Pocket Book Star Trek Novels #31 - #40 Review

Previous Post - Pocket Book Star Trek Novels #21 - #30 Review

Finally it's time for another summary, can you believe my last summary was back in September?!

This selection was again quite a mixed bag.

Books #31 to #40 are as follows:

#31 Battlestations! - Diane Carey - November 1986 - Year 2270, Follows Dreadnought! (after TOS)
#32 Chain of Attack - Gene DeWeese - February 1987 - Year 2270 (after TOS)
#33 Deep Domain - Howard Weinstein - April 1987 - (between TMP and TWOK)
#34 Dreams of the Raven - Carmen Carter - June 1987 - (between The Empath and The Mark of Gideon, TOS)
#35 The Romulan Way - Diane Duane & Peter Morwood- August 1987 - (between TMP and TWOK)
#36 How Much For Just The Planet - John M Ford - October 1987 - Year 2268
#37 Bloodthirst - J M Dillard - December 1987 - Year 2269
#38 The IDIC Epidemic - Jean Lorrah - February 1988 - Year 2267 (after TVAM)
#39 Time For Yesterday - A C Crispin - April 1988 - Year 2285
#40 Timetrap - David Dvorkin - June 1988 - Year 2287 (between TFF and TUC)

Immediate Observations

• Again no film adaptations - they are released separately to the numbered series.
• Six out of ten books have female authors (including joint authors), 3/5.
• Five out of ten books are 'sequels' to earlier novels - B!, TRW, HMFJTP, TIE, TFY.
• Three authors are new authors to the series, DeWeese, Carter, Morwood.

This selection seems better edited, or perhaps the return of some strong authors such as Crispin and Ford meant there was less chance of a dud.  I think the latter is true as Carey's Battlestations! slipped through as well as a surprising and disappointing miss by Weinstein with his novel Deep Domain.  But what do I know, apparently people think Battlestations! is good...  Newcomer Carmen Carter and her novel Dreams of the Raven was a definite hit for me, and the return of Diane Duane and A C Crispin gives the series a much needed lift.  Ford's How Much For Just The Planet and Chain of Attack offered technically good, different adventures.  The return of Dillard with Bloodthirst was middling, as was Lorrah's The EDIC Epidemic, and Dvorkin's Timetrap.  Timetrap's 3/5 was due to lack of editing, which was frustrating since it had the potential to be a really excellent novel had it had more supervision.  Lorrah and Dillard are middling authors who again could have done with more supervision and editing, but after reading Carey's two Mary Sue novels I feel more kindly towards them.  Again I ask what were the editorial team actually doing?

Context

This group of novels spans from November 1986 to June 1988.  Star Trek IV The Voyage Home was released in November 1986, and doesn't have any inclusion in these books.  However, you might notice the forward looking Timetrap which places itself in a time period not yet covered by the films.

Star Trek novels which were not numbered were also released in this time period, but do not appear to have affected the publication schedule of the numbered series.  These were

Star Trek IV The Voyage Home - Vonda N McIntyre - December 1986 - film novelisation
Strangers From The Sky - Margaret Wander Bonanno - July 1987
Final Frontier - Diane Carey - January 1988

I can understand the film novelisations being taken out of the numbered series, but I don't yet know why they took the decision to start releasing novels outside of the numbered series.  I haven't read Strangers From The Sky yet, but it is apparently very good and has enjoyed a number of re-releases and even sports an audio book read by Takei and Nimoy.  I'm told that Final Frontier is also good - significantly better than Carey's diabolical Mary-Sue stories.

Perhaps I should also read the unnumbered releases?  What do you think?



Story / Theme Trends

• Two time travel stories (TFY, TT).
• Two novels have female leads (B!, TRW).
• One novel with a main Mary-Sue type character (B!)
• Three novels that minimise the effect / appearance of the main cast in favour of OCs (B!,TRW, TIE, B).
• No overt K/S.
• One story with light K/S (TFY).
• Five novels feature Klingons (B!, DOTR, HMFJTP, TIE, TT).
• One novel has a Klingon focus (TT).
• Three novels feature Romulans (B!, B, TRW)
• Five novels which feature new aliens (B!, COA, DD, DOTR, TFY)
• One Kirk centric story (TT).
• One Spock centric story (TFY).
• One McCoy centric stories (DOTR).

This group of ten seems to shift away from the main cast in favour of OCs or a larger ensemble cast of characters.  It's been a little harder to put this analysis together as I read four of these books quite some time ago - if I hadn't reviewed them in the first place I really would have no idea!

Surprisingly we only see one example where K/S is present, and it's very light, however Crispin made her point in her previous novel Yesterday's Son.  Her commentary is more muted in Time For Yesterday but still nodded to throughout.

Klingons remain the more popular villains, possibly because they are easier to write than the Romulans.  Even where Romulans feature in Battlestations! they are only there as a kind of cameo, so really Romulan presence as agents in the story actually only numbers 2/10.

Klingons feature in half the books, but characterisation is varied as is understanding / use of the Organian treaty.  Battlestations! for example, characterises them as thuggish brutes and ignores the Organian treaty whilst How Much For Just The Planet follows more  smoothly from TOS itself and Ford's The Final Reflection where although they are a warlike species, they are also cultured.  HMFJTP also hinges its plot on the Organian treaty.

Refreshingly, a number of new aliens are introduced as antagonists.  Again in Battlestations! they are undeveloped 'cameos', however Chain Of Attack, Deep Domain, and Dreams Of The Raven develop the new aliens which are the crux of the stories.  Time For Yesterday expands of the Sarpeidon species who were seen in the series once (I put them down as new aliens because they are built up as a new civilization).

Themes

• #31 B! : Coming of age.  Loss of innocence.  Friendship.  Loyalty.  Isolation of command.
• #32 COA : Radicalization.  Cold War.  Communication.  Fear.
• #33 DD : Environmental / activism.  Manipulation.  Fear.  Power of the state. Duty.
• #34 DOTR : Coming of age.  Loss of innocence.  Responsibility.  Duty.
• #35 TRW : Fear.  Responsibility.  Duty.  Courage.
• #36 HMFJTP : Self governance / independence.  Comedy.  Camaraderie.
• #37 B :  Fear.  Corruption.
• #38 TIE : Responsibility.  Duty.  Fear.  Supremacy.  The other.
• #39 TFY : Responsibility.  Duty.  Trust.  Different kinds of love.
• #40 TT : Trust.  Deception.

I think these themes were harder to pin down, or at least the time between reading these made it harder for me to look at them as a whole.  However, one theme which seems to have popped up with the most frequency is fear and as an extension of that distrust of the state and propaganda, and distrust of the other.  

There seems to be a reduction in the more positive themes, and more focus on stories with a darker tone.  This may be partially because of the reduced roles of the main cast in this selection, with less of a focus on these paragons, character decisions are darker... less good.  The books may have also been affected by the content of the films, especially TWOK and TSFS.

That being said, the idea of responsibility, and duty are recurrent but on the whole this selection is sadly lacking in positive themes and the hope of a brighter future.

Do you think I have anything to add here?  Disagree?