Spoilers TOS 44 Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana Review Thread

[JonnyQuest037]

"She smiled and winked."
I don't know, you could be right, but that doesn't sound like an explicit confirmation to me - sounds like a writer having fun with a fan (in a nice way) ... maybe an acknowledgement she felt the same way. The calendar seems wrong for it to be so, as TomSwift says above... but, I wasn't there, and Therin was, and I don't have any explicit proof of my hypothesis, either.

I read that story as Fontana absolutely felt that Spock was an only child, as that was her original intent when she was laying out most of Spock's history during TOS, and she smiles and winks that Therin was sharp enough to catch her little in-joke rebellion. It'd be smart for her not to say more in the way of an explicit confirmation, as she wouldn't want that line changed in subsequent printings (Don't forget that 1988-89 was during the Richard Arnold era).

I'm not sure of the exact timing of the writing of Vulcan's Glory, but my copy is copyright 1989, so it was likely being finished up in 1988, when STV:TFF was in the script stage or shooting. I'm now wondering if Fontana could've been writing the novel in the first place because of the 1988 Writer's Guild Strike, which spanned from March 7 to August 7, 1988. The strike would've freed up a significant chunk of time for her, during which she couldn't write anything for TV or film. Just about the right amount of time to turn out a Trek novel, though...

But maybe Therin can shed more light on this when/if he chooses to chime in.

 

[Avro Arrow]

However, since I'm trying to catch up on my reading while recovering from a bout of flu, I won't be adding the poll, tom can add that if he wants to.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

 

[Therin of Andor]

"She smiled and winked."
I don't know, you could be right, but that doesn't sound like an explicit confirmation to me - sounds like a writer having fun with a fan (in a nice way) ... maybe an acknowledgement she felt the same way. The calendar seems wrong for it to be so, as TomSwift says above... but, I wasn't there, and Therin was, and I don't have any explicit proof of my hypothesis, either.

DC wasn't toying with me. She didn't just smile and wink. I don't recally her exact words after all this time, but she was impressed I'd noticed her careful word choices in VG. It had been reported in the media that both DC and Roddenberry had been upset with Shatner's Sybok storyline for ST V. (The character would have worked just as well had he been a respected teacher or mentor.)

DC herself was already on record ("The Making of Star Trek", IIRC) as having sent out memos during the production of TOS requesting that the writers refrain from giving Spock siblings.

 

[Christopher]

It had been reported in the media that both DC and Roddenberry had been upset with Shatner's Sybok storyline for ST V. (The character would have worked just as well had he been a respected teacher or mentor.)

DC herself was already on record ("The Making of Star Trek", IIRC) as having sent out memos during the production of TOS requesting that the writers refrain from giving Spock siblings.

Honestly, although "long-lost siblings" are something of a cliche, I think it worked with Sybok. First off, it made sense, given how Vulcans have marriages arranged in childhood, for Sarek to have had an earlier wife before Amanda, so it was good to see that addressed. Second, Sybok's rebellion and disowning helps explain why Sarek reacted so badly to Spock going against what Sarek perceived as Vulcan tradition.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I think that if Spock had had a long-lost brother introduced during TOS, it might have worked. By the time of TFF, the characters had all known each other for 20+ years and one of them had carried Spock's katra in his head for a time, so I found it rather hard to swallow. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were SO tight by that point, I can't imagine why Spock would still be keeping that information a secret.

 

[Kertrats47]

Just posted my review of Vulcan's Glory. Really enjoyed this one!

 

[Daddy Todd]

I love this novel, and think of it as a “backdoor pilot” for the Captain Pike series we never got.

I also wish Fontana had written the “novelization” of the abandoned “Secret of Vulcan Fury” game. It would have been glorious!

 

[Kertrats47]

I love this novel, and think of it as a “backdoor pilot” for the Captain Pike series we never got.

I also wish Fontana had written the “novelization” of the abandoned “Secret of Vulcan Fury” game. It would have been glorious!

Hear, hear! I was just lamenting on Twitter last night that, every once in awhile, I remember that Secret of Vulcan Fury was never released and never will be, and I get sad.

 

[DEWLine]

I have to wonder about Fontana's reaction to Michael Burnham.

 

[DEWLine]

For the record, I still have my copy of this.

 

[JD]

@Kertrats47, do you read comics? D.C. Fontana co-wrote the TOS miniseries Year 4: The Enterprise Experiement. I read the first couple issues a while back and they were really good.

 

[Kertrats47]

@Kertrats47, do you read comics? D.C. Fontana co-wrote the TOS miniseries Year 4: The Enterprise Experiement. I read the first couple issues a while back and they were really good.

I do! I read all of the new releases for the Literary Treks podcast, and we occasionally cover some of the older stuff as well. I haven't read everything, but a few stories have caught my notice over the years. Eventually hope to have read it all! I think we read The Enterprise Experiment awhile back, but I'd have to check my notes. It sounds very familiar...

 

[Reanok]

I really like this book alot I reread it again a few years ago and like how the Vulcans were portrayed in this book and how Spock's storyarc with Pike and his crew in this book.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

I have to wonder about Fontana's reaction to Michael Burnham.

That would be speculation, but Fontana did say she wasn’t onboard with Sybok, having thought of Spock as an only child.

 

[captainmkb]

"Some officers have had a difficult time dealing with the fact that she is a genetically perfect being. On her planet, Ilyria, excellence is the only criterion that is accepted. She is technically designated as being the best of her breed for the year she was born."
"I see. She therefore would receive the appellation 'Number One' even if she were not the executive officer."

DCF's backstory for one Una Chin-Riley will probably be put to the canon test soon

 

[Leto_II]

DCF's backstory for one Una Chin-Riley will probably be put to the canon test soon

Spoiler: SNW Spoilers

https://www.tor.com/2022/05/19/secrets-and-lies-star-trek-strange-new-worlds-ghosts-of-illyria/

Actually...

 

[Avro Arrow]

Shouldn't there be a Spoiler tag in the title? And a poll?

Since this thread has become active again, now that I'm a mod here, I've gone ahead and added a poll.

Better late than never.

 

[captainmkb]

... gone ahead and added a poll.

why doesn't it go up to 11

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Going into re-reading this, I remembered that some novel had a fair amount of utterly plot-irrelevant "author tract" involving Spock, Amanda, and the supposed merits of walking barefoot on sand, and I remembered some novel had a subplot involving unusually potent "engine room hooch." But I'd completely forgotten that both were in this particular opus; indeed, all I'd remembered about it was the author, and the fact that the title referred to a large green gem (kind of hard not to, given that both appear on the cover!)

I'm over 150 pages into it, and much of the first 120 pages seemed very slow and laborious (and keep in mind, I'm an ADF fan, so I'm used to slow beginnings!), and I also note that far too much of it, so far, has been very predictable. In particular, as soon as the first murder occurred, I knew that T'Pris (note spelling) would turn out to be either guilty, or dead, or both.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

([Sybok] would have worked just as well had he been a respected teacher or mentor.)

DC herself was already on record ("The Making of Star Trek", IIRC) as having sent out memos during the production of TOS requesting that the writers refrain from giving Spock siblings.

Would it have worked? Yes, probably. But Nimoy believed it would have been out of character for Spock to ignore Kirk's order to shoot Sybok were Sybok anything but Spock's brother. What Nimoy wanted in 1988-1989 weighed more than Fontana's memos on a different production in 1967-1968.