Star Trek - Time For Yesterday

The harsh, pain filled breaths were coming from Spock, who was crumpled beneath him.  Zar quickly pushed himself  up, realizing he must have shoved the Vulcan down and then fallen on him when the worst of the - the whatever it was - hit.

Kneeling, he carefully turned the other over, gently brushed some of the ashy dirt from the austere features.

"Father?" he whispered hoarsely.  "Are you alright?"

Reminds me somewhat of a certain
fanzine cover with Spock on an
alicorn...

Time For Yesterday (Pocket #39, Titan #) (1987) is A C Crispin's sequel to Yesterday's Son.  It really is a sequel so it's pretty pointless to read it unless you've already read Yesterday's Son,  since Crispin refers to specific events and relationships throughout.  Actually, in order to get maximum reading pleasure you should probably catch up with the previous novels written by Diane Duane, Brad Ferguson, John M Ford, Jean Lorrah, Vonda N McIntyre ( :(  ) and Howard Weinstein as characters and events which occur in their Star Trek novels are mentioned in Time For Yesterday and picking up on the references is precisely 10% of the fun! ...Captain.

Ok, well, I can't be 100% sure of the 10% figure, but I can tell you it gave me fannish kicks.

So... maybe you've finished Yesterday's Son and you're thinking, but I wonder what happened to Zar?  I mean, we know he influenced Sarpeidon's past by causing a period of rapid technological advancement... but just how did it come about?  And did he meet a lovely lady and produce green blooded pointy-ish eared sproglings?  And of course did I really read A C Crispin right and does she really ship K/S that hard?  Followed by can I have more for dessert please?

Well, if you have asked questions frighteningly similar to mine, then the answers are:

Crispin clears that up, yes - two actually, yes, and finally yes (just a little bit of sugar).

Once again Crispin returns to The Guardian in order to facilitate her jaunt into the past.  This time the Guardian seems to be malfunctioning, causing time waves to emanate from the ancient portal causing irreversible damage to stars and planets in its vicinity and resulting in the loss of a colony planet and a Starfleet vessel.  If the time waves aren't stopped they will surely cause the destruction of all life, naturally Starfleet turns to one man (and his select crew) to try to stop the Guardian's apparent malfunction; Admiral James T Kirk!

The resulting adventure takes Kirk, Spock and McCoy into Sarpeidon's past in order to find Zar, bring him back to their present and use him to speak to the Guardian telepathically.  Ultimately the reason for the Guardian's malfunction is revealed and we also get to meet the remaining creators of the Guardian.

However, the ending isn't half as satisfying as the medieval fantasy romp which makes up a large portion of the book.  It's fun for the reader, it was obviously fun for Crispin to write, and it feels suspiciously like a guilty pleasure.  The fantasy romp has almost nothing to do with the peril the universe is actually facing, and more to do with relationships.  The relationships between fathers and their sons, between lovers, between friends.  Time has passed differently for Zar and Spock, their age gap has closed and both are older and wiser men.  Spock is now more open with his feelings, while Zar has become a wiser, jaded man who has seen much hardship and personal loss.  I found the reigniting of the father-son dynamic for these two Vulcans very sweet, Spock's reactions in particular are endearing.

I'm reminded of a comment I read a while ago which equated the relationship of Sarek and Spock with the father-son relationships in the 50s/60s.  The father being detached and aloof, not showing emotion and pushing the son away for not being the man he wanted him to be.  In a way, Spock had to overcome that conditioning in Yesterday's Son, in Time for Yesterday however we see in Spock the more modern father, desiring of a closer relationship with his son, unafraid to show that he loves him, that he's proud of him and that he'd risk his life for him.

Crispin contrasts this with Kirk's apparent knowledge of David (this book takes place between TMP and TWOK) and his confused feelings of being an (by request) absent father.  We of course know that Kirk would meet his son during the events of TWOK and then lose him by TSFS.  It's an interesting comparison, Spock and Zar vs Kirk and David.

I feel that Crispin very much wanted to finish Zar's story for the sake of Spock, herself and her readers.  Everyone likes to know what happened next, they also like happy endings for the most part and Crispin delivers that... but not without a little tragedy.  Zar loved and lost many years ago and refused to remarry afterwards, however during the course of the novel he falls in love and bonds with a woman who otherwise would be his enemy (I'm going to comment again about the apparent fertility of Sarpeidons).  However she refrains from telling the whole story, leaving his eventual fate after he leaves his father's side for the final time.

Is there a comparison between father and son here? You bet your pointy ears there is!  You might remember the commentary which ran through Yesterday's Son in which Zar had problems understanding not only his relationship with his father, but also his father's relationships with others, in particular Kirk.  However, towards the end of the novel he realises that they are incredibly close (like bonded close), by the time we get to the events in Time for Yesterday it's not even questioned, it's even the subject of a bit of humour.

"Fair enough. Why haven't you remarried?" 

It was the Vulcan's turn to raise an eyebrow.  "There is no single reason.  Once the liaison the family arranged for me was terminated by divorce, there was no reason to enter another immediately... so I elected not to do so.  Time went by... and my contemporaries were all partnered.  Then our five year mission was over, and I began the the study of Kolinahr disciplines.  When one is an acolyte in pursuit of Kolinahr, one must give up... external... links."  He steepled his fingers.  "By the time I left Kolinahr, I also left Vulcan.  I have not been home since." 

"So, you just haven't met the right woman," Zar said, deadpan. 

Shared amusement touched his father's eyes.  "You could put it that way."

Cute.

Characterisation wise Crispin was spot on again.  Really strong characterization of the trinity (McCoy was in top form again) and nice use of Uhura in one of the novel's minor subplots (very minor).  I quite liked the medieval Sarpeidons as well... I could definitely tolerate another book with just Zar and his world in!  Crispin manages to create an interesting world for the length of book she's been allowed.  One thing I would change however would be to cut a couple of sub plots which are quite unnecessary and turn over more attention to the end with the creators of the Guardian - but this is all quite minor (and I want more of the mindmeld bit, it was over too quick imo!)...

I don't want to spoil anymore for those who haven't read it, so I'll just end with; read Time for Yesterday... I definitely recommend it, it definitely will not disappoint!

5/5 - would visit ancient Sarpeidon as a holiday destination.

Star Trek - TimeTrap

Kirk's eyes were slowly growing accustomed to the light.  He squeezed them shut, forcing out the tears, and opened them again more slowly.  He had been right: he was surrounded by Klingons.

So Klanth had won.  Kirk realized immediately what must have happened.  Some of the Enterprise Security team had been knocked unconscious in the same way he had been, and the Klingons had been able to overpower the rest and take them prisoner.

There just hasn't been enough Kirk recently, I thought to myself.  I need more Kirk! This led me to jumping ahead to Time Trap (#40 Pocket, #11 Titan) (1988) by David Dvorkin.  It just happens that this was first released in June 1988 - it was released in the month I was born!

You might remember that David Dvorkin also wrote The Trellisane Confrontation which was released four years previously in 1984.  There are similarities in that 'the big bads' are the Klingons, the story is quite small in scope, and although Kirk is treated as a main character (yay!) Dvorkin finds something that he can criticise him for (boo!). 

I actually enjoyed Time Trap quite a bit, even if at alternate times I had this super anxiety and periods of utter annoyance.  Mostly it had to do with Kirk's characterization, some of which is explained away but I do just think that Dvorkin wants to punish Kirk somehow and it's not kinky either!!

Anyway Time Trap uses the events of the episode The Tholian Web to explain the strange phenomena that Kirk and his crew encounter.  While on route to a Starbase for some much needed R&R they pick up a distress signal from the boarders of Tholian space.  Naturally the Enterprise investigates the distress signal and finds that it is coming from a Klingon ship which appears to be breaking apart in the center of an unknown spacial disturbance.  The Klingons refuse aid, but Kirk wants to know what they are doing on the boarders of Tholian and Federation space and decides to lead a security team to board the Klingon ship in order to take the commander prisoner.  They beam onto the crippled ship, but almost immediately the ship takes catastrophic damage and the human boarding party and the Klingon crew are incapacitated.  In the meantime, the ship disappears from Enterprise's sensors and Uhura is suddenly rendered unconscious at her station from an apparent electric shock.  Enterprise itself is attacked by the strange phenomenon, crippling it.  Spock follows orders from Starfleet to leave the area and proceed to the nearest star base for repairs, much to disappointment of the crew who want to look for their captain.  Spock suspects that all isn't as it seems and proceeds with his own research.

Kirk however finds himself injured and surrounded by Klingons, but these Klingons are different from those he is used to dealing with.  He is told that a temporal phenomenon has resulted in him being thrown one hundred years into the future, where peaceful 'New Klingons' are the main faction in the Klingon Empire and have brokered peace with the Federation.  The 'New Klingons' are charming and scholarly and Kirk easily becomes friendly with them; this is especially true of a female Klingon who is a historian and who hero worships Kirk - Kalrind.  They quickly become lovers and Kirk finds himself utterly besotted.  However health problems continue to plague Kirk, as he often finds himself often collapsing and weak.

Another scholarly Klingon -Morith- explains to Kirk that he is needed to join these 'New Klingons' on a trip back in time in order to ensure that the 'Great Peace' come to pass.  On 'returning to the past' it is revealed that everything isn't as it appears.  An elaborate plot is revealed involving Klingon sleeper agents and an attack on the heart of the Federation - Earth, by Klingons pretending to be part of a peace fleet.  Kirk himself is dying from injuries sustained on boarding the Klingon vessel caught in the disturbance, and the Klingons that were drugged -including Kalrind- are returning to their original selves and it is revealed Spock's research paid off, as it was a massive cloaking device.  The Klingons are sent packing and McCoy puts Kirk back together again.

One of the things my partner said when I tried to explain Time Trap to him was that it sounded a lot more like a scheme that the Romulans would have come up with as opposed to the Klingons.  I kind of agree that it does seem a little too scheming for the Klingons we know, unless of course you take into account the Klingons from The Final Reflection and Dvorkin directly references parts of The Final Reflection, so I think we can safely say that this book fits in with that continuity and idea of the Klingons.

What I really liked in Time Trap was the 'time travel' aspect of it - not that there was any ultimately, it was all a trick, but I did like the thought that had gone into creating a believable scenario for both Kirk and the reader.  I liked how they gradually revealed the time travel scenario, and how because I knew that ultimately the Klingon Empire and the Federation would be at peace (and this is after the start of TNG) I could believe it.  I also managed to rationalise out Kirk's periods of weakness and illness, putting it down to 'oh it's because he's out of his own time, so that's why he'll need to go back to the Enterprise in the end', because I know I've read something like that before.  When Dvorkin used the time travel theory that they would succeed in going back in time because it had already happened, it was believable.  Kirk believed it too, so.. it all makes sense... right?  But all the while, you're thinking about a couple of new characters that have been introduced... and Spock's research, what is Spock's theory?  Why did Uhura scream and keel over before the Enterprise was attacked by the 'cloud' in space?

I didn't like Kirk's relationship with Kalrind however.  It made me roll my eyes, really Dvorkin, you're going to play up to that aspect of Kirk's personality?  Initially, I thought that Kalrind of an interesting character, as a 'New Klingon' she was likeable and the backstory (forward story?) she gave about what it was like in this future was kind of strange but believable.  I liked that she had this aspect of idol worship to her... I didn't like that the first time Kirk and Kalrind spent any time together at all they kissed and probably a bit more!  I think I was more angry that Kalrind ended up just being the  girlfriend than anything else.  She was interesting as an academic and really sweet, and it would have been fun to have a bit more to their relationship before they end up as an item.  To a certain extent Kirk's malleability and Kalrind's personality are all explained away as both of them are drugged - Kalrind has even been 'reprogrammed' herself to act the way she does.

I particularly liked McCoy's characterization, it was just right.  He wasn't the focus, but he was there in the same capacity as he was in the show and not sidelined by the author.  McCoy had quite a big role to play as regards the exposition of plot and making it clear that Kirk was actually dying from internal injuries and had been cured by medicines from the future.  Anyway, since there has been a Leonard drought recently, I was very happy to see him with an active role in the plot.

Spock was... how many male author's choose to characterize him, although Dvorkin is a little more sympathetic and makes him slightly more than a talking computer.  In an effort to keep the mystery alive, Dvorkin doesn't give any insight to Spock's thoughts which, yes keeps you guessing somewhat however this could also have been achieved with changes to the narrative structure.

Time Trap was a little convoluted at times, which could have been solved with a bit of creative restructuring but on the whole it's a relatively easy and enjoyable read.  I rather enjoyed being fooled as to the direction the plot was going (because, lets face it I tried to meta the story and for once it didn't work!) and for that reason alone I'd recommend it!

There are lots of little scenes which are written rather well, and are worth reading the book for in my opinion, although for those who like a bit more introspection in their characters it might seem a little dry.  I'm going to give Time Trap the same score as The Trellisane Confrontation - 3/5 - because although I feel there has been an improvement to Dvorkin's writing between the novels, I don't think it is really enough to warrant giving it a higher score.  If you liked his previous book though, you will probably like this one.

3/5 - what a fabulous monobrow... I see Boris is no longer the artist?

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 - Yesterday's Son

Their eyes were on a level as Zar said quietly,  

"Spock... First Officer of the Enterprise... my father."  A flat statement, hanging in the stillness.   

Spock drew a long breath.  "Yes."

Something I can definitely say about Yesterday's Son by A C Crispin  (1983) (#11 Pocket, #8 Titan) is that is is lovingly written.  There's no one particular aspect which makes me feel this way, but it just feels like a lot of care and thought went into the book.  And the content is... incredibly sweet.

And for once, I'm not going to complain about something being so sweet it's given me tooth ache.

It'll give you tooth ache too, I guarantee it, in the last quarter of the book I thought I was going to melt into a sugary pink puddle.

Enough with the metaphors? Ok.  But really though, I feel all warm and fuzzy!  My sweet level is dangerously high!

Yesterday's Son was a real surprise to me actually.  I have to admit, I didn't expect the quality that the book offered me, simple as that.  And take it from me, you do want to read this one, so if you don't want spoilers stop reading here and come back later.  After all, this was the first Star Trek novel to get onto the bestseller lists.

Ok.  Still with me?  You sure? Ok.  

***SPOILERS from here on!***

Ignore Spock's age on the cover, this
book takes play near the end of the
five year mission!  Spock is young!

The premise is that the union between Spock and Zarabeth in the episode All Our Yesterdays resulted in a son whom Zarabeth calls Zar.  Spock learns about this via pictures of cave paintings from the now non-existent Sarpeidon.  One of the images is of a young man with Vulcan characteristics, Spock immediately understands the implications and decides that he cannot allow his child to grow up on the freezing  planet, and formulates a plan to get him back.

Of course, his solitary plan shortly becomes a plan for two and then at the last minute three as Kirk and McCoy refuse to let him go alone.  Using the Guardian of Forever the trio return to Sarpeidon five thousand years in the past but instead of finding a child, they find an adult of 24 years.  Spock is understandably shocked at finding that the child he expected is in fact an adult and reacts reticently and withdraws even further from his own emotions.  His cold attitude is in contrast of what Zarabeth told Zar, which was of someone warm and loving, gentle.  This difference in perception and reaction is the basis of much of the misunderstanding between Spock & Zar throughout Yesterday's Son.  It's also the vehicle for some character development for the trinity too!

Zar is intelligent, and well liked although very much a stranger in a strange land aboard the Enterprise.  His relationship between himself and his father, Spock, is disastrous.  Spock is acting the Vulcan's Vulcan, while Zar who is naturally more emotional, possessing empathic powers and can't make sense of his father's cold, often confusing emotional state.

Zar forms easy relationships with Kirk and McCoy, who between them give their own guidance as almost surrogate fathers.  McCoy gives Zar emotional support, while Kirk gives him a stable and open relationship.

The Enterprise receives a distress call from The Lexington, Kirk orders their return to the planet of the Guardian.  The Romulans are suspicious of the starship patrols and attack the planet.  While the Lexington and the Enterprise battle the Romulans, Romulan vessels slip through to the planet's surface.  Kirk sends down a landing party with drastic consequences.  The Romulans capture and torture the Federation archaeologists studying the Guardian as well as killing the entire landing party.  It transpires that Zar felt their deaths due to his empathic abilities.

Zar and Spock end up sent on a mission to try to set up a shield around the Guardian, using Spock's technical know how and Zar's ability to sense where people are without seeing them.  During their time together they bond and the barriers between them break down as they come to an understanding.  Unfortunately they are unsuccessful, a concerned Kirk beams down with a landing party to try to find them and as he gives up and orders everyone to be beamed out, he notices Spock and Zar coming towards him.  He moves of range and is the only one left on the planet to help Spock and Zar.

Spock and Kirk decide they have to try again to stop the Romulans, but not before Spock incapacitates Zar with a Vulcan nerve pinch.  Kirk and Spock make an attempt to infiltrate the Romulan camp again, but are captured because Kirk is not dressed for stealth being in his command gold.  On their capture they are taunted by the Romulan commander, Tal, and Kirk is beaten up in front of Spock.  Tal promises to come back with a new torture device (what are they, Klingons?!).  The Enterprise crew mount a rescue operation with the now conscious Zar.  As expected, Spock and Kirk are rescued and Zar uses the Guardian to go back to the Sarpeidon of the past, this time in a warmer part, in order to start a period of enlightenment.  Yes, you guessed it, it's a bootstrap paradox.  The end of Yesterday's Son plays out as expected, neatly closing with a little bit of closure and a return to the status quo.

It's been a while since I did a big summary like that huh?  Well, I honestly really enjoyed it.

Spock & Zarabeth - All Our Yesterdays

The overall story just... works.  It pulls together nicely, and I seriously expected it to be cringe worthy as many fanfictions meet the unknown child of X main character usually are.  Of course, it's seriously helped by the fact that the union did happen in the series.  I often think though, how virile these characters must be to copulate once and then have an illegitimate child.  Spock isn't even with Zarabeth very long!  What is it, like a day?  Maybe Sarpeidons are really fertile (lets say nothing about Vulcans not breeding with other species very well because of their copper based blood)?

Anyway, I'm kind of glad that Zarabeth had company in the form of a child (at least in this novel), her fate was a very cruel one.  Mind you, she could have been a mad axe murderer as far as we know.

I was actually really surprised that they found an isolated but surprisingly cultured young man.  I suppose in my head I expected him to be some kind of savage, but that makes no sense because Zarabeth was (seemingly not an axe murderer) normal, literate, intelligent.  Perhaps I'm just anticipating the worst at this point!

Zar was beautifully written, Crispin managed to avoid many 'Mary Sue' pitfalls while maintaining a likeable, intelligent character.  That being said the empathic abilities were a little under utilised or perhaps, strangely utilised.  The portion where he felt the deaths of the landing party, while interesting, served little purpose in even moving the plot along since it didn't even really demonstrate the ability that is used when essentially scouting the Romulan camp.  The more important feature is his ability to project his emotions, the ground work for that particular ability was laid early.

Zar being particularly likeable of course makes it even more frustrating that Spock seems unable to bond with him, or at least, accept him for who he is.  In many ways Zar is not unlike Kirk, a noticeable comparison which isn't accidental, which makes Spock's reticence to treat Zar fairly (from our perspective) even more perplexing.  There's a small plot point slipped in which stems from a misunderstanding of a Vulcan word which could explain it.  It suggests that Spock is feeling intense shame and that Vulcan society would not shame the illegitimate child, but Spock himself.  I wonder if Spock's reaction would have been different when faced with a young child and not a young adult.

Which leads me onto this point, ignore the age of Spock on the front cover.  This book takes place nearing the end of the five year mission.  At several points Spock says that having Zar as a son would be a physical impossibility.  Seeing as his first pon farr happens in the first year of the five year mission (when Spock was 35), having a 24 year old son would be impossible!  This is a point of contention, since Spock refuses to acknowledge Zar as his son to others, perhaps because of his shame, but his given explanation appears to be that it would be impossible to explain when the workings of the Guardian are kept secret.  Zar of course is understandably hurt by Spock's refusal to publicly acknowledge him.

Generally characterisation is excellent.  I particularly enjoyed McCoy and Kirk's sections.  McCoy was just, top notch classic McCoy, I could SEE McCoy with such clarity when Crispin described him, facial expressions, actions, the lot.  His dialogue and descriptions are spot on, like as follows:

"Jim's all right - well, depends on your definition.  Shock, exhaustion, three broken ribs... he should be in sickbay.  But if I know him, he'll want to -" The Vulcan could hear several shots from the hypo hiss, then McCoy's grumble again, "... the worst patient in Star Fleet, won't rest, has to do it himself, you watch-"

By this time Spock could see, watched as the doctor, never ceasing his monologue, deftly bound Kirk's rib cage in an elastic bandage that automatically adjusted for maximum support.  By the time McCoy had finished, Kirk was conscious.  

This picture just seemed fitting!

What I really liked and had sorely missed was McCoy's presence as one of the trinity.  In the ten previous books he was sorely underrepresented, but here he's given I think pretty much the same page time as everyone else.  He interacts with Kirk and Spock, the banter is there, he is recognised as an important character.  This is probably mostly due to this book not having any particular agenda, or definitive 'kink'.

Kirk's characterisation is simply 'Jim Kirk'.  While there isn't a particular memorable quote, there are memorable scenes which stick out and just made me say to myself, yes, that's Kirk.  From pulling rank and blackmail to get himself in on Spock's trip to the past, to his stubborn and self sacrificing actions.  His wisdom, as facet of his personality often forgotten by writers is also used well, particularly when dealing with Zar and later, the Romulan threat.

Possibly the most satisfying part of the book concerning Kirk is one in which his involvement is quite passive.  For those of us who are slash fans, it is squee inducing vindication.  For those of us who are not slash inclined then it simply demonstrates the depth of the platonic love between Kirk and Spock, especially from Spock's side.  Basically, Zar senses that Kirk occupies a huge part of Spock's mind, that essentially his feelings are greater than the feelings for him.  Refreshingly, Zar's reaction to this is quite fair, he doesn't for example lash out at Kirk for this, but he is confused.  However, he does finally realise after been knocked unconscious by Spock, that he was left in safety while Spock went with Kirk into danger.  He realises that, Spock cared for him enough as a son that he wanted to keep him safe from harm, and that this is different from the strong emotion shown towards Kirk.  Later they share a mind meld where all is explained.  This is especially heart wrenching when we realise that in TNG, Sarek will confirm he had never mind melded with Spock, so Spock never knew how proud he was.  In that context, this moment is even more powerful.

Before Zar goes back through the Guardian, he turns to Kirk, concerned at the possibility of him being in trouble for breaking General Order Nine.  Kirk reassures him it's going to be alright and Zar replies -

The laughter in the grey eyes died, as he leaned close and whispered, "Take care of him, please." 

Kirk nodded.

He knows.  He knows and understands, and it's ok.

Oh golly.  It isn't just that bit either.  Remember that Spock and Kirk are captured prior to this? Well...  Even the Romulans tacitly acknowledge the depth of bond between Spock and Kirk, to the point of harming Kirk in order to try and get Spock to crack and give them information about the Federation's activities on the Guardian's planet.

Hohum, we're going in that direction are we?

I read the section when Spock and Kirk were captured and subsequently rescued to my partner.  He came to the same conclusion I did concerning the K/S relationship there.  A quick example -

The Vulcan wished he'd been able to leave Jim behind, too.  He had no personal fear of death - it was simply a lack of biological existence, with either something or nothing following - but the thought of Kirk's death was a pain that mind control could not block.

Do you think that Spock would have revealed the mystery of the Guardian in order to save Kirk's life?  We know from the series the depth of feeling he has for Kirk, his reaction even as early as in Amok Time is quite telling, while in other episodes he becomes quite illogical (much to McCoy's amusement) when he doesn't know if Kirk is safe or not.  I think it would be a pretty tough call.  Luckily for him, Spock and Kirk are rescued before he is put to the test... but not before Kirk almost kills himself.  I was in two minds about this, was he trying to cause a distraction, or did he realise that it was too risky to allow himself to be used as a bargaining chip / threat against Spock?

... Anyway, I think I've probably gone on about this book for too long.  Safe to say I loved it.

TLDR Yesterday's Son is probably definitely one of the best I've read.

5/5 - Read it, like, yesterday.

I didn't even write anything about A C Crispin herself!!  She's a really interesting character too!  Maybe next time!

Star Trek - Doctor's Orders

He laughed softly. 'Fine.  I just wish the Captain would walk in here.  You know the trouble with this chair?'
'Wish I did' Devlin said with undisguised envy.
'You're nuts,' McCoy said.  'Well, each to his own insanity.  This thing has no back support to speak of.'

So, I was looking for something that would lighten my mood a little bit, something that would allow me to de-stress.  I was starting to feel a little fatigued by the emotional onslaught of ST:TOS fanzines and my novel choices had been a little heavy!  Jen I thought, you've got to pick something a little more therapeutic this time, otherwise you're going to be an emotional wreck this week!  Who better to see when you need a bit of therepy than a good ol' country doctor?

This cover makes me feel
inexplicably happy!

Doctor's Orders (#50 Pocket, #36 Titan) (1990) by Diane Duane was just the prescription I needed!  Initially I thought I'd reviewed a novel by Diane Duane before, the name was so familiar, but on checking, no I hadn't!  I have got several books by her that I have yet to read however which kinda explains it.  At least, I recognised it as being a name attached to The Romulan Way which I have multiple copies of... 

Diane Duane is pretty prolific when it comes to Star Trek!  By the time Doctors Orders was released in 1990 she already had eight Star Trek related projects under her belt including other novels, a computer game and even a TNG episode!  Post 1990 Duane has also written a ST:TOS manga series, a TNG comic mini series and adapted her works for audio production.  Most notably she has her Rihannsu series of ST:TOS novels, which originally started as two standalone novels My Enemy, My Ally and The Romulan Way but now encompasses 5 novels which have now been collected and published as The Bloodwing Voyages.

Needless to say I knew none of the above when I decided to read this, however it soon becomes quite clear that Duane is a seriously talented writer with a real love and understanding of Star Trek.  It isn't just her delicate hand when it come to crafting familiar main characters or new species that makes her writing great though, she's also quite capable of baffling pseudo-science!  It seems really unusual for a writer (either male or female) to be able to balance satisfying (for me!) characterisation and scientific jargon without either producing strange robot characters or conjuring some sort of space magic.

Honestly, the gorgeous cover of this book was enough to make me want to read it, but really it's the cherry on top when next to premise of McCoy being put in command of the Enterprise and pretty much everything going wrong.  Not only does Kirk go missing soon after McCoy is put in command, but a Klingon ship appears in orbit of the planet the crew of the Enterprise is surveying and their crew goes missing!  This compounds with McCoy having to deal with an overzealous Starfleet, Klingon reinforcements cruising for a bruising and to add insult to injury, an Orion pirate ship of colossal proportions joins the party with designs of making the Enterprise a trophy (why yes, I did enjoy using all those idioms).

As you can probably imagine, there is a lot going on in the narrative of this book, there's McCoy 's narrative, Kirk's narrative, and also a couple of short Klingon narratives.  Despite the many threads and characters - Duane is careful to include all of the 'first family' - nothing feels rushed or as if she has less interest in one section than another.  Duane's characterisations are spot on, and this is especially noticeable in McCoy's case - he grumbles, mutters, curses and has more than a few periods of introspection where he realises that possibly his own simplistic suggestions to Kirk might have been not so helpful after all!  An example of a nice touch, is when he realises that perhaps the captain comfort eats in times of stress and that he might have to bring that up in his next physical.  Kirk's characterisation plays on both his impish sense of humour and his uncanny ability to take everything in his stride.  Kirk's narrative is split between the Enterprise (before he gave command to McCoy) and his time 'missing' on the planet's surface while talking to a strange species called the ;At.  Kirk also deals with (with the ;At's help) a small group of very confused Klingons.

I'm not sure how Duane does it, but she manages to make the Klingons endearing.  Not very often that ones wants to cuddle a Klingon, but I certainly want to now!  Well, these are TOS Klingons, no pointy teeth or forehead ridges, so, perhaps that's more acceptable!  McCoy's interactions with the Klingon commander are wonderful,  especially because he just can't help being a Doctor and advising on the Klingon's medical condition, all the while insulting him.  His 'good' relations with the Klingons ends up benefiting him since they come to his aid against the Orion pirate ship.

The new aliens in the book are pretty interesting, and after all they are the main reason that the Enterprise is orbiting the planet in the first place.  Initial surveys from Starfleet suggest that three different sentient species have evolved on the same planet, and since this appears to be the only planet where this has occurred they want to study the peoples of the planet.  The inhabitants of the are very much 'others' not just because they are happy little slimes or 'ents' but because they perceive the past, present and future simultaneously.  The ;At, who is perceived as moving stones or vapour is a little more mysterious, and yes I'm having trouble writing about it/them, as its existence is mutable!  I really enjoyed the Enterprise crew trying to get the universal translator to work and trying to make sense out of creatures that simultaneously appear to exist in the past, present and future.

The final space battle with the Orions is really impressive - so well written!  I loved McCoy's reactions here and the overall competence of the crew.  When Kirk is back in the drivers seat however, everybody is relieved!  Another thing I liked here is how Kirk literally just appears on the bridge of the Enterprise, in the middle of combat, and just gets down to business.  Assesses the situation and makes it all work without breaking a sweat (afterall McCoy is doing all the sweating!).

It was good to see the Enterprise take part in what should have been a routine mission which was scientific in nature.  Sure, strange things happened but it wasn't the great drama we're kind of accustomed to seeing.  The Enterprise is in orbit for much of the book, the Captain has an incredibly restful time (for once!) and much of it is concerned with a rather peaceful dialogue with other aliens, both resident of the planet and of the Klingon variety.  As I said at the beginning, it was just what I needed to feel more peaceful and pleasant again, it's a very calming book!

5/5 - The past, present and future walk into a bar.  It was tense.

Star Trek - Fanzine - Stellar Gas

'Stellar Gas' published by 'Pon Farr Press' is a 1979 Star Trek fanzine edited by Della Van Hise.

'Della Van Hise?' I hear you murmur to yourself, a vague recollection sparking neurons in your brain.  'Where have I heard that name before?'.

Oh my friends, your memory does not do you ill, I wrote a review on that wonderful monster!

Killing Time - Della Van Hise

The thing is, Killing Time charms me.  I can be pretty hard to please, but while I do recognise that it has many problems and should be lambasted for its myriad of inconsistencies, inaccuracies and self indulgences, I also love it for the utter slashy pleasure it was to read. 

'Jen', I hear you say, 'why are you writing another love letter to Killing Time right now?  I thought you were reviewing a fanzine 'Stellar Gas' edited by Della Van Hise'.

OK ok... I'll explain myself.  I like buying and collecting things which connections to other things.  So, for example, when I saw an ebay listing for a fanzine edited by Hise, I was suddenly very excited, and it was very moderately priced too (and already in the UK! Hooray!)!  This is actually a Xerox copy of the fanzine, not an original however it was advertised as such and the quality is very good anyway, so I can't complain!

Now, fanzines are actually a relatively new thing for me, they aren't common in the UK and the postage costs from the states can often be prohibitive so I don't have many, although I am falling in love with them.  I just love fanfiction and actually, when you look into the history of fan communities especially the Star Trek communities, they can be pretty fascinating!

TLDR: I bought on impulse because it had Della Van Hise's name on it and because it was at the right price.

The publication itself is pretty good looking, the layout and art is satisfying; you wouldn't believe my relief when I saw that the text for the longer stories was organised into columns and didn't traverse the width of the page.  However, because of the kind of dated art (in some cases, high contrast to enable easy printing) and text, it reminded me of my old church newsletters!  It's a very odd sensation!

Contents wise, there are fifteen pieces of artwork of varying quality, some are reportedly produced by professional artists, I haven't actually looked into this yet however.

Artists Featured:

• Ralph Fowler
• Cheryl Newsome
• Scott Gilbert
• Kerry Gammill
• Matt Fertig
• Craig Sattler
• Bev Zuk
• Martin Cannon
• Jim Kuzee

There are ten pieces of written work, two of which are prose, while the remainder are poetry.

Writers Featured:

• Tracey Alexander
• Pamela Rose
• Leslie Fish
• Jeanne Powers
• Marilynn Lebo
• Christopher Randolf & James Van Hise
• Della Van Hise
• Merlin Adams
• D J Biehl

The first prose piece is written by Tracey Alexander and is titled 'Lost in Thought'.  Whilst I was reading it I got this terrible sense of deja vu.  There's time travel, a certain female Romulan commander, slash overtones in neon lights, a plot to change history enough for the Romulans to take control, a strange reconciliation with that Romulan commander...

It was too close to the plot of Killing Time.  The writing, too similar, too... familiar.  My partner suggested this Tracey girl was probably a friend of Van Hise, they possibly discussed it with each other.  A quick google search confirmed it.  Tracey Alexander is a pseudonym used by Della Van Hise - one of the many pseudonyms used by Della Van Hise.  Lost in Thought then is an early draft of Killing Time.  I can only imagine Van Hise or Alexander got good feedback for Lost in Thought to make her want to continue to work on the idea.  I have to admit that Lost in Thought is a pretty interesting story with plenty, PLENTY of Kirk and Spock agonising over each other, their relationship, their feelings...  I'm not going to complain, it gave me a case of the warm fuzzies.

Lost in Thought does differ from Killing Time, obviously a lot of content is added, some taken away.  For example, Lost in Thought has a Starfleet sponsored conspiracy, actions on the Enterprise which are tantamount to mutiny, Kirk's mind being removed from his body and placed in another person, then into Spock (all of which has some analogue in the series), and plenty of slashy moments.  It doesn't have the 'second history' story line, nor the beautifully self indulgent characterisation of Kirk as a drug addict ensign, vulnerable to and sensitive to the dutiful ministrations of his Vulcan captain... ... ... Sorry I slipped off into lala land for a second there.

The Kirk / Spock relationship is understandably less physical in Lost in Thought, but simultaneously more intimate due to Kirk literally being on Spock's mind!  The weirdest scene is Kirk taking over Spock's body in order to have sex with the Romulan commander while Spock hid in his own mind.  There's also an indication that Kirk and Spock are already bonded at this point, Spock seems to indicate this, even if Kirk doesn't know.  It certainly isn't a physical relationship at this point, but the general gist by the end is that Kirk and Spock are going to discuss their relationship further. 

Basically, if you liked Killing Time and you like slashy, romancy, dramancy (what?!) stories that are unapologetic and shameless in their distribution of the warm and fuzzies, this story is probably for you.

The second prose piece is 'The Gift' by Christopher Randolf & James Van Hise.  James Van Hise is Della Van Hise's husband and... oh, you guessed it, Christopher Randolf is another pseudonym for Della Van Hise.  I'm not even sure how much James Van Hise put into this story because it has Della all over it, from the overt slash to her stylistic quirks.

The Gift is less enjoyable, mainly because it is utterly batshit crazy.  And yes, I mean more crazy than Killing Time and Lost in Thought combined, let me summarise.

Kirk is stranded on a very wet planet, he can't get back to the enterprise because electrical interference or some such thing.  Kirk gets approached by an elf, who uses a magical knife on him which results in immortality.  Kirk gets back to the Enterprise and finds Spock dying, he uses the magical knife on Spock.  Kirk and Spock are now immortal.  Kirk and Spock get blown up, but survive as pretty much mounds of flesh, because, they are magically immortal.  McCoy takes them back to the same planet as Pike and the Keepers in order that they stay sane.  McCoy ends up going there too, because, he shouldn't have to pay the penalty for bringing them back to the planet.

I don't really have much more to say about The Gift, old, little space elves, space magic, immortality, ridiculous contrivances, also, permanent universe alteration, there is no reset button.  I guess that's the joy of fanfiction as opposed to the novelisations, there can be permanent changes to the status quo.  On the other hand, I'm not sure stories like this are not just a waste of paper.  Sorry if I sound a bit harsh there, but I really do feel that way!  Just think, they could have brought down the price of the production of their fanzine considerably if they hadn't put that piece in!

The poetry is pretty fun, there is a poem by Della Van Hise (under her real name!) here too.  I don't think that the other poetry is by her under pseudonyms, but there's always a possibility!    Although I did like Hise's  Feast of Dust, I preferred the poems by Merlin Adams and Leslie Fish, both of which are written from the perspective of Doctor McCoy.  Adams' poem takes the form of McCoy observing Spock whilst Kirk is on an away mission without him, while Leslie Fish's offering takes an unusual format (rather like a translated poem from ancient Greece), as McCoy considers his relationship with his old enemy: death.  I'm actually a really big poetry nerd, so I'm always interested in reading it.

The final parts of this publication are a ~very useful~ listing of fanzines published under 'Pon Farr Press' and an open letter to the fandom about an unscrupulous seller of unauthorised xeroxed zines at conventions in the states.  I love this kind of thing, because it gives you a snap shot of what was troubling the fans at the time, looks like some things always remain the same!

I realise that it might be a bit strange to review a fanzine which is pretty hard to get, but seeing as this has been out of print for so long, I might scan and upload parts of it, like the art work, some poems and perhaps the first story so that other people can actually read it.  I'll put it on a new page on the blog when I get it done, so keep an eye out.  I do have my eye on getting Stellar Gas 2, mainly for the front cover - Spock on an alicorn, THAT is a picture I must have in my collection!

ps. Sorry if you saw this post before I fixed some errant sentences, I'd edited some of it from my mobile and managed to move entire sentences around accidently!

pps. I am never editing on a mobile device ever again, every correction causes more errors!

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.