“Mudd’s Angels”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #41

by J.A. Lawrence

“Dedicated to the memory of James Blish.”

(I missed a book! How could this happen? How did it get out of order on my Star Trek bookshelf? This was published in 1978.)

James Blish died before finishing Star Trek 13, which was to be adaptations of the 2 Mudd episodes, plus an original story. His wife polished the adaptations and wrote the story. It is very light, as the episodes were. Again, I will not comment on televised stories.

J.A. Lawrence is a civilian passenger on Enterprise, an ‘integrator.’ She is asked to write up the “Mudd Affair.”

Enterprise is dispatched to find out why there is a sudden shortage of dilithium. It turns out Starfleet let their crystal contracts expire and Harry Mudd is buying up all the dilithium, using his female androids as payment.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

…said McCoy provocatively.

…said Spock quellingly.

…said Chekov thickly.

…said McCoy consideringly.

…said Kirk bitterly.

…said Andree sweetly.

…said Uhura doubtfully.

…said Spock repressively.

…said McCoy sententiously.

…said Mudd modestly.

…said McCoy sternly.

…said Mudd sheepishly.

…said McCoy ironically.

…said Kirk quietly.

…said Mudd plaintively.

…said Kirk firmly.

…said the fat man hastily.

…said Kirk desperately.

…said the android anxiously.

…said McCoy incredulously.

…said the mechanical Mudd distastefully.

…said Spock gravely.

…said the android simply.

…said McCoy challengingly.

…said Kirk tiredly.

…said Kirk heavily.

…said Kirk bitterly. (again)

…said Chekov uncomfortably.

…said McCoy reassuringly.

…said Weinberg helpfully.

…said McCoy reluctantly.

…said Kirk sharply.

…said Scotty doubtfully.

…said the doctor uneasily.

…said Chekov finally.

…said Kirk wearily.

…said Spock drily.

…said Chekov sadly.

…said Spock urgently.

…said Kirk grimly.

…said Kirk tersely.

…said Weinberg wonderingly.

…said Spock coolly.

…said Kirk helplessly.

…said Weinberg suddenly.

…said Scott sadly.

…said McCoy bitterly.

…said Spock gently.

…said Mudd peevishly.

…said the commodore firmly.

…said Spock meditatively.

…said the other psychiatrist sadly.

…said Spock quizzically.

…said Kirk hastily.

…said the herald severely.

…said Mudd urgently.

…said Spock gravely.

…said the judge calmly.

…said Mudd indignantly.

…said the clerk sternly.

…said the judge plaintively.

…said Weinberg passionately.

…said Mudd grumpily.

…said Clarence happily.

WTF:

Uhura screams!

Cannonball Read

“Vulcan’s Soul: Epiphany”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #40

by Josepha Sherman & Susan Schwartz

“You will not, I fear, escape the consequences of that fear. Some of them fear contagion.”

Ambassador Spock, his wife Captain Saavik, Commander Data, Captain Scott, and Starfleet Intelligence Chief Admiral Uhura are now joined by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his Enterprise crew in trying to prevent war between the Romulans and the Watraii. They must discover the secret of the Watraii and recover the stolen Romulan artifact.

Meanwhile in the past, Remus has become a prison planet, mutating the Vulcans into ‘modern’ Remans. The ‘second exiles’ resent being trapped and plan revenge.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Fucking fuck. We are waging peace in the prologue. So BEFORE PAGE 1.

_Now:

There is a Tal Shiar agent aboard Capt Saavik’s ship.

Charvanek has an exquisitely decorated office. She is fierce and elegant.

The Federation president thinks the Watraii are tactless to ask for help. Tactless.

Generalizations are illogical.

All Romulans have a volatile temperament.

Predicting behavior is illogical.

You can stop a marauding Romulan in his tracks by shouting “Right of Statement.” They must stop everything and let you speak.

How sad is it that the Romulan Senate Chamber floor is a map of Federation/Romulan space, split by the Neutral Zone? How sad they define themselves that way.

Threats are illogical.

In the midst of a space battle, we learn that Enterprise’s conn officer is a Trill.

Spock puts his huge intellect to work and realizes the Watraii are despairing and desperate.

Violence is illogical.

Oh here’s Geordi! But Spock is better at the job, so let him do it. Bye, Geordi!

Flattery is illogical.

Spock remotely takes control of the Romulan ship stolen and occupied by the Watraii by using prefix codes supplied by the Tal Shiar agent on Alliance who seems to have been placed there just for this plot contrivance.

Blame is illogical.

The Watraii leader removes his mask and Spock suddenly realizes what we have known for at least 2 books: the Watraii are Vulcan. (They are Sarissa’s people.)

Dying without having one’s death mean something is illogical. Hope I don’t die in my sleep. Wait. That’s exactly how I hope to go.

Delay is illogical.

Pages of the musings of the Romulan Praetor as he waits to be assassinated. Then he is assassinated. Who cares?

And now a chapter on Charvanek’s musings.

Compassion is logical. (Ha! Thought I was gonna say illogical, didn’t you?)

_Then:

Terror is illogical.

8 paragraphs on opening and closing an airlock.

Has it been days? Weeks? Months? I cannot follow the timeline. I don’t want to wage peace ever again.

T’Olryn has long, thoughtful eyes.

Hope is illogical.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Disappointment is illogical.

Don’t you think there would be a better, less violent way to wake someone from a healing trance than slapping the crap out of them? I mean, it’s a HEALING trance, which suggests a certain delicacy of health. So physical violence would seem counter-productive.

The useless recapping in Karatek’s thoughts does not move the plot along. We are just stuttering over the same points.

Solor escapes to Romulus and tries to—wait for it—wage peace. He is killed for the attempt. I admit it.  I killed him.  For daring to say ‘wage peace’ to me one more time.

Forgiveness is logical.

Screw waging peace. Screw yielding to the logic of the situation. Screw the needs of the many and the needs of the few. I cannot bear to read any of these phrases any longer.

Sarissa, Karatek’s adopted daughter, leads some of the Remans in a revolt to steal a ship and escape. She is the Vulcan heart. She is the Vulcan soul.

Karatek sacrifices himself to allow Sarissa and her people to escape. Dying, he is so very cold. Dying, he is so very warm. I don’t write; I just report.

Refusal to fight is illogical.

I am suffering from comma exhaustion.

The ship is damaged in the escape and they limp to the nearest planet. The old high Vulcan word for betrayed is watraii.

WTF:

“What sorcery is this?”

Cannonball Read

“Vulcan’s Soul: Exiles”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #39

by Josepha Sherman & Susan Schwartz

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Two months after the events in “Exodus,” the attacks by the Watraii continue. Starfleet Intelligence Chief Admiral Uhura discovers Admiral Chekov is alive and a prisoner of the Watraii. The Watraii and the Federation have no treaty, so Chekov’s rescue must be a covert operation. Again. Uhura sends Ambassador Spock, his wife Captain Saavik, Commander Data, and Captain Scott to retrieve Chekov. The two renegade Klingon captains come along, too.

Besides Adm. Chekov, the Watraii have also stolen a very important Romulan artifact. It is discovered the Watraii homeworld has an extremely harsh environment and constant electrical storms. The Watraii wear masks to protect themselves from their deadly environment.

Meanwhile in the past, it has been 4 years ship-time since the generation ships left Vulcan; 26 years planet-time. Seven ships have been lost. The fleet is already cutting back on rations and life-support systems. The search for a new planet to call home takes far longer than expected.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

_Now:

These authors LOOOOOVE commas!

The Romulan ambassador T’Kala is beautiful. Are there any unpretty female Romulans?

There is seriously way too much inner thought being related. It reveals little; just passes time and fills pages.

Imagine! Uhura hasn’t changed a bit! In two whole months!

How do you *logically* claim this is an inaccurate outburst: “You see, it’s about Chekov.”?

Now, NOW Spock wonders if Chekov actually died in the transporter accident instead of being his usual thorough self and ascertaining the facts?

Regret is illogical.

Hope is illogical.

Sexy thoughts concerning Spock and Saavik are still kinda icky.

Even though Chekov has been held captive for 2 months, he must be rescued NOW, because manufactured urgency is manufactured.

Again, Captain Saavik asks her crew if they would rather opt out of the mission.

Again, her crew stand with her. Yawn.

Worry is illogical.

Indifference is illogical.

Sarcasm is illogical.

It DOES NOT Beg The Question. It raises it.

Ok, I don’t care where a race originates, it is ILLOGICAL to use scarce resources to build warships instead of transport ships to get off the world that is trying to kill you. It is also ILLOGICAL to use live ordnance in war games when you have a limited population. No wait. Not ILLOGICAL. Stupid and suicidal.

The rescue party is discovered by the Watraii because one of them cannot effing whisper.

The young crew on Saavik’s ship is mutinous and careless. It doesn’t speak well for their training or their loyalty.

Chekov is PISSED that he was abandoned 2 months ago. He is healthy and safe, untortured, and angry.

Night falls on Watraii. The entire planet. So Data and his partner in the rescue team sleep. Even though the whole plan only has 48 hours before it is shut down.

Luck is illogical.

Guessing is illogical.

The Sundering occurred over 2,000 years ago. Does that mean the Watraii have been eking out a miserable existence on a hostile planet for 2,000 years? And then they go to war?

If resources, including people, on Watraii are so scarce, how did they build all these ships? How did they discover transporter technology?

The rescue team is STARVING on their 48-hour mission.

Saavik’s ship, Alliance, beams up the rescue party and the stolen artifact. I don’t know why we had to crash-land a shuttle, be captured, overcome guards, run, camp, starve, etc. if we could just beam everything up.

_Then:

They have planned for a 100-year journey, but cut back on rations and life support 4 years into it.

There is so much parenthetical thought, I have lost track of the actual conversation.

Why wouldn’t they reunite families, factions, bonded pairs before enforcing the ban on travel between ships to conserve energy? How do you justify allowing 2 people to use a shuttle for a political meeting without filling that craft full of people who want/need to be on other ships. It is ILLOGICAL.

I don’t understand the quaint Victorian behavior of the Vulcans concerning Pon Farr. We are talking about the survival of a species and we STILL can’t speak man-to-unbonded woman or say the word sperm? Yield to the logic of the situation.

I think I am withdrawing my glowing recommendation of this trilogy.

Pride is illogical.

Scolding is illogical.

Wage peace wage peace wage peace wagepeacewagepeacewagepeace

The needs of the many blahblahblah

The Exiles meet and beat the Triskelions.

Yield to the logic of the situation. Yield to the logic of the situation. Yield to it!

The needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few would seem to argue AGAINST a rescue. Just sayin.’

Why do dying people cough?

Boredom is illogical.

Someone needs to write me a song about waging peace. It should be a 60s-70s flavored anti-establishment song.

Blame is illogical.

The timeline is all screwed up. There are adult ship-born, yet Karatek’s babies are still babies.

Wage peace for the needs of the many.

I lost the conversation again. (Too many parenthetical thoughts.)

The needs of the many are to wage peace while yielding to the logic.

They name their new planets after Vulcan god-brothers. The names aren’t given. I bet they are ‘Wage’ and ‘Peace.’

How can a world which doesn’t rotate have permanent day/night? Wouldn’t the revolution around the sun cause (really slow) nightfall?

I suppose the day and the night on the non-rotating world waged peace.

It is a world of fire and ice. It is a world of fire, ice, and shadow.

Self-recrimination is illogical.

Myths are illogical.

The needs of the many are illogical.

Wait, that was a lie. I may be over-reacting. Over-reacting is illogical.

WTF: _{(comma madness!)}

“It gave her a power that, he realized, the child she had been, lost in the ruins of her home, her parents and her betrothed slaughtered, she must crave.”

Cannonball Read

“Vulcan’s Soul: Exodus”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #38

by Josepha Sherman & Susan Schwartz

“If one can wage war, how much more logical is it to wage peace?”

After the Dominion War a mysterious alien species, the Watraii, begins attacking the Romulan Star Empire and vows to destroy it. The war-depleted resources of the Federation and its allies prevent them from helping. Ambassador Spock, his wife Captain Saavik, Starfleet Intelligence Chief Admiral Uhura, Admiral Chekov, two Klingon renegades, and several others defy orders to give aid to the Romulans.

The identity of the Watraii may be linked to the shared past of Vulcan and Romulus: The Sundering, when a group of Vulcans left their planet in generation ships thousands of years ago. An artifact has been acquired that may hold the key.

This trilogy is the story of The Romulans and how they came to be. The book rotates between chapters titled “Then” and “Now.”

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Now:

There is a diplomatic meeting where many names are dropped where many people we know are in attendance: Tekeny Ghemor, Gul Macet, Senator Pardek, T’Pel…

Spock and Saavik are married. Saavik is a Starfleet captain. Sexy talk between Spock and Saavik makes me feel squicky.

The Watraii wear ceremonial masks, have never been heard from before, and cannot be identified.

The Head of the Romulan Office of Homeland Peace is Charvanek, the Romulan Commander seduced by Spock in “The Enterprise Incident.” She is part of the plan to aid the RSE.

Admiral Pavel Chekov has an accent. He has been in Starfleet for over a century. Do Russians in real life REALLY switch around their Vs and Ws? ‘Cause that makes no sense. He doesn’t say his own name as Pawel Chekow. And why switch the sounds if you can make them both?

My research tells me the Russian language doesn’t really have a W. So they often pronounce it with a V sound, but not the transverse. Exactly.

Chekov’s accent is written so heavily it is ridiculous. He sounds like an idiot. We know he has an accent. Please stop trying to write it.

Anyway, Adm. ChekoV served in the Dominion War. He had been teaching at the Academy until then.

I wonder which Saavik Spock married?

Saavik’s ship leads a fleet of renegades of all races who go to the aid of the Romulans. Before she defies orders, Saavik asks her crew if they want to leave without dishonor. They vote to stay with their captain. I think it’s supposed to be moving but it is a worn out trope, as is defying Starfleet. If Starfleet is always wrong, why be in the organization at all?

One of the renegade Klingon captains is named in the style of “The Final Reflection” Klingon culture. The other is named in the style of “The Next Generation.”

The usual threats from Starfleet about court-martial; the usual thumb-of-nosing.

How can one’s “Romulan side” feel anything about anything? I seriously despise the idea that a mixed background provides for warring emotions. Of course, my Irish side prefers to stay out of the argument.

Is it kinda icky that Spock raised Saavik and then married her? That she helped him through his first mindless Pon Farr and then married him? Anyway.

Saying that “there is no logic” in another race’s behavior seems a bit like crying “no fair!” and is not very IDIC.

Sock makes a giant leap—of not even logic, just a giant leap—and decides the Watraii have something to do with The Sundering.

Spock believes suicide is never logical. How does he explain his actions during “The Wrath of Khan?”

Say “back in reality” again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say “back in reality” one more Goddamn time!

After the short and pointless space battle, there is a lot of beaming around between enemy ships. Where are everyone’s shields?

Chekov is caught in one of the enemy beams. Spock attempts to interfere with the beamout and then believes Chekov has died in a transporter malfunction.

Then:

80 years after the Exodus, the travelers consider themselves exiles and believe Vulcan has been destroyed. Karatek remembers:

Surak is reviving the ancient hand greeting. He wants to wage peace* on a planet where war is a way of life because resources have always been scarce.

*take note of ‘wage peace.’ I assure you, you will detest the phrase before the trilogy is finished.

Vulcan has one sea and it is extremely polluted. Radiation decontamination is a way of life.

Surak proposes generation ships as a guarantee that even if they fail to wage peace and destroy the planet, the Vulcan race will continue.

Surak says “yield to the logic of the situation” often. Another phrase you will never want to hear again.

The ‘Vestal Virgins’ of Mt. Seleya are anything but. They are The Unbonded and step in for mateless males in Pon Farr. They are also healers. They give Surak a telepathic recorder in the shape of a crown.

Sarissa and Solar are Karatek’s adopted children. I don’t know the names of his older, biological children because we never ever spend any time with them.

20 years later, Karatek and his family wait to board a shuttle that will take them to one of the generation ships. Most of the immigrants are followers of Surak. Vulcan is right on the verge of a Civil War and there are many protestors, terrorists, raiders, etc. at the boarding site.

The shuttles must take off to avoid destruction. In the chaos, the boarding plans fall apart and some people are left behind while others are accidently included. Because of this, the generation ships have separated families and united enemies. Which I don’t understand because they were shuttles and once out of danger, why not regroup?

Surak, who had elected to stay behind and wage peace, is killed in the melee.

What color is teal green enough to hint at femininity?

Karatek mourns and whines and pules about being exiled. But he chose to go. Is it an exile if you chose to leave?

I’m going to Vulcan Nerve Pinch the next person who says ‘yield to the logic of the situation.’

I don’t know why they can’t pack the accidental passengers onto a shuttle and send them back to Vulcan.

WTF:

“Yield to the logic of the situation.”

Cannonball Read

“Spock’s World”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #37

by Diane Duane

“Vulcan has no moon…it has a nightmare.”

Ambassador Sarek is being recalled to his home planet. Vulcan is considering seceding from the United Federation of Planets. T’Pau, the Eldest Mother of Sarek’s House, has ordered him to speak in favor of the secession. Spock is also called home to testify in the hearings, as are Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy.

The Vulcan groups who want to secede claim the overt emotions and brashness of Humans are dangerous to the development of Vulcans, a variation on the idea of the prime directive. McCoy does some detective work and discovers that Spock’s ex-betrothed, T’Pring, is behind the movement. The secession is voted down.

T’Pau dies of old age and passes her katra to the Lady Amanda, making Amanda Eldest Mother of the House, and symbolically uniting Vulcans and Humans.

Alternating chapters are devoted to the history of Vulcan, from the Big Bang to the ‘present.’ It sounds dull, but it is fascinating and poetic and exciting—it is Vulcan.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Vulcans do not lack emotions. They master their passions.

They do not practice logic, but cthia, ‘reality-truth’—seeing what is real, instead of what we want to be real. A mistranslation of the word cthia resulted in the misperception that Vulcans revere logic. Amanda was partially responsible for this mistranslation while she was working on one of the early versions of the Universal Translator.

The purpose of speech is to describe the world. That’s why Vulcans dislike lying: lying perverts the purpose of speech.

Words are important.

So far in all these books, we are never given the Vulcans’ own name for their planet or themselves. We come close here: ah’Hrak means The Forge. It is how many Vulcans refer to their planet.

Here’s Lt. Naraht!

Uhura is working on her doctoral thesis: improving Universal Translator theory.

Here’s Lt. Harb Tanzer! And K’s’t’lk! Ambassador Sarek and the Lady Amanda are also aboard for the trip to Vulcan.

Proto-internet! So effing cool! Along with concerns over protecting anonymity and copyright concerns.

T’Pring is crazy. She is solipsism personified. She can always logic her way into believing she is in the right.

Surak is Jesus for Vulcans. In the internet age.

WTF:

“Stonn died. I was not entirely displeased. But then as time passed, I came to realize that once again you had robbed me, you and your captain…Once again I did not have my desire, and once again it was your fault. So I decided to take from you such things as you had taken from me: your future life, your captain, and anything else I could manage that could cause you such pain as you have caused me.”

Cannonball Read

“The Empty Chair”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #36

by Diane Duane

“In memory of Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Mark Lenard.”

War has been declared between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire. A Romulan civil war seems likely. Kirk and crew assist Ael and crew in support of the rebellion, which causes Kirk’s superiors to believe he has ‘gone native.’ They begin to plan his destruction. The Romulans launch a WMD at Earth. Ael, Kirk, and crew save the day.

Diane Duane is possibly my favorite Star Trek author. It feels almost sacrilegious to say it, but this book is tedious and illogical. It feels like it was written without love, simply to tie up the Rihannsu storyline. Further research shows Ms. Duane suffered health problems which delayed the writing of the novel. That may explain the disconnect.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Chekov and Sulu pounce on their controls a lot.

Pages 1-30 are about battle preparation: planning, strategy, logistics, and all the other minutiae and nuances involved in the art of spilling blood. I realize that in reality there must be endless prep for battle, but reading 30 pages of it is just tiring.

Pages 31-68 describe the battle in space.

I begin to be bothered by Kirk’s role in the Romulan Revolution. Regime Change.

The Romulan rebels have 3 generation ships, built to support 380,000 people who wish to withdraw from the RSE. I’m not sure where they got the means to build these ships, since they are rebelling because they are over-taxed and under-represented.

Why is Kirk the admiral of the Romulan rebellion fleet? I’d want to control my own fleet.

Besides being a miracle worker, Scotty is truly a genius engineer.

Enterprise’s recreation computer, Moira, makes me think of SIRI.

Kirk calls the Engineering crew “Scotty’s Kids.”

McCoy has Tarot cards and knows how to use them. He reads Ael.

And now I just start feeling like I’m reading filler.

I begin to tire of Arrhae and her ‘startle! settle’ mode.

Ael, Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, K’s’t’lk, and Scotty play poker with the Tarot deck. Spock watches. Then they play fizzbin. I don’t even know…

I’m tired of reading about pre-battle jitters, post-battle recapping, the loneliness of command, and trusting no one.

I think the Bloodwing surgeon is a traitor and it’s been telegraphed clumsily.

Nailed it.

“Cut off the head; the body will die.” Has been said at least 3 times now.

I’m tired of reading battle tactic discussions and have started skipping larges swaths of battle planning paragraphs.

I find Arrhae’s promotion from housekeeper to Senator unlikely, especially with no vetting, which would have revealed she is a human agent.

Kirk changes his tunic OFTEN. I’m starting to think my beloved Captain Kirk stinks.

The WMD is a nova bomb which will destroy Sol, earth’s star. Our crew links Eisn, the Romulan star, to Sol counteract the nova bomb. I have no clue what I just said. But now Eisn and Sol are connected.

Sol sings and dances… … …

I STILL don’t know why the Romulans are letting Kirk wage their war for them.

Heretical thoughts:

The ending is sudden, cheesy, and overdone. Arrhae, the Federation-spy-turned-Romulan-Senator leads the call to make Ael Empress. She asks Kirk what he thinks. He says yes, and so she accepts. Spock ‘crowns’ her by giving her his sword. All the Romulans stand around and cheer this usurpation of their victory.

Ael predicts the rise of the Next Generation-type Romulans after her death.

Kirk and Ael kiss goodbye.

ETC:

“Acknowledgements: D.C. Fontana, David Stern, Kevin Ryan, John Ordover, Marco Palmieri, Keith DeCandido, Mimi Panitch.”

Brave New Book Blog

“Honor Blade”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #35

by Diane Duane

“Life needs language to understand itself, and the more language, the better.”

A direct sequel to Swordhunt, beginning only moments after Swordhunt ended. They really should have been combined into one book and trimmed down.

The Romulan Colony Worlds are beginning to rebel against the treatment from the Hearth Worlds. Many in the Romulan government refuse to see the unrest and think more control will subdue it. They turn to the Klingons to terrorize the colony worlds. The Colony worlds threaten another Sundering if they not given their freedom. Ael and the sword are rallying symbols.

The Romulans sneak a 7^th ship into the diplomatic conference with the Federation. That 7^th ship holds a mysterious ‘package.’

Despite heroic efforts by Kirk, Ael, diplomats, and Starfleet, understanding cannot be reached. The Federation declares war on the Romulan Star Empire.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Ambassador Robert Fox from Eminiar 7 is one of the Federation diplomats.

Sam Cogley is one of the negotiators with Ambassador Fox’s group. He’s the in case Ael claims asylum within the Federation.

Kirk isn’t the only daring, heroic, intelligent captain in Starfleet. And that is GOOD.

Sulu proves again he’s the best pilot in the fleet, chasing down torpedoes fired in an attempt to start the war.

Chekov proves his marksmanship by destroying said torpedoes.

McCoy performs heart surgery on one of the Romulan Praetors, assisted by Dr. M’Benga. There is an interminable description of the life-saving surgery.

WTF:

“We may or may not be a breed apart, but when starship commanders go off the rails, we do it spectacularly.”

Cannonball Read

“Swordhunt”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #34

by Diane Duane

“Fvillhaih Ellannahel t’Rihannsu”

( Speaking Rihannsu is like whispering: few hard sounds.)

It is two months after the events of “The Romulan Way” and Ael and the crew of Bloodwing remain in exile in Federation space with little hope of going home. The Romulan government will do whatever it takes to get back the sword Ael took with her; war with the Federation looms.

The Klingons sit on the sidelines, observing. If they ally with the Romulans, it will be mutual assured destruction. The Federation can beat the Romulans in a decades-long war; they would be victorious but severely weakened. The Klingons could then swoop in and destroy the Federation.

The Romulans gravely misunderstand the motives of the Federation and mistake reticence for cowardice/weakness. They may therefore overreach themselves. They tell the Federation 1) Give us Ael and the Sword, or 2) allow us in your space to search for her, or 3) War. They have an untested WMD.

Enterprise heads for the Romulan Neutral Zone, attempting to discover how to combat the Sunseed Weapon.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Kirk considers Ael his equal and a worthy opponent.

Ael’s first officer and doctor are women—they are a distaff version of Enterprise’s Big 3.

Lieutenant Naraht (the Horta) is now HUGE.

K’t’lk’s daughter/self/reincarnation/you kinda have to have been there is aboard: K’s’t’lk. She is doing research on how to stop Sunseed.

3^rd book in, and I think I’m finally understanding Rihannsu naming conventions.

Forced relocations are occurring on Romulan colony worlds. In this case, the descendants of the ship clans are the Jewish people.

Arrhae, now a Senator on ch’Rihan, is assigned to go on the diplomatic mission to the Federation as a kind of spy. A spy within a spy.

Klingons named Kelg and Kurgad drink bloodwine and snarl at one another while waiting to meet K’hemren.

Everyone thinks Kirk and Ael are lovers. Of course they do. Why wouldn’t they?

Ms. Duane’s Star Trek Universe aligns with the one in “The Final Reflection.”

Kirk and Ael simply sit together and enjoy the downtime before the next battle. Harb Tanzer joins them for a brief cameo.

WTF:

No quote. A question. A great deal is made about Rihannsu citizens being watched at all times. Who watches? And how? I mean, yes, I get that security watches through hidden cameras. But wouldn’t you have to have a 1:1 ratio, or maybe a 2:1 so the watchers could actually rest while watching? And who watches them? And how does anyone get anything done, because it would take the entire population to watch one another. Wouldn’t it?

Cannonball Read

“The Romulan Way”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #33

by Diane Duane

“You have sold honor for power. You have sold what a Rihannsu used to be for what a Klingon thinks a Rihannsu ought to. You have sold your names, you have sold everything that mattered about this world – the nobility, the striving to be something right – for the sake of being feared in nearby spaces. You have sold the open dealing of your noble ancestors for plots and intrigues that cannot stand the light of day, and sold your courage for expediency. Your foremothers would put their burned bones back together and come haunting you if they could. But they cannot. So I have.”

A comment made by idiosynchronic has sparked an idea. He said, “I’d have problems reading Vulcan’s Soul, I think. I’m pretty entrenched into Diane Duane’s Vulcan pre-history, and that’s a pretty high standard to meet or exceed.” I want to know how well the Duane and Sherman/Schwartz backstories mesh.  So I am taking a Vulcan/Romulan diversion from my chronological schedule.  I’ll be reading Duane’s Rihannsu series and books about Vulcan by Duane, A.C. Crispin, and D.C. Fontana herself.  I will follow with the “Vulcan’s Soul” series by Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwatz.  Then we will return to our regular schedule, having become Rihannsu Historical scholars.

How did the Romulans become the Romulans? “The Romulan Way”  is the story of The Sundering: the history of the Romulan culture, how and why they split off from the Vulcans at the time of Surak, how they found their new homeworlds and formed their own culture.  During their journey, the Romulans change their language and social structure and become Rihannsu.

In the ‘present,’ Arrhae ir-Mnaeha T’Khellian is the head servant in the household of a mid-level Romulan Praetor. She is also Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto, a deep-undercover agent who has lived on the Romulan homeworld for 8 years.  She has recently failed to report and McCoy is sent in to check on her. The historical text is from her writing and research.

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

Language shapes thinking; words are important.

80,000 Vulcans left Pre-unification Vulcan in 16 ships.  450 years later 18,000 Rihannsu arrived at their new home in 5 ships. The Eisn system was literally their final chance.

The 80,000 call themselves “the Declared” (rihan) and they leave Vulcan because they object to the pacifistic ways of Surak. The disagreement is so passionate it may end Vulcan society forever.

The journey lasts 450 years in real-time, but only 85 relativistically.  Many who began the journey saw the end of it. Others died from diseases, mutations, and when ships were lost in disasters. Many were born along the way.

More die on the planets from disease and war. They nearly wipe themselves out.

Rihannsu fourth names are like internet identities.  They are self-chosen and shared only with special people.

The ‘present’ story occurs 8 years after the theft of the Cloaking Device in “The Enterprise Incident” and 1 year after the events of “My Enemy, My Ally.”

Ensign Naraht (the Horta) is now a Lieutenant and accompanies McCoy on the mission.

McCoy’s use of the Rihannsu ‘Right of Statement’ to filibuster his execution is wonderful and completely in character.  McCoy has never been a physical character, and here he gets to show off his excellent wit and intelligence.

Ael rescues McCoy and takes the Sword from the Empty Chair.  The sword is a beloved symbol of the founding of Rihannsu.

Arrhae/Terise elects to stay on ch’Rihan. She is given a message for the Rihannsu:  “If they’ll listen, tell them that the rest of the family is waiting.”

etc:

“A people who have come to speak an artificial language will naturally be preoccupied with the meanings of words and names.”

Cannonball Read

“My Enemy, My Ally”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #32

by Diane Duane

“As if you could chop a mind in half, like an apple.  He’s one whole being—a Spock—and the sooner you armchair shrinks get that through your heads, the better you’ll be able to deal with him.”—McCoy, regarding the behavior of Spock’s Human and Vulcan ‘halves.’

Romulan commander Ael i-Mhiessan t’Rllaillieu discovers her government is kidnapping Vulcans so they can harness their mind power through genetic experimentation and developing galactic WMDs.  Ael decides mnhei’sahe—honor—demands she cannot support her Empire’s actions. She enlists Kirk and crew to put a stop to it. Together they must destroy the research laboratory and free the captive Vulcans. However, in order to get into the Romulan Empire, Kirk must allow Enterprise to be ‘captured.’ 

Greg Price, at goodreads says:  “This book (the entire “Bloodwing” series, really) is IMO the definitive EU examination of the Romulans. Written before TNG, the early books draw their cues from the depiction of the Romulans in the classic series episode “Balance of Terror”. Both the honorable and worthy Romulus of old and the scheming, power-hungry “new Romulus” (that would come to dominate in TNG) draw their origins from this ep.”

Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:

The Romulan homeworlds are ch’Rihan and ch’Havran The star is Eisn.  They call themselves Rihannsu.

My spellcheck detests the prior sentence.

Yay!  We’re back in Lt. Harb Tanzer’s rec deck!  And here’s Mr. Tanzer himself!

Chapel is in the middle of her doctoral dissertation.

Uhura anticipates Kirk’s commands because she knows him so well and has things prepared for him before he asks for them.

The Vulcan race is the parent of the Rihannsu one.

Rihannsu ships are HEs.

Words and names are very important to the Rihannsu.

Ensign Naraht is a Horta, the son of the one we met in “The Devil in the Dark.”  They mature very quickly and he’s already an adult, a biomathematican in Starfleet, assigned to Enterprise.

Ael is tiny.  She’s me-sized. She is worried not only for the honor of the Rihannsu Empire, but its survival.

The Rihannsu left Vulcan in generation ships centuries before.  The Empire as a whole is rather poor and very xenophobic.

Ael’s son betrays her and attempts to take over Enterprise after she, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the research station. No worries though: Cmdr Scott is still aboard and NOBODY messes with his girl!

The assault on the research station is nails-biting exciting! The following starship battle, ditto!

I want to know what ‘Jim’ means in Rihannsu!

etc:

“Hate has a reason for everything.  But love is unreasonable.”

Cannoball Read