Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Star Trek: The Original Series Unnumbered; Movie Novelization #5) by J.M. Dillard

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Star Trek: The Original Series Unnumbered; Movie Novelization #5) Reviews

• 
  ⚧️ Nadienne Greysorrow ⚧️

  Star Trek V isn't that bad! When compared to what we've gotten since 2009, it's actually pretty good. And it has its moments. I actually like Kirk telling Sybok, "I like my pain! I need my pain!" Kirk isn't a "no regrets" kind of guy, but he's also not paralyzed by them. He knows he's made mistakes. He owns up to his mistakes. And he uses them to learn and guide his future decisions...it's a very Star Trek attitude.
  
  The novelization goes a little bit more in-depth into the "painful memories" from the characters. We learn about his little henchman - John, uh, I mean J'onn - we see Sulu's and Scotty's memories. And, the novel does state that it's somewhat a combination of severe and sudden and extreme grief counseling and a little mind-control. Spock states that Sybok's technique does exert some of his will over the others. Also, I always thought the movie was a little ambiguous over whether or not it was actually God. In light of the series, where we actually meet the actual Greek Gods, thus establishing the precedent that Gods were real, actual aliens, in the movie, it would seem that we did actually meet God and blew him up. However, the novel pretty much states that it's some powerful entity that was able to corrupt Sybok's mind (and Sybok's mother's mind). McCoy speculates that the Great Barrier was put into place by an even more powerful being (perhaps, "actual" God?) to contain the creature...(speaking of, you learn quite a bit more about Sybok's past and what motivates him).
  
  If you don't hate V, like me, give the book a read. :) If you still think V sucks (even with Abrams-Trek and Kurtzman-Trek polluting the airwaves these days), then don't. :)
• 
  Craig

  Okay confession time: I've never hated Star Trek V so for me this book was a treat. I appreciated the expanded scenes- especially the Klingons playing a bigger part in the book and the scenes where Sybok influences the crew. The book fixes (or kept in) something that was a plot hole so I appreciated that. I found that the novel gave more life and depth to the other characters outside of the big three and didn't just write down what happened in each scene or give their own misinterpretations (looking at you Diane Carey). A good novelization of the film and I think the most disappointing part was that it was written after the removal of the rock monster scene so that didn't happen which made me sad. If you enjoyed the film, you'll likely enjoy the book but if you hate it I doubt the novelization will change you mind...but you never know.
• 
  Heather Domin

  In my experience a strong novelization can do wonders for a weak movie; it's one of the reasons I love novelizations so much. Since I like Dillard's Trek books, I thought she'd be a good candidate to do the trick for the weakest TOS movie. I was right. While I still don't care for the story, working it into a novel definitely improved it for me. The minor characters were fleshed out into real people with back-stories and personalities, which I always enjoy; being able to tune in to people's thoughts and feelings as they spoke the dialogue was also nice. So while I still ignore this part of canon, Dillard deserves praise for making the most out of what she was given.
• 
  Vikas Datta

  Fantastic outing with the Enterprise crew and most heartening is the ending, with the pattern of redemption - and reconciliation of a sort
• 
  Jerry

  Yet another novelization that was better than the film that inspired it.
• 
  Mike Crate

  Ok then the movie is generally regarded as one of the failures of the Star Trek franchise but I don't hate it and there are some truly wonderful character moments in the story. This novelisation as you would expect gives us everything that is good about STV but adds so much more garnish to the story that you come away wondering what the studio were doing when setting the budget which limited to what they could do on screen.
  The background to Sybok as a child and how the events with his mother shaped him gave us so much more to work with and in turn added greatly to the Spock narrative later in the story. The extended storylines for the Klingons and the Ambassadors also contributed greatly to the enjoyment of the story. Novelisations at their best add to the movie and no doubt at all what we get from Jeanne should make even a STV hater sit up and take notice of perhaps what should have been even without the rock monsters.
  A highly recommended novel in it's own right and an excellent example of a novelisation.
• 
  Charles

  I thought Dillard did an admirable job with this mixed bag tale. She got the characters right and got in all the zingers and good one liners from the movie. However, the movie plot itself is quite a bit of a mess and there was nothing Dillard could do about that. This is probably my least favorite of the Star Trek Original series movies, and the book can't rise above those weaknesses. I don't hold it against the author, though. This is on Hollywood.
• 
  Tommy Verhaegen

  Again we get a deeper look into the psyche and backgrounds of our main TOS crew. Action, tension, space travel, kidnappings... with a positive feel and an unexpected twist at the end.
  Definately a winner!
  Alcohol plays a big part and up to now the poco's haven't censored it yet.
  5 major locations: Earth, Vulcan, Nimbus III, space and the center of the galaxy.
  Terrans, Vulcans, Romulans, Klingon and a new, terrifying and hostile creature.
• 
  Rob

  This was good and filled in a little more background as to what was going on in Spock's head but I think the movie was better. I would rather have a lot more details than less and some parts in the movie were not in the book , I found myself waiting for parts that weren't there. I guess I expect more from the book not the other way around but in all fairness this was a good read.
• 
  Victoria Schreiber

  A very nice novelization of a good movie. It was very interesting to find out more background information about the characters (some of which certainly helped fill out some plot holes) and the book also aged rather well, which is nice as that is often not the case. And a happy ending with our favorite trio is always a winner!
• 
  Read1000books

  I will say this: J.M. Dillard writes a page-turning ST:TOS story! The plot was good, the "voices" were right (insight into the main characters' backgrounds and personalities are delved into more deeply in this book, and constructed very well), and, just from my personal enjoyment, this Star Trek novel earns a well-deserved 5 stars.
  As a bonus, it even includes a few humorous exchanges such as the following which takes place on the bridge of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey when Kirk, to his great relief, discovers that neither his crew nor the Enterprise have been destroyed: "Unashamed he stepped forward and clasped his friend [Spock] in a hug. Spock stiffened. 'Captain, please. Not in front of the Klingons.'"
  Addenda: Don't judge this book by the movie. I just watched it and the book is soooooo much better!
• 
  Crystal

  An incredible novel that I could not put down. As is typical of the Star Trek genre, the various social messages contained throughout the novel compared with a science fiction theme make for some great thinking sessions for modern times...Additionally, reading about the various antics and adventures of our old friends is like visiting family.
• 
  Darrell

  The book was a bit better than the movie. Lots more detail - - although in come cases we are wondering where it was going - - like the bit with the dude in the field of holes. But it still had some fun moments.
• 
  Jeremiah Murphy

  I can’t remember much about the movie other than 11 year old me thought it was dull and the humor felt forced. But this novelization was a lot of fun. It also had some good lessons about loss and forgiveness.
• 
  Aaron W. Roberts

  So much better than the film. This was a flat out enjoyable read and the plot had so much more depth (which I would expect with a 300 page book vs. a 2 hour film). Actually enjoyed it more than the novelization for Star Trek 4.
• 
  Paxton Holley

  Pretty good adaptation with some extra scenes and background to some characters.
• 
  Ian

  This and other J. M. Dillard books reviewed here:
  https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com...
• 
  Ranette

  More from the Star Trek movies.
• 
  Michael Prelee

  This is a good example 9f the novelization being better than the movie.
• 
  Paul Kautz

  Not quite as bad as the movie but also not too far away from it. Terrible, utterly dumb story that‘s only saved by a very few select moments of fun.
• 
  Parker Keys_to_hades

  Rtc
• 
  Chad

  With this book, Vonda McIntyre has passed the torch on to JM Dillard who would continue penning the movie novelizations into the TNG era. I was sad to see McIntyre depart from the series but Dillard is no slouch when it comes to the craft.
  
  Star Trek V is one that stands alongside the Motion Picture as one of the least favorite and easily could have been the last movie we got with that cast. My opinion on the cause for this movie not doing so well is in how I often see Hollywood falling victim of chasing it’s own tail and trying too hard to recreate something that was successful before. The Voyage Home was one of the most successful Trek films of all time. Why? Must be the comedy, right? Let’s make sure the next film has just as much.
  
  My problem with that is that it’s like trying to reheat Thanksgiving leftovers. There’s only so much you can do. Often success comes more consistently when you engage in contrasts. Wrath of Khan was wildly successful because it was a fun adventure on the heels of the more cerebral Motion Picture. Likewise, Voyage Home did great because it was a mental break from two fairly heavy films.
  
  What I think Star Trek V needed was gravitas. We were at the end of that era of Star Trek. Each film that came out was with the tacit understanding that it could be the last. They called it the -final- frontier, for crying out loud. This could have been the last time we ever saw those characters, why waste that time with silly jokes that weren’t even written that well?
  
  Point being, there is a lot of room for improvement that could be done in the novelization. With more room for the narrative to expand, I think the Star Trek story in this movie could come more to the forefront. I have to assume that JM Dillard wasn’t getting constant pressure from the studio to amp up the comedy which allows more freedom to do the story properly.
  
  Ultimately, I wouldn’t say that the book brings a ton of new material to the table like we got in Star Treks 2-4. We stay pretty well in the lines but there are some subtle textures that make the story in the book work better.
  
  One big difference is that we see much more of Kirk’s internal monologues. We see an officer nearing the end of his career, worried more about his own mortality and in the chances he may have lost with Carol Marcus. We get to see him trying to connect with her after their son’s death and we delve a lot farther into McCoy’s criticism that his behavior suggests that he wants to die.
  
  I like that the friendships feel more honest, especially the bond that Spock and McCoy still share from their shared experience in Star Trek 3. And while in the movie we only got glimpses at the personal pain in the primary three, in the book we get to delve into tue personal pain of all of them. All the primary characters get some nice attention here.
  
  Klaa is still relatively bland and non-existent as an antagonist, feeling more like checking off a box than anything else. But he does come off as slightly more nuanced and interesting and the politics of the Klingon ship does present itself in better fashion.
  
  In all - still not the greatest of the films but I do think the book is able to make better use of the narrative and take advantage of having more space to tell the story. As a movie it wasn’t as successful but as a written story I like it quite a bit more.
• 
  Lee Goldin

  I've never read a movie novelization in my life so you may be wondering why I started with an adaptation of one of the most reviled films in history. Quite simply because I've always been intrigued by what a missed opportunity Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was. The movie has a lot of heart and some intriguing ideas but unfortunately the script is a mess and the special effects are essentially unwatchable, especially by today's standards. And while everyone blames director William Shatner for the film's shortcomings, it's really because there was a writer's guild strike that year and Industrial Light and Magic was doing the effects for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, leaving the film without experienced script doctors or special effects wizards. J.M. Dillard (Jeanne Kalogridis) gives the story the rewrite it sorely needed, fleshing out the side characters and fixing a major plot hole. And since it's a novel, you don't have to worry about "special effects" ruining your enjoyment of the story. In a vacuum, I'd give this book 3 stars but I have to admit that no one should read it unless you have the same curiosities and mixed feelings about the source material as I did.
• 
  Papiertiger17

  überraschend vielschichtige Romanadaption
  Das Buch zum Film erfreut mit einer Fülle an Hintergrundgeschichten zu den einzelnen Protagonisten und Antagonisten. Die Handlung erhält dadurch eine Detaildichte, die in dieser Weise im Film leider nicht umgesetzt wurde. Anderseits kann die Schriftstellerin leider nicht das blendete Charisma Syboks so vermitteln wie es dem Darsteller Laurence Luckinbill in der Leinwandversion auf recht vortreffliche Weise gelang. Insgesamt eine sehr solide Taschenbuchvariante des fünften Kinoabenteuers, das in der deutschen Ausgabe mit ungewohnt vielen Wortfehlern aufwartet.
• 
  Joseph

  I'm not a big fan of the clichéd assertion that "the book is always better," but in this case it is thankfully true. Dillard's writing makes up and corrects for just about all of the source movie's copious flaws. I was also impressed by the many subtle references to earlier novelizations, which made this book feel like it belonged with them. Though perhaps not quite up to Vonda McIntyre's work on previous installments, it manages a very close second, and stands alongside them as a quality novel and a worthy entry in the canon.
• 
  Emily Petit

  This is a great alternative to the actual film, directed by - guess who? - William Shatner himself. It brings the cinemetographical humor to life in a stimulating, imaginative way. Jokes that would never have worked for the original film work very well here. If, like the majority of dedicated Trekkies, you didn't take to Shatner's movie, read this book. You'll actually laugh. Because this one? Why, this is funny.
• 
  J.W. Braun

  I enjoyed this book much more than the novelizations of Star Trek's II, III, and IV by Vonda McIntyre. Like McIntyre, Dillard adds some of his own stuff to the story he was given by the screenplay writers. Unlike McIntyre, Dillard's stuff added greatly to my enjoyment of the book. In fact, I think Dillard took a film that is somewhat lacking and turned it into a great story! I really enjoyed this book.
• 
  Lois Merritt

  Well, I'm the one person on the planet who likes this movie, but not so much the audiobook - it is far too abridged for my liking.
  -------------------
  5/20/2021 - listened to the whole book, and while I don't remember the abridged version (it was 2018 as down below says to me), I know I liked it better. I'm still probably the only person on the planet who loves this movie, but even to me, the book helps fill in different stuff to the movie, though nowhere near as much as ST2, 3, and 4 do.