Windows on a Lost World by V.E. Mitchell

Star Trek: Windows on a Lost World
by V.E. Mitchell [Hoopla Digital Service]

Probably the best word for this book, is weird. It’s a bit longer (3 hours) than some of the other Star Trek audio books on Hoopla, and that just made it a bit worse. The story is this – Kirk and crew are on a planet’s surface when some windows appear in the ancient ruins they are exploring. Kirk and Chekov ‘go through’ the windows and are somehow merged into the same body as large bug/scorpion like creatures, and while the alien has its own motives, Kirk and Chekov still retain their personalities. Spock, as he does, finds them and figures out who they are because Kirk can control the coloring of his body’s skin and communicates with Morse Code. They of course eventually get back into their own bodies, but if you think it’s weird now, it just gets more so. The females of this species are the only ones with the knowledge to help them, but are resistant to help males, who are just seen as dumb underlings. I found this so ridiculous I’m not really sure why I finished listening to it. At first it reminded me of Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, but this is much more bizarre. There are some things that are so bad they’re actually good in a campy way, so as I was listening, I was hoping it would turn out that way, but it didn’t. I really would not recommend it, but if you do still want to try it you can check it out on Hoopla, which is a digital streaming service our library subscribes to. Simply go to www.hoopladigital.com (or follow a link from our online catalog) to create an account, and then stream the audio through your browser.

[If you like this item, you might like these too – Checkout the Star Trek recommendations page on the libraries’ BookGuide readers advisory pages for more reviews of other titles you might like.]

[ V.E. Mitchell entry on Memory Alpha ] | [ official V.E. Mitchell web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

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