"For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky" is a mouthful of title wrapping a shallow script. McCoy's self-diagnosed death sentence starts a story that takes a completely unrelated turn with the spaceship/asteroid Yonada. It's a shame so much time is spent on McCoy and Natira when examining her society and spacecraft would have been far more interesting. For example, how many Yonadans are there? How long do they live? The only reason to build a ship that size would be to move a great number of people. Did they forget "naturally" or did the Oracle torture them into doing so?

The science behind this relocation is problematic, since light travels thousands of times faster than asteroids. Even over ten thousand years Yonada would travel only a few light years away from the Fabrini sun! The primitive missiles it fires belie the extraordinary technical accomplishment building such an artifact (Why fire them at all? To destroy primitive ships, or intentionally attract attention?). In some ways the Oracle of Yonada resembles HAL9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey, " as a powerful one-eyed artificial intelligence keeping a secret to itself as it blindly guides a spaceship on a course of doom. (Even to the point of trying to kill Natira, its only friend!)

In other respects the story falls apart as quickly as Natira changes beliefs or falls in love. She doesn't seem to suspect much about the truth but of course with the Oracle monitoring one's head all the time, who really knows? (That the Old Man managed to "touch the sky" means he probably did so while young, and the insertion of the Instrument of Obedience is done at some rite of adulthood.) How "all wise" can the Oracle be, trying to fry Kirk and Spock (heat a Vulcan!?!) instead of just zap them again? And why waste time introducing a Starfleet order Kirk promptly disobeys?

Poor effects trouble this show not unlike the pesky science that troubles its otherwise intriguing idea. The ending comes close to cheating, not only resolving the xenopolycythemia but also repairing the broken ship itself (Ah! Just fix one of eight "tubes" and the problem takes care of itself!). As in other episodes it seems miraculous the landing party arrives at the one spot where the High Priestess surfaces. The inexplicable ability of Natira's guards to subdue Kirk and Spock doesn't redeem itself in any other way either, since a friendly greeting would have been more appropriate. Maybe just not as hollow.