Having Trouble with McCoy: Provenance of Shadows
- Thread starter Alter Ego
- Start date
Always amazes me how this is hated! I loved it! A few days later I found the Psi Phi bbs and realised I may have been the only one who did enjoy it.
"Genesis Force". It didn't get interesting till Worf and Alexander showed up.
Oh, my... I have to say, I'm firmly on the "gem" side with this one.
(But then, I also like yogurt!
)The only ST book I ever gave up on was one of the Rebels trilogy... don't remember now if it was Book 1 or Book 2. And that's saying something... I even made it all the way through Warped, although I'm not entirely sure how...
It didn't help that it was in English. Cross Cult released all the Double Helix novels. I didn't know that there will be German editions when I read Red Sector. With the German edition (Roter Sektor) I would have been faster at reading. The Stiles character was annoying.
Ship of the Line was slightly better.
Also bad: Ghost-Walker by Barbara Hambly. But I did finish it.
My only problem is that I don't know what "Provenance" means. 
The only one I never finished was [dating myself] The Abode of Life, which had a very basic error from misreading the star charts in the FJ Tech Manual on about page 3 that I recognized at once, confirmed in about a minute, and then laughed scornfully and threw across the room.
I've tried to find the error you're talking about in the text (courtesy of Google Books). Do you mean the part about the inner edge of the Orion Arm being "about 10 kiloparsecs from Starbase 4"? That's certainly an error, but it seems a rather tiny one to abandon a book over. Certainly The Abode of Life has a wealth of problems, but that's far from the worst one.
He was supposed to be, at first. So the other characters could show him his failings and allow him to redeem himself. Which he does, if I recall.
My only problem is that I don't know what "Provenance" means.
* the place of origin or earliest known history of something, "an orange rug of Iranian provenance"
* the beginning of something's existence; something's origin.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Provenance+definition&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
I tend to gloss over all dates, speeds and distances.
It was mistaking the first outpost along the Neutral Zone for Starbase One -- it was obviously because the gap between the spiral arms puts that one a little way away from the others on that map, but the one on the facing page clearly shows that Starbase One is w/in the UFP itself. Mainly it was the fact that it didn't occur to the author that the Feds would hardly build their first frakking starbase halfway across the quadrant on the Romulan border.
Yes, it was a geeky complaint, but seriously? Either don't bother to use the references or use them correctly.
I wouldn't get so mad about it today, but as a wise man once said, "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
You assume that the author, G. Harry Stine (writing as Lee Correy), used the Tech Manual for reference. It may have been changed by an editor, or he may have plucked a number at random.
Well, to be fair, the map itself is confusingly marked; it uses the same hollow dots for both starbases and border outposts, the outpost marked "1" is well removed from the gray "Treaty Zone" area, and there's no other "1" on the map. So it's an easy mistake to make. I made it myself. Maybe you should've been mad at FJ.
No, it's clear from the text that the entire monologue Spock gives on pages 3 and 4 is based on the version of galactic geography presented in the SFTM map. It's more than just that one reference. (And it's interesting to realize that. I'd never actually made the connection before.)
Probably because I lived and breathed the FJ Tech Manual and Connie blueprints for a loooong time growing up. I knew they were speculative, but there wasn't any competition and much of it made sense. So when I read those descriptions Christopher was mentioning, even a few years later, I instantly recognized where it came from and that it didn't sound right. So I pulled out the Manual, checked that I'd been right, and stopped reading lol. As I said, I was more judgmental then, I've mellowed a lot.
And I agree that part of the blame is for the map itself...
...and I have no idea how good or bad the book actually is either.
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I recall being ecstatic when the home video of TMP came out and I realised, for the first time (despite seeing it about seven times in a cinema), that the lines "Scout Columbia NCC-621 to rendezvous with Scout Revere NCC-595 on Stardate 7411.4. Further orders to be relayed at that time. Signed, Commodore Probert, Starfleet. End of transmission..." actually referenced ships from the Tech Manual. And Andy Probert, of course.
While I’m not too crazy about the title of this thread (I, as you well see as you keep reading, did not “have trouble” with this book; the contrary, I enjoyed it very much), this is, from what I can tell, the only thread specifically about Provenance of Shadows already existing on the boards here that I can add my own thoughts to (although it has certainly been referred to many times in various other posts such as “best of”, “City on the Edge of Forever”, etc.)
(Copy of review posted on my Facebook page on 3/16/19.) Just finished reading Crucible: McCoy - The Provenance of Shadows, the first in the "Star Trek: Crucible" trilogy of novels written by David R. George III and released in late 2006 through early 2007 as part of Pocket Books' celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the original "Star Trek" television series' debut in September 1967.
All three books in the "Crucible" trilogy (the other two being Spock: The Fire and the Rose and Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering) share the common thread of tying into the classic original series television episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever", in which McCoy accidentally travels back to 1930s Depression-era New York City via a mysterious alien portal called the Guardian of Forever and rescues a woman named Edith Keeler from being killed in an automobile accident, drastically changing the course of Earth's history from that point forward (Keeler ends up leading an influential pacifist movement that keeps the United States out of World War II for decades longer than in the "correct" timeline, etc.) Back in the present time of Star Trek, Kirk, Spock, and a few others find that their ship, the Enterprise, is no longer answering their calls and is no longer in orbit around the alien planet that they have chased McCoy down to. They deduce what has occurred, and Kirk and Spock travel through the Guardian after McCoy to prevent him from changing the past and to bring him back with him to their present (our future).
That all happens in the television episode. McCoy: Provenance of Shadows, presents two separate, parallel timelines, alternating from one to the other with each succeeding chapter.
In the first, the McCoy of the alternate timeline in which he rescued Edith Keeler lives his life in that alternate timeline with scant hope of ever returning to the 23rd century. We get to see him settling in to his life in the 1930s and on into the 1950s, and along the way discover just how different world events occurred thanks to McCoy's inadvertent change to a critical moment in history.
In the other, we follow McCoy primarily (but also Kirk and Spock, at times) over the course of the decades following their return to the 23rd century at the end of "City in the Edge of Forever", jumping from one event to another (some recapping events seen in other episodes of the television series and in the subsequent Star Trek motion pictures, others original to this novel), all relating to one of three repeating themes: 1) the discovery and decades long study of a "chronometric" particle and "chronitons" created when traveling through time as McCoy, Kirk, Spock, and the rest of their Enterprise crew did multiple times that McCoy discovers signs of immediately after the incident with the Guardian of Forever; 2) McCoy's repeated sabotaging of any long term romantic relationship he is part of, something that has happened his entire adult life but the reason for which always eludes him (until near the end of this novel); and 3) McCoy's continued close friendships with Jim Kirk and with Spock over the remaining decades of McCoy's life.
I really enjoyed this novel's separate "tracks", enough to still give it four out of five stars. My only quibbles about were that 1) the constant switching back and forth between track/plot settings one and two with each chapter quickly became annoying as just as I began to get interested again in what was happening, the story would once again shift to the other "track". By the last quarter of the book or so, it had begun to be a bit less disruptive, but initially it was very hard for me to get too interested in either storyline as each was constantly being interrupted.
And, 2) at times the repeated references to events from various episodes of the television series seemed rather forced and there just to remind you that this novel (and the entire trilogy it is just of) was done as part of a celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the tv series. Again, though, by the last fourth or so of the novel, as the events made their way into those of the Star Trek movies and also things started to come together in the sub plot about the mysterious time travel particles McCoy and Spock were studying alongside these other events happening, it had become a bit less intrusive.
There are moments that are quite moving near the end of both plot "tracks" involving McCoy, especially when the "real" McCoy finally becomes aware of his "past life" that he never really lived yet at the same time discovers he had.
The next Star Trek novel on my plate (after reading a few non Trek books) will be book two in the trilogy, Spock: The Fire and the Rose.
(Copy of review posted on my Facebook page on 3/16/19.) Just finished reading Crucible: McCoy - The Provenance of Shadows, the first in the "Star Trek: Crucible" trilogy of novels written by David R. George III and released in late 2006 through early 2007 as part of Pocket Books' celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the original "Star Trek" television series' debut in September 1967.
All three books in the "Crucible" trilogy (the other two being Spock: The Fire and the Rose and Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering) share the common thread of tying into the classic original series television episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever", in which McCoy accidentally travels back to 1930s Depression-era New York City via a mysterious alien portal called the Guardian of Forever and rescues a woman named Edith Keeler from being killed in an automobile accident, drastically changing the course of Earth's history from that point forward (Keeler ends up leading an influential pacifist movement that keeps the United States out of World War II for decades longer than in the "correct" timeline, etc.) Back in the present time of Star Trek, Kirk, Spock, and a few others find that their ship, the Enterprise, is no longer answering their calls and is no longer in orbit around the alien planet that they have chased McCoy down to. They deduce what has occurred, and Kirk and Spock travel through the Guardian after McCoy to prevent him from changing the past and to bring him back with him to their present (our future).
That all happens in the television episode. McCoy: Provenance of Shadows, presents two separate, parallel timelines, alternating from one to the other with each succeeding chapter.
In the first, the McCoy of the alternate timeline in which he rescued Edith Keeler lives his life in that alternate timeline with scant hope of ever returning to the 23rd century. We get to see him settling in to his life in the 1930s and on into the 1950s, and along the way discover just how different world events occurred thanks to McCoy's inadvertent change to a critical moment in history.
In the other, we follow McCoy primarily (but also Kirk and Spock, at times) over the course of the decades following their return to the 23rd century at the end of "City in the Edge of Forever", jumping from one event to another (some recapping events seen in other episodes of the television series and in the subsequent Star Trek motion pictures, others original to this novel), all relating to one of three repeating themes: 1) the discovery and decades long study of a "chronometric" particle and "chronitons" created when traveling through time as McCoy, Kirk, Spock, and the rest of their Enterprise crew did multiple times that McCoy discovers signs of immediately after the incident with the Guardian of Forever; 2) McCoy's repeated sabotaging of any long term romantic relationship he is part of, something that has happened his entire adult life but the reason for which always eludes him (until near the end of this novel); and 3) McCoy's continued close friendships with Jim Kirk and with Spock over the remaining decades of McCoy's life.
I really enjoyed this novel's separate "tracks", enough to still give it four out of five stars. My only quibbles about were that 1) the constant switching back and forth between track/plot settings one and two with each chapter quickly became annoying as just as I began to get interested again in what was happening, the story would once again shift to the other "track". By the last quarter of the book or so, it had begun to be a bit less disruptive, but initially it was very hard for me to get too interested in either storyline as each was constantly being interrupted.
And, 2) at times the repeated references to events from various episodes of the television series seemed rather forced and there just to remind you that this novel (and the entire trilogy it is just of) was done as part of a celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the tv series. Again, though, by the last fourth or so of the novel, as the events made their way into those of the Star Trek movies and also things started to come together in the sub plot about the mysterious time travel particles McCoy and Spock were studying alongside these other events happening, it had become a bit less intrusive.
There are moments that are quite moving near the end of both plot "tracks" involving McCoy, especially when the "real" McCoy finally becomes aware of his "past life" that he never really lived yet at the same time discovers he had.
The next Star Trek novel on my plate (after reading a few non Trek books) will be book two in the trilogy, Spock: The Fire and the Rose.
I just added a separate poll thread for McCoy: Provenance of Shadows since this thread predated the current review threads format with a poll at the top (and, also, a “review thread” was not exactly the original poster’s real purpose for this thread, exactly, but the subsequent comments make it a thread worth continuing instead of starting a brand new one, in my opinion).
The poll thread is at https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/rate-mccoy-provenance-of-shadows.304697/
The poll thread is at https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/rate-mccoy-provenance-of-shadows.304697/
Well, since this thread has been resurrected, I will say again how much I enjoyed this one, even though it rendered undoable one of my favorite ideas for a "What If" Trek story. What if Kirk, Spock and McCoy had been stuck in the nineteen thirties? (I know we're not supposed to put story ideas here but since, as I say, this is now pretty unusable........)
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