Star Trek - Demons

Spock looked away as her chin trembled.  "It was you father who killed both Starnn and Silek."  She covered her face with her hands.
"My father,"  Spock corrected her gently, "killed no one.  Whatever, whoever controls Sarek now is responsible for their deaths."  He gently pulled her hands from her face, and she tried to smile at him.

I skipped ahead to Demons by J M Dillard (#30 Pocket, #43 Titan) (1986) because at least she is a known quantity to me, and the three left over in this ten made me wince a little bit when I read the blurbs.  To be fair so did Demons, but at least I have some idea of what Dillard is going to throw at me now...

... and to be fair it was very 'Dillard'.

Like Mindshadow there was a lot going on, but it wasn't quite as crowded with references and loose end story threads, and I'm happy to say there was no wrist slitting, though Demons did contain:

• Wrist spraining
• Spock braining
• Kirk's rib breaking
• McCoy poisoning and,
• Cast brainwashing

Not to mention:

• Sarek shaming
• Vulcan murdering and,
• OC powerupping

Ok, you get the picture.  It's still busy and if you've read Mindshadow you'll get the idea that Dillard really likes a few particular story elements:

• Keeping Kirk ignorant, because who tells captains anything these days
• Vulcans doing un-Vulcan things
• Vulcan (the planet)
• Injuring the main cast, no pain no gain
• Sarek and Amanda
• Starfleet / Federation being super sneaky (also in Bloodthirst)
• "Super amazing" female OC everyone loves, also McCoy ends up as her romance option and is a very jealous lover
• Kirk is left out of much the action
• OC Soap Opera
• ISS

Sorry about that but Demons is... well.  It's a bit special.

Demons is J M Dillard's second published Star Trek TOS novel, the first being Mindshadow (1985) and the next being Bloodthirst (1987).  She would go on to write two more Star Trek TOS novels and six Star Trek movie novel adaptations.

I said in my Bloodthirst review that I would be interested in seeing Dillard's progression, and I can honestly say that she does improve but she remains pretty mediocre.  Mindshadow was amateurish fantasy fulfillment that needed more editing than it got, Demons improves marginally as she makes her narrative a little tighter but there are still too many threads and not enough exposition.

So, what is Demons (1986) about anyway?

Well, imagine The Exorcist (1973) in space, but instead of demonic possession it's sentient subatomic particles binding to the brain's neurotransmitters.  These subatomic particles propagate via hypnosis and feed on the fear and pain of the people they commit cruel and sadistic acts upon.  These 'demons' have destroyed an ancient civilisation before, what will they do to the Federation?!

Oh dang, I've read this before.  Wait, wait, I've got it.  Legends End 1 (1984).  Oops.

Well, it could be a coincidence, Legends End has sadistic dark elves who feed off fear and act of sadism via brain implant type things.  I've been searching through some contemporary reviews and I haven't seen any comparisons at the time but that doesn't mean there aren't any there - my access to such things is far from comprehensive.  Also, reviews of Demons seem very positive - even today, I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, I simply don't see the merits of this book!

Some reviewers have even said that it's a masterpiece of Trek fiction.  Don't-Make-Me-laugh.

One of the big red flags for me was the inclusion of the character Anitra, who it turns out was a Starfleet/Federation intelligence agent (human) who has a super high psi rating (over 500!).  She is beautiful, she has amazing hair, she is super intelligent, can read minds, does something that could get her court martialled, doesn't get court martialled, everyone seems to love her.  A reviewer in IDIC 15 comments that she's the same character type as Evan Wilson (Uhura's Song), which pretty much makes perfect sense as to why I particularly disliked her - hi ho Mary Sue!

The reason given for Anitra's inclusion as a character in the first place is that because of her super high psi rating she can sense the evil in things.  Wait, I thought we had a scientific explanation for all this, Vulcans seem to have psi ratings at about this level, and there are other telepathic species in the Federation.  Humanity on the other hand are pretty much universally psi-null aside from one or two exceptions... even then I don't think they're a touch on Vulcan telepathy.  What's made slightly worse is that she's given the same kind of telepathy as Vulcans have - touch telepathy.

So frankly, I don't know where Dillard is coming from.  In Bloodthirst she did this funny mixing of science and the supernatural - well I say mixing, but it was pretty much oil and water - but it was clumsy and just didn't seem to work well, Demons is the same.  We have a scientific explanation, we have scientists working on the problem, why oh why are we still using terms like 'evil' and 'demons' when this is all explainable?  Now if, if Anitra was a mystic of some sort and Dillard had left in some sort of inexplicable mysticism as part of the story then Demons would have worked better - and it wouldn't have been outside of Star Trek's track record at all.

Characterisation of the main cast was okay?  It wasn't anything to write home about, and the fact Kirk is never told what's going on really chafes.  I mean why would Starfleet keep it secret from him?  Why would they only tell Spock?  Kirk would have been able to take the right course of action from the beginning if he'd only been told, he'd have been able to protect his crew.  Of course, that would mean Dillard would have had to have thought a little bit harder about how to progress the story.

Having this strange love triangle between Spock, McCoy and Anitra was...  awkward.  Although I had to laugh since McCoy got the girl in Mindshadow as well, and was a jealous lover then too!  Instead of Kirk being his rival, it was Spock this time!  Oh dear, McCoy is such a green eyed monster!

Dillard's OCs were present, but this time Security Chief Tomson had a useful role and was a little more of a rounded character.  I did like that Kirk doesn't actually like her though!  I have to wonder what happened to Nguyen though... last we heard of her she was told to hide in her quarters about halfway through the book, and she doesn't resurface...

One section I particularly liked however was when Kirk 'is cured' of the demon affliction and basically has to save his hostile crew on a scuttled Enterprise, whilst Spock, McCoy and Anitra have their own little adventure on Vulcan (they left him!).  I thought this was actually the strongest part of the book (and that's not just because Kirk was in it...), it was pretty tense and trying to work out who was safe or not was stressful!  Certainly there were strong TV horror elements although I'm not 100% sure they work with Star Trek, it didn't quite sit right with me.  Of course, having the Enterprise as basically a hot lab meant that Kirk actually figured out the solution via trial and error quicker than the 'scientists' on Vulcan.

Once Demons reaches its crescendo the narrative hurtles at breakneck speed to the end - in only twelve pages the book wraps up, with a lot of questions.  One thing that really bothers me is that Dillard does not return things to the status quo, there are a lot of repercussions from this story which in her haste to finish, have been swept under the carpet.  There's been murder on Vulcan, murder on the Enterprise, torture.  What about the ships which left Vulcan already infected (Dillard stated that some must have got to Earth already), how about the ship which fired on the Enterprise?  If a starship captain can work out the solution, why oh why did we need the Mary-Sue character in the first place?

Demons is really quite trashy and is quite reminiscent of popular 'horror' fiction of the time.  Not my cup of tea (and it's not because of the horror aspect) but some people obviously like it.  I'm not a fan of the Mary-Sue character type, I think the narrative could have progressed without Anitra, and I feel that the effects of the events of the novel were too far reaching and dire to be essentially glossed over at the end.  That being said Dillard's writing writing style is is pleasant and easy to read, so despite the content being not so great you still end up enjoying 'the writing' if nothing else.

2/5 - Leonard McCoy, Green Eyed Monster MD

One Year Anniversary Post!

Well.... that went unnervingly fast!

Today marks one year since my first post on this blog!   Wow Wow!

I'm actually... really proud of myself that I've kept it going for a year like this, and I'm still enjoying it!

It's hard to put into words... this blog and meeting people because of the fandom has meant alot for me this year.  It's not been easy but this blog has been a welcome distraction from everyday problems.

I would have been very easy this year to... be very sad and very unmotivated.  I've been struggling with chronic illness and it's been difficult to feel good about myself, additionally various personal problems have been difficult to handle.

But... things are starting to look up!  I should be in surgery next month so hopefully my recovery begins there!

Most importantly Trek Tales has kept me focused and got me back into the habit of writing.  After I finished my Masters, I was somewhat adrift and I became out of practice however now I'm motivated to just sit and write... it doesn't matter if it's fiction or just another review, I'm writing and that's what matters I think.

I also realised that all I really want to do in life is write.

Anyway!  I should probably talk about the blog a little more!

I've just started a facebook page as a present to my blog?  I think?  So perhaps people will find it easier to get updates on there?

>>>>>>>>> Follow here ~ <<<<<<<<<<

I'm also working on getting an author directory put together at the moment, but that's a slow moving project :)  No hurry!

I'm in the process of writing more articles for Trek Fan Productions, keep an eye out for them ( obviously I'll link them here and on my essays page)

I'll update the layout at some point!  But I'm really not a very good designer, so it might take some time :)

Anyway, that's all for now!  Readers, thank you for your interest in this blog and putting up with this silly, nerdy, girl :) 

LLAP

Star Trek - Mindshadow

She turned sideways in order to face Kirk directly.

"You have requested a replacement, haven't you, Captain?"  She looked from the surprise on the captain's face to McCoy, whose eyes were downcast.  "Perhaps you haven't been told the true extent of Spock's injuries."

"Are you telling me Spock will not return to duty?"  Kirk's jaw tightened so much it ached.

Her eyes were sympathetic but unyielding in their honesty.  "That's one possibility.  The best we can hope for is that it will be months before Spock is able to return to duty again."

Mindshadow (#27 Pocket, #41 Titan) (1986) is J M Dillard's first flirtation with novel writing and I guess, how she got 'outed' as a Trekker to her husband whom she had been keeping in the dark about her obsession by surreptitiously acquiring and reading published Star Trek novels.  She even wrote Mindshadow secretly and sent it off without anyone else reading it (Starlog - Issue 125).

I like the cover this time...
It's kind of clever...

I've previously reviewed Bloodthirst, Dillard's third Star Trek novel and I went back and cribbed it before I started this review.  In some ways Dillard improved between Mindshadow and Bloodthirst, but the weaknesses that reared their heads here in Mindshadow are still strongly affecting her work in later Star Trek instalments.

I'm happy I get to use a new term I picked up (from Joan Verba) to describe Mindshadow - it is to a certain extent a 'get'em' story and for once it's a 'get Spock' story instead of a 'get cinnamon roll Kirk' story.  Spock suffers a devastating injury to the left side of his head after falling down a cliff while investigating strange tricorder readings on a beautiful garden planet with technophobic inhabitants which pirates have been raiding.  The Federation has been asked to help these people protect their world and way of life however this all goes awry when the attacks do not come from above, but from below.  

Spock's recovery is not certain and McCoy sends for a specialist in Vulcan neurology to ensure his best chances.  When she comes (a petite, small, woman... doctor... very talented... excellent at hand to hand combat... everyone loves her - I'm sure I've seen this character before...) it soon becomes clear to the reader (if not the characters...) that she's not what she appears.  Unfortunately, the Federation's success depends on Spock regaining his memory and solving the mystery on Aritani, but his recovery is slow and he's dogged by saboteurs, who even go as far as slitting his wrists...

Kirk however can't just sit and wait for Spock to possibly recover, he must continue to act without his first officer, but every move he makes is countered and he soon comes to realise that he has a traitor on board when a captured Romulan pirate is killed in the brig, and unauthorised transmissions are being sent from somewhere on the ship.  Members of his crew are killed on Aritani in a devastating attack, and Scotty is framed as a murderer!

IN ADDITION to all this, McCoy has fallen in love with the new doctor - Emma Saenz - and she with him... but she also rather fancies Kirk... and he her... and everything goes terribly sour.

Kirk also has to ferry diplomats to Vulcan, which of course results in murder and general mayhem.

AND Spock ends up going home to Vulcan in order to get well again, meets another hybrid, faces an assassination attempt, gets framed with murder and gets his wrists slit... again.

To conclude the Enterprise returns to Aritani, Kirk gets the Romulan treatment (because who doesn't like Kirk with pointy ears... aside from Spock!) and things end with a bang!

I think you'll probably agree that there's a lot going on there and to be honest there are far too many things going on for a 250 page paperback.

I mean, it's a very sweet book in that there is some serious passion and love for Star Trek there... but it does feel like Dillard is trying to write her favourite episodes into her book, she's trying to do everything at once and the novel suffers for it.  For example, she obviously really liked Kirk getting pointy ears and Spock making disparaging comments about it, so that went in.  She also liked Journey to Babel, as she somehow manages to fit in the Enterprise collecting diplomats and even a murder!  I think for every element there is an analogue in the original series, and there are a lot of elements.

Characterisation is variable and my biggest disappointment was probably due to there being too much going on and too few pages to do it in.  I was all geared up for some touching K&S, you know the unbreakable friendship on the cusp of being broken because Spock would possibly never be 'Spock' again.  It looked like it was going to happen, I would be indulged and my heartstrings pulled in that bittersweet way that makes fangirls swoon... but... time passed, Spock got marginally better and the scene was never written... and Kirk apparently stopped visiting so much.  The hinted mental link?  Not really used.  Kirk knowing that Spock even in his mentally compromised state wouldn't try to kill himself - well he gave Spock the benefit of the doubt.

But where was that marvellous scene I was waiting for?!
It didn't happen.

Reunion after Vulcan...
Didn't really happen there either.

To be fair though, although I didn't see the emotional scene I was waiting for, I did get Spock related cinnamon roll Kirk angst, where Kirk didn't sleep for two days and was an irritable sod because Spock was in critical condition.  I suppose I can be appeased that way.  Plus there is quite a lot of emphasis on the 'love' between the trinity, the friendship, which I think thematically ties in well (especially with the movies...).

Characters at time seemed to be hit with ISS (inexplicable stupidity syndrome) quite regularly, including McCoy who apparently couldn't tell that Emma Saenz was Romulan... I mean come on.  Her body temperature was Vulcan high, she didn't sweat in high temperatures... and she was really strong... I don't think you can even put it down to building muscle from being on a high gravity planet...  McCoy has sexy times with her and still doesn't realise she isn't human!

Kirk was quite well characterised I think, although he did seem emotionally neutered at times... I do think we could have done without his attraction to Emma Saenz and the little love triangle that developed between Saenz, McCoy, and Kirk.  Or perhaps it was just an indication that Kirk has a preference for lovers with pointy ears (hohoho... I'm kidding, I'm kidding)?!

There was one particular bit concerning Scotty which made me quite annoyed.  It was his reaction to Kirk when her thought that Kirk had talked about his feelings over one of his engineers being killed.  His disrespect and jumping to conclusions about his captain did not sit right with me.  Again, it was a story element that didn't need to be there.

As for the original characters, there were two of note.  Firstly of course Emma Saenz, who at times is well constructed and at others utterly frustrating.  She's an interesting character, but because Dillard drops the reader lots of not-so-subtle hints rather early about her identity she's a little too transparent.  If Dillard had chosen to reveal her a little later it would have worked significantly better.  I was confused at one point about her position as a double agent and Admiral Komack's insistence of keeping Kirk in the dark,  I don't really see what her purpose was in her double agent role when she was on the Enterprise?  What benefit could she have been to the Romulans then?  It's a little bit contrived, why couldn't Spock recover, why did it have to be her?  Why couldn't they have just used another doctor?

The other character is Lieutenant Tomson, who appears in more books by Dillard and I think in one or two by other authors too.  Tomson is... infuriating but in a very fallible way... She isn't overused which is a good thing but unfortunately is involved in the erroneous murder charged levelled at Scotty.  This and the murder of one of the diplomats seem to be engineered so that Tomson can do something...  But as I've mentioned before, those elements could have been left out entirely.

Oh!  There's also Spock's replacement Varth...who is a nonentity...

The conclusion of the novel is a little weak and more than a little rushed, which could have been avoided if Dillard had kept the story a little more simple and done some serious editing.  Personally I would have cut out a lot of the superfluous bits of story in the middle and extended finale, given more details of the complex, more details of the Romulans, made more of the adventure and of Kirk and Spock working together again at the end.  As it was it ends up being a little bit flat, not terrible just a little lacklustre.

I did enjoy this book however.  Dillard proves that she can write characters well and she's especially good at dialogue, but her narrative structure is messy and she makes far too much of linking the events in the novel with events in the series and the animated series (of course, it isn't worse than Marshak and Culbreath actually footnoting all their references).

I'm going to be nice however and give Mindshadow a generous 3/5 - since a two would be overly stingy since it was a frustrating pleasure to read.

Star Trek - Shadow Lord

Mr Spock stared at the back of the prince's head as if he wished he could impress his words directly upon the prince's brain.  "As painful as life on the border may be, it is a place where change first begins for a culture; and something new and better can be created."

Bibil opened a jar and proffered it to the prince with a bow of his head.  "As your father said when he sent you on your journey, we must find a way to combine technology of the Federation with our own higher spiritual values."

Shadow Lord by Laurence Yep (#22 Pocket, Giant Novel - Titan) (1985) is not the finest example of Star Trek fiction; this is mainly because Yep has no interest in actually writing a Star Trek novel.  The result of this is a sword and sorcery novel with Star Trek characters slotted in to enable it to be sold to Pocket books.  I wouldn't be surprised if the first draft of this novel had a stoic elf sorcerer and his plucky halfling bodyguard in the place of Spock and Sulu.

And I would totally read that book.

Frustratingly, Shadow Lord is  generally well written and I did enjoy it, but if the criteria for 'well written' is 'accurately portrays Star Trek characters and their universe' then unfortunately it falls flat.

Well Jen, if you seriously enjoyed it, surely this is a success? Well no, questioning voice in my brain, it isn't.  If I want to read a sword and sorcery novel, I'll go out and read a sword and sorcery novel, I won't pick up a Star Trek book, capiche?  Also I read Star Trek novels because I like Star Trek characters so when they are completely out of character (touchy feely, smiley, comforty, Spock for example) then it kinda stops being a Star Trek novel.  I also like the Star Trek universe and the technology, and the spaceships etc. but that doesn't really feature either in Shadow Lord.  When both of these rather important aspects Star Trek are missing...then how can this be considered a Star Trek novel?

I'll make it easy for you.  It can't be.  But... an author's gotta do what an author's gotta do, right?

Shadow Lord  was not Laurence Yep's first publication.  From a brief look at his history, his earliest published work appears to have been in 1968 - although I would be surprised if there were earlier publications.  Yep is a prolific author with plays, novels, and picture books under his belt, he would write and publish very few science fiction stories ultimately (four - one children's story and three adult), he would later write predominantly fantasy novels (surprise surprise).

So essentially, great writer, wrong genre.  As testament to to his skill he manages to make a 'bad' Star Trek book not just readable, but enjoyable.  I would like to know if he actually watched the series properly or if he was involved in the fan community in any way because his image of the characters seems to be quite superficial a lot of the time and yet when we have say an argument between McCoy and Spock, it seems to be on the money.

The story itself is pretty simplistic and run of the mill and... so not anything close to Star Trek.

The premise is that a reluctant prince from a world which technologically is stuck around the seventeenth century and socially... well I'd say they were medieval, is returning home in order to influence his planet's modernisation under the guidance of the Federation.  However, when he returns to his home planet he finds that the unguided modernisation his father has begun has caused great suffering and poverty and a coup takes place.  The prince escapes with the help of Sulu, Spock and some loyal retainers and makes his way to his family's land in order to drum up support.  On the way he sees the horrors of his world and decides that although he'd rather stay on the developed worlds of the Federation he must help his people.  The prince gets support from his people, fights a battle where his people win because they have guns and the 'bad guys' army have plate armour and swords.  The prince wins a duel using a technique Sulu showed him at the beginning of the novel, and the prince becomes emperor.  The Enterprise returns to pick up its two officers and leaves some of its other crew to help with the modernisation process.

The story isn't new, it isn't anything ground breaking, it certainly isn't inspiring.   It's pretty much a stock fantasy story sandwiched between two 'Enterprise' sections.  It's a stretch to involve the Federation at all at this point however, I mean they shouldn't be messing with the development of 'undeveloped' worlds in the first place.  Of course this modernisation is going to cause fear and resentment in the people of the planet, they're barely able to get their heads around the fact aliens exist and when they do the result is xenophobia.  I think this is reasonable when you've got an unfathomably big organisation which is unfathomably more developed trying to influence your medieval planet where the height of diplomacy is sticking someone with a sword!

The characterisation, like I mentioned before, can be both strong and weak.  The original characters are better characterised than the established Star Trek characters.

Sulu

Sulu is probably the most natural choice for this story as a representative of the Enterprise / Federation especially when you're beaming down to a planet where the people live and die by the sword (because of the revelation that he enjoys fencing in the episode 'Naked Time').  Personally, when I saw it was a novel where Sulu was going to shine I almost put it down in disappointment.  I generally dislike the characterisation of Sulu and I don't particularly like George Takei. However, Yep's characterisation is so off the mark that it makes Sulu palatable, probably the first time I've actually praised a bad characterisation.

The reason I wondered if Laurence Yep was involved in the fan community is because his characterisation of Sulu is incredibly 'fannish'.  There's like this mythos around Sulu that he's this sword fighting fanatic with a massive obsession with outdated militaria.  It's beyond that he's an expert, it's highly romanticised.  Most of the time this is emphasized and as a result his science capability and his interest in exotic flora is forgotten.  Despite this 'fannish' interpretation, Yep produces a palatable Sulu and made the book readable for me - thank you OOC Sulu!

Spock

Spock is probably the most out of character of the lot, it's not that he's too emotional, it's that he does things that he simply wouldn't do.  Comforting someone by grasping their shoulder for example, openly smiling.  His major contribution to the novel is to bridge the gap between the prince and his duty.  Spock is used as a 'child of two worlds' and is a parallel to the prince who feels the same way, having essentially grown up in the Federation.  After reading a little about Laurence Yep, I realised that Spock (and the prince as well, really) was probably interesting to him as a vehicle to explore his own feelings as a 'child of two worlds'.  Spock manages to be removed from the action when he takes a spear to the hip (better than an arrow to the knee I suppose), but the situation seems quite forced.  I'm not sure why he needed to be removed from the action, unless Yep really likes Sulu? It's not like Spock was overpowered or anything in this story, if anything he was underpowered.

Original Characters

Yep's original characters are probably the strongest (they're the ones he actually wanted to write after all).  The prince (Vikram) is initially foppish (although this is mainly an act) but proves that he's actually worthy of running a planet and reforming it.  The character's development isn't much of a surprise as it's all pretty telegraphed including his budding relationship with Urmi, an initially untrustworthy character who learns to love the prince after travelling with him and helping him get to his family's land.  It just so happened to be that she was his guardian's (?) niece.

Vikram's guardian, Bibil, was a likeable character who had a heroic rat beetle related death and was characterised well.  Actually, most of the minor characters were characterised nicely, even if they are introduced for only a couple of pages which I think is testament to Yep's ability as a writer.  The one character where I'd say it falls down is the villain of the story 'Lord Rahu', he's a bit of a non entity whose actual motivations aren't really fully realised.  A proxy for Lord Rahu is used much of the time, so although we sympathise with the proxy (a good man, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons) and get to know him, we don't really learn about Rahu.  Rahu never really achieves the magnitude he needs to be truly effective.

Finally...

Shadow Lord is an enjoyable story if you're not really expecting to be reading a Star Trek novel.  It doesn't really add any understanding to the characters, nor does it offer a particularly inspiring sci-fi / Star Trek scenario.  It's hard for me to say 'don't read it' because despite its many flaws I found it enjoyable, on the other hand it's not really a successful Trek novel and I don't think you're missing o out on a dose of Trek if you don't bother with this one.

1/5 - Sorry!

Star Trek - Uhura's Song

And Kirk said, "Do you mean, a song to help you remember - not only the symptoms - but the cure for the disease?  You know the cure to ADF?"

It was as if he had struck her, but she only said, "There is no cure on Eeiauo, Captain.  The last verse is missing.  Sunfall ended the song there, and her ears drooped and tail... I can't describe it, sir.  She looked at me in despair, and she told me it was a song for another world, not hers."

Well... I can certainly see why this was considered a 'giant novel' when released in the UK!

Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan (#21 Pocket, Giant Novel - Titan) (1985) is... a long book.  I mean, in the scheme of things and compared to other science fiction novels (like those written by Peter F Hamilton) it isn't that long but... it's certainly long for a Star Trek novel of this era.

... Yep.  Definitely long.

It isn't quite pulling teeth to read long, but it is overly... long.

Did I mention it's long?

It isn't 'bad' per se, but it misses out on being 'actually good' by a fair margin.  This is actually a real shame, as it started with a lot of potential, certainly with a lot of passion but just lost the plot, if you'll allow me to quip.

Let me get this big niggle out the way real quick before I launch into this properly, but you'd think, you'd think, that a book called Uhura's Song would have Uhura playing the lead role (instead of an epitome of a Mary Sue).  I mean, it's not like Tears of the Singers, her name is in the title for pity's sake.  I also completely disagree with the review in Star Trek: Adventures in Time and Space (1999) the Uhura's Song as one of two defining novels for Uhura (together with Tears of the Singers) which "gave Uhura the chance to expand her range beyond hailing frequencies".  Uhura is defined with much more clarity and direction in books not toted as Uhura centric, and frankly if these are the best representations of Uhura, they can keep them!  I don't really think she's portrayed particularly well in either of them, however Uhura's Song gives her a better characterisation, but she's pretty quickly overshadowed by the shameless Mary Sue Evan Wilson.

So what is Uhura's Song about anyway?

Put simply: Space Ebola, the Odyssey, Folklore, Memory, coming of age.

A plague has broken out in the Federation amongst a feline species (it's pretty much like mange), previous outbreaks had been handled by the people themselves, however as the latest outbreak pushes them to breaking point they ask for Federation help.  Unfortunately, the disease affects humans as well, but it progresses faster through a human victim.  Leonard McCoy and Christine Chapel are already infected and reports are coming in from across the Federation of outbreaks... Kirk and his crew are tasked with finding a cure for this deadly disease with only a song Uhura was taught by a member of the feline species as a clue to find their lost planet of origin... and a cure. 

As you might imagine, Uhura has a prominent part to play... initially.  She works with Spock to decipher the astrological clues the song leaves to finding the home planet of the Eeouians.  Her attributes as a driven and talented linguist are emphasised.  However, once the initial detective work is finished she starts to move into the background and although she is part of the action (theoretically) it's very easy to forget she's there, even when she's in an away team on a perilous mission.  That being said her characterisation is very strong when she's the focus.  I actually really enjoyed the way she was presented working with Spock, she was competent but also slightly unsure; someone who is excellent at what she does suddenly being told to get results in a field she has never really explored.  There is a subtleness here which is quite charming, I wish Kagan could have continued this development to the end of the novel, instead of relying on an OC 'Mary-Sue' to smooth over any narrative difficulties she would face.

After Spock and Uhura locate the planet, they beam down to meet the local inhabitants... this is where Uhura's Song turns into sci-fi anthropology novel and actually, this section stands rather well on its own.  Kagan really manages to build a believable society which doesn't buckle under close scrutiny and despite the sheer length of it managed to hold my attention.  It helps that I like cats I suppose and the characterisation of the species is ultimately endearing.  I kept checking how many pages of this section I had read, and was often pleasantly surprised at how much I had read and yet it didn't feel like it was dragging.  However, after the world and society building had being completed and the narrative started to step up a gear again I started to get restless.  Uhura was pushed into the background, and the previously background Kirk stepped forward - not a problem for me - as did Spock.  Chekov was also pretty busy, which was nice to see, I think his characterisation was fitting, if not a bit too competent.  However, three OCs took the foreground, two of which I am happy with (they were of the cousin species of the Eeiauons), and one which essentially ruins the novel utterly.

Evan Wilson... A female character who is incredibly important to this novel... and who could be edited out with a little bit of thought and the story would be significantly better for it.  There is virtually no reason why every incredible action she takes couldn't have been done by another of the landing party.  There is no reason to have her there to make the required leaps of logic, between Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Chekov there is no need for her - even her leap of medical knowledge could have been made by someone not 'in the know'.  In fact, Uhura would have and should have been the one to solve the mystery.

As it happens, the answer to the problem was in the songs all along, and the terrible disease was only a 'child's disease' with a simple cure.  It apparently needed Evan Wilson to see this... despite that Uhura was well versed and more than qualified to make these inferences.

Of course... all is revealed later when we learn that Evan Wilson is not in fact Evan Wilson... we don't learn her real name... we do learn that she's a secret space operative / pirate who wears foppish shirts, who is a mechanical genius, who is also apparently a medical genius, who everyone liked, and Kirk probably wanted to 'romance' (he was very disappointed when it turned out he couldn't have R&R time with her...)...

Honest to goodness, this character broke the whole book for me.  What a mess.

Despite the above mentioned character, it's still a book I'd recommend for the sake of Uhura and the careful thought that went into the creation of the different felinoid societies.   The other characters are well written, and the writing itself isn't without merit.  Just... the whole story is terribly let down by one very poor character choice, one which some editorial guidance should have caught and reversed.

2/5 - Space Ebola.

As a side note, I've lost my Pocket Books edition of Uhura's Song, so I had to switch to my Titan Books edition.  I swear these books grow legs.

Also, I'm sorry for this sorry excuse of a review... the Mary-Sue pulled my tail!  I'm like... fixated on her!

Perhaps when I feel more energetic I'll add to this review... but the book miffed me off so much that I don't really want to talk about it :/ And I don't want to rip it apart (which I'd usually do) because aside from the Mary-Sue it wasn't bad... urgh...