Star Trek - The Wounded Sky

Breathe, damn you!  Breathe!  Breathe!
It was his worst nightmare come true.  He damned for the thousandth time the idiot courage that let this man throw himself among wild beasts and into blaster crossfire for his crew's sake.

There must be some sort of irony in the fact that, whilst reading a book which at its core espouses the beauty and necessity of entropy, that I spent quite some time trying to save the book itself  from entropy.

I find, with used books it's often a good sign when the book is so well worn that the glue holding the pages together has failed.  Annoying as it is to have to keep picking up and carefully reinserting the pages, it means, often, that the book has been well read and loved - such as it is for my copy of The Wounded Sky (1983) by Diane Duane (#13 Pocket, #19 Titan).

My copy of The Wounded Sky is currently held together with a lot of tape; fifteen pages have been stuck in with care by my hand, and they will probably now hold together long after the two hundred and forty other pages have given in to the fate of badly produced mass market paperbacks.  The wear on the book was not a result of my eager thumbing of the pages, but of its previous owner, whoever he was.

I assume it was a he.

I also assume he is dead.

You see, this and about eighty other Star Trek TOS novels I imported from the states some months ago.  They are mostly Pocket Book first editions, with gold or silver embossed titles, they were collected over a number of years and they all have the same little label on them with the price and the code the shop has given them - the same shop.  Most of them are in good condition, they have been stored on a shelf and at some point a book worm (or whatever a book worm really is) had eaten holes into some of them.  I found a shed 'shell' from one of them, and I was a little worried that I had imported infected books and I would be solely responsible for introducing some terrible book eating insect to the UK ecosystem (I haven't by the way...).  The books were slightly damp, musty and dusty like they'd been in storage for a good while.

In my head canon, the daughters of the dead man were getting rid of his possessions.

I bought over eighty books, eighty of this man's collection that he had dutifully maintained, buying every book as they came out for years and years, for about $24.  It cost me less to buy them in the states and import them with all the charges and shipping fees than it would be to get them from my own country.  It's a little sad isn't it, for someone's collection to be sold by someone else for virtually nothing.  Even sadder that the people selling it had no idea that just one of the books was worth me paying all that.

Out of all those dutifully bought, kept and loved, 'The Wounded Sky' is the most read.

On the first page of The Wounded Sky there are two recommendations from other authors. "AN EXCELLENT STAR TREK NOVEL (...) ALWAYS ENTERTAINING" espouses one enthusiastically.  Another writes "IS A REMARKABLE NOVEL IN ANY CATEGORY AND BEYOND A DOUBT THE BEST STAR TREK NOVEL EVER WRITTEN" not insignificant praise for a 'media tie in', but accurate.

Hum... looks like TOS style uniforms...
The Wounded Sky is set in 2275...
Between  TMP and TWOK.

Lots of people review Star Trek books with a proviso, 'Yes, I give this book 5/5, it's good for a Star Trek book' and I also review on that kind of scale.  This book however could easily stand on its own, it's not simply good for a Star Trek book, it's a good book and I think able to comfortably  be compared with other non tie-in  novels of the time.  Essentially what I'm saying is that The Wounded Sky doesn't rely on being a Star Trek book to succeed, it doesn't need Kirk, Spock or McCoy or The Enterprise, but for a fan of Star Trek it just makes it sweeter and Duane's effortless characterisation of our favourite characters is the cherry on the proverbial cake.

The Wounded Sky is Duane's first published Star Trek novel, she also had another published in 1983 -  the first in her 'Young Wizards' series.  I have read and reviewed another one of Duane's Star Trek novels Doctor's Orders, you can definitely see Duane reworking ideas from The Wounded Sky in her later novel (certain aliens reappear with different names, aliens with a different concept of time etc.)!

I have to confess I thought on looking at the cover (so deceptive, as usual) that the jellyfish thing was going to be the 'enemy'.  I remember thinking well jellyfish are disgusting so obviously they make the best villains, well I'll put this right first of all - the jellyfish on the front isn't a jelly fish at all, but a glass spider with twelve legs!  She also isn't the villain but simply the cutest glass spider you ever did lay your mind's eye on!  More on K't'l'k later (she's so stinking cute).

I think it would do this novel a disservice to write a 'summary' as I do for others.  In fact I'm not sure that with only one reading of the novel behind me I can do an adequate one.  The Wounded Sky is complex and Duane draws in many narrative threads which she weaves in at various points in the novel.  Despite having so many different threads Duane has managed to create a very cohesive story, and it merits another read from myself to try and get my head around why it's so bloody brilliant.  Me reading it out loud even made my partner want to read it!  He liked Duane's easy turn of phrase and strong characterisation, but he particularly liked Duane's scientific knowledge as he reads quite hard sci-fi and he commented that she must have been keeping up with contemporary scientific papers.

It is easier to talk about themes rather than story, so I'm going to talk a little about them.

God, Religious Experience and the Soul

I was probably most surprised at this theme turning up.  K't'lk introduces talk of the soul when talking about the beliefs and rituals of her people but the entire last section of the book questions the idea of what God is, what heaven would be like and the shape and the transformation of the self / soul into it's best form.

The crew are exposed to beings of such power that they are essentially described as proto-gods, and in fact, they will be gods in their own universe creating and experiencing as they will it or until they stop playing the game. The playing the game theme crops up throughout the novel especially through an original character the 'recreation officer'.  I'm not sure whether it has more significance generally, but within the novel itself it is pretty important and well built upon.

It is implied that the crew all experience a religious experience on approaching the proto-gods.  It's heavily implied that a place without entropy is tantamount to heaven (and the transformation of the Enterprise crew supports that).  However, the crew perhaps recognise that their experience isn't 'heaven' and they don't belong there, they have a sense of purpose and they give that purpose to the proto-gods.  These supremely powerful beings did not create this universe, but have the power to create and play in theirs - however, this still requires the input and interruption of the crew to bring about.  Perhaps God of this universe (or at least the Star Trek one) is still working on creating, and through His vessels having a hand in creating another?

The Best Self


This theme is woven throughout The Wounded Sky and for those of us who enjoy character exposition and development the last section of the book will reap the biggest rewards.  Even if you're put off by the the harder science sections, stay with the book to the end, it will be worth it!

'The Best Self' idea is tightly linked to the 'God / Religious Experience' theme.  For someone with a Christian background the imagery is very familiar and the transformation the crew go through with their selves being transformed into a reflection of the greatest good, devoid of 'entropy'.  This section is from Kirk's perspective (though the idea of perspective is skewed here anyway), and through his eyes he sees his friends and crew utterly changed into their best selves.  Naturally, Kirk never truly perceives or realises the change in himself and in fact, we only get one comment from McCoy that indicates Kirk's own physical transformation.  Duane pin's down McCoy's compassion and healing, searing in its strength and passion.  She nails Spock's dual nature, the power of his mind and potential to be great.  Kirk feels awed that someone such as Spock, with so much ability and brilliance should choose to serve under him -

This great mind has been standing behind me and quietly obeying my orders all these years?  Why??  He could be so much more - But in this place, the answer was plain to read.  Loyalty was frequently unreasonable and illogical - and Spock had long since decided that this one aspect of his life could do without logic.

"Spock,"  Jim said - and ran out of words.  He was deeply moved, and didn't know how to express it - until he abruptly felt Spock feeling the emotion with him, and knew there was nothing more that needed saying on the subject.  "I'm fine, Spock," he said then, and glanced over at McCoy.  Bones was gazing at Spock in a curious, almost grudging calm.

Seriously, how powerful is that?

Much of our exposition of Kirk is done through the other character's reaction to him and his reaction to their transformed selves.  Kirk describes his role for much of the telepathic experience as 'passive', he is moved by the fact these 400 souls follow him while feeling unworthy himself.  In his own estimate, he sees himself as a conduit that can focus the abilities of his crew, this is demonstrated through his 'weaponising' of Chekov and Scotty's emotions and beliefs.  While the crew is being transformed or being followed by strange manifestations of themselves and their desires, Kirk comments -

 Hidden natures are getting loose, Jim thought.  What we conceal doesn't stay that way, here.

So, what is McCoy's observation -

 "- That armour getting heavy?"  Bones said, sounding a bit tentative now.  Jim shook his head, thinking What armour, what's he seeing? ... 

That is literally all we get as to Kirk's transformation - how frustrating!  Kirk's character is left open to debate, but it certainly isn't just a conduit as he believes it to be.  Certainly, we know from other characters and our own knowledge that he inspires fierce loyalty and trust, and that he himself is self sacrificing (as demonstrated earlier in the novel during an event which renders him without a pulse for some time).

Of course, we don't just learn about the transformation of the 'main' cast.  Several other crew members have extreme transformations... one which sticks out is the crew member who transforms into a six legged Andorian alicorn...

The best self theme isn't just limited to this one section however.  During various experiences using the inversion drive we see the crew acting in ways which hints at their best selves.  Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and some new characters introduced in this book (original characters done right!) all get their chance to shine and have their own exposition.   The way Duane uses this theme to bind the book together keeps you turning pages, thirsty for more character exposition!

Sex and Relationships

Initially I thought that this theme was surprising to find slotted in to a section in this book, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense in context especially taking into account the Christian imagery and tone in some sections of the book.

There's a very special scene slotted in around the middle of the book which is all kinds of awkward,
sweet and serious. The glass spider K't'lk and Kirk sit together in Kirk's cabin talking, K't'lk makes reference to Kirk's ah, let's say sexual encounters in this cabin.  This being commented by anyone, let alone by a twelve legged glass spider would make anyone choke on their drink, Kirk is not an exception to the rule.  K't'lk then tells Kirk about how her species reproduces, how their courtships are long and the pairs build up each other and their lives together (her last courtship was one hundred years) until it meets it's crescendo and they copulate.  The downside to this is that the female eats the male in true spider fashion, adding his DNA and 'soul' to hers.  When she creates the egg, that is the new vessel for both his and her spirits, a mixture of both.

This is of course in contrast to Kirk's passions that K't'lk refers to, but more akin to the relationship that Spock and Kirk have.  You don't need sex to be lovers is essentially the message, and K't'l'k's regret of consummating the relationship is palatable, after all it ended hers irrevocably.  The same could be said for Kirk's conquests, sex or some sort of physical interaction is the  goal after which the relationship ends.  Of course in Kirk's case, the breaking of the relationship is not necessarily as a result of sex or physical interaction of some description, circumstances dictate Kirk's commitments.  However in K't'lk's case the although reproduction is the end goal, they also have the goal of building each other up, very little of that happens in Kirk's relationships.

Weight of responsibility

Kirk and K't'lk are both burdened with great responsibility.  Kirk for his ship and crew's lives and K't'l'k responsibility for her part in the creation of the universe / reality breaking inversion drive.  I think that although she has more affinity for Scotty and his engineering prowess she is most like Kirk.  Kirk must make decisions for his crew, he feels the weight of command and often feels overwhelmed.  K't'lk also feels the weight of responsibility, however she is sure of herself and of what her course of action must be.  Admittedly, she has 800+ years of life and 3 rebirths (at least) to enable her to act with the self assurance she does.

This is a theme that is visited frequently in the original series and in the novels, in fact it is fundamental to the development of Kirk's character and is core to the original films too.

The Importance of Command

This is a bit of a funny one (funny strange not funny haha), and seems a little bit specific for a 'theme' but a large section of the book is dedicated to command, and not just Kirk's but other characters too.  During the last section of the book, the entire crew of the Enterprise is involved but in order to keep them together and moving onward, the section heads mingle among their charges, which gives the rest of the crew the strength to continue.

Of course, this ties in with the theme of the best self, especially when talking about Kirk whose raison d'etre is to command.  Kirk doesn't just hold together a section, but the whole ship.  However, as explained previously, Kirk doesn't see his talent and ability for what it is, modestly only as a conduit or a gun to shoot the bullet.

Best Scene?

Picking out a best scene is actually pretty hard since there are just so many excellent bits to The Wounded Sky.  I'll settle for two.

Would you look at that - I can use this picture again.

Probably the most memorable scene (for me at least) was where you rejoin the action from McCoy's point of view after Kirk has selflessly thrown himself in front of Spock to save him.  Excellent characterisation of McCoy just makes the scene, it's also essential.  I've discussed how we get very little in the way of revelation from Kirk himself, about himself, so we have to rely on other narrators to give us a little insight.  McCoy of course gives us insight into Kirk's character here.  There's obviously a good amount of insight into McCoy too.  The extension of the scene involves Uhura's memories (which involves her being totally badass) and Kirk coming to in his command chair injured, and realising that the unreal shared visions that the crew had been sharing are in fact as real as their every day reality.  I have to admit, I love that the drama is mixed in with plenty of humour.

The second scene I can't go too much into, but it's near the end of the book when all the crew is being transformed into their 'best selves', the imagery is pretty intense and I loved Duane's creativity mixed in with more traditional imagery.  The character exposition was really varied and just... excellent.  You might have noticed I'm a character-centric person.... You'll know the scene when you get to it.

If you've stayed with me this long - congratulations!  This novel certainly warrants more than I've written about here... Perhaps I'll come back to it later...

You're probably wondering why I told you that story at the beginning, well... Entropy is central to this novel, without entropy our universe would have ceased to exist, ceased to be and ourselves, the crew of the Enterprise and the universe as they knew it would be driven mad and suffer without it, we perceive time after all, that's how we organise our world, how we define our lives.  How can we possibly comprehend all time happening simultaneously - we can't, after all, the book itself progresses the story as if time is passing.  Things happen sequentially, in page after page while the universe around Kirk and his crew begins to slow down and speed up all at once.  Happily, Duane gives the crew a kind of protection from this although it  obviously isn't total protection from all effects of the anti-entropic space.

Thing is, somebody died thousands of miles away in a country I've never been to.  Entropy took it's course, old age or illness, time passed and his books were sold and in a sequence of events, his books got to me.  Those books with their worm holes and falling out pages tell a story far different from the story between their pages.  McCoy asks if they could spare the new gods knowledge of illness and death, and K't'lk responds:

"One thing.  When you write your equations - do you have to give Them death?"

The brilliance was dimmed.  So was that in K't'lk's eyes - their blue belonged, for the moment, more to twilight than to noon.  "L'nrd," she said in somber notes, "you said it yourself.  Time is what They need.  They can't have that without entropy too.  And death will inevitably come along with that - rundowns, breakdowns -"

Entropy is part of time and through time we experience the world, because a man died in America, a girl in the UK can read the books he collected and read, time and entropy made an impossible connection happen.

And that's one hell of a story.

5/5 - Always be yourself, unless you can be Kirk... Then be Kirk.

p.s. I am super late with this post!  I had various things crop up, I went away, was ill, became a greater number, lots of things. I was hoping to get this in at the end of May but obviously that didn't happen!  Back to regular programming now!

Star Trek - The Prometheus Design

He awoke strapped down, metal biting into his wrists, ankles.  Dispassionate alien probed him at him.  He was face down.  For a long moment he could see nothing.  Then he managed to turn his head and saw Spock, strapped on another table beside him, conscious of everything being done to or prepared for either of them.

Kinky.  I've totally read this in a gay erotic novel.  That was lacking in story too.

In my time honoured tradition of reading books out of sequence, I turned to The Prometheus Design (#5 Pocket, #35 Titan) (1982) by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath to avoid reading the second part of the 50th Anniversary Trilogy (I'm struggling to be interested after the first volume...).

Last month I read and reviewed Triangle by Marshak and Culbreath, it failed to impress from a literary perspective, although it is interesting from the perspective of being incredibly slashy and written by those women who are arguably considered the mothers of all slash.  It was incredibly dramatic, it often crossed the line in regards to homosexual subtext, and definitely crossed my line as far as hurt/comfort and Kirk abuse goes.  I did expect much of the same from The Prometheus Design but I was pleasantly surprised, which makes me wonder what on earth they were the playing at with Triangle?

Before I go into The Prometheus Design proper, I have a few musings I hope you'll humour me with.  Firstly, from most of the accounts I can readily find on Sondra Marshak she was a clever woman, and very driven in her... I don't know, obsession with certain aspects of Star Trek.  Most noticeably her interest in developing Vulcan lore (I'm going to assume the Vulcan supremacy obsession is primarily Marshak's contribution) and of course the Kirk/Spock relationship.  I can certainly see her cleverness in her work, there are good ideas certainly but they are not fully formed and often quite confused.  Something I have found in both Triangle and The Prometheus Design is an inability to really focus and refine ideas or, in fact explain them fully.  Of course, I'm not going to discount Culbreath's involvement, I don't know how they worked, and she is also demonstrably an intelligent woman but I can't shake the feeling that it's Marshak's touch that makes their combined work recognisable.  I would like to read something solely from Culbreath just to test my feelings here.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, although I've found much in the way of reports of Marshak's brilliance, I don't really see it - at least not in the two novels I have read.  The Prometheus Design is significantly better than Triangle but it is still very flawed.  The ideas and themes are muddled, as if half understood sometimes simple aspects of the story deliberately obfuscated to project a false intellectualism.  Certainly, I believe Marshak and Culbreath to have embraced a pseudo intellectualism, and in Marshak's case it appears to have been what impressed people within the early fandom.   I would be different if I believed that what was written they themselves understood the implications of what they were asserting, but I really don't believe it to be the case.

Another aspect to Marshak and Culbreath's work is that they heavily reference their novels.  For example they cite many episodes in The Prometheus Design that back up their assertions, however they also cite a number of previously written books / fictions including their own two previous novels published under a different publisher.  This does strike me as a little odd, especially as what they are building on somewhat stretches characterisation of Kirk and especially Spock to extremes.  This might be well and good for a one off novel, but to extend that into an extended continuity?  I have problems with that.  In later novels, there are often references to earlier authors, but only references to good ideas or events that were possible NOT the development of super sadist Spock and masochist Kirk. 

So onto the review proper, yes? 

The book might be rubbish,
but don't they look dashing!

Initially, The Prometheus Design is fairly incomprehensible.  It has a prologue which introduces us to an alien perspective, but the scenes that they are commenting on come later in the book, so the prologue means very little to the first time reader (and why you'd want to read it again unless you were reviewing it is a mystery to me) and there are still sections which remain obscure even then!  The aliens are scientists, obviously conducting some kind of test and Kirk, McCoy, Spock and an unknown Vulcan are the test subjects.  There is talk of a double blind test which will make sense, eventually... although in my opinion it adds nothing to the story at all.

The Prometheus Design removes Kirk as the captain of the Enterprise and places Spock as captain.  Kirk is allowed to stay on as first officer, all this under the order of  a Vulcan who was a pioneer of space exploration, but has been missing for some ten years.  Why is Kirk removed?  Well, this Vulcan believes that he and his bridge crew may be compromised after they were all captured and experimented on by terrifying creatures, but, surprise surprise, Vulcans may be immune to the experiments/suggestions so Spock needs to be in charge.

A portion of the novel is the dedicated to Spock being, quite frankly, a monster.  A MONSTER.  A pointy eared cruel terror who appears to team up with the other Vulcan to undermine and degrade Kirk, not just from the perspective of his removal from command, but also in terms of his personality and species.  We know Spock isn't a commander, he's a genius, yes, but he is not fit for prolonged periods of command especially not when it comes to working with a human crew.  Marshak and Culbreath emphasise that this Spock is not the Spock from the series, he has been changed by gol (this book is set between the first and second films) and Kirk and Spock did not reignite their rapport in quite the same way yet. They have psychic connection however, which is stressed has weakened Kirk's own mental defenses- this point they use in their next book 'Triangle'.  I mean, despite him being as evil as he looks (...apparently, Marshak and Culbreath just love to remind everyone that somehow Vulcans look like the devil himself - he even has horns this time!) he still comes running when Kirk is in trouble (Kirk of course does the same for him).

One thing I couldn't quite decide is whether he was actually in on the other Vulcan's plan or affected by the experiments of the aliens?  I don't really know what would be worse.  The other Vulcan 'Savaj' (which I read as 'Savage') is pretty much a self confessed xenophobe, why Spock would consider Savaj logical from this skewed view I simply don't know.  Savaj's distrust of humanity negatively impacts the crew... oh right.  I almost forgot.

VULCAN COMMAND MODE.

VULCAN COMMAND MODE.

One more time!

VULCAN COMMAND MODE.

It doesn't get any better with repetition, does it (or different fonts).  It is where a Vulcan goes into a... state of mind which requires absolute obedience (there is a Japanese yaoi sex/dating game by that name by the way - translated into English, it's really terrible, just an FYI).  I really can't believe that Vulcans would have such a doctrine, how would it be logical to not question a commander in anyway?  To stop thinking and just obey?  This is used to explain Spock's strange behaviour... I found it made him like a puppet on Savaj's strings.

Okok... so I  know I'm bitching here, and picking at bits and pieces, but honestly my confused review only reflects the convoluted mess that is The Prometheus Design.  In short it's about breaking patterns of behaviour.  The super icky aliens you're initially introduced to as the 'experimenters' are redundant, as far as I can tell they and the double blind test serve no purpose what so ever aside from confuse matters.  They have no part in 'breaking the pattern' they're just... cruel and being directed to do these horrible things by greater powers.  The greater powers can see into the future and realise that their civilisation is heading to destruction, so they are experimenting on civilisations in our galaxy by a) speeding up cultural progression b) causing trauma and pain to certain individuals because... Marshak and Culbreath wanted to cause trauma to Spock and Kirk?  I don't know, I've got nothing.  It's nonsensical.  Anyway, it becomes clear as mud that they want proof that people can break patterns and make a new future.

Naturally our intrepid trio Spock, Kirk and Savaj... oh wait.  McCoy is there too for some reason, but isn't really used...  Our intrepid foursome find the awesome fortress of the... oh wait I totally read this in Triangle...  Um... OK!  They get caught and the fire woman 'Flame' (I kid you not) screws Kirk...  even though he's just a lab animal to her.

Right so... it's in this section we get exposition of this advanced species.  We get some anti-vivisection rhetoric, and Kirk volunteers to be their eternal lab animal if they could just leave the galaxy alone thank you very much.  Spock is annoyed and COMMANDS HIM not to sacrifice himself.  What follows is two different occasions of Kirk 'breaking his pattern of command' and thus showing the super beings that doom can be averted and the future they see isn't the only possible future.  Hooray, thank God that is over.

As a side note, the xenophobic Vulcan 'Savaj' decides that actually, Kirk is a bro and he's totally cool with humans now.

Right am I done yet?  It's taken me a week to summon the desire to write this terrible review (this isn't even a review to be honest) of a terrible book.

Frankly, it's a convoluted mess.  There are some good ideas there, buried in the mire of total horse poo.  I think I said earlier it was better than Triangle.

I lied.

I've changed my mind.

It's getting a 1/5.

I mean, I won't say don't under any circumstances read it, it is interesting to me from a perspective of seeing a fandom develop and the prevalence actually of the slash fandom / authors, but keep your expectations low and don't try to understand it - it isn't worth the headache.

I am going to say there are some good... paragraphs.  As well as some hilarious imagery like naked Kirk running over the top of the shoulders of confused aliens, freely swinging in the...

1/5 - VULCAN COMMAND MODE.

I'm sorry, past a point I couldn't take writing this review seriously anymore.

Forgive me?!

Star Trek Legacies - Captain to Captain

"Right on schedule," Kirk observed.  "I always heard that she was known for her punctuality."
"You heard correctly, Captain," Spock said.  "In my experience, she is admirably precise in all matters."

Ok so, there's kind of a funny story to go with reading this one.  Well, I go away to visit the family for Christmas and then manage to not take a single book with me to their place because my bag with my life in got left at our place.  I was not amused to say the least.   Anyway, after Christmas we went shopping, there happened to be a Waterstone's book store, I went straight to the Scifi section (you know the drill)... and would you look at that, somehow I ended up buying the 50th Anniversary 'Legacies' trilogy.  Considering I have 127 books on their way to me by mail, my partner was not amused... but The Special 50th Anniversary Trilogy hunny!

Before I launch into the review proper, I'm going to clue you up on The Special 50th Anniversary Trilogy (I just like putting it in bold, I get kicks out of strange things) is.  As you can probably guess (unless you are a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fan) there are three books in this trilogy (not four)  and they are as follows:

Star Trek Legacies

Book 1 - Captain to Captain by Greg Cox

Book 2 - Best Defence by David Mack

Book 3 - Purgatory's Key by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

So, we've got a trilogy written by four different authors, not particularly unusual.  If Greg Cox sounds familiar, you may have read one of some of his many Star Trek novels, or you might have read my Child of Two Worlds review.  I've come across the names of the two other authors once or twice before but I don't think I've read anything by them.  I've got to admit, I'm a little disappointed that there are no female authors involved in this project, considering the number of female authors who have written Star Trek novels and how influential female fans have been to Star Trek generally.  Are there no active female authors in the Star Trek novel world at this point in time.  Sorry rambling again.  Anyway, Greg Cox writing the first novel can only be a good thing right?

The Legacies trilogy was initially released from June to August 2016 with the paperback releases running from July to September 2016, all ready for Star Trek's 50th anniversary in September.

For the cover art on all three books they have employed Alan Dingman and used the more 'photographic' or should I say 'photoshop' style for the covers.  I'd say the strongest cover of the three is 'Best Defence' while the weakest unfortunately is 'Captain to Captain'.  The three books are colour coded Captain to Captain is predominantly green, Best Defence is most definitely blue and, Purgatory's Key is... red.  Have you twigged yet?  The original colour for the command uniform was green, science is blue and red is operations / security; they have reflected the uniform colours in the colours of the books.

I have to admit, the cover didn't win me over immediately, although I was intrigued by Number One or 'Una' being on the front next to Kirk and Spock.  I was torn between getting the trilogy and a book with a prettier cover, but as you probably gathered, the trilogy won out in the end.  Probably because book two has a very pretty cover.  You'll notice on this one though, that Number One has got captain's braid on her sleeve, unsurprisingly Miss 'Number One in everything' got busy climbing the ranks in Starfleet.

Being the first book in a trilogy, Cox has a lot more play in how complex a story he can create.  Being a planned trilogy he doesn't have to worry about wrapping the story up in one episode, and certainly doesn't have to worry about tying up any lose ends or returning the universe back to the status quo by the time he types his last word.  This kind of freedom cuts both ways for Cox who has the opportunity to play with a character he really seems to love and get on with but consequently seems to spend a little too much time on her.

Captain to Captain (2016) revolves around a secret, a secret that only the captains of the Enterprise and their trusted first officers have knowledge of.  The secret is a key which has been concealed even from Starfleet and kept on the Starship Enterprise since the time of Captain Robert April (the 'first' Captain of the Enterprise) through to Captain James T Kirk (the 'third' Captain of the Enterprise).  The 'key' is a device that can open a door to another dimension from which a race of technologically advanced but hideously paranoid and genocidal 'slugs' hail.

The officer who first led the mission which ended with sending the 'slugs' back to their dimension and acquisition of this mysterious key?  None other than 'Number One' or 'Una', who is of course Majel Roddenberry's (nee Barrett) character in the original pilot.  In Captain to Captain, Number One is back now as 'Captain Una', on track to being promoted to Commodore Una, she has to act fast to undo mistakes of the past before she is stuck behind a desk and new territorial lines are drawn which may put the Libros system deep in Klingon territory.  Captain Una takes a well considered risk and steals the key from a secret compartment in Kirk's quarters and escapes from the Enterprise and into the Libros system, slingshotting herself around a sun to give herself the edge over a pursuing Enterprise.  At this point I expected some cooky timetravel escapade, but instead I was forced into a walk down memory lane which felt like it was never going to end.   Una's 'adventure' is actually her recollection of the first away mission she lead, which of course went hideously wrong.  For all intents and purposes it really shouldn't have gone wrong, Una is apparently an incredibly able and intelligent Illyrian, but... she's also remarkably dull.  I rather liked Cox's rendition of her in Child of Two Worlds where she is competent and no nonsense, but here she seems stricken with ISS and a strange psychosis where she keeps reminding herself (and us) that she's number one in everything, aside from critical thinking.  Perhaps I'm just suffering from 'Number One' over exposure, since about 80% of the book over concerns itself with her.  Kirk and Spock are on the cover just to reassure us that they will have a part to play eventually.  I have to admit, I don't find young Una a very compelling protagonist.  ANYWAY long story short, her away mission crew get transported into an alternate dimension by the horrible slug people, the secret item is the key for unlocking the stargate device that could bring them home.  Unfortunately, at the time she was unable to manipulate the machinery to bring them back (and she was explicitly told not to by the good slug person), but now, in a nice link to the episode 'Mirror Mirror' and her excellent memory she is confident that she can bring them back, if they are even alive.  After an incredibly protracted sojourn in the past, we return to the present to follow Una again and watch her cock up again until she finally meets up with a waiting Kirk & Spock who finally get some action.   

Predictably, although she can manipulate the machinery, the arrival of the Klingons gives her little time to locate her crew members to bring them back, so she goes into the desolate alternate universe to find them, hoping to bring them back to the right location in 30 days and have Kirk and Spock operate the machinery and bring them home.  Of course, the Klingons are now swarming the place and coming back to the planet seems almost impossible.

Kirk and Spock are then left to their own devices to escape the Klingons, which they do, but not before their ship is irreparably damaged and only get saved by the Enterprise in the nick of time.

Kirk and Spock seal the Key back into the new safe in the Enterprise, and finally let McCoy in on the secret, since not trusting your crew mates /  friends is what got everyone in this mess in the first place.

There's a plot twist right at the end, clearly marked with flashing neon signs.  It's incredibly contrived and irritating.

End of Book 1.

Number One is kind of a problematic character, in that she's this super confident, super able officer and she has apparently always been this way but suffers from the author's attempt to make her young and inexperienced - think what Vonda N McIntyre did to the crew in her abomination 'The First Adventure'.  It was quite surprising actually because Cox's treatment of Number One in Child of Two Worlds was really strong and a really nice expansion of the character.  Cox obviously has a love for the character of Number One and I can see his enthusiasm, but... I can't feel it.  It's unusual but, I didn't dislike the character but I felt a little confused over what she actually was.  Oh sure, I know she's an Illyrian, I know she's outrageously competent, I know she prefers trousers to skirts but I don't know why she has to keep confirming her competence.  I don't think she's arrogant, she just knows she's the best and it's true, but then why does she have to confirm her actions or her intentions or her abilities over and over again with internal dialogue like 'because I'm Number One'?  Is she actually nervous? Neurotic?

I agree that if you are going to use Number One for any length of time then you've got to do something to the character to bring her down to earth, but even with her slight neurosis and hideously stupid mistakes she remains unrelateable - which is a problem when 3/4 of the book concerns itself with her.  Although her idiosyncrasies and illogical actions were at times frustrating, she doesn't spoil the book, I just got the feeling that there was a better was to express her or perhaps a better way for the events to unfold.  Perhaps, for example, it isn't her leading the landing party and she has to fix other people's mistakes but it's too far down the pan for even her outstanding abilities.

I don't want to give too much of the idea that she's a bad character, you might have less of a problem with her than I do, and certainly it's not a bad story by any means. It's just a little weak at times, which I can only really attribute to the prolonged section in the middle with Una (formerly Number One)... and then the prolonged section in Enterprise's 'present' with Una.  I'm Una'd out! 

Pretty much the only interaction with the TOS crew is between Kirk and Spock, McCoy is pretty much written out Captain to Captain pretty early on and other characters are just bit parts.  Even so, characterisation is both good and bad in equal measure.  In the first part of the book, before the story jumps backwards to Number One's first away mission, nothing really jumps out at you as being inconsistent.  Again the focus is on Captain Una and not on the Enterprise crew, interaction is limited to Kirk and Spock exchanging furtive glances and shutting down McCoy's enquiries.  The final section of the book (post Una's departure) details Kirk and Spock's escape was fast paced but also had the most lapses in the characters of Kirk and Spock:

"I think I've had enough of you piloting, no offence"
Spock gave him a bemused look.  "If I had feelings they would be hurt."
"Somehow I doubt that."

Yeah, that face you're pulling?  That's my face too.  I'll make sure we're on the same page with an emoji - 😒 .  The less said about that stirling dialogue the better, yes?

Some reviews I've read for this novel have been glowing, others less so.  For me personally, it was OK, middling, worth reading but nothing special.  I'm still looking forward to the rest of the trilogy though because the story is interesting and I'm also looking forward to seeing what the other three writers are going to bring to the table.  First books in a trilogy are always pretty difficult for writers, especially when they are only writing the first volume, and while I don't agree with other reviewers that the instalment can stand alone, it's merits aren't completely dependant on a follow on story.

3/5 - Time to change pilots.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!  FYI, I'm in a good, rested mood, I'm not just being mean!  EDIT: Also, I can't seem to spell... ahh well, all fixed!

Star Trek - The Starship Trap

'He did not normally have such thoughts.  A starship captain must be an optimistic and clever person, in addition to the other attributes he or she might have.  For one thing, Kirk was philosopher king, a supreme and benevolent leader in his twenty-three deck realm.'

I didn't pick this one!  I actually asked my partner to pick one this time, which is probably why the cover is unlike the others!  I was somewhat put off by the woman on the cover, don't be afraid, she is not a romance option (I'm not biased at all nooooo....)!  I had to laugh though, she's illustrated wearing a Starfleet uniform, but it is an important part of the storyline that she isn't part of Starfleet at all.  I formulated all kinds of theories about how she would end up in a uniform, like, she was an undercover Starfleet spy keeping an eye on an errant anti-Starfleet Federation politician - needless to say, it was not the case.  Which leads me to ask, who did brief the artist on what these covers should be?  Mind you, can't complain, the artist put Kirk on the front at his best (3/4) angle, and since the cover of the last novel I reviewed was Kirkless, well, I'm glad my eye candy is back!

The Starship Trap (#64 Pocket, #59 Titan) (1993) by Mel Gilden opens with a quote -

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

                                       - William Blake

                                          1757 - 1827

- and quite a lofty one at that!  It's a very well known piece of poetry, and I have to admit I was a little dubious because of it.  Why?  Well, I sometimes feel that authors try and oversell their work by putting a 'deep' quote at the beginning, trying to make it more that it is.  That might have coloured my expectation of it a little and perhaps my perception of the narrator.  The narrator's voice comes  across as pretty arrogant, and slightly aloof but his observations are usually smirk inducing.  The narrator's main focus is Kirk, his thoughts, feelings and perspectives.  I think the narrator has a strong synergy with Kirk, or perhaps Kirk overwhelms the narrator a little... he's charmed by him and the narrator digs in to Kirk's smarmy nature for the best observations and reactions.  Spock and McCoy are strong supporting characters, well characterised especially when the narrator's gaze moves from Kirk for a short while and reads their inner workings.

Much of Kirk's interactions in this novel are characterised by a distinct weariness, which you can occasionally see in the series, there are certainly a couple of episodes in season three in which Kirk (or Shatner... perhaps both) is really fed up with the general state of things.  Short tempered, likely to say something with a 'devil may care' attitude, tired of responsibility, tired of politics and bureaucracy.  This may sound like it's going to be a heavy book with a description of Kirk's temperament like that, but it's not so!  The Starship Trap is an offbeat but funny novel that just seems to hit the right key.  I guess Kirk's attitude in this story is best described as sardonic, which ousts McCoy from his usual role as resident cynic-come-humanitarian to bold-optimist.  It's nice seeing Bones being cheery, and also RIGHT about someone!  Spock remains Kirk's right hand, companion and quasi-computer, I'm fairly sure that he's relieved that Kirk couldn't go chasing tail this time!

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, I haven't even summarised the story yet... but for once I don't know where to begin!

The story begins with the Enterprise crew on shore leave, this gets interrupted with orders to go pick up one Conrad Franklin Kent and his assistant.  Kent is a Federation politician, Federation presidency hopeful and noisy critic of Starfleet, he is joined by his able assistant Payton, a woman who 'gets things done.  On picking the Kent and Payton from Pegasus IV, Kent then orders Kirk to travel to Starbase 12.  You can imagine Kirk's disapproval at this turn of events, especially since the Enterprise is being used as a taxi to a man such as Kent.  During this trip we are introduced to Payton's mental augment; she has an implant which allows her to record everything she experiences for her records - this of course goes down a treat with Kirk, already not in the greatest of moods.  While on route to Starbase 12, the Enterprise is confronted by a Klingon starship, the captain of which claims that the Federation have been the perpetrators of attacks on Klingon vessels and responsible for their subsequent disappearance.  The easily dislikable Kent refuses to confirm or deny a weapon's existence to the Klingons.  A truce is eventually brokered and the Enterprise continues on its way, Kirk still in the dark as to the purpose of the journey.

On reaching Starbase 12, it is revealed that the Enterprise is to firstly engage in the testing of a new shield configuration designed by the reclusive Professor Omen (who also designed weapons such as the photon torpedos)  and then go search for the weapon (with Omen's help) which has been causing not only Klingon ships to disappear but also Federation and Romulan ships too.  Payton also is required to come along on the expedition in order to record the mission with her device and write report for Kent.  Naturally nothing goes to plan and the Enterprise is drawn into a trap, causing the Starship and crew to be thrown into another empty universe which they have to escape in order to stop a madman from sending the crews of hundreds, perhaps thousands of starships into other, unknown universes. 

I actually don't want to give too much of this one away, because it's one of those books which will be a pleasure to read and discover yourself.  The Starship Trap is probably more story development orientated than character development, but it is a good balance and Mel Gilden's writing is really uplifting and enjoyable to read.  The twists and developments in the story aren't incredibly obvious and I was kept guessing as to whether some characters had more information about the big bad than they let on.

Kirk and Payton are the strongest characters in The Starship Trap.  The way the narrator presents Kirk's narrative is humourous and his slightly off colour mood just really works.  I think I just really wanted a Kirk-centric novel, and this fit the bill!  Aside from the narration of Kirk's thoughts, I did like a particular section where Kirk wants to be involved with looking for a solution, only to find that he simply can't be involved.  Payton is an unusually strong original character who is well developed and is actually useful!  I particularly like the use of her augment, and how it is used as a way to develop her emotionally.  It was also nice that she was out of reach for Kirk (she had absolutely no interest in him and is engaged to another man), which meant they develop a better relationship.  By the end of the book, I was sorry to let the original characters go, I would happily meet them again in another outing (even Kent!)!

Mel Gilden just does a seriously good job with this book, and part of me isn't happy just seeing this in print.  I think it would have made a really good episode, which I don't think is accidental.  Mel Gilden has written a huge amount of TV scripts as well as four Star Trek novels, but it's clear he has a mind for television, the scene changes are often sudden but they are just in the right place to cut out any time wasting dialogue or actions.  At one point Gilden introduces us to an alien race in an alternate universe called the 'Klingee', they are of course that universe's Klingons, but their ships are a dusky pink and they are less warriors and more playground bullies who are easily manipulated into retreating.  The Klingee just felt very in keeping with the humour of TOS, again television friendly, and aren't we reading these novels because we love the television series so much?

4/5 - Yes, the poem does relate to the plot!