Review ~ Aug. 22, 2021

We have a rule in my house. If you buy a book and then get rid of it and then end up buying it again for whatever reason, it’s earned a permanent place on the shelves and will never be donated again. “Shadows On The Sun” by Michael Jan Friedman will now be on my shelves for the long haul. It was the unfortunate victim of a massive book purge seven to eight years ago and then at the recommendation of an rp partner, I ordered another copy. I can’t honestly tell you why I got rid of it in the first place. It was a Star Trek first edition hardback by one of my favorite authors featuring a character I love and adore. Because I didn’t keep it originally, I’m not including it in my “Fictionally Speaking” series.

But here it is. And what a fantastic book is it. “Shadows On The Sun” is told in three parts and with the exception of the first, each could almost be standalone stories. Set post-Star Trek VI, on their way to be decommissioned, the crew of the Enterprise is sent on one last mission. They’re sent to Ssan, where the top governors have recently been assassinated. Their mission: To negotiate with the assassins. Along for the ride is a diplomatic envoy consisting of Leonard McCoy’s ex-wife and her current husband. There’s some interesting clash of culture scenes (which seem to be a repeating theme in Friedman’s books) and some philosophical debates revolving around those differences but the real story lies with Leonard McCoy. “Shadows On The Sun” is an opportunity for Bones to come to terms with his relationship with his ex-wife Jocelyn and in many respects come full circle, back to Ssan where he was first assigned and back into the arms (so to speak) of Jocelyn, whom he never stopped loving.

My absolute favorite part of this book actually comes in the acknowledgements before the story ever begins. Friedman comments on the character of Leonard McCoy in a most exceptional way. “It wasn’t until I got older that I realized the mark DeForest Kelley and his character had left on my psyche. Not because McCoy was a doctor necessarily, but because he was a human being in the finest sense of the word. Fallible, ill-tempered on occasion, contrary, and far too vulnerable, but also devoted, tenacious, an courageous… I see these qualities in the best people I know – people who stubbornly hold on to their ideals, people who remain true to a higher principle when they could get away with a lot less.”

Memory Lapse (ST:AOS)

A hell of a headache is waiting for him when he wakes, a hangover worse than any other.  Afternoon fades to evening before a realization slips into his sluggish brain.  He doesn’t smell liquor on his breath and any memory of drinking the day previous is missing.  All of the day is missing.  Fleeting impressions of the past tease him but reaching for them only makes his head throb mercilessly.  The wrongness of it seeps in, washing away his initial assumption.  The misery has settled behind his left eye, scrunched his brow, and traveled straight up and over.  Pulsating pressure.  Unilateral.  Not bilateral.  Definitely not a hangover. 

When Leonard finally opens his eyes, he thinks better of it and immediately closes them again.  What little light there is in the room isn’t helping the headache.  Photosensitivity.  “Jesus,” he groans.

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(x-posted, rp starter)

The Fog (ST:AOS – Leonard McCoy)

Whispered conversations too quiet to fully understand lead him down empty streets. The discord is pierced at irregular intervals by sounds he’s absolutely sure are unrelated. A young girl’s giggling. A high pitched scream that stabs at his eardrums. Water rushing, but not the waves of the ocean. Concentrating on tracking what he can almost hear means he’s failed to recognize what he doesn’t hear, the common sounds that filter into the background. Here there is no background. No insects. No animals. No rustling of the trees. No wind assailing him.

The fog engulfs him from behind, a prickly sensation that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand immediately on end. He pivots, startled by the suddenness of it, and is greeted by white. An unending sea of clouds that reaches around and through him, having no respect for boundaries or the physicality of matter. What should be wonderous is instead a cage without bars. He squints and turns, disoriented, trying to find his path. Any path.

“DADDYYYYYYYY!”

His daughter’s frightened cry is neither ahead nor behind, everywhere present all at once. His eyes fly wide but his feet take him nowhere. Which direction does he travel?

“Joanna!” he calls back. Only to receive no answer.

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X-post from DW. The Village ~ Test Drive post.

Fictionally Speaking – “Star Trek: The New Voyages”

There’s been quite a rise in professionally presented Star Trek fan videos over the past couple years. The most impressive involve fans who happen to be professional actors, who’ve brought their skills to the small screen in hopes of recapturing the magic. Vic Mignogna, Todd Haberkorn, and Christopher Doohan star in “Star Trek Continues” and are without a doubt my favorite of the TOS recreationalists. I’m not ashamed to admit I also had high hopes for Axanar, which it seems is now doomed to remain just a dream in trailer format. A few days ago I stumbled across “Star Trek: New Voyages” (also known as Phase II) which in many episodes featured actors from the original series. This is probably old news to TOS die hard fans. It was the ninth episode that caught my attention, with Brian Gross as Kirk and Brandon Stacy as Spock. The title was “Mind-Shifter”. Where have I heard that name before? Why does this story seem so familiar? It seemed like an old friend because it was based on a short story of the same name by Shirley S. Maiewski. It was the last story featured in a collection of short stories titled “Star Trek: The New Voyages”, published in 1976.

It’s a book I still have on my shelf. It seemed only fitting to dig it out and reread “Mind-Shifter” for a little compare and review. I’d forgotten what a treasure trove the collection is, not necessarily for the stories themselves. Each story is preceded by an introduction by one of the original cast members with a book introduction by Gene Roddenberry himself. Each introduction contains a reflection upon the character they portrayed.

“Mind-Shifter” tells a very unique Kirk oriented story. He’s been captured by the Klingons and subjected to the torture device named the mind-shifter. He escapes through the Guardian of Forever and lands himself on Earth in the 1950s. There, due to the effects of the mind-shifter, he’s declared mentally ill and locked away in an insane asylum. The shifter has made remembering his name and his past physically painful. Over time, he begins to regain his memory and forms a bond with the nurse who’s caring for him. The side story involves the trials and tribulations of Spock and McCoy as they adjust to an Enterprise without their captain and friend. Spock knows Jim is still alive and McCoy believes him dead. This alone causes emotional strife between them. In the end, they’re able to locate, retrieve, and treat him. Like a lot of the other TOS stories I adore, it’s a lovely look at the relationship of the big three.

I’m pleased to say the fan adaptation stays very close to the original story. The nurse is instead a doctor but maintains the appropriate level of attachment to Jim required to make the plot work. The film also incorporates more of a social commentary on the place of women in the medical profession. Given Gene Roddenberry’s frequent inclusion of episodes that addressed social issues or inequalities, I thought it was a good addition to already great story.

How many times have I read ST: The New Voyages? Many times as a kid. I was happy to reread it as an adult.