Trek Novels – Star Trek: Heart of the Sun

Well, it’s about time I get back to talking about some novels especially since I'm on days for a bit. While next month will have more of a overall scifi feel, I still want to look at some Trek novels. I wanted to go on and get this one out of the way first. Star Trek: Heart of the Sun was published in 1997. I’ve actually have had this book for years. Someone got it for me for Christmas one year. I don’t know if it was my mom or grandmother. I did try to read it a few years ago, but it fell over to the wayside. Since I’ve had it for almost two decades, it was finally time to finish it.

The authors are Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski. They’ve both written novels in the scifi genre. The two have also teamed up other Star Trek novels. One of them even centered on the Garth of Izar. Sargent is a pretty well-known feminist which explains one character in the novel. That’s not a complaint on the character (Myra was cool) but it was something I noticed when researching her. There is no stardate for the mission (I never understood them anyway), but it looks like it takes place during the first season of TOS. Chekov isn’t around yet and other members like Janice Rand and Lt. Riley are featured here.

Star Trek: Heart of the Sun

Authors: Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski

BRIEF BLURB: While on a mission to the planet, Tyrtaeus II, the Enterprise encounters an asteroid that moves like a ship. The crew and representatives of Tyrtaeus II investigate it as it’s heading for the system’s sun.

Random Pics of the Month - Favorite Vulcans

I might as well go back to Star Trek for some random pics. This time, they'll be my favorite Vulcans from the franchise. When looking back over it all, there are really only a few that I could call cool. Even when Star Trek: Enterprise had a buttload of Vulcans, only two or three were actually decent since the rest were were quite annoying. If you're wondering why Sybok isn't on here, just guess. If there is one thing I do wonder one thing: why do they all have the same haircut? Is it logical or something?

1. Spock (TOS) - No duh. He was truly the best.

2. Sarek (TOS) - It's the father of Spock. You know he has to get the next spot.

4. Tuvok (Voyager) - The brothas' have to represent. Besides, I wasn't putting that other Vulcan from the show here.

3. T'Pol (Enterprise) - Look, I'm not just putting here here because she's attractive either. It did take a while, but my likeness for her grew over the four seasons.

5. Saavik (TOS movies) - There's not much to say about here, but she was cool in the movies.

6. Soval (Enterprise) - While he did start out douchey, he did come around in the fourth season.

7. T'Pau (TOS) - I'm not talking about the 80's British group either. She was cool for an old woman.

Well, I'm out. I'll leave you something that might make you laugh.

Weird Star Trek Eps. - Amok Time aka "Spock Loses His Mind... and is Hot and Bothered!!!"

Well, it's official: Microsoft does make it to the 23rd century.

So, why am I talking about this episode in this month? It's so simple. We get to see Spock lay some of that Vulcan-Fu on Kirk! Yes, I'm going with that explanation! There's also the fact this post is a replacement for another one I wanted to do. Unfortunately, that post has to wait. Anyway, this episode is one of those memorable episodes from The Original Series. It's the first episode of the second season and it's the first episode that features Spock's Vulcan (or Vulcanian) culture.

We see that all is not right with Spock when the episode starts. He's irritable, loud, and close to being emotional. McCoy and Kirk find out that Spock might die if he doesn't get back to Vulcan in a few days. After some prodding, Spock secretly tells Kirk about Pon-farr, the reproductive cycle of Vulcans. He has to go back to Vulcan and "be" with his betrothed wife, T'Pring. Kirk decides to break the rules and help Spock get back to Vulcan. Once there, the three (Kirk, Spock, and McCoy) teleport down and we see the ritual commence with the priestess T'Pau over the whole thing.

Kirk: .... Uh... It wasn't me! I've never even touched a Vulcan woman before!

Shockingly, it turns out T'Pring doesn't want to be with Spock which leads to a challenge to the death. She picks Kirk because... she's a cold-blooded witch. Spock, who's ready to hit something, doesn't want to fight Kirk. Still, the fight must commence or Spock will die. Kirk and Spock fight and Spock seemingly kills Kirk. After Spock comes to himself, he tells McCoy to take Kirk back to the ship. He says his goodbyes to his people and then teleports up as well. On the ship, it's revealed that Spock didn't kill Kirk. McCoy gave Kirk a drug that simulated death. After all of this and a little word from T'Pau on Kirk's behalf to Starfleet, the Enterprise heads off to another mission.

This episode is definitely one of this show's best. So much is done right. We get to see a side of Spock that we hadn't see at this point. Even though the first season had Spock getting emotional at times, this took the cake and ran with it. It was awesome. We also hadn't seen any other Vulcans other than Spock till this episode. The planet Vulcan looked pretty cool. The whole ritual was weird and unintentionally funny at times.

And on that day, slash fanfiction was born! Ugh...

I also like that Kirk is really willing to risk everything in order to help his friend. Even McCoy gets some good moments to shine. We also get that awesome fight and that cool fight music. If you haven't seen the episode, then sorry for spoiling something that has been out for 50 years. It's really a good one. It may even be the episode that got me to really like The Original Series. Well, I think my next weird episode will have to be something that isn't critically acclaimed. Peace, God Bless, and "Live long and prosper."

Trek Novels - Star Trek: Sarek

'Sup, guys! Well, it’s another day and another Trek Novel. Yes, it’s back once again. As I said before, I’ll try to do these every-so-often when I read one from my collection or find one that’s worth talking about. Today’s book is a mix of both. About a month ago, I was in Murfreesboro looking around at Outer Limits. I saw this book and read the little blurb in the cover, so I bought it. It took a while to read it but when I got about a quarter into the book, I couldn’t stop reading it. I read it throughout last weekend.

The book is Star Trek: Sarek by A.C. Crispin. I did a little research on the author and it turns out she has done a lot of sci-fi books. She’s done stuff for Star Trek, Star Wars, and even V. I also found out that she just recently passed away, and that kind of made me want me finish the book. The book takes place about a month after the events of Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country. At the end of that movie, The Federation and the Klingon Empire were trying to make peace with one another. Instead of doing a long synopsis that’ll take a while, I’ll just browse over the main plot and mention some things.

Star Trek: Sarek

Author: A.C. Crispin

QUICK BLURB

When tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire are brewing, Ambassador Sarek discovers a shocking conspiracy that involves a very secretive race. He and the Enterprise must deal with this as his wife, Amanda, has passed away. Also, Cadet Peter Kirk, James T. Kirk’s nephew, gets pulled into the Federation/Klingon situation as well.

Trek Novels - Star Trek: Spock's World

This installment of Trek Novels is brought to you by the Vulcan Tourism Agency.

Come to Vulcan. It has everything from Mount Seleya to the Vulcan Science Academy. Come to learn about  the beginnings of Surak and about the way of logic. It is the logical thing to do.

Well, it's been fun reading novels for this month. I know that I have some more Trek novels (and some non-Trek novels) that I want to someday talk about. Today's book is called Star Trek: Spock's World. I picked this up at the book store for $.50, I believe. The things that caught my attention were the cover which looks cool and the little blurb on the back. Of all of the books I have... this one took me a long time to read. The reasons vary from school to other reasons that  I'll list below. The book is written by Diane Duane and I hear that she is no stranger to Star Trek. She has written a lot of Trek novels, some comic books, and she even co-wrote an episode of TNG. Well, with that out of the way, let's see what this book has to offer.

QUICK BLURB
When the planet Vulcan threatens to secede from the Federation, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are called in to keep Vulcan from leaving the Federation. The book also delves into the history of Vulcan.