Trek Throwback Thursday: The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox

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Trek Throwback Thursday: The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox


The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh is an engrossing and action filled tale that reveals the origins and backstory of Khan Noonien Singh and the oft referenced but never seen Eugenics Wars.  Presented in two volumes, The Eugenics Wars uses a combination of wit, humor, and clever Star Trek and real life historical references to tell the story of Khan Noonien Singh and the titular Eugenics Wars, all while not rewriting the 20th century history we all know.  

Volume one covers the 1970s and 80s, from the super-secret eugenics/genetic engineering project that created Khan and his super-ilk, the fate of the project, Khan's formative years and the real life historical events that motivated his later actions during the Eugenics wars proper.  I especially love the way Greg Cox worked in all the references to real life historical events (the end of the Cold War and fall of the Berlin Wall, the riots in Delhi following the assassination of Indira Ghandi, the Union Carbide chemical leak in Bhopal, the list goes on) as well as fun and pleasantly surprising references to events and characters from various Star Trek series and movies (Gary Seven, events and characters from Star Trek IV, Area 51 etc). This continues into volume two, which takes place from 1992 to 1996 and covers the events of the Eugenics Wars proper, the strife between Khan and his ilk, culminating in their defeat and Khan and his followers escape into space aboard the sleeper ship S.S. Botany Bay.  Cox skillfully weaves Khan's story and the events of the Eugenics Wars into the history of the 20th century as we know it, with all the major events and major players existing "behind the curtains" of history.  For the non history buffs, Greg Cox even includes an afterword at the end of each book breaking down all the historical events witnessed or referenced by the characters.  The entire Khan story is framed within a story set in the years after Star Trek: The Motion Picture, involving the Enterprise visiting a colony whose genetically altered human population are petitioning for Federation membership.  Although the frame story does bring up some interesting questions regarding genetic engineering, I personally found the Khan story much more engaging. 

Greg Cox's The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh duology are a fun, humorous, witty and thrilling read for hardcore Trek fans such as myself, as well as for fans of Spy-Fi which these novels definitely are.  I would highly recommend giving these two a read.

Bonus: Greg Cox also wrote a sequal of sorts to this duology, to Reign in Hell: the Exile of Khan Noonien Singh, which tells the story of Khan and his followers years of exile on Ceti Alpha V (between the events of TOS Space Seed and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). 

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