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 - The Trellisane Confrontation

Kirk had been staring into space, not lost in thought, but helpless and hopeless, stunned by the loss of his ship.  He had never felt quite so abandoned, so lost, his very foundation removed.  McCoy leaned toward him and said softly, "Jim.  Captain Kirk!"

I have to say I was elated on reading The Trellisane Confrontation by David Dvorkin (1984) (#14 Pocket, #31 Titan), after all I was bracing myself for a literary blooper after having three excellent books on the trot.  After the hit and miss approach to the first ten books in the series, I have to admit I was getting a little downhearted at the prospect of having to suffer more of the same in books #11 to #20.  Honestly, it's like they turned a corner at Web of the Romulans, hopefully they don't look back?

That isn't to say The Trellisane Confrontation doesn't have problems, it does... a surprising amount in fact considering how short it is but it does have more of a feeling of an episode than the previous three books, which felt like they could never really be episodes (I acknowledge The Wounded Sky was adapted to a certain extent for an episode in TNG).

Okok, note on the cover.  Accurate uniform on Spock, this novel takes place in 2269, so during the original five year mission.  I actually like this cover a lot, it's colourful, it's fun... it's... who is that woman in the middle?  I was waiting for a damsel to appear but uhm... she doesn't?  I had a thought that it was supposed to be Chapel, but then why not put her in uniform, and I don't really think she fits the description of the warrior women of Nactern either, other than those mentioned and other than Uhura (who it most definitely isn't) there aren't any other female characters?

Edit:  Ok, people seem to think it's Christine Chapel...  I'll believe them, I suppose Spock looks facially squiffy too...

The Trellisane Confrontation follows a quite a simple plot.  The Enterprise is transporting dangerous criminals who are affiliated to a political faction who wish the Federation to go to war with the Romulans.  Whilst transporting them, Kirk decides to go to the aid of a peaceful, neutral, planet being attacked by it's aggressive sister planet in a system in a precarious position between the three powers (Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire).  Spock and McCoy express their reservations about going to aid this planet with dangerous prisoners on board, but Kirk is adamant and proceeds without confirmation from Starfleet.

Naturally, everything goes wrong.  The prisoners on the Enterprise escape and gain control of the ship in order to try to start a war with the Romulans while Kirk, Spock and McCoy are on Trellisane.  The Trellisane people are not the peaceful progressive people they appear to be, the attacking Sealons and Klingons step up their invasion plans, and Spock and Kirk are captured by the Klingon and Sealon forces, leaving McCoy to organise a the Trellisane people and uncover their dark secrets.

That's the set up for The Trellisane Confrontation, and although a little simplistic at times the first half is a pretty strong and enjoyable read.  The pacing is good, it doesn't sweat the small stuff and expects the reader to fill in some gaps.  However, in the second half of the novel Dvorkin appears to lose impetus and aside from a very interesting section with Christine Chapel melding with an alien it doesn't have many other high points, in fact I became quite irritable about some inconsistencies I couldn't un-see!  The novel resolves itself a little too quickly not allowing Dvorkin to really get the meat (ha) of his story.  We get a need to know exposition via McCoy of the Trellisane culture, a rather pathetic bunch who are essentially cowards and cannibals.  The Sealons, the species being manipulated by the Klingons turn out to be a bit on the rough side but rather more likeable than the Trellisane people, despite never hearing a word directly out of their mouths.  The political situation gets resolved in a couple of pages... and Klingons and Romulans beam straight onto the bridge for discussions?

My main complaint however is what I can only suggest are strange, loose, narrative threads that by the end of The Trellisane Confrontation are not resolved.  The odd moralising at the end which attempts to give an illusion of tying those threads but really just leaves them broken.  This is really shame because it really does spoil the book, in my estimation, after a well paced and pleasant first half.

Here's an example; Spock notices behaviour he doesn't like in Kirk, and this rattles him and his confidence in Kirk.  Personally I didn't see a problem or out of the ordinary behaviour, but I ran with it.  I spent from that time onwards waiting for some sort of revelation that something was wrong with Kirk, like, there's something in the air on Trellisane, or there was something in that delicious delicious meat her ate... but it's nothing.  It turns out that Spock hero-worships Kirk and just hadn't seen this aspect of him before...  We are in the same year as The City on the Edge of Forever guys...  you know each other quite well at this point!

Spock followed him, and as Kirk leaned over to offer him a hand to help, Spock was amazed to see that his captain's face wore a broad grin.  It was something beyond simple levity or the release of long suppressed tension, Spock thought; it seemed more the joy of a young boy on a long-awaited long-delayed holiday.

(...)

Now, suddenly, the control seemed to have disappeared.  In this earnest, deadly business, James Kirk was behaving with boyish glee rather than the calm determination Spock night have expected.  Kirk was dropping to the level of the average human, and Spock, who would have been greatly insulted had anyone suggested to him that he was capable of hero worship, was deeply disturbed. 

 This actually connects with analysis of the criminal who takes control of the Enterprise.  In several sections the criminal (Hander) is likened to Kirk and in a final exchange with Spock and McCoy, they underscore their similarities.  Now, I might be a Kirk devotee, but I think this is a bit of a stretch and Spock and McCoy's final condemnation? criticism? of Kirk's character and actions during the events of the novel was quite inaccurate and very unfair.  Kirk was right to be angry about what they were saying!

The slave/cannibal aspect of the Trellisanians was interesting, especially when reflected by McCoy.  I particularly liked the 'not all as things appear theme' which was prevalent, and probably does the best job at holding the story together.

The subplot (?) on the Enterprise where Hander Morl and his five alien allies take control of the bridge was actually pretty enjoyable, and I especially relished my least favourite character Sulu being the one to cock up utterly and cause the whole situation.  Chekov's scenes were excellent, and his trying to emulate Kirk was wonderfully written and very funny.  Uhura was very much in the background but what did surprise me was as mentioned before, Chapel's section.  I think that was very well done although ultimately she doesn't reveal her experiences.

Ultimately, The Trellisane Confrontation is an enjoyable book and well worth a read.  It doesn't reach the heights of The Wounded Sky or the tension of Mutiny on the Enterprise, this book is smaller in scope and less detailed than the previous couple of novels.  Characters are a little out of character at times, although Dvorkin seems to be better at characterising the likes of Sulu and Chekov than Spock and Kirk.  Action is a little disjointed and at times frustratingly sparse on details, but not necessarily bad.  I don't think The Trellisane Confrontation adds anything to the existing characters, Dvorkin does create an interesting culture in the Trellisane species.

3/5 - don't order the steak.