The Golden Keel
Desmond Bagley (1963)

When the Allies invaded southern Italy in 1943, Mussolini’s personal treasure was moved north to safety under heavily armed guard. It was never seen again. Now, an expedition plans to unearth the treasure and smuggle it out of Italy. But their reckless mission is being followed – by enemies who are as powerful and ruthless as they are deadly.

The first of the Bagley thrillers. Well written and clear, it takes a while to ramp things up to action, but that’s what I expect in a book of this era. There is the obligatory women who are almost a tag-on to the plot. But overall everything holds together to make an interesting story. And with an ending that was always possible, but makes sense. And it’s good to be back to a first person narrative.

Elusive Salvation
(Star Trek: The Original Series)
by Dayton Ward (2016)

Escaping the tyranny under which their people have lived for generations, aliens from a distant planet crash land on Earth’s inhospitable frozen wastes.

It’s an interesting premise, but the plot is complicated by too many threads and an unnecessary time travel theme. It could have just as easily be set in the 23rd century entirely. Plus there is the use of unexplained technology when the plot needs it, it’s magic!

The prose is also weighed down by quick side-notes, explanations and flashbacks. Cutting these out would have improved pacing and readability  considerably.

So while an interesting story, it only gets an average rating because of the issues above.

In the Name of Honor
(Star Trek The Original Series)
by Dayton Ward (2002)

Captain Kirk ventures into the depths of a remote jungle planet to save hostages held by the Klingon Empire.

While well written, this does suffer from a lack of action and a lot of Klingon politics. It lumbers on to an ending where Kirk (in his best American accent) moralizes to the Klingons.

It feels like it could easily be an episode in the original series.

Purgatory’s Key
(Star Trek: Legacies #3)
by Dayton Ward (2016)

Romulan agents have succeeded in stealing the device and using it to banish Ambassador Sarek and Councillor Gorkon to an unknown realm in the midst of their groundbreaking Federation-Klingon peace negotiations.

With time running out as interstellar war looms in one universe—and alien forces marshal in another.

Dayton Ward brings the trilogy to a conclusion. He is saddled with a lot of plot to wrap up. And adding a strange non-physical realm doesn’t help. But it does conclude with the main characters intact and ready to embark on the journeys laid out in other media to follow.

Best Defense
(Star Trek: Legacies #2)
by David Mack (2016)

Una ventures into a parallel universe to save her old shipmates, exiled there decades earlier by a mysterious device called the Transfer Key.

Meanwhile along-awaited Klingon-Federation peace conference convenes, with Ambassador Sarek and Councillor Gorkon.

But both sides have enemies who would prefer the two great powers remain at war. Then along comes Kirk…

David Mack has done some great Star Trek novels, including S.C.E. novellas and the series Destiny. This one is great too. Everything slowly ramps up to an action filled third act where the Enterprise takes on the Romulans and the Klingons.

But someone has to be taken into the parallel universe to justify the third and final book in the series….

Captain to Captain
(Star Trek: Legacies #1)
by Greg Cox

The first in a new trilogy, for the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek.

Hidden aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise is a secret that has been passed from captain to captain, from Robert April to Christopher Pike to James T. Kirk.

Number One , from the April Enterprise has brought that secret to light, and Kirk and his crew must risk everything to finish a mission that began with April so many years ago…

An interesting premise, bringing an old character back to interact with Kirk and Spock. There is a major flashback to explain the plot, then back to allow Kirk to try and rectify the situation.

Another good read from Cox, however this loses points by making characters do dumb things just to keep the plot moving. And there is a rather unnecessary deus ex machina at the end, with seconds on the clock.

In the year 2022 I attempted to read 221 stories, of these 30 were not finished.

Leaving a total of 191

These break down into:
Short Stories 108
Novelettes 17
Novellas 34
Novels 32

Totalling 4.935 million words.
(At 80,000 words per novel, that’s the equivalent of 61 novels.

Not all were good here are the ratings:
2 Star (finished, but below average) –  9
3 Star (average)  – 97
4 Star (above average) –  66
5 Start (best in genre)  – 19

Most of the highly rated were short stories, however the author that stood out was Greg Cox with seven Star Trek Novels:

DS9 – Devil in the Sky
TOS – Antares Maelstrom
TOS – Child of Two Worlds
TOS – Contest of Principles
TOS – No Time Like the Past
TOS – Rings of Time
VOY – The Black Shore

But book of the year goes to the wildly entertaining
Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Petersen (2021)

So it’s a win for the Mistress of the Dark.

Devil in the Sky
(Star Trek DS9)
Greg Cox (1995)

The Hortas of Janus VI are the greatest miners in the galaxy, capable of burning through solid rock the way humanoids move through air. Recruited to help rebuild Bajor’s devastated mining industry, the Hortas could provide new hope for the planet’s struggling economy. But when Cardassian raiders abduct the Mother Horta, Commander Sisko finds himself stuck with twenty Horta eggs.

Another great story from Greg Cox. Whil Miles O’Brien solves a worm infestations, Kira, Dax and Bashir are off to save momma and kick some Cardassian butt.

The Black Shore
(Star Trek: Voyager #13)
by Greg Cox

After weeks of lonely journeys through a desolate region to the Delta Quadrant, the crew of “Voyager” is badly in need of
shore leave, so the planet Ryolanov seems just what the doctor ordered. Full of warm sunlight and gracious, hospitable people,
Ryolanov is a veritable oasis amidst the endless reaches of uncharted space…. but not everything is as is seems .. 

This story morphs, from a idyllic holiday romance, to a bit of mystery. Then it’s  in full Sci-Fi  mode for a long section before the final act, an all out war and horror story.

This had me worried for a long time that nothing would happen. But not to worry, Greg Cox has yet to dissapoint.

No Time Like the Past
(Star Trek: The Original Series)
by Greg Cox (2014)

This novel brings together Kirk and Seven from Voyager. While I am not a fan of time travel stories, this one works. Mainly as for most of the story there is a single plot line focused on Seven.

She gets yanked back in time to Kirk’s Enterprise. There she becomes a prize captive for Orion pirates and Klingons.

The  plot takes plenty of unexpected turns as Kirk and Seven have to outwit and escape to restore the timeline to the one we all know.

Another excellent story from Greg Cox.