A longing for old friends, coupled with recent events at Kansas City’s Planet Comicon, and my anticipation for the upcoming film Star Trek Beyond, culminated in a non-stop read through the last 150 pages of Dayton Ward’ novel, Star Trek: From History’s Shadow. I had been enjoying spending time with Kirk and company, along with characters from the original series episode “Assignment: Earth”, in whatever stolen moments I could find to read over the last few weeks, but a last minute decision to start the long weekend early left me alone to immerse myself in the Star Trek universe and the results were immensely satisfying.

Dayton Ward, no stranger to penning new adventures for the beloved crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, embarked on what he called a “pet project” in the novel’s Acknowledgements, blending real history with Star Trek history in a way that grounds the novel for those of us familiar from childhood with Cold War era fears and the televised adventures that took place in the “final frontier”.

Star Trek: From History’s Shadow finds its setting in our real past and our imagined future, jumping through time in such a way that the story compels one to keep reading while at the same time avoiding any confusion that might occur with a book spanning over three centuries. This was my first experience with Dayton Ward’s solo Star Trek work, and I must say that I am pleased that there are more of his titles on my shelf awaiting discovery, including the just-released companion book, Elusive Salvation.

In preparation to read the novel, I watched the “Assignment: Earth” episode, as the events in From History’s Shadow surround those of the televised appearance of Gary 7 and Roberta Lincoln (played by a very young Teri Garr). This is one of the original Star Trek episodes that I have seen the least over many years of viewing, and it was great fun to revisit it. Doing so put me squarely in the frame of mind to envision the events that take place in the 1960’s of Ward’s novel.

From History’s Shadow interweaves true historical events with those of other Star Trek stories and television episodes, telling the tale of a clandestine United States task force convinced that aliens are among us and are prepared to do harm, alternating with events that happen on the U.S.S. Enterprise 300 years in the future, or simply one week into the future for Captain James T. Kirk and crew from when they were drawn back to the past in “Assignment: Earth”. The thread which ties these two eras together is the character of Roberta Lincoln.

In From History’s Shadow, Lincoln is not the naive secretary she was upon her introduction, and yet she is far from being the seasoned agent that is her supervisor, Gary 7. To quote our pointy-eared friend, it was fascinating to see this character explored further, and I am happy to see that she will be returning in Elusive Salvation.

Dayton Ward captures the essence of the familiar crew so well that it is easy to imagine their faces and hear their voices whenever the scene turns back to the U.S.S. Enterprise, but for my money, the strength of From History’s Shadow lies in its treatment of the characters living and working in 1960’s America. I was born in 1968, so my “experience” of the 1960’s was certainly not first hand, but childhood immersion into the television shows of that era–thanks to syndication–and the specter of that decade which loomed over the 1970’s and early 80’s has given me some perspective into the fear and paranoia of that age. I felt like Ward captured that so marvelously with the handful of characters whose duty was to investigate UFO sightings and secretly work to keep hidden what little was known about previous alien encounters on Earth, all while trying to thwart a very real threat to Earth’s future. A great deal of the story centers on these characters and when all was said and done I found that to be incredibly satisfying.

When it comes to story, I enjoy revisiting the era in which I grew up. From History’s Shadow allowed me to visit a time just before my birth, to experience through the characters events both real and fictional in a way that was not simply nostalgic, it was informative. With Cold War politics and the race for space, it was an interesting time to be alive.

If you are looking for a cross between an historical novel and science fiction, Star Trek: From History’s Shadow is highly recommended. And of course I would recommend it to anyone who can hear the Star Trek theme in their head and the “whoosh” as the Enterprise flies by whenever they see/hear the names James T. Kirk, Spock, Doctor McCoy, Montgomery Scott, etc.

This was fun.
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I picked up my copy of From History’s Shadow directly from the author at KC’s Planet Comicon back in May. I had met and conversed with him and his writing partner, Kevin Dilmore, the previous year at the same convention. I found them both to be enjoyable conversationalists and I had a great time visiting with him over the course of the weekend. On the day in which I purchased this novel and Elusive Salvation, Dayton Ward’s two young daughters were there, both dressed in red original series era Starfleet dresses. They were adorable.

The younger of the two, Erin, was quite entertaining and while Dayton was signing my books, she asked if she could sign them too. He informed her that she could not, so she instead took sticky notes and a Sharpie and made two autographs for me, one to go in each book that I purchased. Needless to say, I found the whole episode very charming and those autographs are, and forever will be, right there where she put them. It is a memory I will cherish, even more so given how much I enjoyed the novel itself.