The Ashes of Eden by William Shatner and Judith Reeves-Stevens and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

For almost three decades, William Shatner has portrated STAR TREK's gallant commander of the legendary Starship Enterprise and her crew. Now William Shatner brings his unique blend of talents as actor, writer, director, and producer, to tell the story only he can, of Captain Kirk's greatest adventure... The time: six months prior to the launch of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B and the tragic loss of Captain James T. Kirk in deep space. The place: Earth, where the galaxy's most renowned hero must now face the specter of retirement and a life devoid of challenge and excitment. But in the apparent twilight of his career, Kirk's path takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious young woman offers him an irresistible adventure-- a perilous voyage to an uncharted planet where he will confront the ultimate threat to the fragile peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and the ultimate temptation-- a chance to recapture his youth.

The most disappointing thing about sifting through The Ashes of Eden is that, at the core of it, there's an interesting plot idea: that, after the Federation and the Klingon Empire have signed a peace treaty, there are elements within both governments that wish to upend the peace process, and try to bring Starfleet and the Klingon navy kicking and screaming back to the brink of war.

That could have been an interesting story. Instead, what we get is some of the most amateurish, unrealistic author-insertion fan fiction that I've ever read. A certain amount of that is to be expected, because the author spent 25 years, off and on, playing the main character, but there's so much more than I would have assumed. It's rumoured that Shatner had the book ghostwritten, but it's such slavish “Kirk is TEH AWESOME” that I can't believe that anyone other than him wrote it.

Star Trek VI, the final one featuring Kirk and his crew, is my favourite of the Star Trek movies, and it's a perfect send-off to those characters. I think they should have let that stand as a final journey for them, and never referenced them again after that.