The Roddenberry Archive has released another piece of Star Trek preservation with "The Further Adventures of James T. Kirk," a documentary exploring the forgotten Shatnerverse novels that brought Captain Kirk back from the dead and into The Next Generation era.
Following last year's incredible "Unification" short film that featured William Shatner's Kirk meeting Leonard Nimoy's Spock one final time, this latest offering proves the Archive continues producing some of the most compelling Star Trek content in years. The documentary opens with Shatner himself explaining the genesis of these novels: "Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are friends of mine who are terrific, terrific writers. They are capable of writing anything and quickly. So I made their acquaintance and then I made their friendship and we agreed to write a book."
What made the Shatnerverse special was its deeply personal approach. As Shatner reveals, "We began to give Kirk some semblance of my life. I got divorced, I had death, I had children." The authors, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, understood they were becoming biographers as much as fiction writers. "We could feel that we were coming to him at a particular stage in his life where he was reflective," they explain. "And that was also going to be a stage of life for his character."
The first novel, "Ashes of Eden," emerged from Shatner's own fears about aging. "Captain Kirk being told he's not going to be in command of the Enterprise anymore, he said what he imagined was, what happens when one day a doctor says to me, 'You can't ride a horse anymore, Mr. Shatner.'"
When "Generations" killed Kirk, Pocket Books wanted another novel. Shatner's response was perfect: "How can there be another novel? He's dead." But as the authors note, "Nobody actually dies in science fiction. There's always another way."
"The Return" became the cornerstone of the series, bringing Kirk back to face off against Picard. The Reeves-Stevens explain the appeal: "How are you going to bring down the greatest living Starfleet captain? Well, you're going to get the greatest Starfleet captain of the past and you're going to put them head to head."
The Archive enhances this documentary with gorgeous visuals of Starfleet facilities, Earth from orbit, and haunting shots of Spock standing over Kirk's grave. These production values match their previous "Unification" film, which delivered some of the most moving Star Trek content in decades.
As Shatner reflects on his final days as Captain Kirk through novels, "what he hoped was that Captain Kirk was the best of him. So he wasn't putting on a character. He was trying to say this is what I aspire to be."
The Roddenberry Archive continues proving that the best Star Trek content comes from understanding what made the original series special.
What do you think of the Shatnerverse novels and their exploration of Kirk's later years?
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Wonderful. Really.
As disgusted as I am with H-wood and the public's skepticism about the evil there, it is moments like these that hint at hope.
At this point, I would hand all of Star Trek over to AI to produce a "trekkie" series filled with 3D actors/actresses with AI voices. It would be light years better than anything Kurtzmann or Abrams could concoct.
That was a nice video.