The Entropy Effect is a novel by Vonda N. McIntyre set in the fictional Star Trek Universe. It was originally published in 1981 and is the first original story in Pocket Books' long-running series of Star Trek novels (and the second published, after the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture). The novel includes the first occurrence of given names for the characters Hikaru Sulu and Nyota Uhura, each of which were later made canon (in the films Star Trek VI and Star Trek, respectively). Robert Greenberger, the Editor at Starlog Press with responsibility for the Star Trek franchise, reviewed the novel favorably, calling it "captivating reading" and praising the characterization and the "scientific emphasis". It was the first novel that was effective in giving prominence to a supporting character – Sulu, in this case. McIntyre's naming of Sulu as "Hikaru" became canon through the efforts of George Takei and Peter David in the making of the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The novel was one of the first to explore "beyond the boundaries of the known Trek universe." McIntyre developed the novel from a screenplay that she had conceived when she was 18, and this "wonderful volume ... convinced Pocket Books to assign the subsequent three movie novelizations" to McIntyre. Plot summary The Enterprise is engaged in an unprecedented scientific study of a naked singularity when a top priority message forces Captain Kirk to divert to Aleph Prime, a mining colony in a nearby system. Upon arrival, the high priority of the message seems to have been a mistake: the Enterprise was needed simply to ferry a single criminal to a rehabilitation colony in the same solar system. The criminal turns out to be a theoretical physicist, Dr. Georges Mordreaux, convicted of murder and unethical research on self-aware beings. Spock thinks Mordreaux could yield insights on the phenomenon he had been researching—namely that for some unknown reason, the increase of entropy has begun to accelerate. This effect would cause precarious ecosystems to collapse and unstable stars to go nova within two decades, and result in the end of the Universe in a few more. But the case against Mordreaux seems very odd, with incomplete evidence, and Spock disbelieves that Mordreaux could be capable of the crime. Prosecutor Braithewaite accompanies them on the journey, convinced that Mordeaux is dangerous. He also has a nagging feeling he has seen