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Shadow Lord (Star Trek, No 22)
by Laurence Yep
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Star Trek (1985-03-01)
ISBN: 0671473921
EAN: 9780671473921
Paperback: 280 pages
SKU: 0806110002
Condition: Used: Acceptable
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Editorial Reviews
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Book Description
Prince Vikram of the planet Angira has been studying on Earth, and plans to return to his rather primitive world with revolutionary ideas. Spock and Sulu accompany him home, but are quickly embroiled in a savage conflict between Vikram's supporters and the technology-fearing usurpers who have seized his throne. To survive, and win Angira back for Vikram, Spock and Sulu must meet their enemies on their own terms, with swords.
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Download Description
Angira is a primitive, violent planet -- and young Prince Vikram returns from Earth filled with new ideas. When Sulu and Spock accompany Vikram home, they walk into a bloodbath: reactionary forces, afraid of any modernization, have seized Vikram's rightful throne. Suddenly the men from the Enterprise are on an underground journey with a Prince who is coming of age. The future of Angira is at stake, and each man's survival depends on his skill -- and daring -- with a sword!
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Customer Reviews
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More Samurai Than Star Trek
Rating  (2)
Date: 2005-10-09
"Shadow Lord" deals with politcal intrigue, samurai-style warfare, and tribal politics on a planet poised to join the Federation. It is hardly a Star Trek novel. Spock and Sulu are the only characters who are present in the entire story. Kirk and McCoy appear briefly at the beginning and end, and that's it for the Star Trek personalities. The writing is decent enough, but the story line is often one-dimensional. The descriptions of sword fighting and equipment are detailed (and graphically violent), but the author doesn't offer very deep insights into any of the characters. Particularly disappointing was the glossing over of Sulu's having broken the Prime Directive.
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Shadow Novel
Rating (2)
Date: 2003-07-29
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Shadow Lord is an entertaining yarn, although it has precious little Trek in it. Spock and Sulu end up on a world with the technology level somewhere akin to 16th century Japan. They become embroiled in a coup and end up on the run - think "Friday's Child" with gory sword fights.The plusses here include likeable secondary characters (a rarity in a Trek novel) and . . . well, there's not a lot else that's exceptional. Shadow Lord is enjoyable and quick, but not much else. There are a couple of huge negatives however, which warrant the two star rating. The first is not Yep's fault, but it is enormously aggravating. The cover art. First, it has Sulu in a blue uniform. Second, the "shadow lord" is pictured as a late 70s porn star; seeing him, you picture a man full of his own machismo who tries to hit on Uhura. In reality, however, the "shadow lord" is a large, furry mammal which looks like an otter, with a keen sense of humor. The second involves the whole backstory. The shadow lord's world, Angira, wants to learn more about the Federation . . . great, but how did this medieval society learn about the Federation in the first place?? When one is able to put this issue out of mind, Shadow Lord is amusing, but then it comes back and the eyes start to roll.
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Star Trek: Shadow Lord
Rating  (4)
Date: 2003-04-20
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Star Trek: Shadow Lord wriiten by Laurence Yep is a Sulu/Spock with a flavor of "Highlander" to give it some character. So sword fights are the norm and phaser fire is kept to a bare minimum.This book starts out on a mission to a primative and very violent planet called Angira where Sulu/Spock are to accompany Price Vikram to his home planet... then all hades breaks out as they are caught in an ambush. This book features the sword fighting skill of Sulu and those of Spock as well making for an interesting tale as modernization is shunned. With the future of Angira hanging in the balance, it is upto the skills of both Sulu and Spock to carry on with the mission as their survival and that of Angira are all dependent upon their abilities with the sword.
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Mixed review:
Rating (2)
Date: 2001-03-14
As a generic science fiction novel, this book isn't bad. It's not
great, but not bad.As a Star trek novel, however, it's pretty
weak. The idea isn't bad: a novel in which Spock and Sulu are the
primary protagonists, rather than Spock and Kirk. But the author seems
to have a weak concept of the characters he's attempting to use; his
concept for Sulu isn't too egregiously bad, but his Spock fails in
many cases to demonstrate his established competence, presumably
because the author begrudged him the starring role he wanted to give
Sulu. His Vulcan strength and endurance are nowhere to be found, as he
shows no sign of having any physical abilities beyond those of a normal
human. Worse, his playful bantering with Dr. McCoy is portrayed as
much more serious bickering, showing no understanding of the true
relationship between those characters. And worst of all, the author
demonstrates no understanding at all of the Prime Directive, which he
tries to make into a major plot point; Sulu is concerned, at one
point, that he may have overstepped the bounds of correct behavior and
violated the Prime Directive against interfering with a primitive
culture, completely ignoring the fact that the entire storyline from
the word "go" violated that directive. The very fact that
the Enterprise was there, that the natives knew of their existence,
and that the prince had been educated on Terra clearly and blatently
violated the prime directive. As a story demonstrating why there IS
a prime directive, this story was fairly good. But as a story claiming
to be set in the Star Trek universe, it was wildly inconsistent with
established parameters.
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Spock and Sulu on a Grand Adventure
Rating  (5)
Date: 2001-01-17
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
To say this one is different is an understatement. This book takes Sulu and Spock and a Prince called Vikram to a hostile world. It has more adventure than most obscure Treks. The most contemporary theme here is a society afraid of modernization. There are no phaser fights here folks. Highlander style sword fights are the norm here. Think of Sulu and Spock inspired by Highlander.
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