I’m rereading my two favorite Trek novels of all time, “Final Frontier” and “Best Destiny” by Diane Carey, for a project I’m working on, and I wanted to share some thoughts.
First of all, I have loved these two books since I was twelve years old. I loved the abridged audio versions beautifully brought to life by Jimmy Doohan’s sensitive performance. I loved discovering the books and all the wonderful things that had been abridged out. These books have always been MY Star Trek; although I loved all the other casts and crews of the other series, this era was my favorite.
I fell in love with the characterization of Captain Robert April as portrayed in these books, because here was a kind of manhood I had never seen or experienced for myself. Wise, gentle, so strong and courageous that he would put his own life on the line again and again, so devoted to duty that he would ignore his own well being and come up to the bridge for his crew, yet so tender hearted that he would be the first person on the deck comforting and nurturing the injured and the grieving. So patient with the absolutely intolerable Jimmy Kirk and the irascible George, but unshakable in his own convictions. So humble that he could let others lead, and could take advice from others, and yet when he led, he led with his heart and got yelled at by George Kirk for so doing. He abhorred violence in all its forms and yet accepted that sometimes in defense of his ship and crew it was the only way. In many ways, he is a twin brother to Captain Saru, and to Anson Mount’s Pike.
I do think that at the time these novels were written, the particular style of command and leadership that Captain April lived wasn’t quite the thing. These books were published in the era when TOS was all we had. We didn’t have the command styles of Picard and Sisko and Janeway to compare and contrast. In this era, every captain who wasn’t Kirk had a tendency to be portrayed as either criminally insane or criminally incompetent. At the time these books were published I don’t think Captain April’s command style was written with quite the respect it could have been. Diane Carey in both these books sets up the story so that George Kirk, as surrogate Jim Kirk, can take command. I think his command style is much better appreciated today, with the new era of Star Trek in which cowboy diplomacy isn’t the only way to be a good captain.
I do have some criticisms of the way the characters are portrayed however, much as I love and adore them. I found it quite jarring that Diane Carey wrote George Kirk in essence giving a history lesson lifted straight from an American textbook in his lecture on the history of the Enterprise. Here he is standing there in front of his Captain, who is an Englishman, talking about “the British” as though they were the enemy. I confess all I could hear when I reread that bit was Johnny Horton’s “Battle of New Orleans.” I wish I could tell Diane Carey that portraying an English character is so much more than just writing a man with a cute and funny accent, it’s writing a character with a completely un American point of view and world view. The political views she puts in the mouths of her characters are jarring enough; when she begins writing Star Trek, which is meant to be all inclusive, as American centric and all American and glorifying the military, I think that is problematic for Star Trek.
I do love her nautical background and I think that brings gravitas and realism to the books. It makes the day to day operations of Starfleet and the network of freighters and repair crews so much more tangible to the imagination. It’s also very Trek, because Trek was so deeply influenced by Hornblower.
I have real problems with the way she portrays women, in particular, Dr. Sarah Poole April. I think she’s a man’s woman and she doesn’t relate to women. I think it’s sad that the first CMO of the Enterprise, whom Dr. McCoy absolutely fell all over himself fangirling in “The Counterclock Incident” (TAS), who was there portrayed as a brilliant scientist and designer, was portrayed in Final Frontier as... well, almost a joke. The lady doctor turned veterinarian love interest. She should have been allowed to be so much more than that. I thought she was written as a first draft Pulaski and was meant to be a female Bones. I greatly prefer Greg Cox’s portrayal of her (all honor to his house) and the relationship between the two of them, one of great tenderness and mutual cherishing.
Although I don’t think she was comfortable writing women... that shows up in all her books... I think the way she wrote men, male friendship and bonding, was truly beautiful. She wrote Robert and George as two patently straight men who were absolutely comfortable demonstrating their care and concern for one another, their affection for one another, and their reliance upon one another. Two straight men who had no problem touching each other. Of course they expressed their friendship in nearly constant conflict and argument but there were some absolutely beautiful moments between them too. I thought they were drawn a bit too “bros before hoes” for my taste but a hetero male friendship between two people who face death together is a lovely thing to see in Trek (I’m looking at you, Julian and Miles).
I do think that Carey’s books would have been greatly improved if she had cut out the graphic gore and violence and replaced those passages with character development. There is just no need for paragraphs upon paragraphs of blood and guts.
I do love her creative use of language, her simile and metaphor. It’s fresh and surprising and makes you think twice.
All in all, I am deeply saddened that she apparently won’t be back to writing in the Trek universe. I would have loved for her to have written more about Robert and George. “She was a (wo)man, take her for all in all. We shall not look upon her like again.”
First of all, I have loved these two books since I was twelve years old. I loved the abridged audio versions beautifully brought to life by Jimmy Doohan’s sensitive performance. I loved discovering the books and all the wonderful things that had been abridged out. These books have always been MY Star Trek; although I loved all the other casts and crews of the other series, this era was my favorite.
I fell in love with the characterization of Captain Robert April as portrayed in these books, because here was a kind of manhood I had never seen or experienced for myself. Wise, gentle, so strong and courageous that he would put his own life on the line again and again, so devoted to duty that he would ignore his own well being and come up to the bridge for his crew, yet so tender hearted that he would be the first person on the deck comforting and nurturing the injured and the grieving. So patient with the absolutely intolerable Jimmy Kirk and the irascible George, but unshakable in his own convictions. So humble that he could let others lead, and could take advice from others, and yet when he led, he led with his heart and got yelled at by George Kirk for so doing. He abhorred violence in all its forms and yet accepted that sometimes in defense of his ship and crew it was the only way. In many ways, he is a twin brother to Captain Saru, and to Anson Mount’s Pike.
I do think that at the time these novels were written, the particular style of command and leadership that Captain April lived wasn’t quite the thing. These books were published in the era when TOS was all we had. We didn’t have the command styles of Picard and Sisko and Janeway to compare and contrast. In this era, every captain who wasn’t Kirk had a tendency to be portrayed as either criminally insane or criminally incompetent. At the time these books were published I don’t think Captain April’s command style was written with quite the respect it could have been. Diane Carey in both these books sets up the story so that George Kirk, as surrogate Jim Kirk, can take command. I think his command style is much better appreciated today, with the new era of Star Trek in which cowboy diplomacy isn’t the only way to be a good captain.
I do have some criticisms of the way the characters are portrayed however, much as I love and adore them. I found it quite jarring that Diane Carey wrote George Kirk in essence giving a history lesson lifted straight from an American textbook in his lecture on the history of the Enterprise. Here he is standing there in front of his Captain, who is an Englishman, talking about “the British” as though they were the enemy. I confess all I could hear when I reread that bit was Johnny Horton’s “Battle of New Orleans.” I wish I could tell Diane Carey that portraying an English character is so much more than just writing a man with a cute and funny accent, it’s writing a character with a completely un American point of view and world view. The political views she puts in the mouths of her characters are jarring enough; when she begins writing Star Trek, which is meant to be all inclusive, as American centric and all American and glorifying the military, I think that is problematic for Star Trek.
I do love her nautical background and I think that brings gravitas and realism to the books. It makes the day to day operations of Starfleet and the network of freighters and repair crews so much more tangible to the imagination. It’s also very Trek, because Trek was so deeply influenced by Hornblower.
I have real problems with the way she portrays women, in particular, Dr. Sarah Poole April. I think she’s a man’s woman and she doesn’t relate to women. I think it’s sad that the first CMO of the Enterprise, whom Dr. McCoy absolutely fell all over himself fangirling in “The Counterclock Incident” (TAS), who was there portrayed as a brilliant scientist and designer, was portrayed in Final Frontier as... well, almost a joke. The lady doctor turned veterinarian love interest. She should have been allowed to be so much more than that. I thought she was written as a first draft Pulaski and was meant to be a female Bones. I greatly prefer Greg Cox’s portrayal of her (all honor to his house) and the relationship between the two of them, one of great tenderness and mutual cherishing.
Although I don’t think she was comfortable writing women... that shows up in all her books... I think the way she wrote men, male friendship and bonding, was truly beautiful. She wrote Robert and George as two patently straight men who were absolutely comfortable demonstrating their care and concern for one another, their affection for one another, and their reliance upon one another. Two straight men who had no problem touching each other. Of course they expressed their friendship in nearly constant conflict and argument but there were some absolutely beautiful moments between them too. I thought they were drawn a bit too “bros before hoes” for my taste but a hetero male friendship between two people who face death together is a lovely thing to see in Trek (I’m looking at you, Julian and Miles).
I do think that Carey’s books would have been greatly improved if she had cut out the graphic gore and violence and replaced those passages with character development. There is just no need for paragraphs upon paragraphs of blood and guts.
I do love her creative use of language, her simile and metaphor. It’s fresh and surprising and makes you think twice.
All in all, I am deeply saddened that she apparently won’t be back to writing in the Trek universe. I would have loved for her to have written more about Robert and George. “She was a (wo)man, take her for all in all. We shall not look upon her like again.”
