He laughed softly. 'Fine. I just wish the Captain would walk in here. You know the trouble with this chair?'
'Wish I did' Devlin said with undisguised envy.
'You're nuts,' McCoy said. 'Well, each to his own insanity. This thing has no back support to speak of.'
So, I was looking for something that would lighten my mood a little bit, something that would allow me to de-stress. I was starting to feel a little fatigued by the emotional onslaught of ST:TOS fanzines and my novel choices had been a little heavy! Jen I thought, you've got to pick something a little more therapeutic this time, otherwise you're going to be an emotional wreck this week! Who better to see when you need a bit of therepy than a good ol' country doctor?
'Wish I did' Devlin said with undisguised envy.
'You're nuts,' McCoy said. 'Well, each to his own insanity. This thing has no back support to speak of.'
So, I was looking for something that would lighten my mood a little bit, something that would allow me to de-stress. I was starting to feel a little fatigued by the emotional onslaught of ST:TOS fanzines and my novel choices had been a little heavy! Jen I thought, you've got to pick something a little more therapeutic this time, otherwise you're going to be an emotional wreck this week! Who better to see when you need a bit of therepy than a good ol' country doctor?
 |
| This cover makes me feel inexplicably happy! |
Doctor's Orders (#50 Pocket, #36 Titan) (1990) by Diane Duane was just the prescription I needed! Initially I thought I'd reviewed a novel by Diane Duane before, the name was so familiar, but on checking, no I hadn't! I have got several books by her that I have yet to read however which kinda explains it. At least, I recognised it as being a name attached to The Romulan Way which I have multiple copies of...
Diane Duane is pretty prolific when it comes to Star Trek! By the time Doctors Orders was released in 1990 she already had eight Star Trek related projects under her belt including other novels, a computer game and even a TNG episode! Post 1990 Duane has also written a ST:TOS manga series, a TNG comic mini series and adapted her works for audio production. Most notably she has her Rihannsu series of ST:TOS novels, which originally started as two standalone novels My Enemy, My Ally and The Romulan Way but now encompasses 5 novels which have now been collected and published as The Bloodwing Voyages.
Needless to say I knew none of the above when I decided to read this, however it soon becomes quite clear that Duane is a seriously talented writer with a real love and understanding of Star Trek. It isn't just her delicate hand when it come to crafting familiar main characters or new species that makes her writing great though, she's also quite capable of baffling pseudo-science! It seems really unusual for a writer (either male or female) to be able to balance satisfying (for me!) characterisation and scientific jargon without either producing strange robot characters or conjuring some sort of space magic.
Honestly, the gorgeous cover of this book was enough to make me want to read it, but really it's the cherry on top when next to premise of McCoy being put in command of the Enterprise and pretty much everything going wrong. Not only does Kirk go missing soon after McCoy is put in command, but a Klingon ship appears in orbit of the planet the crew of the Enterprise is surveying and their crew goes missing! This compounds with McCoy having to deal with an overzealous Starfleet, Klingon reinforcements cruising for a bruising and to add insult to injury, an Orion pirate ship of colossal proportions joins the party with designs of making the Enterprise a trophy(why yes, I did enjoy using all those idioms).
As you can probably imagine, there is a lot going on in the narrative of this book, there's McCoy 's narrative, Kirk's narrative, and also a couple of short Klingon narratives. Despite the many threads and characters - Duane is careful to include all of the 'first family' - nothing feels rushed or as if she has less interest in one section than another. Duane's characterisations are spot on, and this is especially noticeable in McCoy's case - he grumbles, mutters, curses and has more than a few periods of introspection where he realises that possibly his own simplistic suggestions to Kirk might have been not so helpful after all! An example of a nice touch, is when he realises that perhaps the captain comfort eats in times of stress and that he might have to bring that up in his next physical. Kirk's characterisation plays on both his impish sense of humour and his uncanny ability to take everything in his stride. Kirk's narrative is split between the Enterprise (before he gave command to McCoy) and his time 'missing' on the planet's surface while talking to a strange species called the ;At. Kirk also deals with (with the ;At's help) a small group of very confused Klingons.
I'm not sure how Duane does it, but she manages to make the Klingons endearing. Not very often that ones wants to cuddle a Klingon, but I certainly want to now! Well, these are TOS Klingons, no pointy teeth or forehead ridges, so, perhaps that's more acceptable! McCoy's interactions with the Klingon commander are wonderful, especially because he just can't help being a Doctor and advising on the Klingon's medical condition, all the while insulting him. His 'good' relations with the Klingons ends up benefiting him since they come to his aid against the Orion pirate ship.
The new aliens in the book are pretty interesting, and after all they are the main reason that the Enterprise is orbiting the planet in the first place. Initial surveys from Starfleet suggest that three different sentient species have evolved on the same planet, and since this appears to be the only planet where this has occurred they want to study the peoples of the planet. The inhabitants of the are very much 'others' not just because they are happy little slimes or 'ents' but because they perceive the past, present and future simultaneously. The ;At, who is perceived as moving stones or vapour is a little more mysterious, and yes I'm having trouble writing about it/them, as its existence is mutable! I really enjoyed the Enterprise crew trying to get the universal translator to work and trying to make sense out of creatures that simultaneously appear to exist in the past, present and future.
The final space battle with the Orions is really impressive - so well written! I loved McCoy's reactions here and the overall competence of the crew. When Kirk is back in the drivers seat however, everybody is relieved! Another thing I liked here is how Kirk literally just appears on the bridge of the Enterprise, in the middle of combat, and just gets down to business. Assesses the situation and makes it all work without breaking a sweat (afterall McCoy is doing all the sweating!).
It was good to see the Enterprise take part in what should have been a routine mission which was scientific in nature. Sure, strange things happened but it wasn't the great drama we're kind of accustomed to seeing. The Enterprise is in orbit for much of the book, the Captain has an incredibly restful time (for once!) and much of it is concerned with a rather peaceful dialogue with other aliens, both resident of the planet and of the Klingon variety. As I said at the beginning, it was just what I needed to feel more peaceful and pleasant again, it's a very calming book!
5/5 - The past, present and future walk into a bar. It was tense.
Honestly, the gorgeous cover of this book was enough to make me want to read it, but really it's the cherry on top when next to premise of McCoy being put in command of the Enterprise and pretty much everything going wrong. Not only does Kirk go missing soon after McCoy is put in command, but a Klingon ship appears in orbit of the planet the crew of the Enterprise is surveying and their crew goes missing! This compounds with McCoy having to deal with an overzealous Starfleet, Klingon reinforcements cruising for a bruising and to add insult to injury, an Orion pirate ship of colossal proportions joins the party with designs of making the Enterprise a trophy
As you can probably imagine, there is a lot going on in the narrative of this book, there's McCoy 's narrative, Kirk's narrative, and also a couple of short Klingon narratives. Despite the many threads and characters - Duane is careful to include all of the 'first family' - nothing feels rushed or as if she has less interest in one section than another. Duane's characterisations are spot on, and this is especially noticeable in McCoy's case - he grumbles, mutters, curses and has more than a few periods of introspection where he realises that possibly his own simplistic suggestions to Kirk might have been not so helpful after all! An example of a nice touch, is when he realises that perhaps the captain comfort eats in times of stress and that he might have to bring that up in his next physical. Kirk's characterisation plays on both his impish sense of humour and his uncanny ability to take everything in his stride. Kirk's narrative is split between the Enterprise (before he gave command to McCoy) and his time 'missing' on the planet's surface while talking to a strange species called the ;At. Kirk also deals with (with the ;At's help) a small group of very confused Klingons.
I'm not sure how Duane does it, but she manages to make the Klingons endearing. Not very often that ones wants to cuddle a Klingon, but I certainly want to now! Well, these are TOS Klingons, no pointy teeth or forehead ridges, so, perhaps that's more acceptable! McCoy's interactions with the Klingon commander are wonderful, especially because he just can't help being a Doctor and advising on the Klingon's medical condition, all the while insulting him. His 'good' relations with the Klingons ends up benefiting him since they come to his aid against the Orion pirate ship.
The new aliens in the book are pretty interesting, and after all they are the main reason that the Enterprise is orbiting the planet in the first place. Initial surveys from Starfleet suggest that three different sentient species have evolved on the same planet, and since this appears to be the only planet where this has occurred they want to study the peoples of the planet. The inhabitants of the are very much 'others' not just because they are happy little slimes or 'ents' but because they perceive the past, present and future simultaneously. The ;At, who is perceived as moving stones or vapour is a little more mysterious, and yes I'm having trouble writing about it/them, as its existence is mutable! I really enjoyed the Enterprise crew trying to get the universal translator to work and trying to make sense out of creatures that simultaneously appear to exist in the past, present and future.
The final space battle with the Orions is really impressive - so well written! I loved McCoy's reactions here and the overall competence of the crew. When Kirk is back in the drivers seat however, everybody is relieved! Another thing I liked here is how Kirk literally just appears on the bridge of the Enterprise, in the middle of combat, and just gets down to business. Assesses the situation and makes it all work without breaking a sweat (afterall McCoy is doing all the sweating!).
It was good to see the Enterprise take part in what should have been a routine mission which was scientific in nature. Sure, strange things happened but it wasn't the great drama we're kind of accustomed to seeing. The Enterprise is in orbit for much of the book, the Captain has an incredibly restful time (for once!) and much of it is concerned with a rather peaceful dialogue with other aliens, both resident of the planet and of the Klingon variety. As I said at the beginning, it was just what I needed to feel more peaceful and pleasant again, it's a very calming book!
5/5 - The past, present and future walk into a bar. It was tense.
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