The Cry of the Onlies -

Premise 

   The main plot of the story is that the Enterprise is on a diplomatic mission with Boaca Six, which has recently rebelled from their oppressive government. The goal is just to see how things are going, and to try to convince them to join the Federation. Things are going well until a ship carrying ambassadors from the sister civilization and some of their own is destroyed, seemingly by a Federation vessel!

Initial Rating 

    This is just where I'm going to detail how I felt about the book and if you should read it - spoiler free. Some Star Trek books can be a little dull, they focus too much on drab plots with confusing pseudo-science. I found that this novel was quite the opposite. There was about three separate plots, that combined aspects from two other TOS episodes. While I was a little hazy on the details of these two episodes ("Mira" and "Requiem for Methuselah") I found that the author did a good job of incorporating these elements into the story so I was never confused on what I was reading. This book didn't try to go crazy out of the box with new characters or complex sci-fi (not that I don't enjoy that), instead it felt like a longer TOS episode, which to me felt like a good thing. If you're a Spirk shipper, or like me just find it weird how in the 80's certain subtext was making it past publishers, this book isn't a must read. There were some moment of note, and I'll get into those below. 

Characters 

    Like I said this book doesn't introduce many new characters. There's one ensign; who, to be honest, I still have no idea why he was included or what he brought to the story, he literally plays no role (I almost wonder if he had a bigger part and the author was instructed to take it down a notch). And like a historian who gets a name but no character. We don't see a lot of the TOS characters other than the Triumvirate of Spock, Kirk, and Bones. There's some fun interactions there, and aside from the like required Star Trek novel mention of "I'm a doctor not a..." everyone was characterized well. If you remember, this novel makes mention of a TOS episode where Kirk falls in love with an android. At the end of this episode Spock mind melds so that he forgets about Ranya. Does he do this out of compassion for his friend or jealously over another Kirk-lover? Up for debate. 

Any Final Criticisms ? 

Nope. 
Maybe too many things going on in one story for some people. And the plot with the children was almost disturbing if you think about it for too long. And, oh yeah, not enough cool women :(. 

The Obligatory Spirk Sidenote 

    First off I just want to point out that I've seen some amazing Beverly x Troi art online and I want more Star Trek subtext that points towards that . Not that I don't love Spirk, just emphasize that if I had more options I would explore them. Anyways.... 
There are a ton of parallels between Ranya and Spock, but because I hadn't seen the episode in a while it only hit me until this passage, 
"There was a girl, an android. I feel it was somehow involved..." "It was" "But how? It wasn't human. Yet I feel that there was some relationship involved, she was so..." Kirk frowned, shook his head sharply. "How could a cold computer's brain cause emotional tension, emotional involvement? How could it feel ?" 
"Feelings and emotional attachments can sometimes come from unexpected sources, Captain" Spock remarked tonelessly. In his steely gaze, Kirk could decipher nothing. He decided to give up" (191). 
   
    Wow, if it wasn't enough that Spock said that we have the weird pause where it feels as though the reader and Kirk should definitely be trying to read way into Spock's comment. I mean when you think about it Ranya and Spock do have a lot of similarities; confusion at the expectations that the world has for them, confusion about emotions and love, and the general perception that they should both are emotionless. I mean honestly the English paper writes itself. 
Sidenote, this is why I love these books. Are the writers in on the Spirk conspiracy, or was everyone just that oblivious in the 80's??
There's one more moment I feel the need to quote, and this one I'll admit is a lot less concrete then the first one but I thought it was funny, "His mind ran back over other times they had discussed sensitive matters, let down their guard enough to expose their frailties and lend each other support. In this very cabin . . . problems had been discussed" (187). 
I did NOT add that ellipses. Idk if it's just me but slowly like drawing out the middle of a sentence like that is real weird, and seems to hold way more context then I think it was warranted. 
Overall, not the most overt of the Spirk books I've read, but definitely something was up with Judy Klass (the women authors of Trek books always write the best ones, I don't make the rules). 

Gee, There's a lot of Trek books on the market, why should I read this one? 

    If you're staring at a wall full of Trek books, let me narrow this one down. 
We don't see a lot of the characters beside Spock, Kirk, and Bones, so if you're a Uhura stan maybe go read Uhura's Song . 
Also because this book involves two different episodes if you're looking for a Trek book totally creative, again try something else. 
If you dislike when Trek books randomly give you the POV of an alien you never know and the characters most likely never interact with... don't read this. It happens way too much.