The harsh, pain filled breaths were coming from Spock, who was crumpled beneath him. Zar quickly pushed himself up, realizing he must have shoved the Vulcan down and then fallen on him when the worst of the - the whatever it was - hit.
Kneeling, he carefully turned the other over, gently brushed some of the ashy dirt from the austere features.
"Father?" he whispered hoarsely. "Are you alright?"
 |
| Reminds me somewhat of a certain fanzine cover with Spock on an alicorn... |
Ok, well, I can't be 100% sure of the 10% figure, but I can tell you it gave me fannish kicks.
So... maybe you've finished Yesterday's Son and you're thinking, but I wonder what happened to Zar? I mean, we know he influenced Sarpeidon's past by causing a period of rapid technological advancement... but just how did it come about? And did he meet a lovely lady and produce green blooded pointy-ish eared sproglings? And of course did I really read A C Crispin right and does she really ship K/S that hard? Followed by can I have more for dessert please?
Well, if you have asked questions frighteningly similar to mine, then the answers are:
Crispin clears that up, yes - two actually, yes, and finally yes (just a little bit of sugar).
Once again Crispin returns to The Guardian in order to facilitate her jaunt into the past. This time the Guardian seems to be malfunctioning, causing time waves to emanate from the ancient portal causing irreversible damage to stars and planets in its vicinity and resulting in the loss of a colony planet and a Starfleet vessel. If the time waves aren't stopped they will surely cause the destruction of all life, naturally Starfleet turns to one man (and his select crew) to try to stop the Guardian's apparent malfunction; Admiral James T Kirk!
The resulting adventure takes Kirk, Spock and McCoy into Sarpeidon's past in order to find Zar, bring him back to their present and use him to speak to the Guardian telepathically. Ultimately the reason for the Guardian's malfunction is revealed and we also get to meet the remaining creators of the Guardian.
However, the ending isn't half as satisfying as the medieval fantasy romp which makes up a large portion of the book. It's fun for the reader, it was obviously fun for Crispin to write, and it feels suspiciously like a guilty pleasure. The fantasy romp has almost nothing to do with the peril the universe is actually facing, and more to do with relationships. The relationships between fathers and their sons, between lovers, between friends. Time has passed differently for Zar and Spock, their age gap has closed and both are older and wiser men. Spock is now more open with his feelings, while Zar has become a wiser, jaded man who has seen much hardship and personal loss. I found the reigniting of the father-son dynamic for these two Vulcans very sweet, Spock's reactions in particular are endearing.
I'm reminded of a comment I read a while ago which equated the relationship of Sarek and Spock with the father-son relationships in the 50s/60s. The father being detached and aloof, not showing emotion and pushing the son away for not being the man he wanted him to be. In a way, Spock had to overcome that conditioning in Yesterday's Son, in Time for Yesterday however we see in Spock the more modern father, desiring of a closer relationship with his son, unafraid to show that he loves him, that he's proud of him and that he'd risk his life for him.
Crispin contrasts this with Kirk's apparent knowledge of David (this book takes place between TMP and TWOK) and his confused feelings of being an (by request) absent father. We of course know that Kirk would meet his son during the events of TWOK and then lose him by TSFS. It's an interesting comparison, Spock and Zar vs Kirk and David.
I feel that Crispin very much wanted to finish Zar's story for the sake of Spock, herself and her readers. Everyone likes to know what happened next, they also like happy endings for the most part and Crispin delivers that... but not without a little tragedy. Zar loved and lost many years ago and refused to remarry afterwards, however during the course of the novel he falls in love and bonds with a woman who otherwise would be his enemy (I'm going to comment again about the apparent fertility of Sarpeidons). However she refrains from telling the whole story, leaving his eventual fate after he leaves his father's side for the final time.
Is there a comparison between father and son here? You bet your pointy ears there is! You might remember the commentary which ran through Yesterday's Son in which Zar had problems understanding not only his relationship with his father, but also his father's relationships with others, in particular Kirk. However, towards the end of the novel he realises that they are incredibly close (like bonded close), by the time we get to the events in Time for Yesterday it's not even questioned, it's even the subject of a bit of humour.
Cute.
Characterisation wise Crispin was spot on again. Really strong characterization of the trinity (McCoy was in top form again) and nice use of Uhura in one of the novel's minor subplots (very minor). I quite liked the medieval Sarpeidons as well... I could definitely tolerate another book with just Zar and his world in! Crispin manages to create an interesting world for the length of book she's been allowed. One thing I would change however would be to cut a couple of sub plots which are quite unnecessary and turn over more attention to the end with the creators of the Guardian - but this is all quite minor (and I want more of the mindmeld bit, it was over too quick imo!)...
I don't want to spoil anymore for those who haven't read it, so I'll just end with; read Time for Yesterday... I definitely recommend it, it definitely will not disappoint!
5/5 - would visit ancient Sarpeidon as a holiday destination.
The resulting adventure takes Kirk, Spock and McCoy into Sarpeidon's past in order to find Zar, bring him back to their present and use him to speak to the Guardian telepathically. Ultimately the reason for the Guardian's malfunction is revealed and we also get to meet the remaining creators of the Guardian.
However, the ending isn't half as satisfying as the medieval fantasy romp which makes up a large portion of the book. It's fun for the reader, it was obviously fun for Crispin to write, and it feels suspiciously like a guilty pleasure. The fantasy romp has almost nothing to do with the peril the universe is actually facing, and more to do with relationships. The relationships between fathers and their sons, between lovers, between friends. Time has passed differently for Zar and Spock, their age gap has closed and both are older and wiser men. Spock is now more open with his feelings, while Zar has become a wiser, jaded man who has seen much hardship and personal loss. I found the reigniting of the father-son dynamic for these two Vulcans very sweet, Spock's reactions in particular are endearing.
I'm reminded of a comment I read a while ago which equated the relationship of Sarek and Spock with the father-son relationships in the 50s/60s. The father being detached and aloof, not showing emotion and pushing the son away for not being the man he wanted him to be. In a way, Spock had to overcome that conditioning in Yesterday's Son, in Time for Yesterday however we see in Spock the more modern father, desiring of a closer relationship with his son, unafraid to show that he loves him, that he's proud of him and that he'd risk his life for him.
Crispin contrasts this with Kirk's apparent knowledge of David (this book takes place between TMP and TWOK) and his confused feelings of being an (by request) absent father. We of course know that Kirk would meet his son during the events of TWOK and then lose him by TSFS. It's an interesting comparison, Spock and Zar vs Kirk and David.
I feel that Crispin very much wanted to finish Zar's story for the sake of Spock, herself and her readers. Everyone likes to know what happened next, they also like happy endings for the most part and Crispin delivers that... but not without a little tragedy. Zar loved and lost many years ago and refused to remarry afterwards, however during the course of the novel he falls in love and bonds with a woman who otherwise would be his enemy (I'm going to comment again about the apparent fertility of Sarpeidons). However she refrains from telling the whole story, leaving his eventual fate after he leaves his father's side for the final time.
Is there a comparison between father and son here? You bet your pointy ears there is! You might remember the commentary which ran through Yesterday's Son in which Zar had problems understanding not only his relationship with his father, but also his father's relationships with others, in particular Kirk. However, towards the end of the novel he realises that they are incredibly close (like bonded close), by the time we get to the events in Time for Yesterday it's not even questioned, it's even the subject of a bit of humour.
"Fair enough. Why haven't you remarried?"
It was the Vulcan's turn to raise an eyebrow. "There is no single reason. Once the liaison the family arranged for me was terminated by divorce, there was no reason to enter another immediately... so I elected not to do so. Time went by... and my contemporaries were all partnered. Then our five year mission was over, and I began the the study of Kolinahr disciplines. When one is an acolyte in pursuit of Kolinahr, one must give up... external... links." He steepled his fingers. "By the time I left Kolinahr, I also left Vulcan. I have not been home since."
"So, you just haven't met the right woman," Zar said, deadpan.
Shared amusement touched his father's eyes. "You could put it that way."
Cute.
Characterisation wise Crispin was spot on again. Really strong characterization of the trinity (McCoy was in top form again) and nice use of Uhura in one of the novel's minor subplots (very minor). I quite liked the medieval Sarpeidons as well... I could definitely tolerate another book with just Zar and his world in! Crispin manages to create an interesting world for the length of book she's been allowed. One thing I would change however would be to cut a couple of sub plots which are quite unnecessary and turn over more attention to the end with the creators of the Guardian - but this is all quite minor (and I want more of the mindmeld bit, it was over too quick imo!)...
I don't want to spoil anymore for those who haven't read it, so I'll just end with; read Time for Yesterday... I definitely recommend it, it definitely will not disappoint!
5/5 - would visit ancient Sarpeidon as a holiday destination.
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