Star Trek 5: the Final Frontier

by J.M. Dillard and David Loughery

Book Overview

The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is back in another blockbuster film. Here is the novelization of that film, a pulse-pounding adventure into the farthest reaches of outer space--and the outer limits... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0727840215
• ISBN13: 9780727840219
• Release Date: October 1989
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great story

If any of you have watched the Star Trek movies you know this book is the written version of the movie. It's a real great plot. The book starts off with Spock, Kirk, and McCoy camping in Yosemite, my favorite part in the whole story. Kirk gets a call from Starfleet during this camping trip and is sent of a rescue mission. I won't tell you much of the mission, for I don't want to spoil the fun, but I will tell you it is a great adventure. Many people say that Spock betrays Kirk in this story, but to be honest, he really doesn't. Should refusing to kill you brother really be called betrayal? I don't think it should. This story has many funny things in it. It is a great book. One I would suggest you get.

Trying not to copy others, but they're right

Yeah, so what they said. The movie was a bomb, and the book tells the story the way it should have been.Trek books are a tricky thing. Novelizations are a tricky thing. This particular Trek novelization does everything it should, and more. The only problem is that an artist is only as her subject matter, and Find God in the Center of the Galaxy still remains a hokey premise.But let's focus on the good things. Every major Trek player gets a focus in this novel, including Sulu, who had a big part in all of McIntyre's novelizations. I was glad to see Dillard continue his story in the same vein. We get to see his and Scotty's "secret pain", as well as several other characters in the movie who got left out.All the characters have depth -- the three delegates, the Klingons, Sybok himself, even the funky-toothed guy drilling holes in the opening shot. Every one is three-dimensional. Example: Klaa (Klingon captain) is no longer a chip-shouldered upstart with delusions of grandeur. He's a Klingon worthy of Klingons, and his motives in pursuing Kirk are revealed as devious and calculating, rather than dumb and bumbling as they appeared in the film.This novel ties the movie into the others. Star Trek II-V form one continuous tale, without a whole lot of break in between. Yet they still make very little reference one to another. In this novel, we see a Kirk who was re-rejected by a dear love only months before, who lost his son very recently, and who is still coping with Spock's death and resurrection.I have nothing but praise for the work of J.M. Dillard thus far. And this is no exception. If you, like me, consider Star Trek V the red-headed stepchild of the Star Trek series (no offense to all you red-headed stepchildren), then please read this novelization. Give it a shot. You'll like it. Or I'll buy you a Twinkie. (not really though)

Amazing how much better the same story can be;

The movie version of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" was an unutterable turkey, totally unconvincing on a number of levels. This book, while remaining true to the movie in most major plot points, varying only in minor detail, nonetheless manages to be a great deal more plausible and internally consistent, both with itself and with the established Star trek universe as a whole. The characterization is better, the plot flows more smoothly and makes more sense, and several details that were completely implausible in the movie are at least arguable here, if not completely acceptable. The book is quite enjoyable on a simple action-story level, and on deeper levels it is at least as good as most Star Trek stories, better than some if also not as good as others.Definitely recommended for any "Trek" fans who would like to see the movie version turned into a viable story, and if you actually liked the movie, there's nothing here not to like.

Better than the Movie

Star Trek V, the Novel, is much better than the movie. There is so much more depth and adventure that the movie really shows that it was cut up pretty badly in post production. Even though this is one of the weakest of the Star Trek movies, it is still great reading!

Excellent

In regards to the review below, I fail to see why a novel that fails to be upbeat is considered diminished in some way. Most great books aren't particularly upbeat, because most great deeds or events don't occur when everything is hunky-dory. And while Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is by no means a "great book," neither was the film a classic. Nevertheless, both are entertaining and worthwhile voyages of the imagination for your typical Star Trek fan.