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Star Trek: The Classic Episodes #3
Star Trek: The Classic Episodes, Volume 3
The third volume of three adaptations of the "Star Trek" scripts. Published to coincide with Star Trek's 25th anniversary celebrations. In the twenty-five years since it premiered on network television, bringing in the planets of the Federation and the voyages of the Starship Enterprise into America's living rooms and the national consciousness, Star Trek has become a worldwide phenomenon, crossing generations and cultures in its enduring universal appeal. Now, in celebration of Star Trek's twenty-fifth anniversary, here are James Blish's classic adaptations of Star Trek's dazzling third season scripts. And there's more: A new introduction written especially for this omnibus by one of Star Trek's creators, D.C. Fontana. Blish's original prefaces to each volume are annotated for this edition and production credits for each episode. Production stills accompanying each story. Explore the final frontier with science fiction's most well-known and beloved captain, crew, and starship, with 24 exciting tales of high adventure, adapted from Star Trek's exciting final season.
627 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 1991
About the author
James Blish
423 books288 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 25, 2022
While these summaries can never compare to the original episodes, and even some of the stories adapted here are easily the worst TOS has to offer, the late Mr. Blish still did an admirable job here. Also, Norman Spinrad's introduction was excellent; it's among the best entertainment-related essays I've read in a while.
January 30, 2013
This is the last of a 3-volume set, which neatly re-organizes the original 12 Bantam paperbacks, one book per season. These stories, most of them written by James Blish (with a few written by his wife, after his passing) are straight-forward, stripped-down adaptations of the original episodes, although Blish gradually fleshed them out a bit as he went along. Some readers may find them too sparse, but I like them for just that reason.
Production notes and a photograph accompany each story. There is also an introduction by D.C. Fontana, one of the guiding lights behind the original series.
If you like the original Star Trek series, these 3 volumes can be a pleasant way to "relive" the stories, especially if you are currently unable to watch them.
Production notes and a photograph accompany each story. There is also an introduction by D.C. Fontana, one of the guiding lights behind the original series.
If you like the original Star Trek series, these 3 volumes can be a pleasant way to "relive" the stories, especially if you are currently unable to watch them.
July 28, 2010
This is an omnibus edition of Blish's novelizations/storyizations of the original Star Trek episodes. Sometimes they are slightly different from the final episode since they were written from shooting scripts as I understand. Although I enjoyed them, it's because of the tie in with the TV series episodes. The writing here is fairly workmanlike and this is really bare bones kind of work.
There are 3 volumes of this omnibus edition.
There are 3 volumes of this omnibus edition.
September 4, 2009
The last 4 of James Blish's Star Trek episode sets, gathered into one mammoth 25th Anniversary Volume.
March 13, 2023
I’m doing a writing project for some friends so I needed to read the episode “For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky” by James Blish.
I did NOT (at this time) read the other 24 episodes.
I did not like the novelization of this particular episode. As far as I can tell the only reason to read something like this is to get more depth on the episode. Find a little more ‘behind the scenes’, add some emotional depth or truth or simply some interesting lore about the episode.
This had none of that. It was a pretty straight forward and blah written version of the episode. As far as I could tell there wasn’t a thing added at all that wasn’t on screen.
What’s the point of that?
So I give this a 1 star - for only this episode.
February 12, 2022
Again, nostalgia trumps genuine enjoyment here, just as it did in the previous two books.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews