Star Trek - The Vulcan Academy Murders

'I'm on my way!' Sarek cut him off, clamping control over the panic in his veins.  It had happened twice now - and if it happened a third time, the victim would be Amanda!

Spock is one of the most popular characters in Star Trek, he's also one of the most difficult to write - to 'get right'.   Is he the cold logical machine with the brain of a computer, or is he a loving, passionate empath who hides a tortured soul?  Well, those examples are two extremes and he's a little more complex than that (not that we haven't seen depictions of him at both ends of the emotional spectrum), and that's why we love him.  That's why we love Vulcans generally, they are complex and exotic,  they have strange customs and abilities but are still familiar enough to 'bond' with.  I think of Vulcans as 'space elves' not just because of the pointy ears, but also because they remind me of Tolkien's elves, in the world but not of the world and adhering to logic and concepts which are often totally at odds with what humans would deem 'logical'.  Both Tolkien's elves and Star Trek's Vulcans refuse to do what is necessary because it is against their creed yet allow other species -humans - to do the dirty work.

I think what really draws us to Vulcans and by extension, Spock, is the strange suppression of emotion and especially the denial over that emotion love - yet if you watch Sarek and Amanda (Spock's Vulcan father and Human mother) in the TOS episode 'Journey to Babel' there is is little else you can call their actions (their 'PDA's) except intense love.  Love in 'all it's forms' is central to the Star Trek creed and Vulcans are not immune to writer and fan speculation.

The Vulcan Academy Murders (1984) (#20 Pocket, #12 Titan) by Jean Lorrah had been on my to read list from the beginning; who wouldn't be drawn in by the slightly ridiculous tag line 'Captain Kirk becomes an interplanetary homicide detective!'?!

Jean Lorrah is/was actually a professor of English at Murray State University and had received her PhD from Florida State University. She's also one of the authors behind the Sime-Gen universe (together with Jacqueline Lichtenberg) but it best known for her 'Savage Empire' series. This novel appears to be one of her earlier novels, which would probably explain why it is utterly mad, like box of frogs type mad. Oh and by the way, in this case the cover has virtually nothing to do with what actually happens in the book - I'm not really sure what the artist's brief was, but it wasn't the actual story, that's for sure.

The easiest way to describe this novel is it's Star Trek x Columbo. Like Columbo it's less of a 'whodunit' and more a 'howcatchem'. Although Lorrah doesn't actually tell you who did it out right, she isn't very subtle with her 'subtle hints', so essentially from the beginning the reader is frustrated because there is only one culprit and every single character is struck with 'ISS' (Inexplicable Stupidity Syndrome) and nobody can make a single leap of logic unless it's spelt out to them first.

Essentially the plot revolves around two murders and one attempted murder of people within stasis fields which are supposed to be healing them from assorted terrible maladies. There is a Vulcan woman who is wife to one of the doctors/scientists, Amanda Grayson (Spock's mother), and an Enterprise crewman who was horrifically injured in a Klingon attack. Two of these people are killed while in stasis (no prizes for guessing who survives) and Kirk takes it upon himself to investigate and find the murderer, because Vulcan has no police force and these highly logical intelligent Vulcans can't possibly conceive of the idea of murder on Vulcan. I kid you not. 

As you can probably predict if you've ever watched a Columbo, Murder She Wrote or Poirot episode, there is the red herring character whom everyone believes is the killer until proven wrong and the keen investigator Colum-Kirk falls into a terrible trap threatening his life! Kirk manages to be found in the knick of time by McCoy (possibly the only character with half a brain on Vulcan) and finally they catch the real killer. Amanda wakes up from stasis safely and we have heart warming Vulcan family scenes.

One thing you're sure to agree is that Kirk should stick to his dayjob, he makes a really terrible detective.

The murder plot line is really secondary to Lorrah's Vulcan family drama and her opportunity to put her stamp on Vulcan family values. Some people have praised Lorrah's depictions of the various Vulcan characters and their relationships, saying that she 'really got a handle on her Vulcans' and it has scored quite well on Goodreads, but honestly I think the way she characterises them denigrates their otherness to just slightly more obtuse humans.

Some of the novel is from Sarek's perspective, which is often funny, but he is characterised as a meddling maid who is interested in match making his friends (because Vulcans just want to see everyone married off apparently) and who is exceptionally emotional. One of the things which does come across however is that the Vulcan logic is a facade and not deeply ingrained into them, so... how can I explain this, instead of logic being their instinct it's their suppressant. Essentially Lorrah characterises the Vulcans as feeling the emotions and then consciously suppressing them as opposed to it being instinctual and not a conscious decision. 

This novel also investigates the Vulcan 'bonding' between couples, including the effect on the surviving partner when the other dies and how it is possible to survive the severance of the bond. The parts which deal with the bonding are well done but if they had been allowed to stand alone as points of emotion for the Vulcans they would have been more effective, as it is their poignancy is muted because of the surrounding sea of Vulcan emotion.

One of the more clever aspects of the book attempts to give a backstory to M'Benga the doctor who specialises in Vulcan biology on the Enterprise. This novel suggests that he was studying on Vulcan in order to be able to treat Vulcans off world.

The Vulcan Academy Murders hasn't aged well from a lore perspective. For one thing, it's inaccurate as far as Sarek is concerned, because it doesn't take into account Star Trek V (1989) canon that he has previously been married / bonded and he survived her death, nor that Amanda will die after 36 years of marriage to Sarek (this novel attempts to extend her life). Sarek also will go on to state that he never told Amanda he loved her (TNG: Sarek), which is completely at odds with the overly emotional Sarek (and other Vulcans) we see in this novel. Finally, in The Vulcan Academy Murders Sarek and Spock end up in a mind meld together trying to save Amanda, however, again in TNG (Unification) Picard learns that Spock had never mind melded with his father and thus had never known about the love and pride Sarek had felt for him.

Essentially, Jean Lorrah's The Vulcan Academy Murders doesn't really add anything to our understanding of the Star Trek universe because the characterisation of Kirk, Bones and the Vulcans is so out of character that it would have to be consigned to alternate universe or just crack. It simply makes no sense when applied to the broader Trek universe. That isn't to say it isn't fun to read, just don't expect anything particularly ground breaking or sensible - it might be worth it just to read about Colum-Kirk and matchmaking, mother-hen Sarek.

Humans living up to expectations - 2/5

Edit: Sorry, sorry! My formatting went wrong!  I think it's fixed now!