Star Trek – Sanctuary

‘Fascinating,’ remarked Spock.  ‘Apparently, the purpose of this society is to make people feel welcome.’

Star Trek Sanctuary (1992) (#56 Titan, #61 Pocket) is a novel by Star Trek veteran John Vornholt; he does not disappoint with this installment.  Sanctuary, presses all my buttons.  It’s very well written, multiple narratives, good pacing and dialogue and also, the story itself is unusual.  If I had to try and put a finger on the influences, I’d say it’s a weird hybrid of Brave New World and The Island of Doctor Moreau (it took me a while to pin down why I felt so familiar with the book, there might be something else I’m missing).

The cover, is pretty beautiful but unfortunately doesn’t have the third person of the trinity on it (like the Holy Spirit, McCoy is often forgotten) which is surprising because he is also one of the main players in the story.  It’s also pretty disappointing,  as this painting is really pretty and I would have loved to have seen McCoy rendered with Kirk and Spock here.  That’s just a personal gripe though, it’s just the cover!

The initial premise is deceptively simple.  The Enterprise is in pursuit of a dangerous criminal ‘Auk Rex’, the chase brings them into a sector of space previously unexplored by Starfleet and a planet, previously only considered a myth, called Sanctuary.  This planet is considered the last refuge of the persecuted, renowned amongst the criminal underworld.  Auk Rex flees to the planet, closely pursued in a shuttlecraft by Kirk, Spock & McCoy.

Upon entering the atmosphere of Sanctuary, communications are lost, however Kirk continues the high speed chase with Auk Rex, until finally the pirate crashes into the mountain side, ejecting escape pods at the last moment.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy land their shuttle in an effort to look for survivors, however, after searching for the rest of the day, it appears that Auk Rex has, for the time being, escaped.  Returning to the shuttle’s landing site, they find that it has vanished.  A white robed figure greets them – Zicree – and introduces himself as a ‘Senite’, a race of androgynous beings who inhabit Sanctuary.  Although initially pleasant, even in its refusal to return their shuttle to them, it soon becomes hostile when it learns that the landing party are Persecutors, and not the Persecuted and promptly disappears.

Meanwhile Scotty, who has been left in charge of the Enterprise in Kirk and Spock’s absence is contacted by an old Klingon commander whose ship is one of several orbiting Sanctuary.  The Klingon commander informs Scotty that the landing party is lost to them, since there is an impenetrable shield surrounding the planet which allows no communication or ship back through.  Scotty is shocked to hear that Kirk, Spock & McCoy are stranded on Sanctuary, but bluffs, trying not to let the Klingon commander know how ignorant the Enterprise crew are of the situation.  The Enterprise maintains orbit with the Klingon ship and the other bounty hunters.

Vornholt manages to maintain two interesting narratives.  One is the narrative on the surface of the planet with Kirk, Spock & McCoy, and the other is up on the Enterprise with Scotty in command;  I think this is where Sanctuary is head and shoulders above Ice Trap.  Vornholt manages to weave an interesting narrative for the stationary Enterprise while its commanding officers are absent and the action is else where.  In Ice Trap  the Enterprise is cut off from contact with the landing teams due to electrical interference, which is very similar to Sanctuary however, Ice Trap does not give us any insight to the drama or work being done in orbit, there is not the slightest bit of narrative.

I rather liked Scotty’s story.  We get to see him playing the diplomat and building relationships with a Klingon commander and a female bounty hunter, and trying to give Kirk, Spock & McCoy enough time to find a way back while Starfleet is trying to call the Enterprise away to another mission, accepting that the landing party is lost.  This part of the story just gave the whole situation more urgency and also allowed Scotty to have some much needed attention.

The main narrative, as I mentioned before, ticked all my boxes for an enjoyable read.  I can tell you that for once, I didn’t expect the shocking reveal.  I feel like I really should have, because the narrative is so familiar, which makes it pretty frustrating!

The events of the novel do actually take some time, perhaps about a week in total (without reading it again and making a note of the days passing, I can’t say for sure) as there is a lot of time lost travelling from point to point and it takes some time for the landing party to get their bearings.  During the course of the novel we meet several different groups of people living in their own communities: the wildmen in the mountains, the isolationists, the revellers on the coast, the ‘intellectuals and women’ on their idyllic island, the Senites and the pioneers at the ship graveyard.  Each group either accepts of rejects the hedonistic ideals of Sanctuary; this is where I get the biggest jolt of familiarity.  If you’ve read Brave New World you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

On the surface Sanctuary is the perfect… sanctuary, in that, not only are the people who flee there permanently free from their persecutors, but they are also cared for by a, for want of a better word, monastic cult who don’t appear to want any payment in return for their services and aid.  Those who have sought sanctuary are encouraged to live a hedonistic lifestyle, the Senites even provide themselves as prostitutes to sate the predominantly male population of Sanctuary (at the coast).   The Senites use pleasure and hedonism and consumption to stop their charges from thinking. However, Kirk, Spock & McCoy do meet other groups who do no trust the Senites.  The first group is a small group of criminals who reject the Senite hospitality and prefer to live their lives in the mountains, keeping to themselves.  Another group are isolationists, who refuse contact with those outside their hidden community.  There is also another group which get skimmed off by the Senites, all women and intellectuals who perhaps are seeking political asylum or are born on the planet live in comfort on an island which also the location of the Senite monastry.  Finally, there is a group of people living away from society in the ‘ship graveyard’ who live to try to find a way to escape Sanctuary, using the husks of ships they are left with after the Senites remove essential components.

The big twist (skip this paragraph if you don’t want spoilers) is that the Senites, drug and then process the criminals in order to ‘reproduce’.  They can’t reproduce themselves, so they physically alter the criminals, castrating them, chemically and genetically altering them to create the illusion of unity, or a species.  They also brainwash them so they all think the same too.  Any individual too unlike themselves gets terminated during processing.  The processing plant is a particularly harrowing situation, especially since our three favourite officers are completely dependant on outside help.  The whole idea of this processing plant really disturbs me, and I couldn’t help thinking how utterly miserable Kirk would be post castration (and I doubt any brainwashing would work on him anyway!).  The scenes from the Senite factory, really are horror material and stick in my mind most vividly.  Sensationalist, yes.  Enjoyable (in a macabre way)? Certainly.

This processing of sentient beings and the stratification of the society based on intellectual ability, the travelling from society to society together with the hedonism and consumerist ideology is why I associate this instalment so strongly with Brave New World.  The horrendous events in the Senite factory makes me think of The Island of Doctor Moreau, and the vivisection of the animals, making them something other than they are.

All the characters a brilliantly written,  Kirk, Spock & McCoy are all on point, as is Scotty.  The new characters introduced all have a life of their own; I couldn’t help liking the Klingon commander or Billiwog or Renna or really disliking the Senites!  There are of course many more, there are a lot of characters introduced, sometimes for only a short while but all pretty believable.  Even each Senite retains a little bit of personality and you can’t help but laugh at their frustration at Kirk, Spock & McCoy.

I could just keep going but I’d end up forensically analysing this book and killing it for anyone else.  I can’t really fault it, it’s good fun, it’s interesting and worth the time spent reading it (and in my case, reviewing it),  Just read the book, go now and get it, before I start nattering again.  Shoo!

Essential shelf addition – 5/5 

Star Trek – Killing Time

“Let us understand one another, ensign Kirk,” Spock Began…

Before we begin proper, I want you to understand a couple of things.  I love this book.  I love it for its utter absurdity.  I love it for its blatant slash pairing.  I love its clunky dialogue, it’s overly romantic descriptions and it’s not so subtle expectation for you to read between the lines; ok, not so much ‘read between the lines’ as read the neon lights.

I also love the controversy of how this book came to be printed, how many of the original printings were recalled destroyed, or how furious Gene is said to have been when he realised that all the edits which had been made (over 50 in total) had been completely ignored and thus, this beautifully slashy monster had found its way to the shelves. Read more here.

Killing Time by Della Van Hise is that wonderful monster and I can tell you here at the beginning it is getting two ratings: 1/5 and 5/5.  The story is a nonsensical romp, the writing at times, ridiculous (you’d be forgiven if you had to check the cover to make sure you weren’t reading Mills & Boon), and the slash so thinly veiled that it would make your grandmother blush.  However, despite it’s seeming lack of quality, I just can’t hate it.  In fact, this sincere, unabashed labour of love wins me over totally.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m picky when it comes to books, but occasionally a spectacularly bad book can win me over, and Killing Time is one of those books.  You know the phrase ‘it’s so bad it’s good’?  I have been known to describe Killing Time as ‘pure gold’, ‘genius’, ‘utterly hilarious’, perhaps I’m just Hise’s intended audience?  Unfortunately, I don’t have a first edition copy (mine is the first revised edition…), but I’m working on it! List of changes between the two editions.

So… give me a brief overview?

You’ve got it!  The novel is initially pretty slow to start in comparison to many of the other TOS novels from the period, which is actually pretty nice.  We’re introduced to a couple of new characters, Richardson (a human) and S’Parva (a telepathic dog like race ‘body of a goddess, face of an irish setter’).  These two new characters are well developed and are more important than characters like Sulu or Uhura who fall to the wayside somewhat.  We also learn that Enterprise crew are having strange dreams in which they feel slightly displaced.  These dreams turn out to be ‘second history’ asserting itself, until finally, ‘first history’ finally gives way and is replaced by ‘second history’, with disastrous consequences.

It’s the mirror universe then?

No, it isn’t the mirror universe, it’s the ‘second history’ of the prime universe.  It would be interesting to find out how the mirror universe would be affected by ‘second history’ though… I digress.

It turns out that the Vulcans are the dominant species in the Federation, the Enterprise is now the Shikahr and Spock is the captain!  Kirk on the other hand has been relegated to the position of ensign!

The alteration of the timeline hasn’t gone smoothly however, and the disparity between first and second history is causing those whose second history life is too disparate from their original life to go mad!  Those who fulfil the same role in both histories do not appear to develop the madness, or at least at the same rate.  McCoy and Uhura fulfil the same roles, and are not plagued by dreams.

Ok, so who are the big bads, and how did they do it?

The Romulans, it was the Romulans.  They sent (*android*) agents back in time and killed the men  who would lay the foundations for the Federation as it stands in first history.  The ships involved in this operation are unchanged by the displacement and those on board retain their full memory of first history.  They did it by travelling at warp ten and slingshotting around the sun, causing them to be able to move backwards (and it seems, forward) in time.

Of course it was the Romulans.

ANYWAY.  Kirk and Spock need to confess their undying love remember their friendship and save the galaxy from madness and destruction, they do this by teaming up with ‘Romeo’ Richardson and the psychic dog woman.  McCoy is also essential, because he has to um… give medical advice and uh… give support to Captain Spock who is suffering from Pon Farr… (the time line is different, so Spock is going through Pon Farr at a different time… for MAXIMUM drama and sexual tension).

Anything else I should know?

The Romulan Praetor is female and has the hots for Spock.  She actually temporarily bonds with him and uh… solves his pon farr problem.  Additionally, the Romulans appear to be a patriarchy, nobody knows the Praetor is female and she has kinky male slaves?

Honestly, I don’t want to spoil TOO much, it’s better to read this beauteous piece of slash fanfiction yourself.

Spock as captain of the Shikahr appears to command well, quite unlike in the series, although his own introspection reveals he is not confident of his abilities (despite logically, being perfectly capable).  He feels that he would do better in a supporting role to someone else… someone like Kirk who, in a twist of fate is a conscripted ensign on the ShiKahr.  Kirk is a troubled drug addict who, it seems, was framed for the murder of a Vulcan instructor at the academy.  He was interrogated using the now banned Talos device (coincidentally… Spock tried it on himself and was so horrified by it that he lobbied for it to be banned), which has left him mentally vulnerable and he was later imprisoned in terrible conditions on earth.

Spock and Kirk dream of each other constantly.  They have a permanent mental link, which isn’t even severed when second history asserts itself.  Before second history Spock meets his Kirk, he dreams of him and calls him T’lema – he who walks in dreams as well as wondering whether this unknown human was in fact his T’hy’la – friend, brother, lover.  The images he sees in his mind’s eye are quite romantic –

‘firm features, tanned flesh, expressive hazel eyes, and a compelling human grin.  Single lock of gold-bronze hair falling to the middle of a high forehead.  Still… a stranger.  A man who inhabited dreams’.

Later –

‘There was no mistaking the intense hazel eyes, the almost defiant stance, the muscled body, the lock of errant hair which fell into the middle of the human’s forehead’.

Spock, surprisingly is the main instigator of their relationship, and it seems the most emotionally affected.  Second history Kirk and his experience of the Talos Device have left him unable to trust his own mind, which essentially strips away a defining portion of Kirk’s character.  Kirk discounts his dreams and visions as lingering effects of the mind probing device and chides himself for giving in to delusions of grandeur.  I’m going to come back to ‘romantic’ but this time I’m going to use a capital ‘R’.  The premise of the book is ultimately a ‘Romantic’ one; the natural order and pure feeling of the universe will assert itself.  In any universe, Kirk must be on the Enterprise, Spock must be partnered with Kirk; they are the linchpins of the galaxy’s natural law.  Kirk is a dissociated, Byronic hero, dark, mysterious and brooding (initially, he becomes a Romantic hero later), while Spock is his Romantic counterpart.

Perhaps I’m giving this too much thought.

The most, I don’t know, shocking event in this entire travesty is the rape mind meld scene where Spock simply can’t help himself and penetrates invades the mind of the sleeping (he was asking for it) Kirk.  This pretty much completely goes against Vulcan ethics on mind melds, since it should only be carried out between willing participants, or at least, they should be awake.  However here Kirk is watched while he sleeps, and then mentally invaded by Spock.  It’s not consensual although femme Kirk appears to accept the assault as acceptable after all, he is mad.  After this event, Kirk starts to regain himself and starts to become the Captain we know, with the occasional aggressive outburst.  Without spoiling too much Kirk and Spock retain a strong psychic link even with a couple of solar systems between them… and towards the end of the book we get some very slashy moments… and this is even in the revised edition…  So much Spirk.

The Romulans are quite strangely presented, I won’t go into it too much, but they are presented as being a patriarchy while in canon they are pretty egalitarian.  While Van Hise obviously likes the slash pairing of Spirk, she also enjoys the idea of female empowerment and fooling the male Romulans – which is one of the reasons the Praetor is so interested in Spock.  I can’t help but think that she has put herself in the position of the Romulan Praetor, and writing some serious wish fulfillment.

Richardson and S’Parva… Furry representation.  You’ve got to love it.  They are there to help explain the two histories as S’Parva is able to guide Richardson in his dreams about first history.  There is also a very awkward ‘don’t go to the light’ type scene.

I could go on.  But I think I’ll end it here.  The revised editions are easy to get hold of, and I sincerely recommend this utter tripe fantastic addition to the Star Trek novel series, whether you are into slash or not.

If you are a fan of slash, boys love, gay fiction, you need to read this.  Kirk and Spock are the first really mainstream slash couple, slash’s original meaning was KirkxSpock this is part of gay fiction history.

If you’re not a fan, read it and give thanks that after this volume, they kept a closer eye on the non-canon novels.

Highly Recommended – if nothing else it’s a good laugh, at best it’s an accidental work of genius.

1/5 & 5/5.