Planet of Judgment is the first of two Trek novels written by noted SF author Joe Haldeman, back when Bantam Books had the franchise license and their occasional novels were the only new stories we poor Trekkies could get.
I read this when it was first published in 1977, so I do have a nostalgic fondness for it. But even taking that into consideration, I think it's excellent--a strong story that also captures the personalities of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. What's interesting is that in the forward to his second Trek novel (World Without End), Haldeman writes that he was overseas in Vietnam when the series aired and his background information came largely from James Blish's short story adaptations of the episodes. A few elements from this novel also indicate that he was using the Star Fleet Technical Manual that was in print at the time.
A favorite part--a character moment separate from the main plot--comes when Spock is discussing Nurse Chapel's crush on him with McCoy. Why, Spock asks, would Chapel pursue a relationship that would--because of Vulcan biology--be one of complete abstinence. Pon Farr only comes once every seven years.
McCoy points out that Spock's own mother was human. "Mother and I have never discusses this frankly," says Spock.
"That's the most human thing I've ever heard you say," replies McCoy.
It's a great moment. I believe it was later established in Star Trek that Vulcans can have relations outside of Pon Farr, but I never cared for that. The way Haldeman portrays them here is an effective reminder that they are not human beings with funny ears, but aliens who are fundamentally different from humans.
The main plot involves a planet that seems to defy physics and a powerful alien race with enormous mental powers. Kirk and a number of his crew end up trapped on the planet and only gradually find out what the aliens have in mind. The intense climax has Kirk and Spock in mental duels with members of yet another powerful alien race. The duels involve illusions such as Kirk commanding a sailing ship fighting pirates or Spock swimming inside a sun with the purpose of causing it to go nova. It's all an illusion, but losing still means real-life death.
McCoy, who fights a preliminary duel with an alien, finds himself on a 19th-Century riverboat in a poker game that spirals into bizarre and lethal chaos.
The world-building and the purposes of the various aliens is excellent, with the relatively short novel moving the story along at a brisk pace. It all really does feel like Star Trek--capturing the camaraderie of the crew and the desire to explore strange new worlds. Its a novel I revisit from time to time as a way of spending time in one of my favorite fictional universes.
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Haldeman said somewhere the books were Hell to write, after he thought they'd be easy. I liked them, and I think writers like Haldeman are at their best doing this clean, straight-hacked pulp.
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