The Kobayashi Maru by Julia Ecklar

[marlboro]

This is a pretty good book. The author did a very good job of coming up with novel solutions for the test that were both interesting and in character, imo.


(Spoilers)



Four students get a test paper with one question on it:

"What is the sound of one hand clapping?"


Kirk: Scribbles out original question, replaces it with "What is two plus two?" Answers "Four" and becomes the youngest captain in Starfleet history.

Chekov: Poisons classmates. Cuts one of his own hands off. Furiously tries to clap with remaining hand. Just before he bleeds to death he scribbles down "Kind of a whooshing sound."

Sulu: Folds test paper into an origami crane. Achieves zen.

Scotty: Covers test paper, front and back, in a complex mathematical formula proving that the sound of one hand clapping sounds exactly like an armada of Klingon ships exploding in space.



Some thoughts.

Kirk's Chapter:

- I've always had a hard time buying the concept of the Kobayashi Maru simulation as a standardized test.

- "I don't believe in a no win situation." I have no problem with a young, cocky Jim Kirk saying this. I have a hard time believing a post "Edith Keeler must die" "100 Serpents for the Garden of Eden" Kirk could still be this naive. I've never liked this line in the movie. It always struck me as fannish hero worship "Batman could whip Galactus, because he would cheat!" type writing. Batman TAS was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid and I think I would probably enjoy it just as much today aas I did when I was 10. When the same writers and producers created the Justice League sequel to the series, Batman became a very different character. It's like the writers were terrified that Batman would be shown up by the other characters so not only did they have to show him being tougher and smarter than them, they also made him a jerk. The other characters didn't just have to be less cool than Batman, they had to admit that they were by taking his crap. Start Trek is nowhere near that bad with Kirk worship, but it does occassionally crop up. I think his cheating the KM test is a small example of this. Having Captain Harriman be a chump would be a bigger example. Whenever I see this sort of thing I can't help but think of little boys in a "My dad could beat up your dad" argument.


Chekov's Chapter:

- Chekov's story was entertaining. The L.A. Graf team has managed to make him an interesting character in their books. I do find it amusing that Acadamy students automatically go into Battle Royale/Lord of the Flies mode as soon as a survival simulation kicks in. Even funnier is that Chekov is really good at this sort of thing. Seriosly, you wouldn't want to get stuck in an elevator with this guy - he'd have you field dressed and half eaten before you could hit the alarm button.

- I wan't crazy about Chekov's hero worship of Kirk here. Again, to me, it seems a little fannish. Not only did Kirk ace the KM, he also came up with the perfect solution to the survival test.

Sulu's Chapter:

- If Treklit has taught me anything, it's that the Sulus have some serious family issues.

- I liked Sulu's great grandfather a lot.

- There is a scene in the middle of this chapter that concerns a mock version of the galactic political process. It's amusing (They're NOT ducks!"), but I'm not where it fit with the rest of Sulu's tale.

- I like the moral of this story. Sulu's grandfather (with the help of a fiery Mexican cadet) help him learn an important lesson. That being, that not only is there a difference between playing a hero and being one, the only person who can truly tell the difference is the "hero" himself. Sometimes the seemingly noble gesture isn't the right call. It's a tragedy, but such is life, right?

Scotty's Chapter:

- If Kirk had left Scotty in charge more often, I think he'd have had this whole Klingon Empire problem wrapped up 15 minutes into Errand of Mercy.


The Shuttlecraft Halley:

- These are the framing device scenes of the book. The plot is pretty basic, but the character moments are good. We also get some McCoy here which is always a bonus.



Final judgement: I have some issues with it, but the good parts definitely outweigh the bad. A solid book that is well worth the time of any TOS fan, I think.

 

[Stevil2001]

I haven't read this one in a long time (I don't own it), but I remember liking it. Thanks for a thoughtful review.

 

[Reanok]

I really liked this book Ire-read it again a few years ago the stories about the different characters dealing with the Kobayashi maru are really interesting.

 

[Saul]

Thanks for this review. Nice to see some older books get talked about from time to time. This is on my list to read.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I loved this book, although I found it odd that Scotty's "winning"/"stalemate" solution wasn't legendary and Kirk's cheat was

 

[Christopher]

I loved this book, although I found it odd that Scotty's "winning"/"stalemate" solution wasn't legendary and Kirk's cheat was

Except Kirk's solution wasn't legendary. In TWOK, Saavik had never heard of it and needed Kirk and McCoy to tell her about it. By the same token, in this novel, McCoy, Sulu, and Chekov don't know Kirk's solution until he tells them (and he specifically says he's not supposed to talk about it). The only reason fans think it's legendary is because they keep mistaking the audience's perception of the characters for the in-universe perception of them.

This came up as an issue for me in writing the upcoming The Captain's Oath, which is about Kirk's first command before the Enterprise. Since it's covering his early (well, mid-early) career, the Kobayashi Maru comes up a couple of times, and my first impulse was to treat it as an infamous achievement, something everyone knew about. But when I double-checked the dialogue in TWOK -- as well as in the Ecklar novel, which I've referenced in some of my other books and want to stay consistent with -- I realized that it couldn't be well-known to the general public, so I recast it as more of a rumor among Kirk's Starfleet contemporaries.

 

[JD]

I wouldn't be surprised if the people in charge of the academy covered it up as a way to keep other people from attempting it.

 

[Christopher]

I wouldn't be surprised if the people in charge of the academy covered it up as a way to keep other people from attempting it.

Some tie-ins have posited that the true nature of the KM simulation is always kept secret from cadets until the first time they take it, so that they don't know going in that it's a no-win scenario and thus their reactions are untainted. But others have made it common knowledge, like in the TNG novel Boogeymen by Mel Gilden, where Picard and Riker use the holodeck to help Wesley "train" for the KM test even before he gets to the Academy -- which always seemed like cheating to me.

 

[rahullak]

Yeah, when you know in advance it's a no-win you don't get the full emotional experience that Spock spoke of in ST09. It's no-win and a simulation, how much should i really care? or I just have to pretend to feel fear at the same time show that I am controlling myself and my crew.

Which just improves cadets' acting skills more than anything else.

 

[Arpy]

I remember being surprised by how many of our heroes had their tale told in it, then wondering why the others didn’t. Sequel?

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I remember being surprised by how many of our heroes had their tale told in it, then wondering why the others didn’t. Sequel?

The test was for command track cadets - the novel has Scotty on that track until after the test, where he then transfers to engineering. Everyone else wouldn’t have taken it. McCoy’s in medical, Uhura’s in Operations, and, while Spock became a captain, he also says in Wrath of Khan that he never took the test. So the novel covered everyone who would have taken it.

 

[Arpy]

The test was for command track cadets - the novel has Scotty on that track until after the test, where he then transfers to engineering. Everyone else wouldn’t have taken it. McCoy’s in medical, Uhura’s in Operations, and, while Spock became a captain, he also says in Wrath of Khan that he never took the test. So the novel covered everyone who would have taken it.

Awwww, you're no fun Where there's a will there's a way. Scotty managed to take it. Who says it's for command track students only? Even for Spock, maybe a hypothetical of some sort? Or a retelling of his sacrifice in TWOK from his inner perspective?

 

[Yistaan]

Except Kirk's solution wasn't legendary. In TWOK, Saavik had never heard of it and needed Kirk and McCoy to tell her about it. By the same token, in this novel, McCoy, Sulu, and Chekov don't know Kirk's solution until he tells them (and he specifically says he's not supposed to talk about it). The only reason fans think it's legendary is because they keep mistaking the audience's perception of the characters for the in-universe perception of them.

This came up as an issue for me in writing the upcoming The Captain's Oath, which is about Kirk's first command before the Enterprise. Since it's covering his early (well, mid-early) career, the Kobayashi Maru comes up a couple of times, and my first impulse was to treat it as an infamous achievement, something everyone knew about. But when I double-checked the dialogue in TWOK -- as well as in the Ecklar novel, which I've referenced in some of my other books and want to stay consistent with -- I realized that it couldn't be well-known to the general public, so I recast it as more of a rumor among Kirk's Starfleet contemporaries.

In the PC game Starfleet Academy, your cadet character sometime between 2288-2290 doesn't know about Kirk's cheat either until he accidentally stumbles upon Kirk's old hacking source code.

Great game by the way, there's nothing like playing the Kobayashi Maru yourself. Reading or watching about it is nothing compared to actually going through it! You can even cheat the exact way Kelvinverse Kirk does in the 2009 movie (by making the Klingons weaker--and this game came out in 1997)

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Some tie-ins have posited that the true nature of the KM simulation is always kept secret from cadets until the first time they take it, so that they don't know going in that it's a no-win scenario and thus their reactions are untainted.

Makes sense to me.

In my headcanon, there's a lot more variance in the KM test than what we usually see & hear about in the movies and books. The only common denominator is that they're all no-win scenarios of some kind or another.

I'm really looking forward to the book, BTW, Christopher!

The test was for command track cadets - the novel has Scotty on that track until after the test, where he then transfers to engineering. Everyone else wouldn’t have taken it. McCoy’s in medical, Uhura’s in Operations, and, while Spock became a captain, he also says in Wrath of Khan that he never took the test. So the novel covered everyone who would have taken it.

^^ This. There's no way they could keep the real deal secret if everyone in the Academy took it. Besides, where would you get all the people who weren't playing the Captain the in scenario? "Man this communications station, Cadet Perez, and play dead when the explosions start happening! Your final grade depends on it!"

Who says it's for command track students only?

...Logic?

 

[Arpy]

...Logic?

Hubris?

They’re Starfleet officers. Anyone of them might find themselves like Troi did in “Disaster” having to take command. The no-win scenario isn’t a matter of testing tactics but character. Like the Psych Test that Wesley took.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

They’re Starfleet officers. Anyone of them might find themselves like Troi did in “Disaster” having to take command.

...Your argument is citing Deana "What's a Containment Breach?" Troi? She wasn't exactly what you'd call well-prepared.

 

[Arpy]

...Your argument is citing Deana "What's a Containment Breach?" Troi? She wasn't exactly what you'd call well-prepared.

Nice side-step. It’s “logical” for an argument not well-prepared.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Well, you'd expect that if everyone was taking the KM test, they'd be better prepared than Troi was. Which was not at all.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Admittedly, at least half the time, Deanna was in the unfortunate position of being the mouthpiece for the writers including questions and comments asking for clarification that they wanted included for the audience’s sake, while being information that she probably should already have had due to her own education...

I certainly have always believed that the command test, bare minimum, would not actually be referred to as “the Kobayashi Maru test,” that they wouldn’t know about what scenario would be their ‘no-win’ scenario, if they knew about that at all. My opinion’s always been that if the cadets knew that the test is unwinnable, no matter what, then, consciously or not, they wouldn’t actually go in and making their best effort - if they’ll fail either way, why bother trying your best?

 

[David cgc]

In this case, the novelverse take that there was a historical Kobayashi Maru would probably help the true nature of the test being a surprise. It seems sensible that, as in the Starfleet Academy PC game, many of the bridge simulator scenarios would be based on real situations that had happened (in the game, you play through "Balance of Terror" and Khan's hijacking of the Reliant, in in-universe fictionalized form. In the latter case, Kirk will remark that he literally couldn't have done it better himself if you think to raise your shields when you're targeted by an uncommunicative "friendly" ship). Every cadet would be walking in thinking that they'd go by the numbers and save the ship where Archer had failed, just like they'd avoided setting off the Romulan's nuclear mine in BoT, or destroyed the Doomsday Machine without sacrificing a starship, or escaped the Narada with their hides intact, or what have you.