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In September of 1966 - Star Trek first appeared on television It is arguably the most influential science fiction show ever produced. Forty Five years. Wow. It's been a long road, getting from there to here. It's been a long time and- well ya know- it's longer than I've been alive. So considering I have (at present) 38 Star Trek books in the boxes of books- this seemed like an appropriate time as any to do another Star Trek month. I know I had one just a few months ago... you don't like it? Take the challenge yourself next year. It's not as easy as it looks, you know. To make this a little harder on myself, this time I will attempt the impossible- I'm going to try to get every Star Trek series represented in the same month. Set course for Verdian system, maximum warp.
Before I start - I'd like to say that sometimes when I do a theme month, sometimes I cheat. I find a book with an overlapping theme and read it near at the end of the month. That way if I finish on time I can give you guys a sneak peek into next month and if I don't finish on time, I don't look like an idiot. Thus is the case here with:
- Religions of Star Trek by Kraemer, Cassidy and Schwartz:
This is a book about how modern religious thought has influenced Star Trek. Some of the examples are fairly clear in the episodes themselves. There are only a few points that are surprising. It hits on a lot of episodes from all the Star Treks that had been produced at that point that one would expect including: the original series episode 'The Apple', Next Generation's: 'Who Watches the Watchers', almost the entirety of Deep Space Nine and Voyager's 'Emanations'. As much collective fandom didn't want to be reminded of it, they wrote an essay regarding 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.' Conspicuously absent is the episode 'Far Beyond The Stars' with it's Man/Butterfly question of reality and the fact that Joseph Sisko clear quotes The Bible. Then again, maybe it is not so surprising. The book seems 80% percent focused on Judeo-Christian ideas and pays only mild lip service to Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism and ignores Scientology entirely. (Yet they cover the Blessed Excheque,r a concept which is only slightly less absurd.) It doesn't ignore the other religious disciplines but doesn't spend all that long explaining them. Doing so would have vastly lengthened but probably improved upon an already good book. I'd recommend this to any freshman year religious studies major without question.
And now the fiction section. I didn't feel quite right doing a month of Star Trek books without going back and reading one of the first non-novelizations of an episode. The very first Star Trek novel 'Mission to Horatius' is hard to get- even in facsimile edition. So I went with . . .
- Spock Must Die! By James Blish:
I understand that fans in 1970 were starving for new Star Trek in any form. What they got here must have seemed like a novelty at the time. It should have been a bit of a disappointment as well. The premise is almost exactly like that of the episode 'The Enemy Within' with bits of 'Errand of Mercy' thrown in. Now most of the people doing licensed books at the time probably hadn't had a chance to see every episode of Star Trek. Blish on the other hand, wrote the book- literally. He wrote the novelizations of all the original series episodes. A point Blish hypes in his forward and the foot notes. He should have known a story very much like this one already existed with an evil Kirk instead of an evil Spock. There were some changes but not enough to make the story stand on its own two feet. Instead he seems to do back flips to avoid mentioning ;The Enemy Within' at all, while bringing up every other tangential episode you could think of. Finally, while other Star Trek series got into the idea later, there are no questions about the existence of the immortal human soul in Roddenberry era Trek. Writing this review makes me miss writing: 'Did I Get What I Paid For?' In those days I could cut loose and really say what I wanted to in a review. Here I aspire to entertain and be vaguely literary. Which means I can't use those kinds of insults on those who aren't completely deserving. Blish hasn't quite crossed the Hemingway bridge but he came close.
And now something from a group that readers of Star Trek novels have dubbed the dream team. Who as far as I know, have never written a Trek book together that was less than a B-.
- Star Trek: The Disinherited by David, Friedman and Greenberger:
Even at their best- Star Trek novels are not great literature but they are extremely fun. Some jump to the level of episode that should have been. This is one of them. While it displays many tried and true Stark Trek tropes, it shifts the focus away from Kirk, Spock and McCoy, pulling the book more towards Chekov and Uhura. It allows the reader to see this type of action/mystery from a different light- that of the outsider. Uhura because in her subplot she is sent over to assist on the U.S.S. Lexington, commanded by Kirk's old friend Commodore Robert Wesley. This book is set very early in the second season so Chekov is new to the bridge crew. Aside from the benefit of seeing some of the 'lesser' characters in the forefront, we are allowed to see old familiar characters in a way we never have before and shed light on aspects of their personality we might not otherwise get to see. Sometimes in a way that it is not so flattering and surprisingly refreshing. Given that this is a Michael Jan Friedman novel, there is a lot more ship to ship combat than most Trek books. Given that it is a Peter David book, it's also a lot funnier than your average Trek book. There are a lot of little continuity details that really hold the book together that could only have been placed there by 'Encyclopedia' Greenberger. All in all- I had a blast with this one.
And now another not quite novel...
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Legends of the Ferengi by Quark (with Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe):
It rare to see that we get the full picture of a society in Star Trek, especially the legends and pop culture of another planet. This is it- the whole shebang. This includes not only all the Rules of Acquisition fit for hew-mon ears but stories, legends, myths or explanations for why those rules exist. The result is an amusing look at America through a funhouse mirror. Then what do you expect from a culture whose deity is called The Blessed Exchequer? Some of these spoofs include a story about the dangers in the Ferengi road systems being caused by corporations that bribed high ranking officials in the Ferengi Interior Ministry. It would seem almost impossible unless you are familiar with the history of the Maryland highway system which while not quite that devious, come very close to this scenario. This book is a short little amusement and often brought a smile to my face. Though as this book would tell you, 'The Wider the Smile, the Sharper the Knife.'
And one with the show . . .
- Star Trek: The Lost Era - The Sundered by Martin and Mangels:
There is a pretty big time frame left unexplored in the lost eras era of Star Trek, one that stretches (give or take) between the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Next Generation's 'Encounter at Farpoint'. However, there is also a serious problem with setting novels in the Lost era. Most of the characters featured in these novel tend to be Pocket Books originals save for, in this case, Sulu, Chekov, Chapel, Rand and Tuvok. (I don't count Akkar- who one appearance in an episode of Star Trek was as an infant.) The problem is we know these characters (for the most part) have to survive, it is just a matter of how. The original character's fates should be up in the air. They are free to do almost anything. However, for whatever reason, Martin and Mangels choose not to do so. This causes there to be very little suspense. The story itself is fairly entertaining and has a very middle of the road Star Trek feel. Exploring the new alien culture was a nice touch. However the whole book lacks a certain energy I've become used to from these two writers. It picks up speed near the end but only enough to guide to story to an ending that was what you would expect it would be once the big 'secret' is revealed at the half way point. A good Star Trek book but not anything to write home about.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Diplomatic Implausibility by Keith R.A. DeCandido:
It appears DeCandido looked at all of his previous Star Trek novels and said: 'You know what? There just aren't enough Klingons in my books'. While the book is labeled a Star Trek: The Next Generation novel- the Next Generation cast (aside from Worf) really only appear in about a third of the book. Most of the focus is on the crew of a Klingon ship. Half of the Klingon crew come from previous Star Trek series and the other half are DeCandido's own creations. Had this been a television episode it would have been what the industry calls a 'backdoor pilot'. In this case he introduces so many Klingons in the second third of the book they are hard to keep track of. Luckily, he manages to get them all untangled by the end of it. At least some of the characters manage to break the 'I am a Klingon warrior and will die with honor' mold to become unique and interesting characters. As for the plot itself, it deals with Worf's first mission as Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire- which is exactly where Deep Space Nine's 'What You Leave Behind' left him. Obviously, this mission doesn't go as planned otherwise there would be no story. The solution comes right out of old martial arts movies which have been the basis for the revisionist Klingon history since 1987. It also earns a few bonus points for some amusing cameos by characters from Star Trek: New Frontier. Not lost episode worthy, but still quite a bit of fun- once I was willing to let go of it actually being a Next Generation book.
- Star Trek - The Brave and The Bold - Book One y Keith R.A. DeCandido:
This book is split up into two novellas and a prologue.
- A) The Prologue: Is a nice and very brief piece set on the Enterprise NX-O1 commanded by Jonathan Archer. It is a day in the life segment that also sets out what the readers need to know about the Malkus Artifacts. All the characters seem perfectly in sync with their television counterparts. It is not however, a complete story in its own right. Which is a shame.
- B) Star Trek: The Original Series: This book is a follow up to the Archer story about the mysterious artifacts as well as the 'lost' story of the Enterprise's previous meeting with Commodore Matt Decker prior to their meeting with the Planet Killer. It's fast paced and an interesting adventure story. The original characters are quite likable, especially Dr. Rosenhas. While it's their story- it doesn't feel that way. If you haven't seen The Doomsday Machine in awhile- and forgot what is destined to happen to Decker's crew- then you're bound to be upset by the ending.
- C) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: This portion is a little bit of a let down. Not because the characters were out of place- again- DeCandido's original characters are interesting enough. This time the non canon take over is noticeable. Dax and Kira are in the story but it is not their story and it should be. They have little to no effect on the outcome. Then there is the fact that DeCandido pulls the same trick with the crew of The Odyssey that he did with the Constellation in the previous novella. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I get bored, put the book down and take a nap. The bigger problem was one of space- the ending seems too simple. At least when compared to the degree of difficulty that Kirk and Decker went through with their Malkus artifact, this seemed like a cake walk.
- Star Trek - The Brave and The Bold - Book Two by Keith R.A. DeCandido:
Decandido's Malkus Artifact saga continues with two more novellas that bring together every Star Trek series in two volumes.
- A) Star Trek: Voyager: This book attempts to answer a lot of the questions about both halves of the Voyager crew before the start of the series. Here Chakotay and the rest of the Maquis are doing that friendly neighborhood terrorist thing toward the Cardassians when one of his sidekicks finds that next artifact. Janeway and the crew of the Hood team up to stop them. Much like the rest of the series, the focus is more on the original characters. It is the first time that the purpose of these team ups that DeCandido mentions in his afterward becomes clear. He's trying to make us see the familiar faces through a new light. Here it really works. There are points where Chakotay seems like an okay guy. Other times he seems like a ruthless terrorist. It really depends on whose scene it is. We get not one, not two but three different looks at Tuvok. One being Janeway's (which is Tukok's as we've always known him), Captain DeSoto's (who is somewhat untrusting) and the Maquis (who also don't trust him). This book hits a much better balance between original characters and existing ones than any of the previous novellas. In many ways this is Tuvok's book and amazingly he isn't just being written as Spock only Black which is something even canon writers have had a problem with over the years.
- B) Star Trek: The Next Generation: Much like ;The Diplomatic Implausibilty', this book is labeled as a Star Trek: The Next Generation book but like many of DeCandido's better Star Trek works, it's more like 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World' with Star Trek characters. You want Spock. He's there and in a big part. Want to see blink and you miss them cameos by Quark and Lwaxana Troi? They're in there. Hope about Leonard McCoy? He's in there. Want lots of Klingons? They are there too. How about Colonial Kira Nerys? She's there. You want to see Moe, Larry and Curly Joe? Sorry, nobody called the fire department. The back of the book bills it as a team up between the crew of the Enterprise E and the Gorkon. He fools no one. He weaves all this back and forth so effortlessly with just enough humor that a story that should feel tired and clichéd after more than half a life time of reading Star Trek novels and comic books seems like a hell of a lot of fun. It would have been nice for him to work in Crewman Daniels and one of the Voyager characters into the finale somewhere, but you can't win them all.
Anyway, I'm getting close to the end of the countdown- months ahead of time it seems- so at long last- next time is another 'Highly Recommended' month.
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