Star Trek - Deep Domain

"It's my life, and I'm willing to take that risk.  Instead of arguing with me, you should be going over all your medical data and learning everything you can to make sure you don't kill me."
"Bones."  Kirk's tone was solemn.  "Is it possible?"
Incredulous, McCoy spun to face the Admiral.  "Jim, I've never treated a garden variety, air-breathin' Akkallan, let alone one who's turning into a fish!"

I had high hopes for Howard Weinstein's 1987 novel Deep Domain (#33 Pocket, #  Titan), not least because it is the result of Weinstein being involved in a brainstorming session with Leonard Nimoy when ideas for ST:IV were being bandied around.  As a consequence of the meeting, Weinstein wrote a story outline based on some notes he had made just in case he might have a chance at submitting one for the movie.  It turned out that the basic story had already been decided on and so, Weinstein never had the chance to submit his idea, however instead this story outline evolved into Deep Domain.

Howard Weinstein acknowledges in his forward that there are similarities between ST:IV and Deep Domain because they came from 'the same pot of ideas' but the differences become clear as you read the book.

He's right there I suppose.

I've been in such a rut with this book.  I have been gazing lovingly at my future conquests but because of my own self imposed rules I can't skip this one or start another one until Deep Domain is finished and reviewed.  It's taken me oh... over a month to get through it, it's just so incredibly dull.  Ok, to give Weinstein his due, the last  eighty pages or so is reasonably paced, as the author races to the... end?  Where was the climax?

Literally nothing particularly good jumps out at me, aside from that I've finished it and won't have to read it again. Weinstein what happened?!  There's... a lot of bad aspects to Deep Domain though, like poor pacing, off key characterization, strange OCs, and a bit too much wink wink nudge nudge foreshadowing.

So... where do I start?

Deep Domain is set between TMP and TWOK, and actually positions the events within as the final mission before Kirk gives up command of the Enterprise for the second time.  Weinstein also sets up Chekov's move to the Reliant as one of the last actions of the narrative.

The book is dominated by a contrived political situation on a water planet called Akkalla, which ultimately results in a military coo / martial law being enacted in line with the plans of an ambitious femme fatale.  Akkalla is a dubious member of the Federation, since they control their media with propaganda and use forbidden interrogation methods like... well.. torture, mainly to do with half drowning people.

Akkalla is under attack from a neighbouring planet, who having destroyed their own planet's ability to provide their population with food, have turned to illegally plundering Akkalla's oceans.  Greenpeace The Cape Alliance use small boats to try to disrupt the Whaling Vessels / Fishing Trawlers Chorymi harvesters, but their actions are considered criminal by their government who initially had a treaty with Chorymi.

A third Akkallan faction is the Collegium which is supposed to be a neutral educational institution but the government for some reason thinks they're dangerous too (despite repeated attempts to distance themselves).

The situation is made more complicated by the inclusion of a Federation research base, the mistreatment and then capture / disappearance of three Federation scientists.

Add into this the possibility of another ancient sentient race potentially being endangered by the Chorymi harvesting, the disappearance and capture of Spock and Chekov, the inclusion of a wide selection of overwrought original characters and you have a confusing mess.

Thank goodness it was never made a film.

It probably would have made an interesting not-Star-Trek sci-fi TV series though.

Really, there's just a bit too much going on, far too much for 275 pages and Deep Domain would have benefited from some significant editing of the plot and cutting out at least three characters to streamline it and -forgive the expression- cut the crap.  The story is bloated, it's boring, and I don't care about the colour changing cat girl who likes chocolate milk...!  I'd rather have more development in a smaller cast than a large cast with some half-hearted exposition of 'important characters'.

It's a shame because his previous novel The Covenant of the Crown was a really enjoyable book which was a quick read (191 pages) and used a smaller cast of characters with a simpler story line.  As happens with many authors across all genres, when they start to get a little more ambitious they over extend themselves a little bit and try to over complicate the story too much; this is definitely the case with Deep Domain.

I was a little surprised by Weinstein's noncommittal approach to emotions and relationships which he veered away from throughout Deep Domain, as previously he has explored emotions more thoroughly (actually making them more of a focus).  There were several points in the novel where I wished it had been written by a woman because those sections were just ripe for some emotional exposition and character development... and it just didn't happen.  I just felt like at times I wasn't being rewarded for slogging out page after page of not very much happening - all stick with no carrot.  This particularly annoying because it is clear that for the most part Weinstein has the main cast down pat, but he skips over any emotional confirmation which I can only put down to word count / page limitations.

Weinstein's OCs in Deep Domain are a little too numerous, but I found the little cat-girl ensign a particularly strange addition.  If I didn't know the author's name I would have expected a female author to have produced her, she's that kind of cringe inducing OC that really didn't need to be included in the story in the first place (and certainly not have as many pages wasted on her) and a faceless crew member would have done just as well.  If I was editing, she would have been the first to go!  There's also a trio of OCs (the leader of the Akallan government, the woman who is controlling him and her army toy boy) which could have done with being merged into one character for the sake of brevity, as their story line does nothing to really enhance the novel thematically, and again wastes precious pages for no real gain.

There are some really good and clever ideas in Deep Domain they just never get fully realized, which is a real disappointment.  I did like the idea of the Akkallans returning to the sea for the last half of their lives, I like the positive message / warning which echoes Star Trek:IV but there just isn't enough development - all plot points are just spread far too thin.

2/5 - I commit this book to the deep.

Star Trek - Dreadnought!

"Put Piper on."
Damn, I knew it, I knew it! "Pi-" My throat closed up.
"Star Empire, do you read?"
"P-Piper here."
"Can you handle that helm?"
"Hell if I know, sir."
"I can command you from h-"
The ship shuddered and lurched to starboard, pushed by a photon blast on the underside of the primary hull.

So, it was with trepidation that I picked up my final book in this selection of ten Dreadnought! (#29 Pocket, #29 Titan) (1986).   Disappointingly, books in this grouping (#21 to #30) have been majoritively misses (for me anyway) with a couple hits.  I got about half way through Dreadnought! and was ready to write a scathing review.  I wasn't enjoying reading it, I didn't like the style, I hated the main character, I despised the puerile dialogue... and then I thought... perhaps I'm reading this the wrong way?

I like well written books, and frankly I've been spoiled.  I mean, when you've found an author or two who just get everything right for you, you're spoilt.  There is one particular author (not a Star Trek author) who just takes my breath away every time I read a new book by him, and damn it I want that sensation with more things I read!  Keeping this in mind, I took a step back from my own dislike of Dreadnought! and wondered who it was written for, who would like it, who would read this novel and dream they were lieutenant Piper.

It became so obvious then.  I'd been so unhappy reading it, holding it up against an impossible standard that I hadn't given it a fair chance.  I hadn't stepped back and thought that, well, perhaps I'm not really the intended audience, perhaps in its own way it is good, it's just not what captures my imagination anymore.

Anymore?

Yes, anymore.  When I took a step back I realised that actually, actually I would have loved this book fifteen years ago.  A silly, awkward fourteen or fifteen year old who dreamed about being older, not realising that as an adult she wouldn't be the same person, that she wouldn't have that same mentality.  A girl who didn't realise her glib remarks didn't really do her any favours and that sarcasm wasn't very flattering.  A girl who wasn't interested in the latest boy band, but who idolised star ship captains, and elves, and fairies.  A girl who still secretly played make believe while running around her family's land, making herself a main character in a myriad of games and make believe stories.  Could she rescue a borg drone from being a drone?  Yep, because she was special.  Find a magic lamp and make three wishes? Of course.  Somehow succeed against the odds, gain her peers respect, earn recognition?  As easy as breathing.

Yes, that little girl would have loved Dreadnought! and lieutenant Piper's exploits. 

Oh, of course that isn't going to get it completely off the hook, but once I realised some of this I started to be able to enjoy it (you might have noticed I'm a little bit mulish).

I guess my mind keeps coming back to that explanation of a Mary Sue; why they exist, what they represent, and I just get the feeling that (and I recognise I could be wrong) lieutenant Piper of Proxima may as well be called lieutenant Carey of 'somewhere in the USA'.  I very much think even if we discard the term 'Mary Sue', Piper is still a self-insert (made more likely by the rumour that Diane Carey modelled for the cover herself) and her adventures probably the outcome of many hours of play.  Carey herself says she was a first generation fan, she would have been what, thirteen or fourteen when Star Trek first aired?  It fits, doesn't it?

Lieutenant Piper is like... the dream outcome for an awkward, dorky girl in her teens.   She isn't one of the beauty queens or popular girls, but she's still pretty enough to have a 'lover' right?  And everyone seems to love her, even though she hasn't learned to love herself yet.  She makes friends easily, but importantly she makes mistakes with her relationships too... so she's realistic to a teenage girl trying to make her way through the minefield of school and hormones.  Piper gets angry with herself, berates herself, asks herself why she's being so stupid.  She makes those silly teenage comments that sound so clever to a child (what a come back!), but to an adult it makes you cringe a little bit inside (oh, why did you say that you silly girl!).  

Carey (or Piper, or both) realises that Kirk is off limits, after all no mere woman could come between Kirk and Spock (I caught all those little observations Carey, slash knows slash) so she creates her own Vulcan 'Sarda'.  Sarda doesn't look like Spock, his colouring is auburn hair and light eyes but he's still a Vulcan and... also caught between two worlds.  Although he is fully Vulcan, he has a penchant for weapons design.  Piper drew attention to this, Sarda got ostracised by his fellow Vulcans, cue teenage angst.

This is naturally what will draw them together in the end - and Carey Piper will have a deep and meaningful bond with a Vulcan, just like Captain Kirk whom she idolises.  Now I completely understand her passion for Kirk, completely but good grief girl, stop making eyes at the Captain when you've got a Vulcan waiting in the wings (and a forgettable ex, that's ok though).

Events move incredibly quickly, like a child recounting a story 'and then this happened, then this, then suddenly - this!' one minute she's a cadet in the academy taking the Kobayashi Maru test, then she's been made lieutenant on the Enterprise, then she's on board and before she can change her clothes there's an emergency.  Then she still doesn't change her clothes (because she's special don't you know!) and then she breaks out, steals a shuttle type thing, gets caught by the soon to be bad guy, then escapes, then captains the dreadnought, then we're all back home in time for an award ceremony and a buffet.  Later she's going to go sailing with Captain Kirk and they're both going to talk about what it's like to be bonded close friends with a Vulcan.

It's honestly ridiculous, I mean she wears a black jumpsuit instead of her uniform the whole way through.  Her group bunny hop down a corridor as a diversionary tactic.  The amount of contact between her and Sarda is nearing on indecent, and some of the descriptions of things - 'orgasmic' oh you naughty girl! - are far past appropriate!

It's not so much a Star Trek story as a girl's fantasy.  To be the one at the centre of the narrative (and it can't be any other way written in the first person), to be accepted by people you admire, to work out and thwart a plot which threatens the galaxy AND manage to show that you listened in your social studies class as you talk about ideas like 'big government' and 'civil liberties'.

That being said Diane Carey has made copious use of the Technical Manual, which gives the specifications for the Dreadnought class ship and the name Star Empire.  She also uses a couple of the flow diagrams which are in the technical manual that describe Starfleet hierarchy.  In addition to this, there are also two technical drawings at the back of the book which show two smaller ships / shuttles - a one man fighter 'polliwog' and a two man 'arco attack sled'.

So... I guess although it's ridiculous, thoroughly unbelievable silliness, I guess it isn't totally terrible as long as you accept it for what it is.  Seeing that Carey wrote historical romance novels around this time, it makes sense that the Piper and this whole book should be written in this style.  Historical romances are aimed at women and the main characters are often just stand ins for the audience, and that's what Piper is.  She's making new friends and having encounters with men who are (in her world) possible romance options. 

Anyway, Dreadnought! has a lot of heart and despite not liking it, I'm going to give it a 2/5.  As I said, for what it is, it isn't bad.  It's not trying to be anything other than it is, which is a  simple teenage / young adult novel set in the Star Trek universe.

2/5 - because uniforms aren't for main characters.

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

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...

Star Trek - Triangle

Kirk tried fitfully to stir, alarm bells going off in his head.  It was always a mistake to think of the Vulcan as if he was human.  He was not.  What deadly Vulcanism did Sola and Spck know about, which Kirk did not?  Something which was triggered by what Spock  could not deny  he had felt for Sola?

I've calmed down a little bit, I promise!

... I promise nothing.

I really have neglected reading the earlier novels, so I turned to my partner and said -

"Choose from the following titles - " I listed the titles #3 to #9.

"Triangle?  It has to be Triangle - what kind of a name is Triangle anyway?"

And so I read Triangle (#9 Pocket, #49 Titan)  by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath.  I didn't hold out much hope for Triangle, I had to concur that it was a very strange name for a Star Trek novel.  However, as it turns out it wasn't something as innocuous as a title I had to be worried about.

As you may or may not know, Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath were the two authors behind the William Shatner autobiography, 'Where no Man', and it isn't unknown that they have certain agendas.  They are also pretty notorious in the slash fandom some even going so far as crediting them for creating slash.  Typically I picked up the last book they penned together, soon after Sondra Marshak appears to have gone MIA - her former friends and writing partners don't appear to know where she is - and Myrna Culbreath went back to education and is credited with a phonics learning program.

-- Ok, maybe I'm not so impressed with that, I was forced to learn to read through a phonics program, and it didn't work for me at all  (I was instead taught to read at home by my mother without the use of phonics).  But it was trendy in the 80s and 90s so I guess I can't hold that against her... maybe. -- 

Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath are intelligent women, and are/were highly influential within the ST fandom.  They are also quite academic and mix their own agendas and themes into the novels, -sometimes fairly hamfistedly, sometimes with a sledgehammer - and are very influenced by the psychological studies of the time.  They were involved in much trouble and controversy, which eventually saw them banned and alienated from conventions and publishers.  They were busy!

Marshak and Culbreath published four Trek novels

- The Price of the Phoenix (1977) - Bantam Books
- The Fate of the Phoenix (1979) - Bantam Books
- The Prometheus Design (1982) - Pocket Books
- Triangle (1983) - Pocket Books

They also have been involved in editing / contributing to two anthologies, while Sondra Marshak individually was involved in Star Trek Lives with Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Joan Winston.

Triangle is a hot, messy hurt/comfort fanfiction, and it's a little uncomfortable to read... ok, it's a lotta uncomfortable to read although it did cause me to laugh and be anxious in equal measure.  You might have gathered by other reviews, I am pretty protective of our illustrious Captain James. T... I don't like misrepresentation of him and I don't like to see him degraded for no reason.  I think Triangle really does cross that line.

I think I should fess up that I'm really not a big fan of hurt/comfort stories, although I do enjoy stories that have some of it in (I can't really deny that), I don't really like it when it's literally the kink  whole point of the story.

Triangle actually started out fairly interesting, and I was quite excited by the promise of a story which picks up the New Humans idea which is first introduced in the Star Trek The Motion Picture novelisation.  Since Marshak and Culbreath seemed to have a lot of contact with Roddenberry (and at the very least, Roddenberry knew of and/or used sections of the Kraith fanfiction), I thought that perhaps they would have more of an idea of where that storyline/idea would be going.  I guess I wasn't totally wrong they did have a really good idea that at times was a bit far fetched but at the same time 'very Trek'.

So essentially we are introduced to one of the New Human groups that essentially want to move towards a group consciousness.  An ambassador from the planet Zaran wants to be taken back to his planet by a representative of Starfleet - in this case their best - with the intention of testing them against his 'Oneness'.  There can only be one choice, Captain James T Kirk.  This seems like a pretty cut and dry mission, but wait!  The Enterprise will also have to pass through an area which is known as a starship trap, the 'Marie-Celeste' sector.  So there is story line number two, Kirk is going to experience the peril of the starship trap.

Seems like a nice set up... but it's pretty much down hill from there.

Understandably, Kirk's trials are taking their toll on him.  Not only is he physically exhausted and injured, but he is also being mentally assaulted by the Zaran ambassador Gailbraith.

Captain James T. Kirk saw the Vulcan's dark head and pointed ears bend over the scanners, and he took advantage of Spock's concentration to move, too carefully, from near the turbo lift doors to the command seat.   

Not that there was much the Vulcan was going to miss about his Captain, or ever had, but the last thing Kirk wanted just now was for Spock to read whatever the hell was going on with his Captain.  Fatigue, that was all.  And a few half-healed injuries - ribs cracked and the like.  He'd been banged up a little too much lately.  And not getting much sleep with those peculiar nightmares.  Once, one of the nightmares has started to come by day... Suddenly, now, it came again...

Kirk is never really in top form, even from the very first page of the first chapter he is on the back foot.  I can actually understand his fatigue, that's fine, we can surmise he's under mental assault so he's not incredibly sharp, but the thing is Marshak and Culbreath keep him weak throughout the entire novel.  I don't mean just physically weak, but mentally weak too, and in a situation where he has to represent the strength of individuality against opposing 'onenesses' it's a little... off putting.  They stop short at feminising him, which some commentators have suggested Marshak and Culbreath are fond of doing (The Prometheus Design?)  but they do ensure that Spock is always the stronger one even when he's battling against pon farr.  Yes, this novel is set seven years after the events in 'Amok Time' and as such Spock is suffering from the beginnings of pon farr's effects.  Nobody notices of course, because... reasons... but if Jims not careful he's going to have sexy times with his first officer.

What makes you think that Jen?  Well friends, it's not so much homoerotic subtext so much as homoerotic text.  You see in the above passage, the language of possession?  Well it doesn't stop there!  Spock saves Kirk multiple times, when their mental bond is broken he is agitated and worried, instead of allowing Kirk to be taken to sickbay by the medical team he carries him there himself...

And then he uh... deals with his issue with the cat person / woman / freeagent / half zaran with hugely powerful psychic powers who is also in love with Kirk... who is in love with her... who is also in love with Spock.  And you know how triangles are?  You know how it's  love triangle not a love chevron?  Well that part doesn't get left out either to be honest, but it's not gay if there's a woman involved right?  She's essentially camouflage for the Kirk/Spock shipping, that even gets commented on near the end of the novel.

I know I've kind of jumped ahead, but essentially there are two opposing forces Gailbraith's 'Oneness' and the 'Totality', neither are particularly good, but when choosing allies better to side with the devil you do rather than the devil you don't, right?  The cat girl  / free agent is needed by the totality in order to be a super powerful psychic conductor and enable the totality to forcibly absorb the minds of people in entire galaxies.  However, in order to unlock this power she needs to mate and bond with someone.  She ends up wanting both Spock and Kirk but ends up with neither, finally commenting that she wouldn't be able to go with one of them because it would mean monogamy, and it isn't for her sake she's saying that either.

Oh yes, a threesome is definitely implied, in fact I said to my partner, that I thought a whole scene  / chapter was missing, then later I read that someone believed there were extra chapters floating out there amongst certain circles...  I knew I wasn't just making stuff up!!

Triangle is very convoluted and nonsensical.  It's mainly concerned with a hurt/comfort relationship between Kirk and Spock (especially at the end... poor Kirk) and... if that isn't your kink, well... I think it's a bit lacking in any substance what so ever.  I think it could have been a very good idea if they'd developed the story instead of torturing Kirk but hey... what can you do?

2/5 - I'ma just gonna leave this here.

I need to pick a good one next... 

Star Trek - The Vulcan Academy Murders

'I'm on my way!' Sarek cut him off, clamping control over the panic in his veins.  It had happened twice now - and if it happened a third time, the victim would be Amanda!

Spock is one of the most popular characters in Star Trek, he's also one of the most difficult to write - to 'get right'.   Is he the cold logical machine with the brain of a computer, or is he a loving, passionate empath who hides a tortured soul?  Well, those examples are two extremes and he's a little more complex than that (not that we haven't seen depictions of him at both ends of the emotional spectrum), and that's why we love him.  That's why we love Vulcans generally, they are complex and exotic,  they have strange customs and abilities but are still familiar enough to 'bond' with.  I think of Vulcans as 'space elves' not just because of the pointy ears, but also because they remind me of Tolkien's elves, in the world but not of the world and adhering to logic and concepts which are often totally at odds with what humans would deem 'logical'.  Both Tolkien's elves and Star Trek's Vulcans refuse to do what is necessary because it is against their creed yet allow other species -humans - to do the dirty work.

I think what really draws us to Vulcans and by extension, Spock, is the strange suppression of emotion and especially the denial over that emotion love - yet if you watch Sarek and Amanda (Spock's Vulcan father and Human mother) in the TOS episode 'Journey to Babel' there is is little else you can call their actions (their 'PDA's) except intense love.  Love in 'all it's forms' is central to the Star Trek creed and Vulcans are not immune to writer and fan speculation.

The Vulcan Academy Murders (1984) (#20 Pocket, #12 Titan) by Jean Lorrah had been on my to read list from the beginning; who wouldn't be drawn in by the slightly ridiculous tag line 'Captain Kirk becomes an interplanetary homicide detective!'?!

Jean Lorrah is/was actually a professor of English at Murray State University and had received her PhD from Florida State University. She's also one of the authors behind the Sime-Gen universe (together with Jacqueline Lichtenberg) but it best known for her 'Savage Empire' series. This novel appears to be one of her earlier novels, which would probably explain why it is utterly mad, like box of frogs type mad. Oh and by the way, in this case the cover has virtually nothing to do with what actually happens in the book - I'm not really sure what the artist's brief was, but it wasn't the actual story, that's for sure.

The easiest way to describe this novel is it's Star Trek x Columbo. Like Columbo it's less of a 'whodunit' and more a 'howcatchem'. Although Lorrah doesn't actually tell you who did it out right, she isn't very subtle with her 'subtle hints', so essentially from the beginning the reader is frustrated because there is only one culprit and every single character is struck with 'ISS' (Inexplicable Stupidity Syndrome) and nobody can make a single leap of logic unless it's spelt out to them first.

Essentially the plot revolves around two murders and one attempted murder of people within stasis fields which are supposed to be healing them from assorted terrible maladies. There is a Vulcan woman who is wife to one of the doctors/scientists, Amanda Grayson (Spock's mother), and an Enterprise crewman who was horrifically injured in a Klingon attack. Two of these people are killed while in stasis (no prizes for guessing who survives) and Kirk takes it upon himself to investigate and find the murderer, because Vulcan has no police force and these highly logical intelligent Vulcans can't possibly conceive of the idea of murder on Vulcan. I kid you not. 

As you can probably predict if you've ever watched a Columbo, Murder She Wrote or Poirot episode, there is the red herring character whom everyone believes is the killer until proven wrong and the keen investigator Colum-Kirk falls into a terrible trap threatening his life! Kirk manages to be found in the knick of time by McCoy (possibly the only character with half a brain on Vulcan) and finally they catch the real killer. Amanda wakes up from stasis safely and we have heart warming Vulcan family scenes.

One thing you're sure to agree is that Kirk should stick to his dayjob, he makes a really terrible detective.

The murder plot line is really secondary to Lorrah's Vulcan family drama and her opportunity to put her stamp on Vulcan family values. Some people have praised Lorrah's depictions of the various Vulcan characters and their relationships, saying that she 'really got a handle on her Vulcans' and it has scored quite well on Goodreads, but honestly I think the way she characterises them denigrates their otherness to just slightly more obtuse humans.

Some of the novel is from Sarek's perspective, which is often funny, but he is characterised as a meddling maid who is interested in match making his friends (because Vulcans just want to see everyone married off apparently) and who is exceptionally emotional. One of the things which does come across however is that the Vulcan logic is a facade and not deeply ingrained into them, so... how can I explain this, instead of logic being their instinct it's their suppressant. Essentially Lorrah characterises the Vulcans as feeling the emotions and then consciously suppressing them as opposed to it being instinctual and not a conscious decision. 

This novel also investigates the Vulcan 'bonding' between couples, including the effect on the surviving partner when the other dies and how it is possible to survive the severance of the bond. The parts which deal with the bonding are well done but if they had been allowed to stand alone as points of emotion for the Vulcans they would have been more effective, as it is their poignancy is muted because of the surrounding sea of Vulcan emotion.

One of the more clever aspects of the book attempts to give a backstory to M'Benga the doctor who specialises in Vulcan biology on the Enterprise. This novel suggests that he was studying on Vulcan in order to be able to treat Vulcans off world.

The Vulcan Academy Murders hasn't aged well from a lore perspective. For one thing, it's inaccurate as far as Sarek is concerned, because it doesn't take into account Star Trek V (1989) canon that he has previously been married / bonded and he survived her death, nor that Amanda will die after 36 years of marriage to Sarek (this novel attempts to extend her life). Sarek also will go on to state that he never told Amanda he loved her (TNG: Sarek), which is completely at odds with the overly emotional Sarek (and other Vulcans) we see in this novel. Finally, in The Vulcan Academy Murders Sarek and Spock end up in a mind meld together trying to save Amanda, however, again in TNG (Unification) Picard learns that Spock had never mind melded with his father and thus had never known about the love and pride Sarek had felt for him.

Essentially, Jean Lorrah's The Vulcan Academy Murders doesn't really add anything to our understanding of the Star Trek universe because the characterisation of Kirk, Bones and the Vulcans is so out of character that it would have to be consigned to alternate universe or just crack. It simply makes no sense when applied to the broader Trek universe. That isn't to say it isn't fun to read, just don't expect anything particularly ground breaking or sensible - it might be worth it just to read about Colum-Kirk and matchmaking, mother-hen Sarek.

Humans living up to expectations - 2/5

Edit: Sorry, sorry! My formatting went wrong!  I think it's fixed now!

Star Trek - The Entropy Effect

'The bridge was in chaos around them.  Blood splattered deck and bulkheads and glistened on the illuminated data screens.'

The Entropy Effect (1981) (#2 Pocket, #17 Titan) by Vonda N McIntyre is a frankly bizarre first entry to the Pocket Books novel series (discounting Star Trek: The Motion Picture novel release).  I have to be honest, I was trying to avoid reading/reviewing this one because of the travesty of Star Trek - The First Adventure, also by McIntyre.   Unfortunately, my three (perhaps four - don't ask) copies of The Entropy Effect kept catching my attention; moustached Sulu haunting me, incorrectly uniformed Kirk staring balefully at me, baiting me.  

Some people have pronounced this novel one of the best that the Star Trek TOS series has to offer; to those people I pose a question - Are you high?

Having read McIntyre's prequel story Star Trek - The First Adventure I feel I was braced for her little, idiosyncrasies.  For example, the story takes about 73 pages to actually get started (about 25k in a 78k word novel) because of her love of her 'original characters' which she lavishes precious pages on.  I expected her hatred of Scotty, her undying love for Sulu (it was McIntyre who gave him his first name 'Hikaru' which became canon 10 years after the writing of this book), and her penchant for strong females and their groupies.  She did surprise me a little bit with her Kirk/Spock slashy moments which are so overt that Kirk's relationship issues with the woman 'Hunter' are rendered null and void, because he has a boyfriend, and he has pointy ears (even if Kirk doesn't realise it yet).

The story itself is relatively simple, but manages to be convoluted because it involves time travel.  Stripping it back to it's bare bones leaves you with an unimaginative time loop tale, only involving a single person, Spock, and by the end the novel not even he can clearly remember what has happened, neither is there any real effect to the universe in general.  It seems such a waste of time to have an entire story take place and it essentially be relegated to nothingness at the end.

As I mentioned previously, nothing really happens in the first 73 pages in which McIntyre introduces her numerous original characters.  If you've read The First Adventure you'll know of Hunter who is referenced by Sulu as a hero of his, and in The Entropy Effect, an ex-lover of Kirk with an uh, interesting polygamous family life.  Hunter seems a little shoehorned in, I've no doubt McIntyre believes she's important, but she could be replaced with a generic male captain and we could skip some useless character development.  We could also avoid some erosion of Kirk's character, which reduces him to being totally puerile.  Luckily he's dead for a significant part of the novel, which means he gets bypass the McIntyre makeover (such a shame he doesn't manage to be dead in The First Adventure too).

And this is something I find really bizarre, who kills the main character for the majority of a novel which is supposed to be starting off a series of (non film) books?  Kirk is dead for over half the book.   Admittedly, he dies a very satisfying death (if by satisfying you mean, painfully and in Spock's arms), and you know what?  Surprisingly this scene is written rather well!  It gave me chills to read it, because it was rather brutal and McIntyre had come up with a particularly nasty way to kill someone.  In fact, I've read the scene several times, because it is really well written, and I think, this is the scene which sticks in people's minds, which makes them forgive (?) the rest of the book.  The scene is too long to quote here, but rest assured there are plenty of slashy moments... and a reference to an original character (Hunter) who is so important that Kirk thinks about her while he's dying.  I really, really have a problem with this, 'this' being when original characters take on a more important role than the regular cast.  Uhura and Chekov for example are non-entities in this novel, but the three new security officers? Hunter?  A new reader could be forgiven for thinking that they were regular characters.

I must also congratulate McIntyre in not making Spock cry hot Vulcan tears when Kirk dies.  He's close, but manages to keep it under control unlike in the First Adventure, and this is far, far more satisfying.  Spock tries to ease Kirk's pain via a mind meld -

Spock grasped his hand, holding him strongly, deliberately leaving open all the mental and emotional shields he had built during his long association with human beings.
'You will be alright, Jim,' Spock said.  He put his right hand to Jim's temple, completing the telepathic, mystical circuit linking him with his friend.  Pain, fear, and regret welled out into him.  He accepted it willingly, and felt it ease in Jim.  'My strength to yours,' he whispered, too softly for anyone to hear, the words a hypnotic reminder of the techniques he was using. 'My strength to yours, my will to yours.'

However, there is nothing to be done, Kirk realises that he's going to die, and severs the mind meld knowing that 'Spock would follow him down the accelerating spiral until he had fallen too deep to return.  He would willingly choose death to save Kirk's life.'  which results in -

'The physical resonance of emotional force flung Spock backward.  His body thudded against the railing, and he slumped to the floor.  He lay still, gathering his strength. (...) Spock pushed himself to his feet, fighting to hide his reactions.  (...) Spock felt himself trembling.  He clenched his fists. (...) The captain's body was alive; it could be kept alive indefinitely now.
But Spock had felt Jim Kirk die.'

The whole scene is really quite touching, and before the tedium of the time travel narratives takes hold, we have a another heart breaking scene in which Spock urges McCoy to turn off the machines keeping Kirk's body alive.

Unfortunately, from this point onwards, the novel's readability takes a serious nose dive.  With Star Trek novels (or any other tie-in series I guess), you know everything has to be back to the status quo by the end of the book, so, you know Kirk isn't going to stay dead and Sulu will probably be shaving that ridiculous moustache off soon.  However, this makes stories regarding time travel problematic, because, you either write a story revolving around a bootstrap paradox  or you write a time loop tale.  Bootstrap paradoxes are easier to write because you can put lots of original content in, but theoretically, it has already happened in the existent universe, so nothing is expected to change - it's already been changed into the universe we know.  The joy of this type of time travel is that it's not the destination, it's the journey, the question of how the events play out in order to achieve the universe we know.  Time loops are more difficult, you need to show that a time loop is happening, map out where characters are at any one time and not make it tedious for the reader to read the same events over and over again.  It's pretty tough, especially when the main event (Kirk's death) is described so early, it's hard to really follow up with anything interesting.  Additionally, having to bring such events to a close with no effect to the universe makes it even harder to achieve a satisfying resolution.  Needless to say McIntyre doesn't quite manage it.

Much of the drama of the time loop come from the aggressive actions of a prosecutor (original character), and McIntyre's weak minded Scotty.  The prosecutor has no business subverting the command of a Federation vessel, and Scotty is portrayed as a thin skinned maid who would turn against Spock and McCoy because he wasn't put in command by Spock after Kirk's death.  Where is the trust that Scotty has?  The resilience that is built up during the series?  If you have read The First Adventure, Scotty's portrayal shouldn't be a surprise, McIntyre dislikes the character intensely.

Why McIntyre, why?

The villain(?) of the tale is really an unsuspecting scientist who sent his friends into the past, per their wishes.  This unfortunately causes 'the entropy effect' which would destroy the universe within one hundred years if the original time travel takes place.  The meat of the story would be Spock's time travelling escapades, if the story was well written.  Unfortunately, McIntyre would rather write about the trials and tribulations of her original characters instead.  Oh, also Sulu and his moustache.

After the time travelling / time looping has come to an end.  Kirk is restored to life (because those events never happened) and Spock is unconscious in a state of exhaustion.  Naturally, Kirk is by Spocks side when he wakes up, and you get this little scene:

'Jim!' Spock sat up so quickly that every muscle and joint and sinew shrieked: he was aware of the sensation but impervious to it, as he should be, but for all the wrong reasons.  He grabbed Jim Kirk's arm.  It was solid and real.  Relief, and, yes, joy, overwhelmed the Vulcan.  He slid his hand up Jim's arm; he started to reach up to him, to lay his hand along the side of his face to feel the unsettling energy of Jim's undamaged mind.'

I love this scene, but it also freaks me out.  Not because it's a slashy/spirky as you get, but because... well, have you ever had someone run their hand up your arm.  Don't try doing it to yourself (it won't be the same sensation), get a friend or partner do it to you, or both so you can compare.  I'll wait.

...

Tried it?  Ok, how did that make you feel?  If your answer is, FREAKED OUT and I FEEL LIKE SPIDERS  ARE CRAWLING UP MY ARM, then you feel the same way as me.  Having a hand moving like that, up your arm and towards your face is like, so intimate, so unsettling.  My partner and I tried it on each other and we gave each other the shivers (not in a good way), it feels weirdly predatory.  Kirk doesn't react to Spock's behaviour.  Pities sake, Vulcans don't like prolonged touching, or touching generally but this is... I don't know, primitive longing, as I said, predatory, desire?  Obviously there is joy and relief there but it just seems very intimate (then again, so is feeling somebody die whilst your minds are joined, or joining minds and sharing pain - QED).  I'll let you join the dots.

The novel ends with a trite little Captains log which ties up McIntyre's precious 'OC' story arcs and prevents Sulu from any further consideration regarding leaving the ship and joining Hunter's fighter squadrons (are there even fighter squadrons in canon?).  Oh, and Kirk is going to talk to the OC Hunter, and probably hook up, because just when you think you're in the clear (because they haven't met up in this timeline), OCs come back to haunt you, like last night's vindaloo.

I really, really want to give The Entropy Effect a 1/5, but I'm going to settle for 2/5.  Why?  Well, because there is good writing in it at times, and does have some interesting parts.  Also, I think it should be read because of it's position as the first non-film novel in the Pocket books series.  I think, if you're into slashy writing, you should read it for Kirk's death scene and Spock's recovery, even if the rest of the book is dire.  What I find interesting is that Vonda N McIntyre was one of Roddenberry's 'inner circle' (I think I referenced that before) and she wrote the novel adaptations for the following couple of films.  He obviously didn't have a problem with Kirk and Spock's interactions being so very... ahem.  Then again, he didn't have a problem with the quality of the writing in this book, he may even have liked it?! Ah well, no accounting for taste.

2/5 - thankfully, no equiraptors.

Star Trek - The Three Minute Universe

'"We had better prepare ourselves, Jim.  There's a very real possibility that he may be dead."  Kirk lifted his head.  "From what we know of the Sackers," he said heavily, 'maybe we'd better pray that he is."'

The Three-Minute Universe (1988) (#13 Titan, #41 Pocket) is by Barbara Paul, a mystery and science fiction writer active between 1978 and 1997; this is Paul's only Star Trek novel.

I have to admit, I don't really know where to start with The Three-Minute Universe, and I've been kind of... putting off this review.  I can't say that the writing is bad - it isn't.  I can't say the story is unoriginal - there are clearly worse offenders.  I also can't say it's particularly appealing.  It took me three attempts and a break of 3 weeks to actually finish reading it and, considering I generally read books of this size in one or two sittings, it wasn't a great start.  I think the most annoying thing about this novel is that it had a lot of potential, the idea is good, the writing is good, it just trips at the last hurdle and falls apart.

The premise is that an sensorially abhorrent race known as the Sackers have stolen a device capable of ripping the fabric of space and tapping into the energy of another, forming universe to draw off potentially near infinite energy.  They wipe out the home system of an entire race in the process of activating the device, but chaos doesn't stop there; the new universe is expanding through the tear, causing a wave of blistering heat to surge onwards, engulfing all in its path, threatening to destroy our own.

So we have some really interesting ideas here.  Paul introduces a completely disgusting looking race we haven't met before, I mean, they are so revolting that it causes seemingly every other Federation species to become violently ill, so offensive is the Sacker presence to the senses.  However, until now the Sackers have been passive, peaceful.  They simply trade with the Federation and then leave again; they are even mindful of their appearance and adapt how they dress and present themselves in order to illicit less of a response from other species.  This is how Kirk responds to seeing a sacker on his vidscreen:

'All his training and natural tolerance seemed to have deserted him.  Meeting alien races had been an integral part of his adult life; he would feel as if he'd lost a part of himself if it were to come to an end (...) But this race... just a two dimensional image of its only technically humanoid members was enough to make him feel queasy'.

We then get our first description of a Sacker, in which we are told they are large blobs in a state of 'self-regenerating decay', their mobile, white slug-like organs are visible and small maggot like things seem to move between the organs.  Kirk feels bile in his mouth just looking at them, they are by all counts revolting.  Somewhat understandably, how they look and smell has coloured interactions with species within the federation, making them a 'lepur' race, pariahs.  I think this might actually be one of the problems with how I feel about the book, the aliens are SO alien (as kirk said, only technically humanoid) they are hard to relate to.  This is actually one of the major plot points, but it's quite hard to really blame the Federation races for reacting the way they do against the Sackers; after all when they are so disgusting your eyes water, you vomit AND if there are a few of them you pass out, it's hard to imagine not wanting to avoid them at all costs.  As it turns out, the reason for the Sacker actions is how they are treated by everyone else; the reasoning is essentially that since they can't be accepted, they will either destroy or dominate every other species.

They seem pretty irredeemable right?  Well, the way that Paul gets around the completely alien and 'evil' nature of this race, is that when Kirk, Scotty, Uhura and Chekov end up captured by the Sackers, she makes them... children, adolescents.  The adults on this ship (the one that was stolen at the beginning of the book) have all died and the child Sackers are trying to continue their mission against the rest of the galaxy.  The reason they capture the Enterprise officers?  In order to have the likes of Kirk, Scotty, Uhura and Chekov teach them how to pilot their ship.

The child Sackers end up being rather endearing all told.  They are children pretending to be adults and making bad decisions because that's what the adults told them to do.  The latter half of the book is somewhat painful, or should I say uncomfortable, to read as the Enterprise crew use the innocence of the children against them.  Sure, they are mass murdering monsters, but they are also sincere and look up to their mentors.  Kirk, Scotty, Uhura and Chekov even name them, inadvertently initially; it's really hard to really dislike creatures named things like 'Iris', 'Blue', 'Babe', 'Bonesovna' and... 'Orangejuiceandwodka'.  I suppose I must just... feel uncomfortable with the fact that the Enterprise officers are being giant jerks... to children.

In the end I felt really, very sorry for these kids, I mean, they really did try hard to do what they were told, and the commentary from Spock and Sulu on the Enterprise wondering what exactly they were doing by rolling the ship over and doing all these odd maneuvers made me feel highly embarrassed.

When Kirk and the others finally make their move to take the ship, it does turn out they have become quite fond of the children, and are genuinely saddened when there is a death.  The high point, however, is the mental image of the five crew members all in a very small box playing a form of extreme twister as they take cover from a raging fire on the Sacker ship.  I read this part out to my partner, and just about made it through the section without crying with laughter.  It might be worth reading the book just for this scene.

Paul introduces the Bubble Universe Theory as the 'science' behind the Zirgosian device.  It's a multiverse theory and in this case it posits that our universe is a bubble in a sea of bubbles, pressed up against one another in a state of eternal inflation.  The title The Three-Minute Universe refers to the age of the adjacent bubble universe when it is initially tapped into by the device.  Essentially, if the tear between universes isn't repaired, then the younger universe would expand into the prime universe, destroying everything in an advancing wave of fire.

Fire and fear of fire is a pretty big theme in The Three-Minute Universe. Paul decides to develop Uhura's character by giving her a tragic back story.  Uhura is deathly afraid of fire, due to an event which occurred in her dorm when she was a child.  Her friend and roommate T'iana gets trapped under a fallen beam and dies in the blaze, Uhura is unable to help her before she succumbs to the heat and fire.  Uhura still dreams about the blaze, and the fear comes back most vividly during the events of this book.  She faces the fear both abstractly and physically, and in the end conquers her fear.

Spock also gets some development in The Three-Minute Universe, although this comes belatedly, literally the last few pages of the novel.  Spock feels fear at the impossible odds facing them, and after the Enterprise's victory, retreats from the bridge, closely followed by Kirk.  On being questioned by Kirk, Spock reveals that he has felt fear for the first time.  In response, Kirk gives him a pep talk which concludes on this note:

"Yes! Don't deny your fear.  Use it.  You'll see, it will add  whole new dimension to your life - you'll start seeing things in a way you've never seen them before.  Anyone with human genes in him who's never known fear - well, he's not.. whole.  Oh, Spock, don't you see?  You've found a part of yourself that was missing.  Don't despair, Spock!  Rejoice!  Rejoice."
    For a long moment there was no response.  Then the Vulcan slowly lifted his head, looked his friend straight in the eye... and rejoiced."

Ok, I admit it, this in actually a pretty ADORABLE moment, but I'd kind of expect it in a novel which had been more slashy, or even just one which had actually been more Spock-centric.  This ending scene just seems to have been thrown in out of nowhere, why are we suddenly focusing on Spock's first (really?) experience of fear and not having a final resolution with Uhura?  I don't know if I can really accuse Paul of being trite here, because we're still relatively early (well, below #50 Pocket) but... Spock having a break down to add extra emotional weight, implying this is the fist time he has felt fear, I just don't buy it, you'd have to put this whole episode incredibly early in the initial 5 year mission to make that statement.

I've only really talked about the latter half of the book, but really, the first half if a bit redundant and only sets the scene for the capture of the Enterprise officers.  Put it this way, once I got past the first half, I read the book pretty quickly.

So, what's my opinion?  It's... okay.  It's nothing to really write home about, but it isn't bad per se.  There is quite a lot of humour with the Sackers, and you do get the odd moment which is written really well, but on the whole if you're not worried about reading every Star Trek TOS novel, then you can probably, safely give this one a miss.  If you are a big fan of Uhura however and her character development, this is probably of interest for you, but otherwise it's not really worth it.

2/5 - DO NOT HUG THE SACKERS.

Enterprise - The First Adventure

The beginning is a very good place to start...

I was umming and arring about which of the novels to start with.  Part of me wanted to start with 'Killing Time', as that was the first Star Trek novel I read.  However, that didn't seem like a good place to start, although an older novel it isn't particularly early and it really does invite some extra reading...  

I spotted Enterprise - The first Adventure by Vonda N. McIntyre on ebay and it caught my attention.  Who hasn't wondered how the crew first met?  In the first episodes of the TV series they are already a pretty well oiled team, even if there are a few cogs missing and it takes a few episodes to find its formula.   I'd fantasized myself how they first met, eyes meeting across a crowded room, hearts skipping a beat... Oh, sorry, that was a fanfiction I read.  Back to reality.  In all my different imaginings I didn't consider a story like this.

I am very well aware of the wide and sliding scale of quality to be found in non-canon Star Trek fanfiction novels, and sometimes you get this horrible feeling that an editor was asleep on the job or was inexperienced or, I don't know, someone wrote STET next to all manuscript edits.  Unfortunately, Enterprise - The First Adventure is one of those novels.  Perhaps my hopes were just too high, my excitement to learn about Kirk's first Enterprise mission pushing my expectations past rational.  Perhaps I was looking forward to reading offerings from a seasoned Star Trek or indeed, sci-fi author.  Perhaps I'm being a little harsh.  Let me explain.

Vonda N. McIntyre at the time of writing Enterprise - The First Adventure already had three to four Star Trek books under her belt:

• The Entropy Effect (1981)
• Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

I am not against campy, silly stories, don't get me wrong; I appreciate them and some I am completely in love with.  If you love TOS, you've got to love campiness, you've got to love those silly, tongue in cheek moments, those fantastical storylines that push your suspension of disbelief to the absolute limit.  TOS is serious at times too, especially when it throws an ethical curve ball at you.  This novel has both campy moments and more serious ones, however, it has more nonsensical moments than either and more than a few instances of cringeworthy characterisation.  Despite this, I can't say I didn't enjoy it, it has it's charm and it's peaks are often worth the slog.  I confess, I didn't read this one particularly quickly.  I kept stopping in the middle of it's many troughs, mistake.

Enough nattering, what's the story anyway?

In brief: After some impressive heroics (and terrible injuries and psychological trauma), Kirk is elevated to the rank of captain, making him the youngest captain in Starfleet history.  He takes Pike's place as Captain of the Enterprise, everyone is unhappy with his appointment, nobody respects him.  Kirk is happy until he's told by Admiral Nogura (yup, that one) that his first mission will be essentially transporting a company of performers to the different Starbases.  Kirk is dangerously close to insubordination and doesn't seem able to control his youthful impetuousness.  He relents (eventually) after being talked down by his brother.  

Nervous youthful Kirk has trouble connecting with his crew, with his cargo, with the 'equiraptor'...

Okok I can buy this, then what happens?

There is a pretty underutilised subplot regarding a female Klingon rebel stealing a prototype 'Bird of Prey' and then... they come across a huge world ship, populated by singing telepathic bird people, who fly but are friendly, and are Kirk's first 'first contact'.

Reasonable?

Somewhat, how do you feel about Spock mind melding with one of them, his consciousness being overwhelmed and then him believing that he is a bird-uh-Vulcan.

But... 

He also gets captured by the superfluous Klingon woman, starts crying and is comforted by a pink and purple monkey.

The Klingon Empire is obviously upset at the superfluous Klingon woman and track her down.  Obviously she comes in contact with the world ship, which happens to be drifting into Klingon space, the Klingon empire showup, the world ship has the capacity to blow everyone up despite having no weapons, Kirk prevents this happening, Kirk is honoured by the Klingons, everyone watches the circus perform, the Klingons love badly translated Shakespeare but obviously don't know anything about magicians and think it's witchcraft (sigh).  Much laughing, Kirk is accepted by the crew as being badass.  The superfluous Klingon escapes.  More laughing, introduction of iconic line to finish.

If you want a more detailed summary, take a look at this: Memory Beta Summary

I know what you're going to think, my outline there is pretty run of the mill, it's not terrible, but it's not that inspiring either.  You know, I can forgive a mediocre storyline, what about the characters?

Character Regression

You know, I concede that it was going to be a tough job to regress characters people have seen develop through a series, perhaps giving them a backstory they didn't have previously or tweaking them a little to make them younger or a little more inexperienced.  In some McIntyre handles it well (Sulu, Uhura, McCoy), in others poorly (Kirk, Spock), and in some cases with cringeworthy results (Rand).

I want you to understand, I want to love this book.  I want it to be pride of place on my book shelf.  I paid more money than I'd usually pay for a good condition book because the story of the first mission should be a staple.

Janice Rand being given a tragic slave back story (complete with younger siblings to feed and care for) and being characterised as a capable yet completely broken woman girl (16!), who thinks Kirk is a tyrant made me, frankly angry and incredulous in turn.  Uhura being the only one who could possibly save her and making Kirk totally unable to read her distress just... hurt.  The trite end to her self realisation that she has worth is that she'll testify against her oppressors and she'll grow her hair and make it 'fancy'.  You can kind of ignore her in the latter part of the book, as she is pushed to the sidelines in favour of the bird-people plot.

James T Kirk is, unfortunately, not a character that can be sidelined.  Kirk's characterisation is sloppy and tropey and irritating.  He may be younger, but you don't give an immature brat control of a starship.  How do you get to his rank and not learn that throwing tantrums at admirals and women doesn't get you anywhere?  How do you not learn how to use a computer system?  How can he be so stupid as to not understand a situation the reader has grasped two chapters ago, or the concept that another species may not have the same understanding of rank and keep asking the same question and making the same mistakes.  Kirk pretty much pines for most of the novel.  If it's not for the woman who refused to marry him, it's for his friend who saved his life and is in 'regen', if not him, it's for 'Lindy' the girl who runs the circus, and when she  rejects him, he has to go and rescue Spock, the bird-Vulcan.  Kirk is constantly undermined by his crew, which could be an interesting plot device, but it's done so hamfistedly you wonder if these people are really professional Starfleet officers.  There are two fun moments where Kirk saves Spock via riding the equiraptor to a mountainous peak and saving him as he falls, the other where he stops the stolen Bird of Prey from being crashed into the world ship by crashing his shuttle against it.  The second occasion was rather spoiled by a period of vulnerability in which Uhura saw the pain in his eyes, and realised she had judged Kirk wrong.  Most annoying part of Kirk's characterisation?  A refusal to get his knee checked out which, on several occasions ends up with him lying on the floor clutching his knee in pain.

Onwards!

Spock is another interestingly handled character, not terrible but not great either.  Finding an equilibrium when characterising Spock seems to be hard to find for many authors.  How do you characterise a young Spock?  Where do you even start?  Do you make him stubbornly logical?  Do you make him more emotional?  McIntyre does both, and it turns into a bit of a hot mess.  Spock is blatantly emotional, even other characters notice his regular slips.  Spock is also hopeless at reading any social queues whatsoever.  Like Kirk, he is utterly dense.  I know Spock has his moments, but he is half human and he did grow up with his human mother.  I can't accept that he is quite so tone deaf to the situations at hand.  His careless actions regarding the bird people also seem a bit out of sorts, though, although somewhat embarrassing to read, I guess his mind being confused and his acting irrationally and not himself isn't without prior examples.  All I can say is that there was constantly something 'off', always a kind of 'uncanny valley' effect.  Spock wants to stay with Pike, he doesn't like Kirk, within this first mission he decides to file for transfer all the while throwing out 'Spock lines'.

Sulu possibly feels the most natural of the characters, mainly because he falls into line behind Kirk pretty quickly.  Initially he doesn't even want to be posted onto the Enterprise, but somehow his request to be aboard another ship is revoked.  He's angry (?) at this, though he does realise he is fresh out of the academy and is realistic about his 'rights'.  Kirk and Sulu end up having a fencing match, Kirk works hard (he is injured however), but Sulu beats him.  Henceforth they are bros and Sulu (unlike the others) think Kirk is a good guy.

Uhura has some interesting characterisation.  She is essentially the most annoying version of herself, I don't think I've ever felt such a keen antipathy for her, except when she sings in the TV Series.  Perhaps that is the problem, after dealing with slave Rand's problems, making Kirk feel bad and distributing dirty looks, she spends much of her time trying to learn the bird people's song language.  Which means she's singing and humming at every opportunity and one point causing Kirk to have a little outburst because this singing is driving him crazy.  It was driving me crazy reading about it and I'm just imagining it!

McCoy has the best characterisation of the lot and frequently made me smile.  He often had the upper hand with Spock and I'll be damned if his initial appearance in the story wasn't heavily influenced by his first appearance on Enterprise in the motion picture.  McCoy appears to be the author's favourite character.  She hasn't regressed the character at all, and McCoy didn't have to learn to like Kirk as he knew him before Enterprise - what a relief.

Scotty makes a faux pas from the beginning.  He doesn't like this young upstart and he says as much within Kirk's hearing.  They bash heads, he all but refuses to do the work assigned to him.  He second guesses Kirk constantly.  It somewhat feels like McIntyre is drawing on the antipathy felt between the two actors and totally ignoring naval Starfleet hierachy.

Notable Sub Characters

Koronin is the superfluous Klingon out for revenge against Starfleet, and who owns the pink and purple monkey.  She abuses the money, dressing him up like a Starfleet officer and calling it... Starfleet.  She steals a prototype ship from the Empire and spends much of her time watching and doing nothing in particular.  Her second in command captures Spock, she doesn't really do anything with him except get fooled by him.  She doesn't appear to think much is wrong with a Vulcan crying and thinking he's a bird person either.  Koronin didn't really need to be in the book, if she wasn't it would have cut down the length somewhat.  Which would be welcome.

'Stephen' - Ah yes.  Stephen is a juggling, emotion seeking, Vulcan juggler.  Also a relative of Spock's ( I think he appears elsewhere?  I might be mistaken?).  Stephen simultaneously feels emotion and doesn't feel emotion.  It makes me think that Vulcans just can't identify emotion even when they feel it.  An analogue would be, people experiencing love but looking for the fairytale 'love at first sight' and not believing what they have is real love.  If this is deliberate, that's possibly the best part in the book.  If it isn't, well... perhaps I'm just scraping the barrel.

Lindy is manager of the circus Vaudeville Company.  Capable, a love interest for Kirk, but she falls in love with Stephen instead.  Young(er) Kirk obviously hasn't got the same skills that (slightly) older Kirk does.  Kirk tells Lindy (someone he really didn't like to start) about his trauma at Ghioghe, the loss of his ship the Lydia Sutherland, near death of his first officer and his own serious injury.  This helps her understand him, although he does wonder why he told her (so do I).  She loves her equiraptor and the Company.  She also has daddy issues and is a magician (just like he was).  Appears to be in the story so Kirk can ride a flying horse to save Spock near the end.

The Vaudeville Company on the whole are not the worst additions to the story.  One of the ridiculous but redeeming events is them performing at the end of the book for The bird people, Enterprise crew, and the Klingon fleet.  The Klingons enjoyed the badly translated Shakespeare.

The technologically advanced, singing bird people who live on a World Ship.  As far as first contacts go, it could have been worse?  At least they were peaceful although, for all their advanced technology (so advanced it's innate), they still can't produce a translator that works, instead they mindmeld with Spock and send him insane while they get to learn 'standard'.  They don't have names so they end up being called 'Scarlet', 'Green' and other descriptive names.  At least they're easy to remember.  I almost feel sorry for them, because Kirk appears to have taken leave of his senses and can't retain information or grasp simple concepts such as, they don't have a hierarchy.  On the other hand, I'll forgive him for not believing that the universe moves around the worldship or that they can't move it themselves.  Firstly, because the first is a little crazy and second, because they prove they can move it (or at least cause it to move) at the end of the book.

 Enterprise - The First Adventure is quite long compared to other novels from the same period.  McIntyre's first Star Trek novel The Entropy Effect stands at about 224 pages while this one stands at an uncomfortable 371.  It's uncomfortable to read and sometimes it feels like a bit of a slog.  I had to force myself to come back and read more to get through the rough patches.  What is particularly annoying is that McIntyre is a good writer.  Her vocabulary is good, she reads well but the content of this story and perhaps the poor editing lets her down.  She did have another film novel released in the same year, so perhaps this suffered as a result.

When I started this review I really wanted it to be positive... you know first review on a high, but the more I wrote about it, the more I felt that I really didn't like it, despite really wanting to.  Although I don't particularly like it, I'd still recommend people read it, if only because it's the first outing of the Enterprise crew and Kirk's actions at Ghioghe are referenced else where.  It does deliver some good moments like the antagonism between McCoy and Spock, and when the book is on a high it's up there with the best romps.

Another reviewer has charmingly described it as 'Ringling Brothers join the original Star Trek crew and discover bird creatures all the while a crazed Klingon woman wants to destroy the crew'.

I can't really disagree!

2/5