[These notes were made in 1984:]. This is a real novel, and quite a good one. The main reason for that is simple: characterization. Lorrah has really got a handle on her Vulcans, and actually almost manages to divert us from the Enterprise characters, so interesting are the rest: Sarek, his colleagues Sorel and T'Zan; the disappointed suitor, Sendet; T'Mir (Sorel's daughter); and Corrigan (her Terran lover); and of course Eleyna, the twisted young Earthwoman who turns out to be the villainess. The solution of the mystery was pretty clear most of the way through, but the movement of our friends Kirk, Spock and McCoy (and it really is our friends) through the story is a real delight. Kirk, inevitably, gets involved with Eleyna, and there's a nice mind-meld between Spock and his parents for emotional climax.
 - Jean Lorrah)
