Breathe, damn you! Breathe! Breathe!
It was his worst nightmare come true. He damned for the thousandth time the idiot courage that let this man throw himself among wild beasts and into blaster crossfire for his crew's sake.
There must be some sort of irony in the fact that, whilst reading a book which at its core espouses the beauty and necessity of entropy, that I spent quite some time trying to save the book itself from entropy.
It was his worst nightmare come true. He damned for the thousandth time the idiot courage that let this man throw himself among wild beasts and into blaster crossfire for his crew's sake.
There must be some sort of irony in the fact that, whilst reading a book which at its core espouses the beauty and necessity of entropy, that I spent quite some time trying to save the book itself from entropy.
I find, with used books it's often a good sign when the book is so well worn that the glue holding the pages together has failed. Annoying as it is to have to keep picking up and carefully reinserting the pages, it means, often, that the book has been well read and loved - such as it is for my copy of The Wounded Sky (1983) by Diane Duane (#13 Pocket, #19 Titan).
My copy of The Wounded Sky is currently held together with a lot of tape; fifteen pages have been stuck in with care by my hand, and they will probably now hold together long after the two hundred and forty other pages have given in to the fate of badly produced mass market paperbacks. The wear on the book was not a result of my eager thumbing of the pages, but of its previous owner, whoever he was.
I assume it was a he.
I also assume he is dead.
You see, this and about eighty other Star Trek TOS novels I imported from the states some months ago. They are mostly Pocket Book first editions, with gold or silver embossed titles, they were collected over a number of years and they all have the same little label on them with the price and the code the shop has given them - the same shop. Most of them are in good condition, they have been stored on a shelf and at some point a book worm (or whatever a book worm really is) had eaten holes into some of them. I found a shed 'shell' from one of them, and I was a little worried that I had imported infected books and I would be solely responsible for introducing some terrible book eating insect to the UK ecosystem (I haven't by the way...). The books were slightly damp, musty and dusty like they'd been in storage for a good while.
In my head canon, the daughters of the dead man were getting rid of his possessions.
I bought over eighty books, eighty of this man's collection that he had dutifully maintained, buying every book as they came out for years and years, for about $24. It cost me less to buy them in the states and import them with all the charges and shipping fees than it would be to get them from my own country. It's a little sad isn't it, for someone's collection to be sold by someone else for virtually nothing. Even sadder that the people selling it had no idea that just one of the books was worth me paying all that.
Out of all those dutifully bought, kept and loved, 'The Wounded Sky' is the most read.
On the first page of The Wounded Sky there are two recommendations from other authors. "AN EXCELLENT STAR TREK NOVEL (...) ALWAYS ENTERTAINING" espouses one enthusiastically. Another writes "IS A REMARKABLE NOVEL IN ANY CATEGORY AND BEYOND A DOUBT THE BEST STAR TREK NOVEL EVER WRITTEN" not insignificant praise for a 'media tie in', but accurate.
 |
| Hum... looks like TOS style uniforms... The Wounded Sky is set in 2275... Between TMP and TWOK. |
The Wounded Sky is Duane's first published Star Trek novel, she also had another published in 1983 - the first in her 'Young Wizards' series. I have read and reviewed another one of Duane's Star Trek novels Doctor's Orders, you can definitely see Duane reworking ideas from The Wounded Sky in her later novel (certain aliens reappear with different names, aliens with a different concept of time etc.)!
I have to confess I thought on looking at the cover (so deceptive, as usual) that the jellyfish thing was going to be the 'enemy'. I remember thinking well jellyfish are disgusting so obviously they make the best villains, well I'll put this right first of all - the jellyfish on the front isn't a jelly fish at all, but a glass spider with twelve legs! She also isn't the villain but simply the cutest glass spider you ever did lay your mind's eye on! More on K't'l'k later (she's so stinking cute).
I think it would do this novel a disservice to write a 'summary' as I do for others. In fact I'm not sure that with only one reading of the novel behind me I can do an adequate one. The Wounded Sky is complex and Duane draws in many narrative threads which she weaves in at various points in the novel. Despite having so many different threads Duane has managed to create a very cohesive story, and it merits another read from myself to try and get my head around why it's so bloody brilliant. Me reading it out loud even made my partner want to read it! He liked Duane's easy turn of phrase and strong characterisation, but he particularly liked Duane's scientific knowledge as he reads quite hard sci-fi and he commented that she must have been keeping up with contemporary scientific papers.
It is easier to talk about themes rather than story, so I'm going to talk a little about them.
God, Religious Experience and the Soul
I was probably most surprised at this theme turning up. K't'lk introduces talk of the soul when talking about the beliefs and rituals of her people but the entire last section of the book questions the idea of what God is, what heaven would be like and the shape and the transformation of the self / soul into it's best form.
The crew are exposed to beings of such power that they are essentially described as proto-gods, and in fact, they will be gods in their own universe creating and experiencing as they will it or until they stop playing the game. The playing the game theme crops up throughout the novel especially through an original character the 'recreation officer'. I'm not sure whether it has more significance generally, but within the novel itself it is pretty important and well built upon.
It is implied that the crew all experience a religious experience on approaching the proto-gods. It's heavily implied that a place without entropy is tantamount to heaven (and the transformation of the Enterprise crew supports that). However, the crew perhaps recognise that their experience isn't 'heaven' and they don't belong there, they have a sense of purpose and they give that purpose to the proto-gods. These supremely powerful beings did not create this universe, but have the power to create and play in theirs - however, this still requires the input and interruption of the crew to bring about. Perhaps God of this universe (or at least the Star Trek one) is still working on creating, and through His vessels having a hand in creating another?
The Best Self
This theme is woven throughout The Wounded Sky and for those of us who enjoy character exposition and development the last section of the book will reap the biggest rewards. Even if you're put off by the the harder science sections, stay with the book to the end, it will be worth it!
'The Best Self' idea is tightly linked to the 'God / Religious Experience' theme. For someone with a Christian background the imagery is very familiar and the transformation the crew go through with their selves being transformed into a reflection of the greatest good, devoid of 'entropy'. This section is from Kirk's perspective (though the idea of perspective is skewed here anyway), and through his eyes he sees his friends and crew utterly changed into their best selves. Naturally, Kirk never truly perceives or realises the change in himself and in fact, we only get one comment from McCoy that indicates Kirk's own physical transformation. Duane pin's down McCoy's compassion and healing, searing in its strength and passion. She nails Spock's dual nature, the power of his mind and potential to be great. Kirk feels awed that someone such as Spock, with so much ability and brilliance should choose to serve under him -
Much of our exposition of Kirk is done through the other character's reaction to him and his reaction to their transformed selves. Kirk describes his role for much of the telepathic experience as 'passive', he is moved by the fact these 400 souls follow him while feeling unworthy himself. In his own estimate, he sees himself as a conduit that can focus the abilities of his crew, this is demonstrated through his 'weaponising' of Chekov and Scotty's emotions and beliefs. While the crew is being transformed or being followed by strange manifestations of themselves and their desires, Kirk comments -
Of course, we don't just learn about the transformation of the 'main' cast. Several other crew members have extreme transformations... one which sticks out is the crew member who transforms into a six legged Andorian alicorn...
The best self theme isn't just limited to this one section however. During various experiences using the inversion drive we see the crew acting in ways which hints at their best selves. Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and some new characters introduced in this book (original characters done right!) all get their chance to shine and have their own exposition. The way Duane uses this theme to bind the book together keeps you turning pages, thirsty for more character exposition!
Sex and Relationships
Initially I thought that this theme was surprising to find slotted in to a section in this book, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense in context especially taking into account the Christian imagery and tone in some sections of the book.
There's a very special scene slotted in around the middle of the book which is all kinds of awkward,
sweet and serious. The glass spider K't'lk and Kirk sit together in Kirk's cabin talking, K't'lk makes reference to Kirk's ah, let's say sexual encounters in this cabin. This being commented by anyone, let alone by a twelve legged glass spider would make anyone choke on their drink, Kirk is not an exception to the rule. K't'lk then tells Kirk about how her species reproduces, how their courtships are long and the pairs build up each other and their lives together (her last courtship was one hundred years) until it meets it's crescendo and they copulate. The downside to this is that the female eats the male in true spider fashion, adding his DNA and 'soul' to hers. When she creates the egg, that is the new vessel for both his and her spirits, a mixture of both.
This is of course in contrast to Kirk's passions that K't'lk refers to, but more akin to the relationship that Spock and Kirk have. You don't need sex to be lovers is essentially the message, and K't'l'k's regret of consummating the relationship is palatable, after all it ended hers irrevocably. The same could be said for Kirk's conquests, sex or some sort of physical interaction is the goal after which the relationship ends. Of course in Kirk's case, the breaking of the relationship is not necessarily as a result of sex or physical interaction of some description, circumstances dictate Kirk's commitments. However in K't'lk's case the although reproduction is the end goal, they also have the goal of building each other up, very little of that happens in Kirk's relationships.
Weight of responsibility
Kirk and K't'lk are both burdened with great responsibility. Kirk for his ship and crew's lives and K't'l'k responsibility for her part in the creation of the universe / reality breaking inversion drive. I think that although she has more affinity for Scotty and his engineering prowess she is most like Kirk. Kirk must make decisions for his crew, he feels the weight of command and often feels overwhelmed. K't'lk also feels the weight of responsibility, however she is sure of herself and of what her course of action must be. Admittedly, she has 800+ years of life and 3 rebirths (at least) to enable her to act with the self assurance she does.
This is a theme that is visited frequently in the original series and in the novels, in fact it is fundamental to the development of Kirk's character and is core to the original films too.
The Importance of Command
This is a bit of a funny one (funny strange not funny haha), and seems a little bit specific for a 'theme' but a large section of the book is dedicated to command, and not just Kirk's but other characters too. During the last section of the book, the entire crew of the Enterprise is involved but in order to keep them together and moving onward, the section heads mingle among their charges, which gives the rest of the crew the strength to continue.
Of course, this ties in with the theme of the best self, especially when talking about Kirk whose raison d'etre is to command. Kirk doesn't just hold together a section, but the whole ship. However, as explained previously, Kirk doesn't see his talent and ability for what it is, modestly only as a conduit or a gun to shoot the bullet.
Best Scene?
Picking out a best scene is actually pretty hard since there are just so many excellent bits to The Wounded Sky. I'll settle for two.
Probably the most memorable scene (for me at least) was where you rejoin the action from McCoy's point of view after Kirk has selflessly thrown himself in front of Spock to save him. Excellent characterisation of McCoy just makes the scene, it's also essential. I've discussed how we get very little in the way of revelation from Kirk himself, about himself, so we have to rely on other narrators to give us a little insight. McCoy of course gives us insight into Kirk's character here. There's obviously a good amount of insight into McCoy too. The extension of the scene involves Uhura's memories (which involves her being totally badass) and Kirk coming to in his command chair injured, and realising that the unreal shared visions that the crew had been sharing are in fact as real as their every day reality. I have to admit, I love that the drama is mixed in with plenty of humour.
The second scene I can't go too much into, but it's near the end of the book when all the crew is being transformed into their 'best selves', the imagery is pretty intense and I loved Duane's creativity mixed in with more traditional imagery. The character exposition was really varied and just... excellent. You might have noticed I'm a character-centric person.... You'll know the scene when you get to it.
If you've stayed with me this long - congratulations! This novel certainly warrants more than I've written about here... Perhaps I'll come back to it later...
You're probably wondering why I told you that story at the beginning, well... Entropy is central to this novel, without entropy our universe would have ceased to exist, ceased to be and ourselves, the crew of the Enterprise and the universe as they knew it would be driven mad and suffer without it, we perceive time after all, that's how we organise our world, how we define our lives. How can we possibly comprehend all time happening simultaneously - we can't, after all, the book itself progresses the story as if time is passing. Things happen sequentially, in page after page while the universe around Kirk and his crew begins to slow down and speed up all at once. Happily, Duane gives the crew a kind of protection from this although it obviously isn't total protection from all effects of the anti-entropic space.
Thing is, somebody died thousands of miles away in a country I've never been to. Entropy took it's course, old age or illness, time passed and his books were sold and in a sequence of events, his books got to me. Those books with their worm holes and falling out pages tell a story far different from the story between their pages. McCoy asks if they could spare the new gods knowledge of illness and death, and K't'lk responds:
And that's one hell of a story.
5/5 - Always be yourself, unless you can be Kirk... Then be Kirk.
p.s. I am super late with this post! I had various things crop up, I went away, was ill, became a greater number, lots of things. I was hoping to get this in at the end of May but obviously that didn't happen! Back to regular programming now!
I have to confess I thought on looking at the cover (so deceptive, as usual) that the jellyfish thing was going to be the 'enemy'. I remember thinking well jellyfish are disgusting so obviously they make the best villains, well I'll put this right first of all - the jellyfish on the front isn't a jelly fish at all, but a glass spider with twelve legs! She also isn't the villain but simply the cutest glass spider you ever did lay your mind's eye on! More on K't'l'k later (she's so stinking cute).
I think it would do this novel a disservice to write a 'summary' as I do for others. In fact I'm not sure that with only one reading of the novel behind me I can do an adequate one. The Wounded Sky is complex and Duane draws in many narrative threads which she weaves in at various points in the novel. Despite having so many different threads Duane has managed to create a very cohesive story, and it merits another read from myself to try and get my head around why it's so bloody brilliant. Me reading it out loud even made my partner want to read it! He liked Duane's easy turn of phrase and strong characterisation, but he particularly liked Duane's scientific knowledge as he reads quite hard sci-fi and he commented that she must have been keeping up with contemporary scientific papers.
It is easier to talk about themes rather than story, so I'm going to talk a little about them.
God, Religious Experience and the Soul
I was probably most surprised at this theme turning up. K't'lk introduces talk of the soul when talking about the beliefs and rituals of her people but the entire last section of the book questions the idea of what God is, what heaven would be like and the shape and the transformation of the self / soul into it's best form.
The crew are exposed to beings of such power that they are essentially described as proto-gods, and in fact, they will be gods in their own universe creating and experiencing as they will it or until they stop playing the game. The playing the game theme crops up throughout the novel especially through an original character the 'recreation officer'. I'm not sure whether it has more significance generally, but within the novel itself it is pretty important and well built upon.
It is implied that the crew all experience a religious experience on approaching the proto-gods. It's heavily implied that a place without entropy is tantamount to heaven (and the transformation of the Enterprise crew supports that). However, the crew perhaps recognise that their experience isn't 'heaven' and they don't belong there, they have a sense of purpose and they give that purpose to the proto-gods. These supremely powerful beings did not create this universe, but have the power to create and play in theirs - however, this still requires the input and interruption of the crew to bring about. Perhaps God of this universe (or at least the Star Trek one) is still working on creating, and through His vessels having a hand in creating another?
The Best Self
This theme is woven throughout The Wounded Sky and for those of us who enjoy character exposition and development the last section of the book will reap the biggest rewards. Even if you're put off by the the harder science sections, stay with the book to the end, it will be worth it!
'The Best Self' idea is tightly linked to the 'God / Religious Experience' theme. For someone with a Christian background the imagery is very familiar and the transformation the crew go through with their selves being transformed into a reflection of the greatest good, devoid of 'entropy'. This section is from Kirk's perspective (though the idea of perspective is skewed here anyway), and through his eyes he sees his friends and crew utterly changed into their best selves. Naturally, Kirk never truly perceives or realises the change in himself and in fact, we only get one comment from McCoy that indicates Kirk's own physical transformation. Duane pin's down McCoy's compassion and healing, searing in its strength and passion. She nails Spock's dual nature, the power of his mind and potential to be great. Kirk feels awed that someone such as Spock, with so much ability and brilliance should choose to serve under him -
This great mind has been standing behind me and quietly obeying my orders all these years? Why?? He could be so much more - But in this place, the answer was plain to read. Loyalty was frequently unreasonable and illogical - and Spock had long since decided that this one aspect of his life could do without logic.
"Spock," Jim said - and ran out of words. He was deeply moved, and didn't know how to express it - until he abruptly felt Spock feeling the emotion with him, and knew there was nothing more that needed saying on the subject. "I'm fine, Spock," he said then, and glanced over at McCoy. Bones was gazing at Spock in a curious, almost grudging calm.Seriously, how powerful is that?
Much of our exposition of Kirk is done through the other character's reaction to him and his reaction to their transformed selves. Kirk describes his role for much of the telepathic experience as 'passive', he is moved by the fact these 400 souls follow him while feeling unworthy himself. In his own estimate, he sees himself as a conduit that can focus the abilities of his crew, this is demonstrated through his 'weaponising' of Chekov and Scotty's emotions and beliefs. While the crew is being transformed or being followed by strange manifestations of themselves and their desires, Kirk comments -
Hidden natures are getting loose, Jim thought. What we conceal doesn't stay that way, here.So, what is McCoy's observation -
"- That armour getting heavy?" Bones said, sounding a bit tentative now. Jim shook his head, thinking What armour, what's he seeing? ...That is literally all we get as to Kirk's transformation - how frustrating! Kirk's character is left open to debate, but it certainly isn't just a conduit as he believes it to be. Certainly, we know from other characters and our own knowledge that he inspires fierce loyalty and trust, and that he himself is self sacrificing (as demonstrated earlier in the novel during an event which renders him without a pulse for some time).
Of course, we don't just learn about the transformation of the 'main' cast. Several other crew members have extreme transformations... one which sticks out is the crew member who transforms into a six legged Andorian alicorn...
The best self theme isn't just limited to this one section however. During various experiences using the inversion drive we see the crew acting in ways which hints at their best selves. Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and some new characters introduced in this book (original characters done right!) all get their chance to shine and have their own exposition. The way Duane uses this theme to bind the book together keeps you turning pages, thirsty for more character exposition!
Sex and Relationships
Initially I thought that this theme was surprising to find slotted in to a section in this book, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense in context especially taking into account the Christian imagery and tone in some sections of the book.
There's a very special scene slotted in around the middle of the book which is all kinds of awkward, sweet and serious. The glass spider K't'lk and Kirk sit together in Kirk's cabin talking, K't'lk makes reference to Kirk's ah, let's say sexual encounters in this cabin. This being commented by anyone, let alone by a twelve legged glass spider would make anyone choke on their drink, Kirk is not an exception to the rule. K't'lk then tells Kirk about how her species reproduces, how their courtships are long and the pairs build up each other and their lives together (her last courtship was one hundred years) until it meets it's crescendo and they copulate. The downside to this is that the female eats the male in true spider fashion, adding his DNA and 'soul' to hers. When she creates the egg, that is the new vessel for both his and her spirits, a mixture of both.
This is of course in contrast to Kirk's passions that K't'lk refers to, but more akin to the relationship that Spock and Kirk have. You don't need sex to be lovers is essentially the message, and K't'l'k's regret of consummating the relationship is palatable, after all it ended hers irrevocably. The same could be said for Kirk's conquests, sex or some sort of physical interaction is the goal after which the relationship ends. Of course in Kirk's case, the breaking of the relationship is not necessarily as a result of sex or physical interaction of some description, circumstances dictate Kirk's commitments. However in K't'lk's case the although reproduction is the end goal, they also have the goal of building each other up, very little of that happens in Kirk's relationships.
Weight of responsibility
Kirk and K't'lk are both burdened with great responsibility. Kirk for his ship and crew's lives and K't'l'k responsibility for her part in the creation of the universe / reality breaking inversion drive. I think that although she has more affinity for Scotty and his engineering prowess she is most like Kirk. Kirk must make decisions for his crew, he feels the weight of command and often feels overwhelmed. K't'lk also feels the weight of responsibility, however she is sure of herself and of what her course of action must be. Admittedly, she has 800+ years of life and 3 rebirths (at least) to enable her to act with the self assurance she does.
This is a theme that is visited frequently in the original series and in the novels, in fact it is fundamental to the development of Kirk's character and is core to the original films too.
The Importance of Command
This is a bit of a funny one (funny strange not funny haha), and seems a little bit specific for a 'theme' but a large section of the book is dedicated to command, and not just Kirk's but other characters too. During the last section of the book, the entire crew of the Enterprise is involved but in order to keep them together and moving onward, the section heads mingle among their charges, which gives the rest of the crew the strength to continue.
Of course, this ties in with the theme of the best self, especially when talking about Kirk whose raison d'etre is to command. Kirk doesn't just hold together a section, but the whole ship. However, as explained previously, Kirk doesn't see his talent and ability for what it is, modestly only as a conduit or a gun to shoot the bullet.
Best Scene?
Picking out a best scene is actually pretty hard since there are just so many excellent bits to The Wounded Sky. I'll settle for two.
 |
| Would you look at that - I can use this picture again. |
The second scene I can't go too much into, but it's near the end of the book when all the crew is being transformed into their 'best selves', the imagery is pretty intense and I loved Duane's creativity mixed in with more traditional imagery. The character exposition was really varied and just... excellent. You might have noticed I'm a character-centric person.... You'll know the scene when you get to it.
If you've stayed with me this long - congratulations! This novel certainly warrants more than I've written about here... Perhaps I'll come back to it later...
You're probably wondering why I told you that story at the beginning, well... Entropy is central to this novel, without entropy our universe would have ceased to exist, ceased to be and ourselves, the crew of the Enterprise and the universe as they knew it would be driven mad and suffer without it, we perceive time after all, that's how we organise our world, how we define our lives. How can we possibly comprehend all time happening simultaneously - we can't, after all, the book itself progresses the story as if time is passing. Things happen sequentially, in page after page while the universe around Kirk and his crew begins to slow down and speed up all at once. Happily, Duane gives the crew a kind of protection from this although it obviously isn't total protection from all effects of the anti-entropic space.
Thing is, somebody died thousands of miles away in a country I've never been to. Entropy took it's course, old age or illness, time passed and his books were sold and in a sequence of events, his books got to me. Those books with their worm holes and falling out pages tell a story far different from the story between their pages. McCoy asks if they could spare the new gods knowledge of illness and death, and K't'lk responds:
"One thing. When you write your equations - do you have to give Them death?"
The brilliance was dimmed. So was that in K't'lk's eyes - their blue belonged, for the moment, more to twilight than to noon. "L'nrd," she said in somber notes, "you said it yourself. Time is what They need. They can't have that without entropy too. And death will inevitably come along with that - rundowns, breakdowns -"Entropy is part of time and through time we experience the world, because a man died in America, a girl in the UK can read the books he collected and read, time and entropy made an impossible connection happen.
And that's one hell of a story.
5/5 - Always be yourself, unless you can be Kirk... Then be Kirk.
p.s. I am super late with this post! I had various things crop up, I went away, was ill, became a greater number, lots of things. I was hoping to get this in at the end of May but obviously that didn't happen! Back to regular programming now!
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