Star Trek: Burning Dreams

My latest review is the Star Trek Novel “Burning Dreams” by Margaret Wander Bonanno. The story focuses on Captain Christopher Pike, captain of the USS Enterprise before Captain Kirk. It expands upon the events of the events of the original pilot for Star Trek, The Cage, and The Menagerie, which picked up that storyline and provided Paramount with a chance to use the unaired footage from the original failed pilot.

Bonanno does a good job of flashing between story elements that are happening in different timeframes. A large part of the story is presented to us via recollection, which was also used successfully in Strangers From the Sky, which I have reviewed previously. Mr. Spock was the focus of the contemporary storyline. It is set about 54 years after he had last been to Talos IV, risking a Federation death sentence to return his former Captain Pike to Talos IV, where the grievously maimed Pike could live out the rest of his life in the illusion of being healthy and able bodied. Spock is summoned back to Talos IV once again. Once again he is willing to risk the Federation death penalty. The reason why would tie in with the rest of the story, provided by Christopher Pike’s recollections of his life as he continued to live a productive, but illusory, life on Talos IV

Christopher Pike has always been an intriguing character. He was the Star Trek captain who could have been had Paramount greenlit “The Cage” rather than deeming it “too cerebral”. The re-shot pilot of course cast William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, and made Mr. Spock (the only returning character from the original pilot) the First Officer. That was the appeal of the book for me, filling in that missing history, taking the promising stories left by “The Cage” and “The Menagerie” and running with it.

I wouldn’t say it was an emotionally deep book. One doesn’t feel really attached to Christopher Pike. It’s more of a “history of Christopher Pike” showing the events in his life that led up to and shaped those very brief snippets that we saw. While I was left feeling more informed about the backstory of Christopher Pike he was not fleshed out in a way that makes me extremely curious to read anymore Pike stories. I felt like this was closure, and everything that I needed to know about Christopher Pike I learned here.

This was a Star Trek story that wasn’t a classic James T. Kirk story. Even Spock was a secondary character. I did like how it stuck firmly to being a Christopher Pike story, not relying on meetings with other more well known characters to make it more “appealing”. The sequences with Spock helped to explain how he had developed the loyalty toward Pike to risk a death penalty not once but twice, to go to the quarantined Talos IV system on Pike’s behalf. In both novels I’ve reviewed, Margaret Wander Bonanno fills in backstory of the Star Trek universe, using a parallel story in a more familiar Star Trek time period as a backdrop. I like that a lot, adding to the richness and fullness of the universe.

I think if Captain Christopher Pike, the first captain of the Enterprise, intrigues you this book would make a good read. If your history of the Enterprise starts with James T. Kirk in the captain’s chair you’ll probably find more entertaining Star Trek book’s on the shelf, as Kirk is not a part of this story at all.

Other Reviews of works by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Strangers From the Sky - Jan 28, 2007