Different actor (Rene Auberjonois) reading; decent performance, significantly better audio, but somewhat weaker story. In this series, I'm struck by how much of a Bond villain Khan and his mother are, and how 007-like Gary Seven and Roberta's operations are. Roberta takes the lead here, as she and Seven work to prevent Khan's destruction of the Earth, and ensure their imprisonment on the Botany Bay sleeper ship. ( )

Good performance, decent story (although abridged), abominably bad audio. External retcon that puts Roberta, Isis, and Gary Seven (from the last episode in the second season of ST:TOS) in the context of the Chrysalis eugenics project that produced the Star Trek villain Khan. ( )

This book, written in 2003, does a pretty good job of excusing how the Eugenics Wars could have been happening throughout the 1990s without anyone noticing. That said, it's a little thin - because it has to fit into global conflicts that already exist, there's no way to have a fully satisfying explanation of Khan.

Star Trek: The Eugenics War
The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh
Author: Greg Cox
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published In: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Singapore
Date: 2002
Pgs: 338
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
20 years ago, Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln, undercover operatives for an unknown alien civilization, failed to prevent the Chrysalis Project. A genereation of genetically engineered advanced humans were loosed upon the world. They’ve spent those 20 years tracking the children of Chrysalis. Those children, now adults, are showing the world their abilities and their ambitions in all fields and endeavors. They know that they are superior and they are going to lead the world over the bodies of the inferiors, if necessary. The Children of Chrysalis vs the normal humans vs each other with the Earth and the leadership of humanity as the prize. The future is theirs...unless Seven and Lincoln can do something about it.

The secret history of Khan on Earth continues...before Kirk...before Botany Bay...a world in flames. _________________________________________________
Genre:
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Science Fiction
TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations
Star Trek
Hard Science Fiction

Why this book:
Khhhhhhaaaaannnnnnn!!!
Plus Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln.
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The Feel:
Strike One: Roberta referring to herself as a “alien sponsored secret agent babe.” The Meh is strong at that point. A few of those screeching moments like that cropped up through the book.

Word Choice / Usage:
The mirroring where Khan is attacked by Hunyadi with his earthquake/reservoir bomb. When Khan sees the damage wrought on the villages and all the devastation and loss of life, he ponders on Hunyadi’s attempt and failure to kill him and the weight of it falling on all those around him, ostensibly under his protection. This put me in mind of in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, when Kirk on the communicator said to Khan, “...old friend! You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target!”

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
It doesn’t make sense in this book that Roberta won’t use lethal force. I mean she’s fighting Khan and he doesn’t have any compunction against killing those who are opposed to him and neither do his soldiers and assassins. I seem to remember her and Seven being much more willing to use the deadly force option in Part One of this book. Seems OOC for someone caught in a war with a genetically advanced super being and his equally as adavnced minions to not fight fire with fire, as it were.

And then, she makes her daring escape with Khan’s assassins still in the building and uses the servo to detonate the building causing an implosion. She was worried about not using lethal force on them inside the building and then explodes the building with them inside of it, out of character.

Gary Seven is a ghost, barely there in the early parts of this book, with the excuse that in this timeframe, age is starting to catch up with him. In fairness, 30 years have passed in storytime since the last book. But Gary is the product of selective breeding, slowed aging, etc, etc. In his own way, he too is a modified superhuman.

Seven and his alien employers being aware of Landru doesn’t jibe. If they are so concerned with the continued prosperity of humanoids, why wouldn’t they be concerned with an society dominated by a computer like Landru? Doesn’t wash.

Trapped in militia bunker where the leader has herded his followers for a Kool Aid party or asphyxia, Roberta manages to contact Seven for a last minute rescue and the first thing she does is ask how things are going with him and the mission to stop a sarin attack. She’s in a bunker with a bunch of militiamen who have been sent there to die as a message to the Great Beast and, when she makes contact with possible rescue, her first words aren’t get me the hell out of here.

Would Khan accept the same offer from Kirk that he received from Gary Seven? I doubt it. He would rather burn than effectively send himself and his followers into exile twice. A bit too on the nose, even down to the dialogue, between the two offers.

Meh / PFFT Moments:
Not sure if the Suez Canal is deep enough for a submarine capable of carrying a Tomahawk missile to slip through without someone noticing it was there.

Relating every historical happening to Khan in some way is a bit overblown. Some would be alright, but not every one.

This novel, unlike Part One, is done more in the mold of a long Star Trek episode. It suffers from the A-story, B-story, C-story format, interrelated though they may be. The 3rd quarter of the book is more The Rise and Fall of Hawkeye Morrisson than Khan Noonien Singh.

This hit the too many easter eggs level a while back. But the Chateau Picard wine was a tipping point for me.
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Last Page Sound:
The framing elements of Kirk’s visit to Sycorax don’t really work. And provided a heavy anticlimax on the nadir of the story. This one doesn’t stand up to the first. The first is a much better book.

Author Assessment:
Trying to shoehorn every Star Trek cookie possible into the story doesn’t do the story a service.

Editorial Assessment:
Seems that an editor could have, should have paid more attention to this.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
not as good as I was lead to believe

Disposition of Book:
Half Price Books stack

Would recommend to:
no one
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Star Trek, The Eugenics Wars, Vol. 2, The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox – In volume one of this trilogy Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln destroyed the underground eugenics lab and rescued Khan Noonien Singh and the other genetically enhanced children. Then we saw them trying to guide and control Kahn as a teenager and young adult. In volume two, Kahn is an extremely egotistical adult who ruthlessly attempts to seize power on a global scale. We see him evolve into a megalomaniac who tries to control the world. However, some of his genetically enhanced comrades exercise their own power and refuse to bow to Khan as their leader. Khan’s struggle for power and his uncontrollable ego lead him to actions that put the entire population of Earth in danger. Seven and Lincoln battle to save the human race. It’s a well-written and compelling novel that includes suspenseful action, fascinating scientific content, many interesting characters and a satisfying conclusion. I look forward to reading the third novel in this series. ( )