Star Trek - Errand of Vengeance #1: The Edge of the Sword

(The hell? A non-numbered Star Trek book published within the last ten years? I must be losing my mind.)

Maybe it's because I'm not a Trek maniac (what are they called again? Trekkies? Trekkers?), but I'm not all that clear on the whole Klingon thing. In the Original Series, they were just these swarthy guys that kind of looked like Genghis Khan. By the time The Next Generation starts, they visually evolved into big, dark guys with a lot of ridges and a lot of hair. (The Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" gave a reason as to why TOS Klingons look different, but I don't buy it. I'd much rather pretend that they looked that way all along, which is probably why I'm not a Trekkie.)

OMG U GUISE! I totally can't tell them apart!

That said, I wonder in just what sort of way I should see Kell, the protagonist of Errand of Vengeance. Did he look like a TOS Klingon before he was changed to appear human? Or did he look like a TNG Klingon? I guess it doesn't matter in the long run; he looks human at the start of the story and he's described as small for a Klingon from the start. But I still wonder.

Star Trek #41: The Three Minute Universe

I'm starting to wonder if Star Trek novels can be categorized by how silly/annoying/good they are. I tried to think of some, but I get stuck after reaffirming with myself on how stupid Killing Time was.

In The Three Minute Universe, Kirk and crew find a part of space so hot that their sensors cannot even measure it. It turns out to be the titular universe, which appears in the middle of an occupied system and wipes out a sentient race, the Zirgosians, in a flash. The Enterprise heads to Holox, the last remaining Zirgosian colony, in search of answers and, hopefully, a solution.

After reading the title, I immediately thought of eggs and cup noodles, two things that only take three minutes to prepare. I thought the universe in question would be a tiny, lab-grown universe, a baby universe. A cup universe.

Delicious.

Star Trek #39: Time For Yesterday

Last time, that being the post before, I talked about Yesterday's Son, a Star Trek novel by A.C. Crispin involving Romulans, the Guardian of Forever, Kirk/Spock teasing, and Spock's son. Now, let's talk about the sequel.

In Time for Yesterday, we reunite with Spock's half-Sarpeidonite son, Zar, as the entire universe is being threatened by time running amok. Pockets of space are experiencing hypertime (or some bull): spaceships have been lost in black holes, suns are burning out in extremely accelerated rates, and the universe is going to end in a few months' time. Admiral Kirk and his friends are ordered to get the Guardian to stop fucking around, but there's only one person in all of time that could get the job done. There's time-fuckery, grundgy sword battles, and a bit of ship-teasing and power trio love. What else would you want from a Star Trek novel?

What's that? Space battles? Klingons? The hell are those?

There are no Romulans, either. The story revolves more around Zar, his life and predicted death, and his relationship with the crew and others, than it does about the setup that the book opens up with, which is, admittedly, a very typically Trek plot involving ulta-powerful beings wreaking havoc on the universe.

Star Trek #11: Yesterday's Son

You would think that a sequel to the original series' episode All Our Yesterdays, in which Spock gets it on with the prehistoric babe of the week Zarabeth, wouldn't be so... ship-teasing terrific.

I'm not even sure how I picked this book up. Perhaps it was the cover (I have a soft spot for the pointy-eared logic elf), and perhaps it was because it was written by A.C. Crispin. Her name does sound vaguely familiar (maybe because I've read her short stories in Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales from Jabba's Palace.)

I'm quite happy that I did, too. This is a really good story, and one that doesn't ignore or break apart the power trio that was the backbone of the original series. (I'm looking at you, Weinstein! Stranding Spock with Chekov of all people! in the middle of nowhere and ignoring him for nearly half of the book and he's on the cover! Everyone knows the bromance is the key...)

In Yesterday's Son, we find out that Spock's time in Sarpeidon was very productive indeed. An ensign finds a Sarpeidonite cave painting that looks suspiciously like Spock, which leads the Vulcan, with Kirk and McCoy in tow, to the Guardian of Forever in hopes of retrieving his son. They find the boy, of course, but he's no longer a child.

Star Trek #24: Killing Time

(It's not next on the list, but I needed to get some things off my chest.)

STATEMENT: Killing Time sucks.

ELABORATION: There was a time when Pocket Books would take any manuscript, apparently. Della Van Hise, a Kirk/Spock shipper (and fanfiction writer), is a prime example of this, although there was more to it than that.

The manuscript was riddled with blatant hints at K/S, and the fact that the more offensive bits weren't deleted before publishing is still a bit of a mystery. The first print edition is considered a lost book, though if you search long enough, you'll find a copy. Even the revised versions of the book are pretty slashy, and it's probably the slashiest official TOS books ever got.

... So why do I dislike it? It has slash overtones and it's about time travel, two things I enjoy. On paper, it sounded great. As soon as I heard about the book, I went off in search of a copy so that I could read it as well.

And now that I have... I'm pretty disappointed.

Star Trek #33: Deep Domain

I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of Star Trek (I grew up a lightsaber groupie, you see), but I love Kirk/Spock. (I am a dirty, dirty girl.) And the only reason I read Star Trek novels is to find some sweet ship teasing.

Deep Domain does not deliver on that. At all. Spock is sent off as a scouting party (of sorts) to a watery planet (with Chekov as company), and then disappears for half of the novel. Kirk doesn't even miss him all that much - he has an obnoxious Mary Sue lieutenant, a bad joke, and McCoy to keep him company.

And it's not like I dislike Maybri. I just think having a young officer act so snotty to her commanding officer because she can't go exploring is horrid. The fact that her skin darkens according to her feelings only makes me dislike her even more.