it is a standalone novel that does not seek to explore character backgrounds or continue several ongoing storylines from previous novels. Instead, the episode reads a lot like an episode from The Original Series, with the crew of the Enterprise getting involved with a number of adventures in space and helping those in need.

Cox has populated his latest book with three separate storylines, each of which features various members of the Enterprise’s main crew. This includes Sulu’s stay aboard Deep Space Station S8 and Spock and Chekov’s investigation of the tea smugglers on the nearby planet. Both of these storylines branch off from Kirk’s storyline as he, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura and the Enterprise stay above Baldur-3 and provide assistance to the surface. Each of these storylines is quite interesting and has a number of great moments. While Spock and Chekov’s storyline is one extended adventure, the other two parts of the book feature a series of interconnected adventures and mysteries. This is a very interesting blend of stories, from the examination of a futuristic “gold rush” in space, to a covert investigation on an alien planet. I personally enjoyed Sulu’s storyline the most, as it featured a number of exciting moments between spaceships, a compelling investigation, several great new characters and a huge amount of action. The other two storylines are really good, and in my opinion the story benefited from having this great mixture of storylines, which did not dilute or overwhelm the overall quality of the book. Indeed, all of the storylines form a compelling overarching narrative which I found to be extremely fun and surprisingly addictive, and I was firmly glued to the story.

Like most tie-in novels, The Antares Maelstrom is intended for fans of the franchise it is based on, meaning that this is an ideal read for hardcore Trekkies. However, no great knowledge of the original series is required to enjoy this book. There are no real pre-existing storylines to follow, and anyone who has a basic knowledge of the show or who has seen the latest trilogy of movies will be able to follow along without any issues. Cox does pepper the story with a number of references to some of the past adventures of the Enterprise, and there is even a major connection to one of the more interesting episodes from the first season. The book does feature the first appearance of the titular Antares Maelstrom, which itself is a rather obscure reference to the second Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan, as the Antares Maelstrom is featured in one of Khan’s iconic monologues. While these many references and call-backs to previous episodes will prove to be enjoyable to fans of the franchise, most of them have no real bearing on the plot, and any that do are well explained.

I also felt that Cox did a fantastic job of capturing the original tone of the Star Trek television show in this novel. The focus on the prospectors arriving on Baldur-3 is used by the author to mirror the bold explorative and chance-taking stance that the crew of the Enterprise undertake, and there is a lot of discussion about new opportunities and venturing into the unknown. While these prospectors are initially viewed as greedy and reckless, they eventually come together as part of the book and show how, deep down, people are basically good. All this focus on unity, compassion and logic is classic Star Trek, and Kirk makes sure to accompany many of these examples with his trademark speeches, talking about the ideals of Starfleet and his crew. In addition to this, each of the major characters is strongly featured throughout the book, and the author makes sure that each of them gets a substantial amount of story time. Cox does an amazing job capturing the various personalities of the original series cast members, and it was great seeing them back in action in this new book.

As I mentioned above, I ended up listening to The Antares Maelstrom on audiobook, narrated by Robert Petkoff, which ran for 11 hours and 34 minutes. I absolutely flew through this audiobook, and I really enjoyed having this cool story narrated to me. Petkoff is still an impressive narrator, and I have previously mentioned how much I enjoyed his work narrating the voices of The Original Series cast members for The Captain’s Oath. In The Antares Maelstrom, Petkoff continues to amaze, coming up with a huge range of different voices for the various characters featured throughout the book. Just like in the previous book, his Kirk, Spock, Sulu and McCoy are darn near perfect, and I was really glad I got to hear a lot more of his Scotty, as he manages an awesome Scottish accent. I also got my first real experience of Petkoff’s Chekov in this book, and I have to say it was near perfect. The narrator expertly captures Chekov’s Russian accent, and there were a number of amazing instances where Petkoff had to imitate Chekov’s classic mispronunciations of English words. This is truly some first-class voice work and it really helps make the entire audiobook stand out. Petkoff seems to be one of the main Star Trek audiobook narrators at the moment, as several recent and upcoming books all feature his talents, and this makes me a lot more eager to check out these books in the future.

The Antares Maelstrom by Greg Cox proved to be another amazing piece of Star Trek fiction. It presents the reader with three fantastic adventures that come together to create an exciting and captivating book. While probably best read by established Star Trek fans, this book can be easily enjoyed by readers who have less Star Trek experience but who love sci-fi, intriguing mysteries, iconic characters and fast-paced action. Another great outing from Cox, The Antares Maelstrom is really worth checking out, especially in its audiobook format.

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