After Captain Kirk became an admiral, we didn’t get to see much of his time in that capacity as most fans preferred to see him commanding the Enterprise. Okay, well, all fans, actually. So though he wore the uniform and carried the rank, he was, to us, still Captain Kirk. Still, it might have been interesting to see him embracing his new rank and this new part of his career. And now, we’re going to get that chance because a new novel that is set between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan will delve deeper into Admiral Kirk’s life.
Star Trek: Living Memory, written by Christopher L. Bennett, sees Admiral Kirk as the commandant of Starfleet Academy. While he’s getting used to the role, an alien warrior caste is brought into the Academy and causing a lot of trouble. Captain Spock also makes an appearance in the novel along with Commander Chekov and Commander Uhura according to the official book description:
“While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body—and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder. Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds—unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space. Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura’s past—one that she no longer remembers….”
Christopher L. Bennett, who saw his first episode of Star Trek when he was only 5 1/2 years old, wrote the popular novel, Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures, which Motion Picture Comics said was “rich with Star Trek lore and filled with compelling new stories for our heroes and interesting new character-arcs for the Enterprise ensemble…” He has also penned Star Trek: The Original Series novels such as The Captain’s Oath and The Face of the Unknown and novels set in the Department of Temporal Investigations.
Star Trek: Living Memory is scheduled for release on June 15th; and the paperback is already available for pre-order now on Amazon.