Star Trek - The Klingon Gambit

Kirk felt drained.  Spock fluctuating emotionally before his eyes, Scotty and his pilfering, Chekov and his wild desire to blast the Klingon out of space, the crew becoming edgier and edgier - all took a toll on his nerves  He felt more like  a mediator in civil disputes than the captain of  starship.  The dull throbbing in his head refused to die down as long as he sat in the command chair.

"Mr Spock, you have the conn."

For the first time, Kirk added under his breath, "And I hope the ship survives it." 

So if there ever was a book to teach me not to judge a book by its cover I guess this is the one!  The Klingon Gambit (#3 Pocket, #33 Titan) by Robert E Vardeman was actually one of first Star Trek novels I bought (it was included in a bundle of books on ebay), but I have repeatedly put it to one side simply because the cover art wasn't to my taste. Foolish girl!  Will you never learn?

In my defense I am generally more attracted to stories with heavy character development in and they more often than not have compellingly large renderings of the relevant characters on them so I am naturally more drawn to those covers.  And... although I like star ships and technology I prefer people and aliens... and... Look frankly I find this cover ugly as sin, the Klingon ship is drawn in an ugly way, the colours don't attract me in the slightest.  Believe it or not, the Titan Books edition is even less inspiring than the pocket books edition pictured here.  What's more, the tag lines on the book makes it sound awful.

IS THE ENTERPRISE DOOMED AT LAST?

THE KLINGONS ARE HUNGRY FOR WAR... THEIR TARGET: THE ENTERPRISE

It sounds so generic, so uninteresting, so you will forgive me for being less than enthusiastic about this one.  But actually... it was really, really good.

Sorry, say that again?

It was really, really good.

... and I read it in two sittings.  Sure, it is a very modest book only 158 pages long, so that has something to do with it but even so it is very good, it's a real page turner.  It kept me guessing.

The Enterprise is called away from mapping a new planet  in order to investigate a possible attack by Klingons on a Vulcan research vessel.  When they arrive at the scene they find the Vulcan ship drifting serenely in space and all the Vulcans on board dead.  There are no signs of struggle and the corpses of the Vulcans appear to indicate they died in a state of meditative repose.  Wary that the Klingons might have used a strange and powerful weapon, Kirk and the Enterprise approach the Klingon Dreadnought and make contact with the archaeologists on the surface of the planet.  The Enterprise keeps herself between the Dreadnought and the planet in order to protect the archaeologists,  but it is not long before the crew start acting strangely.  Spock starts to swing between being emotional wreck to being a cold computer, Scotty starts stealing parts to try to eke out extra power and efficiency from his beloved engines, Chekov is having trouble controlling his  violent urges to attack the Klingons - the whole crew is degenerating as each man starts to fulfil his own desires over his duties.

To make matter worse, the Klingon vessel is having similar problems.  Mutiny is rife and the Klingon commander tried to keep his charges under control, which adds even greater problems for Kirk - how will these erratic Klingons react? 

Kirk needs to work out what is causing the strange behaviour in both crews while trying to keep his in control and safe.  What did the Vulcans find?  What is causing the strange behaviour in his crew?  Are the Klingons to blame?

Throughout the novel there is one piece of information that we're missing which keeps us in the dark (and turning pages) until the end - until Kirk asks the right questions.  The whole situation is utterly puzzling, made more perplexing by the fact that Kirk doesn't appear to be influenced by 'whatever it is' and has to navigate the situation on his own as McCoy becomes increasingly cantankerous and anti-technology and Spock swings from emotional extreme to non-emotional extreme.

The book would be utterly spoiled if I reveal anymore on the story, so you'll have to read this one yourself to get the whole story - I ain't spoiling this one for you!

I really liked the overall message of the story, the 'moral' as it were.  The story is based around acting selfishly on your own desires and the damage that a person can do if he acts solely for his own contentment.  The Enterprise is society in microcosm, and this book demonstrates how a society breaks down if it becomes totally selfish.  It also demonstrates that people can be better and can beat their impulses and desires for the greater good - sometimes (like in the case of Chekov) we just need guidance from others to understand right from wrong.

Stylistically The Klingon Gambit is easy to read, and Vardeman has included a good amount of humour in his story.  I particularly enjoyed Scotty's escapades with the engines!

My only real complaint is that it wasn't long enough!  I honestly can't fault it, it was just enjoyable.

EDIT:  I forgot to say!  The tag lines are completely misleading / off the mark!  The target was never the Enterprise and they aren't hungry for war!  I say again - who writes these things?!

4/5  - I'm getting soft in my old age.

Star Trek - The Covenant of the Crown

'I'm just an old country doctor, not a Prince Consort.'

But she chose not to listen.  Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.  It was not an innocent kiss, and to his own surprise, McCoy returned it.

I don't know whether it's a good or a bad sign to be moved to tears before you have even started reading the story.  By the time I had reached chapter one there was a distinct wetness to my eyes and a thought I want to know you.  What Howard Weinstein and David Gerrold wrote in the first pages of his book in 1981 I agreed with, hell, I could have written even though I am over 30 years removed.

I guess, in a way I was sad too, that I wasn't around to experience that zeitgeist first hand.  Yes I feel that too!  Yes, I agree!  Let's carry on that conversation!  But here I am, stuck outside of that time, interacting with a sentiment printed on pages over 30 years old.  Is that conversation finished?  Can we start that conversation again?

Perhaps I was just in an emotional mood when I started  The Covenant of the Crown by Howard Weinstein, or perhaps he just gave form to thoughts I was having at the time.  I had started to read another book, but I was struggling to stay engaged so I switched to something shorter that would require less commitment (I really couldn't handle My Enemy, My Ally last week!).  Howard Weinstein holds the accolade of being the youngest person to have written the story for a Star Trek episode; Weinstein penned The Pirates of Orion which was the first episode of the second season of the animated series.  Knowing this, I wondered what format his novel would take - I wasn't disappointed!

For me, The Covenant of the Crown (#4 Pocket, #23 Titan) (1981) was a quick read.  It isn't a challenging story nor is it particularly long, the book weighing in at 191 pages all in, but what it lacks in length it makes up in character.  Simply put, Weinstein knows what elements make a Star Trek episode and exactly how much of each ingredient is needed to make it feel right.  Of course, I'm not saying by any means there isn't a place for the longer novels too - the ones that could never be an episode, as you know I do more like them! - but it is satisfying to be reading what feels like a slightly expanded TV episode.

At it's simplest level The Covenant of the Crown is a coming of age story, a young crown princess must take up her father's mantle and return to the kingdom she has been exiled from in order to stop the war that has choked her home land for many years.  However, put this well worn storyline in the context of Star Trek and it takes on a different flavour.  For one thing, the Klingons are involved and are directly responsible for the initial destabilisation of the planet, although it could be argued they just added fuel to the smoldering fire of malcontent.  There is also a slight clash of ideologies - a crown princess whose dynasty is ordained by the gods of her people, a mystical power which she must exhibit in order to be ruler of her planet - at odds with the somewhat more scientific approach of characters like Spock who explains the phenomenon away, or McCoy who doesn't feel the responsibilities of tradition should rest on her young shoulders.

Age is very much a theme, there is the obvious coming of age theme as mentioned above, but also old age or at least the approach of it is explored via the character of McCoy.  McCoy is preoccupied with his age, he feels his age, he realises that he's turning a corner and there's no going back to his youthful self, both in body and mind.  McCoy is often used in the novels as a vessel to explore the theme of age, such as in Dreams of the Raven.  However during the course of this novel McCoy falls in love with the princess and she with him; McCoy loves her sensitivity, her sponge like ability to absorb information and the princess loves his compassion, his passions and his good ol' country doctor charms.  Both McCoy and the princess show bravery in their relationship, McCoy shows the bravery of age, of wisdom, which allows him to pull back from the relationship whereas the princess shows the bravery of youth, which allows her to pursue a relationship no matter the age gap or the social barriers.  By the end of the novel she has also aged, she realises that her duty to her people must come first and, reminiscent of Kirk's withdrawal from his love affair in the TOS episode 'Elaan of Troyius' in deference to duty.  That in itself is an interesting comparison, Weinstein asks just how do these very different, but very lonely men deal with turning away from love? 

McCoy and Spock and the princess (Kailyn) have a rough adventure on the surface of a dangerous planet in order to retrieve the 'crown of the covenant'.  It's pretty much a perfect episode planetside romp, shuttle disaster, hostile natives, deadly weather.  McCoy gets to cuddle the princess for warmth while Spock exhibits his super Vulcan resilience.  Couldn't help notice that Weinstein conveniently forgot that Vulcans (even half Vulcans) are pretty rubbish in the cold, he did remember that Klingons hate it though.  It was quite a nice touch to have the pursuing Klingons effectively dealt with by bad weather, although I did somehow find myself cheering for a Klingon romance that ultimately wasn't to be.

The characterisation of Spock and McCoy's relationship is satisfying and more often than not funny.  Again Weinstein just gets it right.  They are satisfyingly antagonistic to each other, and without Kirk there they have to regulate themselves, or not as the case may be.

Kailyn (the princess) was actually a pretty tolerable female character - and I don't think that often.  She was a very well written female character and in a quite short story Weinstein creates a surprisingly deep and rounded protagonist.  She isn't trying to prove herself in opposition to men, she has to prove herself within her own boundaries, which actually turns out allows her to grow quickly and become more than equal to the men around her.  More female characters like her please!  Although her final actions are predictable (the story had to be resolved that way!) it still fit well and didn't seem shoehorned in.

For his part, Kirk remains on the Enterprise and so, takes a back seat (so to speak!) in this adventure.  Weinstein add a little back story to Kirk, giving him a history with the exiled king and the princess.  This same backstory effectively removes Kirk from being a potential love interest for Kailyn, which I'm not going to complain about.  Although McCoy is complaining about being old, it is Kirk who seems the most weighed down by time.  Kirk is very aware of the amount of time passing since the king went into exile, mainly by his urging and request, and very much seems to have the world on his shoulders. The storyline on the Enterprise takes an interesting turn when it is revealed that there is a Klingon spy and Kirk must find him before he can take any further action.

A further amusing subplot, involves a set of malfunctioning scales, just for a little humour to finish the book on!  Poor Chekov!

I think it's pretty obvious that I'm going to heartily recommend this book!  It honestly is worth the read, it will not take long and it really was enjoyable from beginning to end.  I really did like the pacing of the story, it didn't dwell too much on one thing and wasn't afraid to try to put a new spin on an old trope and make it work.

4/5 - Shine Bright Like a Diamond ~

Star Trek - Triangle

Kirk tried fitfully to stir, alarm bells going off in his head.  It was always a mistake to think of the Vulcan as if he was human.  He was not.  What deadly Vulcanism did Sola and Spck know about, which Kirk did not?  Something which was triggered by what Spock  could not deny  he had felt for Sola?

I've calmed down a little bit, I promise!

... I promise nothing.

I really have neglected reading the earlier novels, so I turned to my partner and said -

"Choose from the following titles - " I listed the titles #3 to #9.

"Triangle?  It has to be Triangle - what kind of a name is Triangle anyway?"

And so I read Triangle (#9 Pocket, #49 Titan)  by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath.  I didn't hold out much hope for Triangle, I had to concur that it was a very strange name for a Star Trek novel.  However, as it turns out it wasn't something as innocuous as a title I had to be worried about.

As you may or may not know, Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath were the two authors behind the William Shatner autobiography, 'Where no Man', and it isn't unknown that they have certain agendas.  They are also pretty notorious in the slash fandom some even going so far as crediting them for creating slash.  Typically I picked up the last book they penned together, soon after Sondra Marshak appears to have gone MIA - her former friends and writing partners don't appear to know where she is - and Myrna Culbreath went back to education and is credited with a phonics learning program.

-- Ok, maybe I'm not so impressed with that, I was forced to learn to read through a phonics program, and it didn't work for me at all  (I was instead taught to read at home by my mother without the use of phonics).  But it was trendy in the 80s and 90s so I guess I can't hold that against her... maybe. -- 

Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath are intelligent women, and are/were highly influential within the ST fandom.  They are also quite academic and mix their own agendas and themes into the novels, -sometimes fairly hamfistedly, sometimes with a sledgehammer - and are very influenced by the psychological studies of the time.  They were involved in much trouble and controversy, which eventually saw them banned and alienated from conventions and publishers.  They were busy!

Marshak and Culbreath published four Trek novels

- The Price of the Phoenix (1977) - Bantam Books
- The Fate of the Phoenix (1979) - Bantam Books
- The Prometheus Design (1982) - Pocket Books
- Triangle (1983) - Pocket Books

They also have been involved in editing / contributing to two anthologies, while Sondra Marshak individually was involved in Star Trek Lives with Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Joan Winston.

Triangle is a hot, messy hurt/comfort fanfiction, and it's a little uncomfortable to read... ok, it's a lotta uncomfortable to read although it did cause me to laugh and be anxious in equal measure.  You might have gathered by other reviews, I am pretty protective of our illustrious Captain James. T... I don't like misrepresentation of him and I don't like to see him degraded for no reason.  I think Triangle really does cross that line.

I think I should fess up that I'm really not a big fan of hurt/comfort stories, although I do enjoy stories that have some of it in (I can't really deny that), I don't really like it when it's literally the kink  whole point of the story.

Triangle actually started out fairly interesting, and I was quite excited by the promise of a story which picks up the New Humans idea which is first introduced in the Star Trek The Motion Picture novelisation.  Since Marshak and Culbreath seemed to have a lot of contact with Roddenberry (and at the very least, Roddenberry knew of and/or used sections of the Kraith fanfiction), I thought that perhaps they would have more of an idea of where that storyline/idea would be going.  I guess I wasn't totally wrong they did have a really good idea that at times was a bit far fetched but at the same time 'very Trek'.

So essentially we are introduced to one of the New Human groups that essentially want to move towards a group consciousness.  An ambassador from the planet Zaran wants to be taken back to his planet by a representative of Starfleet - in this case their best - with the intention of testing them against his 'Oneness'.  There can only be one choice, Captain James T Kirk.  This seems like a pretty cut and dry mission, but wait!  The Enterprise will also have to pass through an area which is known as a starship trap, the 'Marie-Celeste' sector.  So there is story line number two, Kirk is going to experience the peril of the starship trap.

Seems like a nice set up... but it's pretty much down hill from there.

Understandably, Kirk's trials are taking their toll on him.  Not only is he physically exhausted and injured, but he is also being mentally assaulted by the Zaran ambassador Gailbraith.

Captain James T. Kirk saw the Vulcan's dark head and pointed ears bend over the scanners, and he took advantage of Spock's concentration to move, too carefully, from near the turbo lift doors to the command seat.   

Not that there was much the Vulcan was going to miss about his Captain, or ever had, but the last thing Kirk wanted just now was for Spock to read whatever the hell was going on with his Captain.  Fatigue, that was all.  And a few half-healed injuries - ribs cracked and the like.  He'd been banged up a little too much lately.  And not getting much sleep with those peculiar nightmares.  Once, one of the nightmares has started to come by day... Suddenly, now, it came again...

Kirk is never really in top form, even from the very first page of the first chapter he is on the back foot.  I can actually understand his fatigue, that's fine, we can surmise he's under mental assault so he's not incredibly sharp, but the thing is Marshak and Culbreath keep him weak throughout the entire novel.  I don't mean just physically weak, but mentally weak too, and in a situation where he has to represent the strength of individuality against opposing 'onenesses' it's a little... off putting.  They stop short at feminising him, which some commentators have suggested Marshak and Culbreath are fond of doing (The Prometheus Design?)  but they do ensure that Spock is always the stronger one even when he's battling against pon farr.  Yes, this novel is set seven years after the events in 'Amok Time' and as such Spock is suffering from the beginnings of pon farr's effects.  Nobody notices of course, because... reasons... but if Jims not careful he's going to have sexy times with his first officer.

What makes you think that Jen?  Well friends, it's not so much homoerotic subtext so much as homoerotic text.  You see in the above passage, the language of possession?  Well it doesn't stop there!  Spock saves Kirk multiple times, when their mental bond is broken he is agitated and worried, instead of allowing Kirk to be taken to sickbay by the medical team he carries him there himself...

And then he uh... deals with his issue with the cat person / woman / freeagent / half zaran with hugely powerful psychic powers who is also in love with Kirk... who is in love with her... who is also in love with Spock.  And you know how triangles are?  You know how it's  love triangle not a love chevron?  Well that part doesn't get left out either to be honest, but it's not gay if there's a woman involved right?  She's essentially camouflage for the Kirk/Spock shipping, that even gets commented on near the end of the novel.

I know I've kind of jumped ahead, but essentially there are two opposing forces Gailbraith's 'Oneness' and the 'Totality', neither are particularly good, but when choosing allies better to side with the devil you do rather than the devil you don't, right?  The cat girl  / free agent is needed by the totality in order to be a super powerful psychic conductor and enable the totality to forcibly absorb the minds of people in entire galaxies.  However, in order to unlock this power she needs to mate and bond with someone.  She ends up wanting both Spock and Kirk but ends up with neither, finally commenting that she wouldn't be able to go with one of them because it would mean monogamy, and it isn't for her sake she's saying that either.

Oh yes, a threesome is definitely implied, in fact I said to my partner, that I thought a whole scene  / chapter was missing, then later I read that someone believed there were extra chapters floating out there amongst certain circles...  I knew I wasn't just making stuff up!!

Triangle is very convoluted and nonsensical.  It's mainly concerned with a hurt/comfort relationship between Kirk and Spock (especially at the end... poor Kirk) and... if that isn't your kink, well... I think it's a bit lacking in any substance what so ever.  I think it could have been a very good idea if they'd developed the story instead of torturing Kirk but hey... what can you do?

2/5 - I'ma just gonna leave this here.

I need to pick a good one next... 

Star Trek The Motion Picture - Novel - Gene Roddenberry

I actually read this about six months ago, but I didn't want to write about it until I'd watched it again... and I didn't want to watch it again before I'd rewatched TOS.  So FINALLY I get to write about one of the most thoughtful and beautiful novels which just should be an essential counterpart to the film.

The Star Trek The Motion Picture novelisation is actually the only Star Trek novel Gene Roddenberry  wrote himself, which is both wonderful and sad - wonderful that we get to see his writing and ideas 'first hand' but sad because it is only the one novel, and he has a wonderful writing style.  One of the things I have read about Roddenberry is that he was a 'big picture' person - big ideas, but leaving the details to others - however this novelisation is all about the details.

My first introduction to the novel was actually via 'the Roddenberry footnote', which introduces the concept of th'yla - more on that later - of course I had to read the novel after reading just a footnote on it.  Following up the footnote subsequently caused me to read William Shatner's first biography Where No Man, which gives some insight to Roddenberry's thoughts going into the movie and the kind of influences on him at the time.  Incidentally the two women who wrote Shatner's biography (which takes the form of, in many parts, interview) are also the writers of a few Star Trek novels published through Pocket Books and I happen to be reading them at the moment.  They seem to stick very closely to the sentiments expressed by Roddenberry and Shatner as well as the details in the Star Trek The Motion Picture novelisation.

The reason I suggest that this novel should be an essential counterpart to the film is because there is a lot of explanation and expansion of scenes and characters.  For example, why are the characters in the transporter accident significant?  What happened to Kirk to change him from that charismatic leader to the dour, broken individual we see through most of the film?  What does Spock telepathically sense on Vulcan?  What were Spock's motivations for purging himself of emotions once and for all?  There's a whole host of questions left unanswered by the film that do have their answers in the book.

Now I'm not saying the film can't stand on its own per se,  it can, but reading the novel and watching the film (preferably the novel before the film) just makes the experience a helluva lot richer.  I feel that this novel is what novel adaptations of movies should be, not just a cash cow, not just rehashing the story scene by scene, but actually significantly adding to the understanding of the film.

It's significant that Roddenberry wrote this much expanded companion to the film.  It's significant new terms are introduced and it's significant that it overtly adds what the film couldn't due to trying to bypass the censors or because it was trying to appeal to a broad audience.

For your information, I consider this novel 100% canon.  If this can't be considered  canon, I don't know what can.

Before I dive headlong into my gasping appreciation of the Kirk/Spock relationship exposé, which frankly is the whole point of the film I'll point out a few things which make the film that much more comprehensible.

New Humans - knowing about the New Human movement goes a significant way into understanding just why Kirk is in the situation he is in.  You don't learn about this movement in the film, but you do in the book, and you also get an indication of the malleability of Human thought and importance of individuality in an increasingly homogenous society in the preface (written by none other than Kirk himself of course!!).  The implication is that Kirk was made an admiral and kept on Earth after the end of the five year mission as a figurehead representing the best of humanity and the pinnacle of individualism.  We get much description of how Starfleet and it's personnel are old fashioned and that the new and more advanced humans are moving towards almost a group consciousness and are wooed by greater intellects, something that we are told make them unsuitable for deep space exploration.  The New Humans are said to have been increasingly critical of Starfleet and Kirk was used as a pawn to secure support on earth.

McCoy left Starfleet in protest because they made Kirk an admiral despite his protests and his opinion that Kirk would not be suitable for the position:

'Upon learning that Admiral’s stars were to be offered to Kirk, McCoy had protested vehemently and had secured the backing of other prominent medical officers in the fight.'

McCoy resigned because his recommendations were ignored.  We don't know what happened in those last two years of the five year mission, but when Kirk got back, he wasn't the man we left at the end of the third season.  We also don't know what happened to make Spock leave (pfft), but we do know that Kirk couldn't process that at the time:

'Also, he had not really understood how deeply Spock’s abrupt departure for Vulcan had affected him. He had been depending on the Vulcan’s friendship and logic much more than he realized.'

 He (McCoy) knew his friend would be broken (and possibly was already broken) in his new position.  I have little doubt that McCoy realised Kirk was going to be used with little consideration to his mental health and as a doctor he couldn't stand by and watch it happen.

There are extra sections, extra insight from McCoy into Kirk's mental state in the book, and it is McCoy who redresses Kirk for his actions.  Their relationship needs time to heal, the slow speed in which it occurs however is a poignant indication of Kirk's broken state.

The novelisation adds significant observations from and about the rest of the crew which are not included in the film.  The original crew recognise that Kirk is different, that he's dangerous in his current state.  It's a testament to their belief and loyalty to him that they still follow him into the breach regardless, even when he has lost his charisma and charm.

We also learn about Lori, the woman who died during the teleporter malfunction.  Lori was Kirk's lover on earth in the first year after taking up his position in the admiralty.  She was sent to him by Admiral Nogura to 'heal and pleasure' him, which he accepted, however he knows that she was there to help control him on Earth.  He knows this, but is relatively unconcerned, he isn't vengeful he isn't angry, he just accepts it... he's completely dispassionate.  She was involved in Nogura's manipulation, which is made clear to him in scenes not in the film.

Of course, we also get a hell of a lot of insight into Spock's character, and into the relationship between him and Kirk.  In particular we get given the concept of T'hy'la and it's explanation in footnotes.  We also get told that T'hy'la is the term Spock attributes to Kirk - it means 'friend, brother, lover'.  I'm not going to go into an analysis of that now, that's a whole 'nother blog post, but we can safely say that at the end of the five year mission, something happened and Spock went running away to purge his 'shameful' emotions on Vulcan.  We get so much extra narrative about Spock's 'feelings' on Vulcan, we also get an explanation of what Spock 'hears'... He 'hears' Kirk thinking about him, calling out to him from Earth to Vulcan.  Spock fails to purge his emotions because of Kirk.

Spock refers to Kirk as his T'hy'la and all that implies, Kirk who lacks that word (presumably, otherwise I suppose he would have used it) he describes their relationship like this:

'But still it felt painful to be reminded so powerfully and unexpectedly of his friendship and affection for Spock - their had been the touching of two minds which the old poets of Spock's home planet had proclaimed superior to even the wild physical love which affected Vulcans every seventh year during pon farr.'

He lashes out at Spock when he is jilted, he wants to hurt him, but he also desperately needs him.  Even in this reduced capacity, once Spock is on the Enterprise again Kirk regains himself, and even Decker feels his respect towards Kirk increase.

Basically, if you want to learn about the inner workings of the characters, read this book, I'm barely touching on the additional content.

The novelisation has no qualms about the exposition of the two parallel  relationships of Decker/Ilia and Kirk/Spock.  None.  At. All.  The movie only thinly veils the comparison, the novelisation doesn't even bother.  And the overall theme of the movie?  That is basically sidestepped all the time (probably because of the two narratives) - love - you don't get to read that another way.  Love is referred to strangely in the movie / novelisation, have you noticed that Kirk calls even overt love 'friendship' - e.g. he calls Ilia and Decker's relationship 'friendship' and he hesitates and calls his relationship with Spock 'friendship' too.  I'm fairly sure that Kirk uses these terms interchangeably - much like the term 't'hy'la?  DAMN and I said I wouldn't get into this right now!

By the way, there are some extra parts to the um, 'sickbay scene' that make the whole thing completely 'un-misreadable'.  He is comforted, told that he didn't have to worry about 'shame', he 'clings' to Kirk, he feels 'needs'.

Q.E.D.  Roddenberry confirmed it right there.

The end of the novel plays out pretty much the same way as the film does.  There is an extra line at the end in which Spock banters with Kirk, indicating they are healed and that this is the start of more great adventures.

The novelisation is just... wonderful.  Wonderful companion, wonderful exposition, wonderful vindication.  Read it - I know I'm about to read it again!

5/5 - L.L.A.P