Name: Voyage
to Adventure
Author: Michael J. Dodge
Publication Date: 1/1984
Publisher: Pocket Books (Which Way #15)
Page Number: 118
Historian’s Note:
Sometime between “Turnabout Intruder” and “More Tribbles, More Troubles”
Cast of Characters: Captain James T. Kirk Commander Spock Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA
“Bones” Lieutenant Commander
Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”
Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu Lieutenant Nyota Uhura Lieutenant Grogan Ensign Pavel Chekov Ensign {Insert your name here} many unnamed crewmen Admiral Traynor Captain Robert T. April Commander Krogan unnamed Klingon Commander several unnamed Klingon soldiers Takoi Queen hundreds of unnamed Tokoi Mirror Universe versions of Captain James
T. Kirk Lieutenant Nyota Uhura Ensign Black Ensign Wu unnamed security crewman
Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701,
ISS Enterprise NCC-1701, a few unnamed Klingon K't'inga-class battle cruisers
Planets: Takoi world
My Spoiler filled summary and review: You are a new graduate of Starfleet Academy and as such have been commissioned as an ensign in Starfleet. You also get your dream assignment serving on the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk. Here you will rub elbows with your heroes and go on adventures in space. To start you get to choose which department you serve under. You are given the bridge, science laboratory, or the engineering department.
 |
| Choose engineering and you might end up in a Jefferies tube |
Each
decision you make has consequences mostly for yourself. You have a total of fifty-one possible
paths. In thirteen possible outcomes you
die in the traditional Star Trek red shirt fashion. In another scenario you are killed but you
have successfully outed a spy. Twice you
go back in time to fix things and save Spock but in doing so you end up
disappearing, you’re not dead technically in this situation because there is
another you who will continue in the fixed timeline. Twice your fate is unknown, and you may have
died. One of those was heroic saving
Kirk and McCoy while the other was just plain stupid. In one case you save an
alien race, and your physical body disintegrates. You’re not dead but your essence is trapped
there. In one possible outcome you are
trapped in a time loop where you pull a leaver for eternity. 
Finding yourself in the mirror universe
There are three possible outcomes where you win but are hurt in the process. One of the possible storyline scenarios has you traveling back in time with Spock to the period where Captain April commanded the Enterprise. In three outcomes you ended up staying in April’s time. Two by choice because you are “sick of time travel” even though you only done it once. In one of those Spock gives his approval, in the other he is dead and you’re not going to bother to save him. One was involuntary as you went to the wrong area of the ship when the ride back home was being offered. Two outcomes involve you disappointing an alien race by either showing your violent side or just refusing to help them. There are three outcomes where you lose the battle, but the ship gets away to safety.
 |
| Explore strange new worlds |
Nineteen
outcomes are just straight up victories.
This is whether you are fighting Klingons, going to a strange new world,
fixing the ship’s engines, having an adventure in the past or in the mirror
universe. My absolute favorite outcome
is when you lead a boarding party on a Klingon ship and once you capture it,
you are promoted to lieutenant.
Additional thoughts: This book is a lot of fun. I first read it when I was eleven years old.
Reading it now was a little different as I was reviewing it, I wanted to
explore all options. When I read this
book just for myself, I always would take paths that I would have taken if it
were real. Although I would try out all
three areas of the ship allowed, my favorite was the bridge. One reason is in the engineering and science
paths you only get to hang out with Scotty or Spock respectively, where a
bridge adventure allows you to interact with the entire cast. 
Being on the bridge allows you to interact with just about everyone!
There are some contradictions in
the paths that you take based on your choices.
For example, one crew member is revealed to be a Klingon spy and how
soon you discover that depends on which path you choose. However, if your journey goes in one other
direction early on, that crew member doesn’t end up as a Klingon spy at all,
just kind of a jerk. In another case you
are on an adventure with Spock, and he gets knocked out by a phaser set to
stun. However, if you turn in one
direction you learn that it wasn’t set to stun and he died, where in every
other outcome he survives. An alien
species is either kind or cruel, they either want you to save them or they are
trying to steal your ship.
There were some odd things I noticed. Captain Kirk of the mirror universe has scars. That was interesting as he didn’t have any in the episode “Mirror, Mirror.” Also, Spock states that Captain April commanded the Enterprise forty years ago. Where it was actually around twenty years ago according to the traditional Star Trek timeline. Also, I don’t remember Spock ever serving with April and if he did it couldn’t have been forty years ago as Spock wasn’t alive at the time. The book also states that April was dead before your character was born that is baloney because we saw Robert April in the episode “The Counter-Clock Incident.” There are some art errors such as a lieutenant with commander’s stripes and Lt. Uhura of the Mirror Universe dressed like she is from the prime universe.
 |
| Mirror Kirk and Uhura look different from their live action appearance |
Lastly, I thought it was odd that
Captain Kirk would trust a brand-new ensign to lead a boarding party on a
Klingon ship. At least the Captain
understands that an ensign is a commissioned officer unlike a certain
lieutenant in engineering.
Should it be canon: Considering it involves you and
multiple different endings to the same story I don’t see how it could be
incorporated into canon. It is just a
fun little story.
Cover Art: Kirk and Spock are two the viewers right,
a “monster” that appears in one story is on the viewers left. Underneath the
creature is the Enterprise’s bridge.
It is an interesting cover.
Final Grade: Final Grade 5 of 5
