Star Trek: Envoy, a Captain Sulu Adventure by L. A. Graf - Book Report #226

At first I was disappointing by the short, one hour, run time of the audio book.

But it was well produced and narrated by none other than George Takei.  So I was in.

The story is set in the time period of Captain Sulu's command of the USS Excelsior.

Starfleet Command orders Sulu to board a shuttle and travel to a nearby starbase to assist in the final stages of a peace treaty between the Krikiki and the Den-Kai races who have been at war for decades.

When he finds out what his part in the peace process entails, Sulu finds himself in a battle between his personal morals and the greater good. 

This is the kind of subject matter that makes Star Trek so very special.

I enjoyed the story very much and found the one hour duration similar to watching an episode of the TV series.

To The Stars by George Takei - Book Report #175

Man I hate it when I listen to an abridged book.  I have no idea what I am missing.

Still, I enjoyed this version.  Who wouldn't?  I had the deep, rich voice of George himself in my ears for three hours.

Sublime.

This abridgment, not surprisingly, spent most of its time describing the Star Trek days in Takei's life.

What I personally found more compelling were his early days and the struggle he had to elevate his character, Hikaru Sulu.  It was frustrating to hear how many times Sulu came close to being promoted only to have it edited out due to on-set politics.

This was a terrific insight for any fan of the original series.  But if you are more interested in the man himself, I would suggest seeking out the dead-tree version of the book.

You can find his website here - http://georgetakei.com/