Old "Phoenix" Novels

[childofdarkness]

Somewhere in a box I have 2 or 3 old Trek novels I saved. I believe they are called "Fate of the Phoenix," "Price of the Phoenix," and one other of which I do not recall the title. Does anyone else remember these and, if so, do they also strike you as PG-rated K/S? Did these just slip by the editors because they were as yet unaware that K/S fic was even out there?

 

[PaulSimpson]

Somewhere in a box I have 2 or 3 old Trek novels I saved. I believe they are called "Fate of the Phoenix," "Price of the Phoenix," and one other of which I do not recall the title. Does anyone else remember these and, if so, do they also strike you as PG-rated K/S? Did these just slip by the editors because they were as yet unaware that K/S fic was even out there?

They didn't "slip past" the editor, Frederick Pohl. Price of the Phoenix was only the third (4th if you count Mission to Horatius) original Trek novel, and - according to its authors - approved by Roddenberry himself. They were a different kind of Trek novel, heavily based in characterization (albeit ones that perhaps we wouldn't necessarily recognise today).
They're interesting reads; oddly I was speaking to the two writers earlier today for a feature in the magazine about the books' villain Omne, and they have a different take on what made the Trek universe work. I'd certainly read them over Triangle or The Prometheus Design, their Pocket novels.

Paul

 

[Mysterion]

Interesting. An interview with the authors in an upcoming issue maybe?

 

[Defcon]

Interesting. An interview with the authors in an upcoming issue maybe?

Since he talked to them about Omne I guess it's for this (quote from the thread about MAgazine #21):

And then after that the TrekLit writers strike back talking about our Top 10 Villains in issue 22 -

 

[Therin of Andor]

according to its authors - approved by Roddenberry himself.

Through Susan Sackett.

When Susan was dismissed from her position, the day after after Gene's death, she was not permitted to take her mint-condition set of first-edition Bantam ST novels with her, because they had no personalized markings inside and were deemed to be part of Roddenberry's estate, although the books had been her personal copies - sent to her by the editor for approving the Bantam novel manuscripts on Gene's behalf.

 

[PaulSimpson]

according to its authors - approved by Roddenberry himself.

Through Susan Sackett.

Not quite the way that Marshak & Culbreath tell it. According to them, Roddenberry disliked Spock: Messiah so much he insisted on reading the next novel - which happened to be Price of the Phoenix. They don't ascribe it to anything other than chance that theirs was the second book, and came after one that annoyed Roddenberry.

And yes, this is tied in to the villains issue - perilously close to the deadline - although I am looking at doing something more with them and some of the other early authors in 2010, to tie in to the Abramsverse novels...

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

I never saw anything too terribly wrong with these novels. Sure, some of the constant rehasihng of philosophical concepts got a little grating after awhile but I'd rather read that than all the pages of technobabble that later Treks revelled in.

I never heard of slash before I read this novel the first time. I just saw it as great charcaters insights that the other novels at the time didn't investigate.

Take Kirk, killed and duplicated. Who's the real one? Will he escape Omne? If so,will he be allowed to still command the Enterprise? The Enterprise is Kirk's first and foremost love. He'd move heaven and earth to get her back.

Take Spock, his closest friend is Kirk. Kirk's dead. How does Spock deal with these pesky emotions in the face of such overwhelming evidence at the beginning? Great scenes with him leaning on and seeking out McCoy's advice in the beginning like Kirk told him to do in "Tholian Web."

Take Omne, a villain set up as invincible. Super strength, super intelligence. How will kirk and Spock be able to outwit or out fight him? It actually takes camraderie and dedication, along with the Romulan Commander, to take Omne down a peg or two. Something that a lone, bitter solitary man like Omne wouldn't understand or know how to deal with.

The science of the phoenix process wasn't anymore ridiculous that those transporter solutions found in "Lorelei Signal," "Terratin Incident," & "Counter-Clock Incident before it. Or "Unnatural Selection" and countless others after it.

I've read better novels but then I've read much worse. I agree with PaulSimpson that the 2 Phoenix novels are better than Prometheus Design or [/Triangle[/i] that came after them. I'm looking forward to his interviews in the upcoming issues!

 

[PaulSimpson]

^Are you sure you're not Myrna or Sondra in disguise? Your comments on the set up for the Phoenix saga could have come from my notes during our telephone conversation!
The initial piece on Omne is only 300 words (like all the TrekLit villain pieces) and is answering my question as to "Why Omne?" The rest of their material will probably see print next summer.

 

[ClayinCA]

Well, I couldn't bear The Fate of the Phoenix, The Prometheus Design, or Triangle, but I certainly loved The Price of the Phoenix back in the day. There were a few things in there that gave me some trouble (can't remember exactly what those are now, as it's literally been decades since I last read the book), but not enough to prevent me enjoying the book a great deal as a whole. I really should try and find out which of the numerous boxes it's packed in and give it a re-read at some point...

 

[mattburgess]

K/S ?

 

[Christopher]

K/S = Kirk/Spock "slash" fiction (fiction postulating a homoerotic relationship between the two). The original form of "slash" for which the now-widespread fanfiction subgenre is named.

 

[Therin of Andor]

K/S = Kirk/Spock "slash" fiction (fiction postulating a homoerotic relationship between the two). The original form of "slash" for which the now-widespread fanfiction subgenre is named.

"Captain, not in front of the Klingons."

 

[Jbarney]

K/S = Kirk/Spock "slash" fiction (fiction postulating a homoerotic relationship between the two). The original form of "slash" for which the now-widespread fanfiction subgenre is named.

"Captain, not in front of the Klingons."

LOL

 

[cb31]

Price of the Phoenix was the first Trek novel I ever read and I've been hooked ever since! I've read much better since then but at least it got me started and I found it very enjoyeable at the time.

 

[childofdarkness]

Very interesting comments - I did not know the history behind these novels at all. Of all of the old Trek novels I read back in the day, these are among the very few I saved thinking I might want to reread them someday. They were very well written and had a lot of depth (that is my memory of them anyway; I never actually have reread tham).

 

[seigezunt]

I read the first one when it first came out, and couldn't make any sense of it. You guys are making me consider trying again!

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

^ I think you'll like it if you don't get hung up on all the psychobabble and really focus on the characters and how they react to their situations. Even William Shatner said in Shatner: Where No man... that it "Would make a hell of a movie." (This was around the time of STTMP being made.)

 

[TheAlmanac]

Okay, my morbid curiosity combined with the number of threads concerning these novels lately have led me to actually go looking for them...

So far, none of the used bookstores I've visited in Winnipeg have had matching editions of both books, but I suppose it's only a matter of time.

 

[trevanian]

Well, I couldn't bear The Fate of the Phoenix, The Prometheus Design, or Triangle, but I certainly loved The Price of the Phoenix back in the day.

I agree about TRIANGLE, I though that was godawful. But I liked PROMETHEUS (has very memorable dialog, and if you read it aloud you can really 'hear' Shatner's speech patterns), and think FATE was good, though PRICE was awesome.

Though I do have to admit, it wasn't till I read a thread (either here or trekweb or maybe a modelmaking forum) about PRICE that I ever 'got' the notion that the KirkBashing session of Omne's was intended to stand in for Kirk orally copulating Omne.

Idea spooked me so much I haven't picked it up since ... if you've ever seen GETTING STRAIGHT, you'll know how I felt. In that film, Elliot Gould is answering faculty questions before getting his tenure, and he mentions GATSBY is his favorite Fitzbook. One of the old teachers throws a casual reference to Nick's affection for Gatsby into the discussion, and Gould's character blurts out, "NICK WAS QUEER FOR GATSBY?" (it's a really bad but funny moment in a movie otherwise memorable for its insane overuse of rack focus -- rack focus is to GETTING STRAIGHT what lens flare is to TheAbramsThing.)

 

[Jbarney]

Thinking back, I have to say I've read the old Pheonix Books twice, and I can't claim that for many of the star trek books. In a way, perhaps because the books were so early in the publication of trek, I have to admit I would not mind seeing Omne again. If he were brought back I hope it would be from a different perspective, though.