2020 is already so batshit-

VULCANS WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU

Sadly they don't get here until 2063 :'(

Well there is ONE Vulcan that’s been here since 1957 so

MESTRAL WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU

uh…

WHAT????

That’s… That’s fucking outrageous! Disgraceful!

Quick, to your researches people! We have to find these legendary, holy artifacts!!

The edited version is still pretty heavily slash tbh if you can get your hands on any copy (check any thrift or used book store. I bet theyve got one)

For anyone (like me) who’s curious about the differences, there’s this really great LJ post going through the changes

"Last Flight of the Columbia" by Pierre Drolet from 2007 Ships of the Line Calendar.

This is the image that inspired the Destiny Trilogy.

Star Trek Book Review #2

Spock’s World by Diane Duane

Publish Date: 1988

Some thots:

Firstly, upon seeing the cover I immediately imagined an MTV Cribs Vulcan edition. Can’t you picture Spock saying “Weldome to my domicile. First I will show you my common area where I eat and work. Next is my sleeping quarters.”

Definitely an iconic work in the Trek literary canon. In short: Vulcan is voting on whether or not to secede from the Federation. Bring on the testimonies from various species about whether or not they should do this. Firstly, I think Duane utilizes the literary medium perfectly here. Two words: Vulcan Filibuster. No way would this work on screen, but here we are blessed with multi page monologues from various characters about Vulcan and whether it should maintain its relationship to the federation (and therefore: humans). McCoy unexpectedly shines in this book and it’s great to see him as an educated advocate— he might throw hella shade @ Spock but damn does the man do his homework when called for! Spock’s World also features several chapters which chronicle the evolution of the planet Vulcan which are at first boring (the planetary formations chapter is brutal unless u imagine it as pillow talk between Spock and Kirk), but build into an incredibly riveting legacy. Think Jack London’s “Before Adam” but transposed onto Vulcan. FASCINATING. These chapters detail Vulcan’s evolution from cavemen to Surak and beyond. Highlight: a chapter detailing Surak’s origin where Duane offers an extremely touching answer for why Vulcan men’s names start with an S- not sure if this originated with this book or not but it made me tear up. It’s a considerably beefier text than standard Trek books, clocking in at almost 400 pages (compared with the average 250-300 of most Trek novels) but the reader’s attention is well earned.

Is it gay? No. :-(

Should you read it? HELL YES.

It’s not gay?

Oh well. Maybe next time. :)

(…But also, just informationally, re “Considerably beefier text than standard Star Trek books”: That’s because it was the first Star Trek novel to be published in hardcover. When Pocket commissioned me to do this job, my editor said, “Don’t be afraid to put some meat on its bones.” I said, “120K or so of meat?” Got an immediate nod. And therefore, went forth and did that. It’s always nice to be given room to stretch.)   :)

reading trek novels & love how worf has taken in spot and thinks shes a fierce warrior

Cover for The Fall novel "Revelation and Dust." Cover art by Doug Drexler, 2013.

The New Deep Space 9 design sure is interesting, with hints of the old (and destroyed) station.

Novelizations are a tricky thing, especially if you’re working from an earlier version of the script. There’s minute changes (Regulus vs Regula, Alpha Ceti V vs Ceti Alpha V for example), expanded scenes (a *lot* more Peter Preston, Joachim has serious reservations about Khan), things that existed in the novels only later conceded as Canon (Sulu was already a Captain transferring to Excelsior at the end of the month (yes, the ship was already named) Saavik’s half-Romulan heritage which might as well be canon by this point), and things that only exist here (Sulu again, nearly killed on the bridge when Reliant attacks in the nebula, resuscitated by David Marcus and out of the action for the remainder of the scene, and Spock not knowing Jim’s Birthday until *now*, Peter’s crush on Saavik and her tutoring him).

Then there’s also tweaks, I don’t know how much of it is author’s liberty and how much is script vs screen, but after 37 years of knowing this movie the words don’t flow nearly as well here. The words are sometimes substituted or flipped around. It detracts a bit from the overall product. Kirk is also a lot closer to despair and closer to the breaking point than the movie shows us, theatrically so. Despite all this though, it remains a fun read and there’s a bit little more to discover.

Gonna admit I did remember Kirk avoiding the urge to scream Dive! Dive! Dive!. that’s the ONLY thing I remembered for sure from the last time (aside from again Peter Preston and Saavik expanded backstory)

Here’s some (a lot of) notes and highlights:

Keep reading