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Janet Kagan
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Uhura's Song (Star Trek) Hardcover – 17 Oct. 1985

by Janet Kagan (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 694 ratings
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  1. Book 18 of 84
    Star Trek: The Original Series
  2. Print length
    384 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Firecrest Pub.
  5. Publication date
    17 Oct. 1985
  6. ISBN-10
    0859976033
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0859976039
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Firecrest Pub.
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 17 Oct. 1985
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0859976033
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0859976039
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 788 g
  • Book 18 of 84 ‏ : ‎ Star Trek: The Original Series
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 694 ratings

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Janet Kagan

Janet Kagan

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4.6 out of 5 stars
694 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Joanna
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting take on TOS
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 September 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I read this in order to flow the conversation about it on podcast 'Women at Warp'. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of female characters and their complexity- virtually every page passes the Bechdel test. This is both faithful to TOS, with the crew acting and reacting in a very familiar way, but also a more thorough and philosophical look at the way we interact with other cultures, how we get along and learn. Perhaps a little more exploration of the prime directive could have been present, but overall this is a minor quibble. An engaging book
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Jane E.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Star Trek
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I enjoyed this unexpectedly interesting classic Star Trek book.
    It arrived promptly and is in good condition for a paperback of this age.
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  • Roddenberry
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 December 2017
    Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase
    One of the better eighties trek books that I have read thusfar.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars It's Original Star Trek!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I remember reading this many years ago. And enjoyed it all over again. The Enterprise crew are in a race against time, as usual, to find a cure for a devastating and fatal illness. The only clue they have is from a song taught to Uhura many years ago.
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  • SE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Star Trek book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I absolutely love this book, I bought the paperback many years ago and read it again and again it’s that good. Probably the best Star Trek “original” series book
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  • Charlie Rolls
    5.0 out of 5 stars Star Trek original series
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2017
    Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Star Trek original series are the best ST stories. Janet Kagan's book has depth and the characters are true to the original TV series.
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  • John A. Ferguson
    3.0 out of 5 stars Erm....okay.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2021
    Verified Purchase
    So, Star Trek is awesome...we know that and pretty much any book that has continued the voyages is good. However, for me, I struggle with this. It was an okay story which is well written...but I just found it a bit boring.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Probably my favourite star trek novel! The storyline was heartwarming and funny but it also had a kind of point to it that at the end leaves you smiling.
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  • Mark Myword
    5.0 out of 5 stars With an entire world at stake, possibly many worlds--the incomplete words of a song might be the only clue to a needed solution!
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 November 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I gotta admit. I have owned so many Star Trek novels (TOS of course)-- and am rediscovering them all over again on my Kindle... it's like the series never ended and I love it. Every now and then I find one I missed in the earlier paperback collections I have--this was one and boy am I glad I got it. It's only drawback, if you're not a die-hard ST fan, is that at times it seems to move slow--or at least it did to me because I couldn't believe how many pages this book was. (Kindle points it went to over 6,000) --but You have Scotty, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura (obviously), Spock, Kirk and Chekov throughout the story--and I don't want to put too many spoilers in here. Suffice it to say at first I was a little skeptical that it was just another over "feminized" Star Trek novel where they use overkill to make amends for the sexism in TOS... all the primary characters (except the ones they couldn't change) were females and I mean their abilities were simply amazing; but as the character development evolved, I just grew to absolutely love the entire story line. I didn't mind Dr. Evan Wilson (yeah, that's a woman--and quite a character) because I found myself laughing at her, and also touched by her humanity--she was, as my Dad would have said, one A-number-1 "character"...wielding her quarterstaff, and trying to fill some mighty big shoes when McCoy is stranded on the planet where an epidemic of ADS (you'll find out) threatens to wipe out an entire civilization--and now it's been transmitted to humans. You will eventually get used to names like Catchclaw, Brightspot, Jinx, Stiff Tail, and Rushlight; with creatures like the grabfoots and the slashbacks, and the whole outcome is hinged on the hope that a song Uhura had learned from one of the natives--just might hold the clue to the cure before the disease goes rampant throughout the galaxy. You see, the people on the planet that is now afflicted, seem to not be its original inhabitants... but rather a long kept secret is that they were "exiled" in shame from their true homeworld, where the possible cure may be found and THAT is in "Uhura's Song". I find it great seeing Uhura getting more playtime as she was just as fabulous in this story as she was in the "love" story about the "Singers" in a previous novel. Anyway--the long and short is that Kirk and company have a limited amount of time to see if they can decipher the clues in Uhura's Song to find the homeworld of this race of people (and they are felinoid), and hopefully find a cure. What they do discover is not at all what one would have expected, and the ensuing saga is a delightful "tail" (yeah--that's a pun, if you read the book you'll get real used to references about pulling tails)...with a good bit of drama, humanity, art, and suspense all tied into one lengthy, but very enjoyable novel. Now that I've completed it... I'm almost sorry it's over; but I have another book from TOS just waiting to be read next. The saga continues!
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, for me the writer is not very ...
    Reviewed in Australia on 3 December 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Great story, for me the writer is not very flowing but the story was one of the best I have read!!!
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  • Rabbi Yonassan Gershom
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great model for inter-cultural dialogue
    Reviewed in the United States on 21 January 2001
    Verified Purchase
    Of all the Original Series Trek novels I've read (and that's a LOT!), I rank this one in my Top 10 for good writing, excellent plotting, and a thought-provoking presentation of what a successful intercultural dialogue should be like. The book has a universal appeal and a very good message, even if you're not a Trekkie or an SF fan. In my opinion, it could even be used as outside reading for a course in multiculturism. The way Kagan's characters handle each other's differences certainly beats some of the, er, shall we say, less-than-successful "first contacts" I've experienced as a Hasidic Jew living in rural Minnesota, where "that's different" is local codespeak for disapproval. We can all learn a lot about mutual respect from this book, where both sides discuss what their behavioral "norms" and expectations are. As Stiff Tail explains to her humanoid visitors, there is no "of course" when it comes to local customs.
    Although the main plot is about finding a cure for a devastating plague that is killing both Eaouans and humans, the real strength of this story lies in the exchange of ideas, songs, customs (and sometimes taboos) between the Enterprise crew and the cat-like alien beings on the planet Sivao. Being a cat lover myself, I found Kagan's portrayal of the felinoid culture to be internally consistent and believably grounded in the real behaviors of cats. Feline characters have appeared in Trek before (such as crewperson M'ress in the animated series, and Snarl, who also makes an appearance here), but this was the first book to explore the cultural possibilities in any depth. Because this novel came relatively early in the Trek series (it's only #21 in a list of hundreds), it helped set a high standard for IDIC in future stories about alien societies.
    I also liked the central role that Uhura plays in this story. In the Original Series, she sang in a number of episodes, setting the scene for her musical accomplishments in this tale. Having learned certain "secret" songs from her Eaouan friend, Sunfall of-Ennien, Uhura discovers clues in the ancient ballads that lead the crew to Sivao, the original homeworld of Sunfall's ancestors. There, Uhura is honored as a bard for her singing abilities, and this leads to another private song-swap with the local bard. Not only does this exchange help solve the puzzle of the origins of the plague, it fulfills a healing prophecy as well. To tell you any more would ruin a very good read. So nu, enjoy it for yourself!
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  • rustyhalo47
    4.0 out of 5 stars True to the heart of the original TV series
    Reviewed in the United States on 12 March 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I married into a Sci Fi family and quickly fell in love with the characters of the original series. All the major players are here, but some of the characters who were more secondary in the TV series are major characters for this novel, which I was glad to see. Uhura was always one of my favorites, and I loved the agents of Chekov and Scotty. One of my favorite things about this book is the way Checkov's and Scotty's dialogs are written. From the spelling of words, you can "hear" their accents. And of course, the humor from Bones and Spock. And I was quite drawn in by the additional new charachters unique to this story.
    The only reason I dropped this book one star was for the way the change in POV was handled. Or rather not handled at all. I do not mind an author using multiple POV, but there should be SOME indicator for transition. Some authors use a chapter break and note the speaker for that section. Others who change POV more frequently will put a couple lines of space and a symbol or a name to tell the reader that we are "moving" and to which POV. There is none of that here. One paragraph ends, and another begins. You are halfway through a paragraph before you realize you have switched POV and have to back up a few lines, which throws you out of the narrative every time.
    It should be easy for an editor - or ANYONE, really - to read through the copy and hit the space bar 3 or 4 times for each POV change to prepare the reader for a switch. Then it would be 5 stars all the way !
    No trigger warnings here ! Can recommend this for readers of any age as long as they are skilled enough to decipher Scotty's brought. No romance, minimal violence and only when defending against animal attacks. If there was any swearing it was so minimal that I did not notice it or remember it to the end of the book and I read it straight through over a weekend. I would gladly read more in the Star Trek universe, if the other novels were not so expensive.
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  • Sue
    4.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Buch in schlechtem Zustand
    Reviewed in Germany on 28 December 2024
    Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Das Buch ist inhaltlich toll. Kreative Ideen, die auf den ursprünglichen Personen und Ideen des Enterprise Universums aufbauen. Es sah auch einwandfrei aus als es ankam. Leider war aber die Papierqualität oder die Lagerung nicht gut, so dass beide Einbandkartons gebrochen sind sobald sie bewegt also aufgeschlagen wurden.
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