A bevy of Trek books.
Jun. 22nd, 2009 13:11![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starladyI've read a bunch of Star Trek books lately (and judging by how many of the books I checked out from my library came up "reserved" when I checked them in, I'm not the only one), mostly books I've never read before by authors I've previously enjoyed. This probably isn't coincidental.
First up is Diane Duane's The Wounded Sky. This is the first Trek book Duane wrote, and quite honestly I was bowled over as to how good it still is twenty-five years later--and at how much philosophizing her editor let stand in the text. If this book were to be published now, it would be very, very different, and nowhere near as good as it is, I think. The Enterprise is chosen to test-drive a new, experimental transportation technology which could potentially allow inter-galactic, not just intra-galactic, travel, and the scientist responsible for its invention, a twelve-legged glass arachnoid named K't'l'k, comes along for the ride. It's quite a ride, taking our crew first beyond the galaxy and then out of our universe altogether, where quite literally no one has gone before, and along the way the crew is forced to ponder the nature of life, death, time, and the nature of existence, as well as their trust in each other. I feel like I can't say much about this book without giving it away, other than saying that K't'l'k is awesome (and reminds me very slightly of Dairine in High Wizardry, at least in the role she eventually plays), but it does introduce some of Duane's awesome recurring characters: notably Ensign Naraht, the Horta; Harb Tanzer, the rec chief; and Lia Burke, McCoy's other assistant nurse. I have more to say about Duane's views on death, (after)life and transcendence, but that's for another post (though I did appreciate the throwaway joke referencing The Wrath of Khan/The Search for Spock, which had just aired in theaters at the time of writing, at the end). Highly recommended.
Next is Duane's My Enemy, My Ally, which anecdotally seems to be one of the most beloved Trek books ever, at least among female fans, and it's easy to understand why: in this first of Duane's Rihannsu books, Commander-General Ael of the Romulan Empire is forced to ally herself with her bitterest enemy, Captain James T. Kirk of the United Federation of Planets, to counter a threat to both their star nations. I don't think it's possible to say enough about how absolutely awesome Ael is: she's a mother, a warrior, and every inch a worthy foe and worthier ally maneuvered by her enemies into making common cause with Kirk (whose actions were responsible for the exile of her niece, the female Commander of that one classic Trek episode, to boot)--and Duane dosen't give Kirk a pass on his highly plausible, highly skeptical attitude toward the idea of regarding a (humanoid) woman as an equal on the battlefield. Also, Naraht plays an instrumental role, and Sulu, Scottie and Uhura kick some butt independently of Kirk and Spock. Double bonus for Duane's thorough construction and deployment of Rihannsu philosophy, and for making it so integral to how the story plays out. There's also a Dr. Who cameo. Go read it now.
Another Duane book, which I was particularly interested to reread because of its embodying Sarek's line to Spock in the new movie that "Emotions run deep in the Vulcan people, deeper even than in the Terrans," which is one of my favorite lines in the whole thing. It wasn't until I'd finished rereading the book that I learned that the screenwriters had lifted the idea from the book consciously. I can't fault their taste, anyway. The plot of the book is essentially a story that takes place right around the end of the Enterprise's five-year mission, in which our heroes are summoned to Vulcan to speak in the debates about Vulcan's possible secession from the Federation (hint: they all argue against), but the chapters in the present are alternated with historical anecdotes out of Vulcan's past, from the invention of language to the Reformation of Surak to Sarek's tenure on Earth, and they are particularly brilliant. Duane really does have a gift for explicating philosophy (in this case, the Vulcan worldview) in the actions of characters as well as in their words, and this book features lots of Sarek, Amanda, and T'Pring, as well as McCoy learning to speak Vulcan fluently and saving the day. K't'l'k has a cameo, too, which is pretty great. In all her books, Duane excels at creating a sense of the sheer diversity of species in the Federation, a diversity that goes far beyond the humanoid form; that is less on display here, but the rec room computer attains sentience. I give her major points for giving the Enterprise an intra-ship BBS, and I continue to be amused by the 80s spelling "Mz." that is deployed throughout her Trek books. I think this book has a lot of points that are congruent with Duane's Wizardry books, particularly in the Vulcan idea of ch'thia, the truth of reality, and especially when Spock or anyone else talks about the Vulcans' "mastery" of their passions, which makes them sound a little like her wizards.
I read Margaret Wander Bonnano's novel with great interest and great skepticism. It's set in that nebulous time after Star Trek: The Motion Picture and before The Wrath of Khan, in which both Kirk and Spock experience recurrent, convergent dreams about Earth's purportedly covered up first contact with Vulcans, which are the subject of a new novel by a historian living on Vulcan called Strangers from the Sky. Their dreams are interwoven with memories of their very first days together on the Enterprise, when Gary Mitchell was Kirk's best friend and neither of them got along particularly well with the first officer, Spock. Large chunks of the in-book novel are interwoven with the present action in the first half, while in the second both frames drop away to recount what really happened in 2147 when two Vulcan explorers crash-landed on a hostile Earth, and how exactly two officers from the Enterprise remember so well events that happened two centuries before they were born. Hint: there's an Egyptian magician whoages backward in time (like Benjamin Button, but whacky and awesome). It sounds slightly cracked out, and it is, but it also manages to incorporate a great deal of emotional heft. In light of the events of First Contact, some of the book has been rendered AU, but the necessary mental gymnastics to keep it all coherent aren't actually that complicated. A good read.
I was disappointed, however, in Vonda N. McIntyre's novel describing the events of the Enterprise's very first voyage, when Kirk is fresh out of the hospital and Gary Mitchell is conveniently off-stage due to his injuries. Did Kirk become a captain at twenty-nine or thirty-four? I can't remember, and various novels place it differently: McIntyre has it at twenty-nine. I enjoyed this book when I first read it lo these many years ago, but on reread, particularly in light of Duane's views on Vulcan and Vulcans, I found something to be slightly off-key in McIntyre's portrayal of the crew in general and of Kirk and Spock in particular--less in how they interacted with each other than in how Kirk is a hormonal asshat (actually, kind of like the movie in this respect) and Spock comes off as mechanistic. McIntyre's approach is to give eveyone an angsty background, which is fine, but, yeah, I found some of the ideas about gender (roles) and power dated, particularly in respect to the twenty-third century. I wouldn't say don't read it, but I would say, your mileage may vary.
I currently own The Romulan Way, Duane's next Rihannsu book, but I think I'm just going to spring for The Bloodwing Voyages, which collects the first four of the five in one volume--if I'd realized what was what, I'd have bought it initially (though these old Pocket Books covers and blurbs are priceless). Apparently the last Rihannsu book, The Empty Chair, will have to come to me through ILL, since it's currently going for not less than $55 used on the internet. Supply and demand can be a bitch sometimes--I'm really hoping for Pocket Books to do a reprint. I'm also hoping to track down Sand and Stars, a compendium volume that includes Spock's World as well as A.C. Crispin's Sarek, about which I have heard very good things. Tune in next time...
First up is Diane Duane's The Wounded Sky. This is the first Trek book Duane wrote, and quite honestly I was bowled over as to how good it still is twenty-five years later--and at how much philosophizing her editor let stand in the text. If this book were to be published now, it would be very, very different, and nowhere near as good as it is, I think. The Enterprise is chosen to test-drive a new, experimental transportation technology which could potentially allow inter-galactic, not just intra-galactic, travel, and the scientist responsible for its invention, a twelve-legged glass arachnoid named K't'l'k, comes along for the ride. It's quite a ride, taking our crew first beyond the galaxy and then out of our universe altogether, where quite literally no one has gone before, and along the way the crew is forced to ponder the nature of life, death, time, and the nature of existence, as well as their trust in each other. I feel like I can't say much about this book without giving it away, other than saying that K't'l'k is awesome (and reminds me very slightly of Dairine in High Wizardry, at least in the role she eventually plays), but it does introduce some of Duane's awesome recurring characters: notably Ensign Naraht, the Horta; Harb Tanzer, the rec chief; and Lia Burke, McCoy's other assistant nurse. I have more to say about Duane's views on death, (after)life and transcendence, but that's for another post (though I did appreciate the throwaway joke referencing The Wrath of Khan/The Search for Spock, which had just aired in theaters at the time of writing, at the end). Highly recommended.
Next is Duane's My Enemy, My Ally, which anecdotally seems to be one of the most beloved Trek books ever, at least among female fans, and it's easy to understand why: in this first of Duane's Rihannsu books, Commander-General Ael of the Romulan Empire is forced to ally herself with her bitterest enemy, Captain James T. Kirk of the United Federation of Planets, to counter a threat to both their star nations. I don't think it's possible to say enough about how absolutely awesome Ael is: she's a mother, a warrior, and every inch a worthy foe and worthier ally maneuvered by her enemies into making common cause with Kirk (whose actions were responsible for the exile of her niece, the female Commander of that one classic Trek episode, to boot)--and Duane dosen't give Kirk a pass on his highly plausible, highly skeptical attitude toward the idea of regarding a (humanoid) woman as an equal on the battlefield. Also, Naraht plays an instrumental role, and Sulu, Scottie and Uhura kick some butt independently of Kirk and Spock. Double bonus for Duane's thorough construction and deployment of Rihannsu philosophy, and for making it so integral to how the story plays out. There's also a Dr. Who cameo. Go read it now.
Another Duane book, which I was particularly interested to reread because of its embodying Sarek's line to Spock in the new movie that "Emotions run deep in the Vulcan people, deeper even than in the Terrans," which is one of my favorite lines in the whole thing. It wasn't until I'd finished rereading the book that I learned that the screenwriters had lifted the idea from the book consciously. I can't fault their taste, anyway. The plot of the book is essentially a story that takes place right around the end of the Enterprise's five-year mission, in which our heroes are summoned to Vulcan to speak in the debates about Vulcan's possible secession from the Federation (hint: they all argue against), but the chapters in the present are alternated with historical anecdotes out of Vulcan's past, from the invention of language to the Reformation of Surak to Sarek's tenure on Earth, and they are particularly brilliant. Duane really does have a gift for explicating philosophy (in this case, the Vulcan worldview) in the actions of characters as well as in their words, and this book features lots of Sarek, Amanda, and T'Pring, as well as McCoy learning to speak Vulcan fluently and saving the day. K't'l'k has a cameo, too, which is pretty great. In all her books, Duane excels at creating a sense of the sheer diversity of species in the Federation, a diversity that goes far beyond the humanoid form; that is less on display here, but the rec room computer attains sentience. I give her major points for giving the Enterprise an intra-ship BBS, and I continue to be amused by the 80s spelling "Mz." that is deployed throughout her Trek books. I think this book has a lot of points that are congruent with Duane's Wizardry books, particularly in the Vulcan idea of ch'thia, the truth of reality, and especially when Spock or anyone else talks about the Vulcans' "mastery" of their passions, which makes them sound a little like her wizards.
I read Margaret Wander Bonnano's novel with great interest and great skepticism. It's set in that nebulous time after Star Trek: The Motion Picture and before The Wrath of Khan, in which both Kirk and Spock experience recurrent, convergent dreams about Earth's purportedly covered up first contact with Vulcans, which are the subject of a new novel by a historian living on Vulcan called Strangers from the Sky. Their dreams are interwoven with memories of their very first days together on the Enterprise, when Gary Mitchell was Kirk's best friend and neither of them got along particularly well with the first officer, Spock. Large chunks of the in-book novel are interwoven with the present action in the first half, while in the second both frames drop away to recount what really happened in 2147 when two Vulcan explorers crash-landed on a hostile Earth, and how exactly two officers from the Enterprise remember so well events that happened two centuries before they were born. Hint: there's an Egyptian magician whoages backward in time (like Benjamin Button, but whacky and awesome). It sounds slightly cracked out, and it is, but it also manages to incorporate a great deal of emotional heft. In light of the events of First Contact, some of the book has been rendered AU, but the necessary mental gymnastics to keep it all coherent aren't actually that complicated. A good read.
I was disappointed, however, in Vonda N. McIntyre's novel describing the events of the Enterprise's very first voyage, when Kirk is fresh out of the hospital and Gary Mitchell is conveniently off-stage due to his injuries. Did Kirk become a captain at twenty-nine or thirty-four? I can't remember, and various novels place it differently: McIntyre has it at twenty-nine. I enjoyed this book when I first read it lo these many years ago, but on reread, particularly in light of Duane's views on Vulcan and Vulcans, I found something to be slightly off-key in McIntyre's portrayal of the crew in general and of Kirk and Spock in particular--less in how they interacted with each other than in how Kirk is a hormonal asshat (actually, kind of like the movie in this respect) and Spock comes off as mechanistic. McIntyre's approach is to give eveyone an angsty background, which is fine, but, yeah, I found some of the ideas about gender (roles) and power dated, particularly in respect to the twenty-third century. I wouldn't say don't read it, but I would say, your mileage may vary.
I currently own The Romulan Way, Duane's next Rihannsu book, but I think I'm just going to spring for The Bloodwing Voyages, which collects the first four of the five in one volume--if I'd realized what was what, I'd have bought it initially (though these old Pocket Books covers and blurbs are priceless). Apparently the last Rihannsu book, The Empty Chair, will have to come to me through ILL, since it's currently going for not less than $55 used on the internet. Supply and demand can be a bitch sometimes--I'm really hoping for Pocket Books to do a reprint. I'm also hoping to track down Sand and Stars, a compendium volume that includes Spock's World as well as A.C. Crispin's Sarek, about which I have heard very good things. Tune in next time...
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-24 19:29 (UTC)Also, given Duane's tendency to toss in crossovers and inside jokes, I thought I'd mention the (I think) David Gerrold cameo in "Wounded Sky", where Jerry Freeman is getting followed by a gigantic purple worm begging for dessert (Gerrold wrote a four-and-counting-book series involving giant ravenous purple worms). There's an even better one in "Dark Mirror", but I won't spoil it.
Mind if I friend you?
*continues reading book discussions*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-25 04:24 (UTC)Ah, I see I've merited a reply on Wright's journal. All righty then...
I'll have to reread The Wounded Sky and look for that, particularly since I just recently saw Gerrold's TAS episode, "More Tribbles, More Troubles," which was awesome. I caught the "Doctor Who" in-jokes in High Wizardry and in My Enemy, My Ally, but there's certainly more I'm not even aware of throughout her books.
I think I read Dark Mirror more than ten years ago, but I'm thinking it's probably time to get it out of the library again, as I'll then have read all of Duane's Trek books. I love Duane a lot too--can you tell?