The Unsettling Stars

By: Alan Dean Foster

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

An original novel based on the thrilling Star Trek movies directed by J.J. Abrams!

Taking place in an alternate timeline created when the Starship Kelvin was destroyed by a Romulan invader from the future, this bold new novel follows Captain James T. Kirk and an inexperienced crew commandeering a repaired USS Enterprise out of spacedock for a simple shakedown cruise. When a distress call comes in, the Enterprise must aid a large colony ship of alien refugees known as the Perenorean, who are under siege by an unknown enemy. But Kirk and his crew will find that the situation with the peaceful Perenorean is far more complicated than they bargained for, and the answers as to why they were attacked in the first place unfold in the most insidious of ways....

©2020 Alan Dean Foster (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

Boldly go...

First and foremost the greatest part of this audio experience was the narrator. Juggling between the various voices of characters ranging from Chekhov to Dr. McCoy the narrator knocks it out of the park. It's as if you're watching the new film series.

Fun but Stupid

This book seems to be written for children more so than for adults. It screams low IQ.

The narrator is quite good. He's the 2nd best Star Wars narrator next to Marc Thompson of Thrawn.

The plot of "conquest through gift giving" is an interesting one, albeit naive and unrealistic - hence the low IQ storyline.

It is interesting that the author makes the aliens SO smart and so much more advance than any other aliens. Yet they are so stupid to not be able to see how their perceived positive actions are viewed so negatively by so many other aliens.

This plot just does not jive with believable reality. Therefore it makes for a good futuristic space story for children, but not for adults.

The writing is so predictable that it is sad. Like in chapter 10 when Kirk is thinking his that his last big Romulan threat medal is getting lonely and needs a new one to keep it company. He ponders about how this new venture will award him a new and bigger medal or "commendation". It is so obvious that this is foreshadowing of just the opposite. Which is proven later when an idiot admiral contacts him and dresses him down for his actions in front of all his peers on the bridge.

No admiral would talk or behave as he did in this book. Another stupid unrealistic bit of writing.

Chapter 14 (near the end) was impossible to listen to. Lots of fast forwarding through worthless verbose stupid text.

Cliched beyond description; but I'll try.

Kirk: "I'm gonna be headstrong and ignore every red-flag, and go with my gut!"
Spock: "I have some reservations, but I'll keep quiet until it's too late. Also, they should be obvious to you anyway."
McCoy: "Pointy-eared green blooded... hey, look, aliens I'm suspicious...no wait, I love them, no wait, this was a mistake!"
Scotty: "I'm Sco'ish and I'll be getting drunk while on duty, because ya no like me!"
Uhura: "Spock, f********ck me NOW."
The Aliens: "We are helpful and only want to help you. We are SO nice, you shouldn't be suspicious of us. Also, it will take the Enterprise 6 out of the 8 hours to figure out what's really up.
THAT'S THE BOOK.
Petkoff is my favorite human voice to listen to, and Star Trek is in my blood (literally), And ADF is a fine writer, but this is garbage.

Good premise, hoping for more high brow stories in future!

It‘s a good ‚original Star Trek’ story. Not complicated. Not fleshed out. Minimal science.
The premise is excellent and a new take on colonialism. What happens when a society has no Prime Directive based on non interference but instead one based on helping everyone they encounter; the help is beneficial up to the point when it becomes overwhelming.
Perhaps a longer story would have Starfleet contacting other people who‘d been ‚helped‘ and look at many possible outcomes that way? Sure we know from many other stories how such help can eliminate or decimate societies. Taken from our own histories, logical outcomes. But I‘d love to see stories of various outcomes and various ways societies might have learned to deal with their ‚benefactors‘. As an Anthropologist that is what I mean by fleshing out the story.
There were some nice throwbacks to early ST:TOS novels bringing back the humorous interactions between Spock, McCoy, and Kirk that had me smiling broadly.
I‘d suggest it‘s a perfect story for younger listeners. Maybe for a family car trip?! Or if you need to be completing some monotonous task that still needs a modicum of your attention.
As always Robert Petkoff did a superb job. Allowing for instant recognition of all speakers.

Neat little story with great narration

It was cool to hear this story after it was initially cancelled and held in stasis for a decade! The story itself slowed a bit around the halfway point, but overall I enjoyed this simple tale.
The real standout is Robert Petkoff’s performance. If not for him, I don’t think I would keep coming back to Star Trek audiobooks. For example, in this book his performances for the Enterprise crew are subtle enough to suggest the cast of the modern Star Trek movies. Amazing! I still wish they would do unabridged Star Trek audiobooks with sound effects, but I’ll take what I can get!

Evening night news report

The narration sounds like a news reporter and the character voices are not that great. An hour into the book and it's boring to me, hopefully the story picks up soon.

Decent Foray into the Kelvin Universe

I was excited to see that this book was finally released. I've read several Star Trek books & thought a diversion into the new reboot universe would provide a shot in the arm for my Star Trek reading.

The story isn't a complicated one. The tale is simple to follow, centering on a new alien group called the Perenoreans. The Perenoreans are a highly intelligent and adaptable race that freely help other species improve on existing technology. Kirk & crew, believing they are a refugee race, rescue them from from an attack to what appears to be a superior enemy. They use their diplomatic skills and negotiate their resettlement on a neighboring moon. Incredibly proud of themselves they believe, that accolades & commendations will soon follow. However, the Enterprise crew are shocked when they get an angry message from Starfleet; & soon learn the Perenoreans are more sinister than what they appear to be. Thus begins the conflict & crisis that is the center of the story.

I found it fairly entertaining, but the story did slow down in the middle. The plot is more cerebral in nature, rather than action-based. This to me, was more reminiscent of TOS than the Kelvinverse crews.

Narrator is FABULOUS! Robert Petkoff knocks this out of the park. His slight nuances for each character are well matched with the current movie actors. His rendition of Scotty almost makes you think Simon Peg is reading those lines. This is a good listen. I don't know if I would have stuck with it, if I were reading the book. Robert's narration gives the story that much needed shot in the arm for energy. He makes it come alive.

A bit underwhelming

I was looking forward to this book. However I found it to be very drawn out and underwhelming. A simplistic ending to a very super intelligent adversary.

Excellent story

As always Alan Dean Fosters writes a great story. The plot and characters are great. And of course Star fleet prevails

reboot blues

I just can’t stand the premise that the captain and all officers (except for the CHENG) are former Academy classmates of the lowliest ensign. Of course, they are all equally lowly, since they all share the same date of rank… “they” being not just the ensigns, but every officer grade on the ship. And the true lowliest enlisted person likely has an earlier date of rank than the captain (and all the other officers)! The absurdity of this, the idea that experience is really of no value at all, that the knowledge which accompanies experience is if no value at all, makes every rate on the ship completely pointless. What moron came up with this concept? Nothing can fail to value knowledge as can total ignorance. Sheesh!

Very unsatisfactory ending

As always this Star Trek book had a great story and very interesting characters, but the ending was very disappointed and very abruptly ended with no difinitive resolution of the story

Worth a read, but have low expectations.

Great premise albeit a bit poorly paced. Despite the somewhat slow but intriguing build up, the ending felt anticlimactic, rushed and frankly a bit underwhelming. That said there was enough to enjoy about the story overall. The new alien race that becomes essential to the overarching plot are beautifully described and very thought provoking.

As an aside, if you're a Kelvin timeline fan, it's a bit hit and miss: Kirk was written more as Shatner than Pine in my view, but the other characters felt more Kelvin timeline authentic.

Very rushed ending

Superbly delivered as always by Robert Petkoff, this story started out hot, but I think it meandered through the middle parts. As for the ending, it seemed to just happen. Hardly any build up at all. Overall, quite disappointing.

More Star Trek than the films

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It felt very Star Trek, exploring ideological differences more than anything. Enjoyable. Only downside is that the resolution felt a little abrupt. I would have liked a coda to see what life was like afterwards.