Firestorm by L.A. Graf

Firestorm by L.A. Graf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Enterprise arrives at the extremely active volcanic planet of Rakatan to deal with both a geological survey who may have stumbled onto a sentient lifeform existing within the heart of the magma and an Elasian mining operation who have claimed the planet. The scientists are not too happy to see the Starship but the Elasian's have defensive screens and threaten violence but have yet to respond to any communications. Eventually Uhura makes the breakthrough by addressing the Elasian compound with respect and more importantly as representing the ship as its Dohlman. The young woman (Israi) in charge of the Elasian facility is revealed to be the younger sister of now deceased Dohlman Elaan (Elaan of Troyius) but as of yet she has not come into her "tears" and thus a regent rules over her world. Uhura soon learns to deal with Israi who treats Uhura as the Dohlman of the Enterprise but the planet has other ideas. Political and military tensions continue to escalate not helped by the Federation scientists or the misunderstandings and opposing world views which all come to a head when the huge Rakatan Mons shows definite signs of eruption which could destroy the already on edge environment.
Firestorm was an entertaining novel, I really liked the ties to the tv episode Elaan of Troyius and the young Israi learns as much from Uhura as Uhura learnt from her and the politics of Elasian seemed to fit perfectly into the Federation structure. Chekov and Sulu were fun as Uhura's loyal retinue and the character of Mutchler was a great addition to the story.
Overall an enjoyable read and a well worked exploration of an alien race from a tv episode.

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