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I have a lot of Star Trek books in my boxes. As of the beginning of this column, three of the five boxes of books are Star Trek related. I have enough Star Trek books that I can actually do several subthemes within Star Trek. And I admit, the title is a little misleading. The Women of Star Trek does not refer to the characters. Not that I wouldn't do a month focusing on Nyota Uhura, Beverly Crusher, Deanna Troi, the Daxs, Janeway, T'Pol etc. if there were enough books in my boxes to support the idea. No, these are all Star Trek books written by women.
And speaking of women who wrote for Star Trek there is no better starting point for a column of this nature than with Dorothy "D.C." Fontana who aside from writing some of the best episodes for Star Trek: The Original Series also served as story editor . She penned the classic Journey to Babel and Charlie X. She actually wrote more episodes than you think- she used a series of pseudonyms during the season when Gene Roddenberry was not executive producer due to disputes over rewrites. She was also more or less the show runner for Star Trek: The Animated Series. She wrote what is undoubtedly that series best episode- "Yesteryear."
- Vulcan's Glory By D.C. Fontana:
This book has probably one of the most complete portraits of Spock shown in any novel. There are a number of small continuity details that don't quite fit but the character, but he behaves almost exactly how you expect that he would, at least for the period just prior to "The Cage." There is also a hilarious subplot involving a young Montgomery Scott brewing hooch in the engine room that should have been in an episode. However there are a bunch of elements in the middle and end of the book that- while kind of fannishly nit picky- make the story not as strong as it could be. It has long been held that since the Vulcans had their own space service, Spock was the only person of Vulcan ancestry serving in Starfleet until just around the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This novel has at least 15 unnamed Vulcans on the Enterprise alone. Without these Vulcans. this otherwise great Star Trek book has no conflict. If you can see past it this book is a very nice character study of the Star Trek series that could have been. Star Trek starring Captain Pike, Number One, Spock and Scotty.
We started with a woman who began her association with Star Trek in canon and did a quick delve into the novels. Now let's reverse that. Let's find someone who started in Star Trek short stories and novels and later went on to write an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Only one name really comes to mind: Diane Duane. Now her episode is far from my favorite- I listed amongst Star Trek's very worst a few years ago but her Star Trek books and comics are usually very good.
- The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane:
While many of Duane's Star Trek books use a lot of new ideas and concepts - some of them very non-Trek like- there is something great about them. She's obviously trying to not only write a good Star Trek book but a good book period. In this story the driving element is that a crystalline spider alien has invented a new kind of drive that allows almost instantaneous travel to anywhere in the known universe. Only they eventually discover it is playing havoc with the laws of space, time and causality. The book was written in 1983 so the references to Kirk having flashbacks of swimming with Humpback Whales are forgivable. Hell- considering what their weird gizmo was doing to people's perception of time it is even explainable. He could have been flashing forward to some post Star Trek IV event. The characters seem almost perfect. The way she writes McCoy and Scotty are exceptional. I could practically hear DeForest Kelley and James Doohan reading the dialogue in my head. The other characters are well portrayed as well- but those two in particular. Duane manages to fill the crew with supporting cast that takes a rather large role in the plot without seeming to overwhelm it. One small caveat: I doubt that Kirk would actually take advice from the guy in charge of the rec room. He's not Picard after all. Overall - I had fun with it.
Now on to a woman who should never be allowed anywhere near canon. In fact Pocket Books isn't even allowing her around the Star Trek novels ever again. This requires one hell of an explanation. In the days before the internet, people used to distribute fan fiction in fanzines which they sold for money. Most of it was poorly written and edited. They made my columns seem like legitimate art. Star Trek novels have mined writers of the novels from fanzines before and since. However for every choppy poorly done Mary Sue style story there were about twenty to forty pure unadulterated gay porn stories featuring Kirk and Spock. For years I had heard rumors of a novel with some pretty heavy Kirk and Spock overtones (with no actual sex but some pretty lusty nonconsensual mind melds) that had somehow snuck passed the editors at Pocket Books and Paramount. The official story is that due a major change in editorial staff at the time of publication the galley copy was accidentally shipped to the printer instead of the version that had received Paramount's stamp of approval. 250,000 copies were printed and shipped before the error was found. There was a pretty big controversy at the time. The book was very close to making the best seller list because of it. Even though the book was obviously raking in the dough, Pocket issued a recall and shredded as many copies as they could. (If they didn't Paramount would have yanked the license.) No one is sure just how many first editions are out there but it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 copies out there. The book was later reissued with a lot of the subtext removed. I eventually found out the title of the book. Then it turns out I had a copy in my boxes. I put off reading it until I found some out something. There was a relatively easy way to tell which edition you had just by touching the cover. And then I made a huge mistake. I tried it on my copy. I realized what I had was a first edition copy. I got scared. As much as I didn't want to read it, I couldn't not read it. Not because I wanted to but because it would make good column fodder. So without further ado=
- Star Trek: Killing Time by Della Van Hise:
This book takes a lot of slack with other critics for the Kirk and Spock subtext. Well Van Hise has denied this was her intent with her pro novel, she has written Kirk and Spock fiction in the past. All the elements of the genre are there. However- the book isn't just Kirk and Spock. That's where the critics are wrong. The book is much more perverse than that. You want an alternate universe where Spock is higher ranked so he can dominate Kirk? Check. You want steamy subtext between a human male and a sentient female quadruped that looks like an Irish Setter? You got it. Or sexual tension between a female Romulan Science Officer and the Romulan Commander from the episode The Enterprise Incident (now miraculously the Praetor of the Romulan Empire) doing each other favors- including having the Praeter loan the Commander her favor sex slave? Check. How about Spock getting more or less raped by the Romulan Commander during Pon Farr? That's in there. To make things worse, he falls in love with her. Then he realizes he needs Kirk more? Just about the only thing missing is Scotty trying to have his way with the plasma intact valve regulator. And yes there are some really crappy word choices. Screams that are illegible instead of incoherent. Inarticulate when she needed a word that sounded smart but didn't know what else to say which is about once every two to three pages. As I said- there are no actual Kirk and Spock sex scenes. Though the mind melds are portrayed just a little too- wink wink- nudge nudge if you know what I mean. The thing is this book has a plot. Which makes it better than it really has any right to be. It's probably the greatest Kirk and Spock story ever written which is still pretty damn terrible. I hate to say this but some chapters are pretty damn funny. Only they are funny in the way all those cut away Star Trek segments on Family Guy are funny. Until you realize that the material that MacFarlane and company would have presented clearly in jest, Van Hise intends the reader to take seriously. Then it becomes very sad.
And now for two books where I don't have enough time to write any good introductory text. It's 2:33 A.M. on March 30th. What the gre'thor do you want from me?
- Star Trek - The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Clowes:
This book takes a lot of notes out of the original notebook for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and expands on them. The story itself more or less flushes out the origin of Saavik. The story has been told in other media as well (including two different versions in various comics). The main story involves Kirk and company finding a Romulan derelict with some strange devices onboard. They take them back to Earth to be examined. It triggers a booby trap and hundreds end up dying. As the artifacts appear to tie in to dreams Saavik is having. She happens to be on Spring Break from the Academy and spends it visiting Spock. It turns out she's really remembering part of her childhood on a Romulan prison colony. (While never mentioned in the final cut of the films, she is supposed to be Half-Romulan.) There are some interesting little subplots here and much of the book overall is very good. However the scene where they cram in the telling of the Pandora myth seems forced as if they were trying to justify the title. The classic TOS episode "Conscience of the King" didn't sneak in a scene with the characters summarizing Hamlet. Neither did Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. References are there- and they enhance the story if you get them- but this book seems like it is playing Whack-A-Mole with the idea. The other problem is that the way it treats Spock and Saavik's relationship makes the scenes in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock all the more incestuous. However it is leaps and bounds over Killing Time and is an overall good read.
- Yesterday's Son by A.C. Crispin:
In spite of lacking an easy point in time to place the story- or much in the way of detail about the Enterprise- and two small typos (in the first edition only) A.C. Crispin's Yesterday's Son has been seen by many as an all-time classic Star Trek novel. It is easy to see why. Kirk, McCoy and Spock- the only characters who are given much page time in the book- all seem like themselves. The new character Zar, the previously unknown child of Spock and Zarabeth (from the original series episode "All of Our Yesterdays"™, could easily have been written as the Mary Sue. Yes, he has powers that Spock doesn't have. However the explanation made does make a lot of sense. There are aspects of telepathy and empathic abilities that almost anyone of Vulcan ancestry could develop. They just find it too distasteful to even consider. Secondly- throughout the book Zar comes off as a very conflicted and confused character. While part of him does want to be a Vulcan, he openly admits to enjoying the company of Dr. McCoy. That is something no true Vulcan would ever do even if McCoy was one of their closest friends. Thirdly- after introducing a character with a background like Zar's which does involve quite a bit of time travel- they don't do the last minute, "And all that never happened, anymore" routine. So in a lot of ways it was an oddball of Star Trek novels of the early 1980s. For it acted as a sequel to several TOS episodes- which is something else the novels generally didn't do until the New Frontier era- and it was a time travel story that sort of matters. (It is a direct sequel to "All of Our Yesterdays" ™ with elements of "City on the Bridge of Forever" and "The Enterprise Incident" in the mix as well.) The ending is somewhat open ended.
That being said - a sequel does exist. I bought both at the same time but who knows when I'll get to it. Probably two months from now when I do the next Star Trek month. Be back here next month as I do some very funny stuff. No really, it's going to be funny books. And I mean funny on purpose. Not like Killing Time.
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