'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 ~
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