Amazon.co.uk Review
Star Trek has never been afraid to rewrite history, and Greg Cox's impressive first volume in
The Eugenics Wars trilogy focuses on Trek's version of the late 20th century. It's the biography of charismatic dictator Khan Noonien Singh, the genetically engineered superman who featured in the original series episode "Space Seed" and the film "The Wrath of Khan". Kirk and crew appear briefly, visiting a planet of genetically enhanced humans, but most of the action takes place in Khan's time. In a fine piece of Trek continuity, the other main protagonists are the stars of original series episode "Assignment Earth": high-tech undercover agent Gary Seven and his assistants Roberta Lincoln and alien feline Isis. It's 1974, and they are investigating the Chrysalis Project, a secret research lab in India, where they find several hundred genetically enhanced children. Four-year-old "Noon" is already the leader of his toddler group. Seven and his sidekicks attempt to sabotage the project before the scientists' genetic tinkering can unleash deadly consequences. He watches over Khan's subsequent development, and 10 years later tries to recruit the boy to help in his own undercover work. The inclusion of Kirk and Gary Seven, as well as several bit-players from various Trek episodes, ensures that although the story takes place during our own recent past, and includes several real historical events, it always feels like a Star Trek novel. Khan himself is presented as a complex character, showing compassion as well as arrogance. This is a promising start to what should be a strong trilogy. --
Elizabeth Sourbut
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Captain James T. Kirk must probe deep into the secrets of the past to discover the true origins of the infamous Eugenics Wars...and of the man who became perhaps the most dangerous foe he has ever had to face. In 1974 an international consortium of scientists embarked on the Chrysalis Project, a top-secret experiment in human genetic engineering. Their goal is no less than the creation of a new, artifically improved breed of men and women: smarter, faster, stronger than ordinary human beings -- a super-race to take command of the entire planet. Gary Seven, an undercover operative for an advanced alien species who knows all too well the apocalyptic consequences of genetic manipulation, is alarmed by the project's objectives. With his trusted agents Roberta Lincoln and the mysterious Isis, he will risk life and limb to expose Chrysalis and neutralise the awesome threat that the Project poses to Earth's future generations. But he may already be too late. One generation of super-humans has already been conceived. As the years go by, Seven watches with growing concern as the children of Chrysalis -- in particular, one brilliant youth named Khan Noonien Singh -- grow to adulthood. Can Khan's dark destiny be averted? Or is Earth doomed to fight a global battle against his desire for conquest...
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