The Vulcan Academy Murders by Jean Lorrah (Star Trek #20, 1984)
The story opens with the Enterprise in pitched battle with a Klingon cruiser. Helm control has been lost, so Kirk is relaying orders down to auxiliary control. A final barrage overloads the Klingon deflectors, and the battle is won. Damage, however, will take weeks in drydock to repair. The timing is fortuitous, because Spock has just received word that his mother is seriously ill on Vulcan. He asks Kirk to join him on leave, and invites McCoy as well to bring a morbidly injured crewman to undergo the same life-saving experimental procedure being tested on Spock's mother.
Once on Vulcan, the patients are put into stasis at the Vulcan Science Academy hospital for nerve regeneration treatment. A successful trial has been completed on Dr. Daniel Corrigan, an Earthman and co-inventor of the treatment with his Vulcan partner, Sorel. Then, things start going wrong. The stasis chamber holding Sorel's wife, T'Zan, fails. Then the stasis chamber with the Enterprise crewman fails. Such happenings cannot be coincidence, and the unthinkable is happening--murder on Vulcan.
The story is a fascinating yarn of life on the planet Vulcan, focusing on Spock and his father Sarek, as well as Corrigan, Sorel, and Sorel's children Soton and T'Mir. Cultural mores and customs are shown, and the workings of a planet observed. Lorrah has thought long and hard about such things, as writer and editor for fanzines like "Epilog" and "Night of the Twin Moons." She also wrote for "Spockanalia," the very first ST fanzine. Lorrah is more than just a Star Trek junkie, she is an English professor and writer of other books. She wrote a sequel to this book titled "The IDIC Epidemic" (ST #38) and two Next Generation novels. Professor Lorrah is also a big Led Zeppelin fan, as can be seen at her home page .
The book is well-crafted, and the characters comfortable and familiar. The story is not forced, and the writing rings true, as one would hope from a well-practiced craftsman and student of the language. There is little "mystery" to the mystery, as the culprit is obvious from the beginning of the story, but the fun is in getting there. This is a Kirk-Spock-McCoy book, with little from the other regular characters, but a rich feel for life on Vulcan.
One warning; the cover painting normally used, with Spock holding a phaser on a hissing creature, has nothing to do with the story inside.
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The Tears of the Singers by Melinda Snodgrass (Star Trek #19, 1984)
While at Star Base 24, the Enterprise receives word of an emergency; a "rip" in spacetime that has swallowed one ship, and threatens an entire solar system. The phenomenon defies analysis, and requires close investigation. Because there is a musical relationship between the oddity and the only known inhabitants of the solar system, a tempermental but talented musician is pressed into service to aid the investigation. Guy Maslin has also become a love interest for Lt. Uhura. The inhabitants of the planet are classed officially by the federation as animals, and subject to hunting (think clubbing baby seals). They are hunted because they excrete tears at the moment of death, which harden into a beautiful crystal form then sold as jewelry. Kirk must investigate and stop the "rip" as well as deal with the approach of the Klingons into the area, led by old foe Kor (from the Organians episode, "Errand of Mercy"). The tenuous health of musician Maslin, and the developing love between Maslin and Uhura, as well as the general belligerence of the Klingons all serve to complicate matters.
Snodgrass writes a fine "Uhura episode" here that would have played well as a TV show. This is her only novel to date, but Snodgrass wrote for the Next Generation series including credits for "The Measure of a Man," "Pen Pals," "Up the Long Ladder," "Ensigns of Command," and "The High Ground," some of TNG's finest episodes and best expansions of Data's character. Most of her TV work was in Season 2. She has also written for the SF novel series "Wild Cards," a shared universe series.
This work is a solid story, with one part of the ending telegraphed from the beginning and another part ending in a nice twist. I thought Kirk and Kor got along altogether too well, but with Kor pressed from both sides since "losing" to Kirk at Organia, it can be reasoned through. Separating Kirk and Spock at the critical moment of battle and making Kirk do it himself is a nice touch, and so is the eventual rescue. This novel is solid middle ground, not a must-read, but a good read.
While at Star Base 24, the Enterprise receives word of an emergency; a "rip" in spacetime that has swallowed one ship, and threatens an entire solar system. The phenomenon defies analysis, and requires close investigation. Because there is a musical relationship between the oddity and the only known inhabitants of the solar system, a tempermental but talented musician is pressed into service to aid the investigation. Guy Maslin has also become a love interest for Lt. Uhura. The inhabitants of the planet are classed officially by the federation as animals, and subject to hunting (think clubbing baby seals). They are hunted because they excrete tears at the moment of death, which harden into a beautiful crystal form then sold as jewelry. Kirk must investigate and stop the "rip" as well as deal with the approach of the Klingons into the area, led by old foe Kor (from the Organians episode, "Errand of Mercy"). The tenuous health of musician Maslin, and the developing love between Maslin and Uhura, as well as the general belligerence of the Klingons all serve to complicate matters.
Snodgrass writes a fine "Uhura episode" here that would have played well as a TV show. This is her only novel to date, but Snodgrass wrote for the Next Generation series including credits for "The Measure of a Man," "Pen Pals," "Up the Long Ladder," "Ensigns of Command," and "The High Ground," some of TNG's finest episodes and best expansions of Data's character. Most of her TV work was in Season 2. She has also written for the SF novel series "Wild Cards," a shared universe series.
This work is a solid story, with one part of the ending telegraphed from the beginning and another part ending in a nice twist. I thought Kirk and Kor got along altogether too well, but with Kor pressed from both sides since "losing" to Kirk at Organia, it can be reasoned through. Separating Kirk and Spock at the critical moment of battle and making Kirk do it himself is a nice touch, and so is the eventual rescue. This novel is solid middle ground, not a must-read, but a good read.
My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane (Star Trek #18, 1984)
Diane Duane again raises the level of work on Star Trek fiction with a work examining Romulan culture. Duane has a deft touch with Star Trek and the characters which shows here, even though much of her work has been contradicted on-screen by The Next Generation series and the recent Star Trek: Nemesis movie. The "official" canon would have been well-served to take its note from Duane's book, considering the performance of the movie at the box office.
Duane tells a story on two levels: one level in the present, with a Romulan who finds a plot by the government to capture and harness the mental powers of Vulcans; and a second, lower level in the past, examining the split between the Vulcan and Romulan parts of the Vulcanoid species. Dr. McCoy gets a featured role here, fitting for a novel written by a onetime nurse.
Duane always gives the reader a deep personal stake in the story, largely because the characters are so vividly drawn, and somehow her plots always seem to involve the end of the world as we know it. There is a pressing immediacy about this and all her books. Yet the characters, especially the old Enterprise crew, know each other so well it seems they are real people jumping off the page rather than characters doing a dance the writer directs.
Duane also introduces one of her best characters here, a young Horta (rescued by Kirk and company in the episode "Devil in the Dark") new to Star Fleet. It can be hard to be a rock creature in a world of air breathers, but having a Horta around can have its advantages, especially when the Captain of the ship and Ensign Nahraht's mother are good friends. Other characters from Duane's earlier novel "The Wounded Sky" are also seen here.
One of Duane's great gifts is to be able to create excellent characters in a few brief descriptions. She does not shy from non-human characters, and in fact seems to revel in them, producing marvelous looks at the Federation. She also writes very interesting Romulans here, and greatly expands upon their culture.
Like all Duane's books, this is among the best of Star Trek novels.
Diane Duane again raises the level of work on Star Trek fiction with a work examining Romulan culture. Duane has a deft touch with Star Trek and the characters which shows here, even though much of her work has been contradicted on-screen by The Next Generation series and the recent Star Trek: Nemesis movie. The "official" canon would have been well-served to take its note from Duane's book, considering the performance of the movie at the box office.
Duane tells a story on two levels: one level in the present, with a Romulan who finds a plot by the government to capture and harness the mental powers of Vulcans; and a second, lower level in the past, examining the split between the Vulcan and Romulan parts of the Vulcanoid species. Dr. McCoy gets a featured role here, fitting for a novel written by a onetime nurse.
Duane always gives the reader a deep personal stake in the story, largely because the characters are so vividly drawn, and somehow her plots always seem to involve the end of the world as we know it. There is a pressing immediacy about this and all her books. Yet the characters, especially the old Enterprise crew, know each other so well it seems they are real people jumping off the page rather than characters doing a dance the writer directs.
Duane also introduces one of her best characters here, a young Horta (rescued by Kirk and company in the episode "Devil in the Dark") new to Star Fleet. It can be hard to be a rock creature in a world of air breathers, but having a Horta around can have its advantages, especially when the Captain of the ship and Ensign Nahraht's mother are good friends. Other characters from Duane's earlier novel "The Wounded Sky" are also seen here.
One of Duane's great gifts is to be able to create excellent characters in a few brief descriptions. She does not shy from non-human characters, and in fact seems to revel in them, producing marvelous looks at the Federation. She also writes very interesting Romulans here, and greatly expands upon their culture.
Like all Duane's books, this is among the best of Star Trek novels.
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