Forgive me if this was a thread already but I did a search and I couldn’t find one. I enjoyed the book. It started rather slow but it picked up once the Probe made a bigger presence. I felt sorry for the Probe by the end. All it wanted to do was find someone to talk to. Having it end with two Romulans on Earth sounds like something that could be explored upon in the future. Perhaps their descendants will join the Federation? These “Super Klingons” sound very familiar. It’s funny how all these mysterious objects in the show seem to have some experience with them. I wouldn’t be surprised the reason the Doomsday Machine was so scarred was that it had some encounter with them as well.
It's worth pointing out that Margaret Wander Bonnano didn't actually write much of the version which was published. More details HERE. It's been forever since I read the original, but I remember thinking it was okay.
Bonanno will autograph a single page of the published book. I think it's either page 17 or page 19; if memory serves, it's the only intact passage from "Music of the Spheres." I liked the published Probe. I also liked the "Music of the Spheres" manuscript. But it's been such a long, long time since I read them that I can't speak knowledgeably about either.
Probe was the first Trek book I ever read. That was probably around 2000 or so. My dad had a hardcover of it on the bookshelf (along with the first few Shatnerverse novels, Vulcan's Forge, and Sarek). It blew 11/12-year-old-me's mind. I vaguely remember reading how it had a title change, but I didn't realize how heavily it had changed before publication.
I like Probe it's been along time since I read it. I also read Margaret Wander Bonanno's original Music of the spheres she had on her website many years ago.
Music of the Spheres is a concept that dates back to Pythagoras. I'm sure it's a phrase that has been used in many science fiction franchises over the years.
I read Probe years ago, but don't remember much. I think there are writers here who have read Probe and Music of the Spheres, and count Music of the Spheres in their personal continuities. I could be confusing posts that I read long ago, but eventually I would like to read it.
She will gladly send you a copy of Music of the Spheres, for free, if you contact her here: http://www.margaretwanderbonanno.com/bio.htm
I really enjoyed reading Probe, when I read it. I enjoyed the story, and the prose, the hints of other menaces that later generations of ST characters might face. The sixth movie, The Undiscovered Country had come out around that time, and my minds eye had the Enterprise bridge in that movies configuration. I was sad to hear about the circumstances that got out of hand, but I'm glad that we have two alternative stories out of it. Bonnano provided me a copy of the original, which I'm saving for after I've read her earlier TOS novels. As I understand it, some characters and circumstances that appeared earlier return in Music of the Spheres. Dwellers in the Crucible almost up to bat in my read through of some of the 80's Trek novels.
I just finished reading Probe. I know it has a bit of a checkered history as to it's authorship. Margaret Wander Bonanno was disavowed ownership of the book and it was largely written by the late Gene DeWeese (who's novels I usually enjoyed). However, I still enjoyed the novel for the most part. It takes place not long after TFF (I always enjoy reading novels between TFF and TUC as there aren't many that take place in that period), and is, of course, a sequel to TVH. What's odd is the historians note says sometime before TUC, however it is far closer in time to TFF, maybe a few months after, but I digress. While I generally liked it, the novel seemed a bit slow going at first. A new regime has taken hold in the Romulan Empire and they decide to open negotiations with the Federation on a world in the Neutral Zone. A prior civilization lived there so both sides bring archaeologists, along with musicians, to work together on the planet. Meanwhile the Probe is travelling around Romulan space and the Romulans deny it even exists, complicating matters, and eventually destroys a Romulan settlement in Romulan Space because they were conducting experiments on the indigenous aquatic life-forms. We really don't learn much about what those experiments entailed though. Eventually the Probe starts to head back to Earth until the Enterprise finds a way to attract it's attention using it's tractor beam. Eventually the Probe takes the Enterprise and the Romulan vessel on a little trip to where it was created and we learn about where the Probe came from and what happened to the inhabitants there. It is strongly implied that they were attacked by the Borg (though since this is before their existence was common knowledge they were never named as such) and probably scattered to other worlds. Kevin Riley makes an appearance as the ambassador here. His past work with Kirk during the "Lost Years" novels was referenced in the novel, adding a bit of continuity there with those prior books. It also features a Commander Hiran on the Romulan side, though I'm not positive if that's the same Hiran that is a Praetor decades later. It also features some intrigue in the Romulan Empire that isn't quite resolved, as the new government has elements trying to undermine it from within. All in all it was a decent book. There are a few threads left dangling and some unresolved bits. I wonder if some of that has to do with the multiple people involved with making the book (while DeWeese is said to be the major player, I've seen it noted others took part in writing it as well, and there are a few elements that remain of the original novel by Bonnano). The book got much better in the 2nd half. The first half left you wondering if it was really about the Probe at all, or was it just something that appeared now and again. I do think I read somewhere, though I can't find it now, that Bonanno didn't really hold any permanent grudge against DeWeese, and maybe someone can confirm this but I seem to remember reading that he was not aware of all the circumstances when he was brought in to revise it.
Ok. I saw the link above that has the backstory, and no, she didn't hold any animosity toward DeWeese, and in fact felt he had helped her out at least as far as her getting paid for the work. I'm not sure how much DeWeese was aware of what was going on at the time, the article really didn't get into that angle as much.
^I noticed that one of the characters in DeWeese's Engines of Destiny was named "Garamet" which is Bonanno's handle here on the forum. Anybody know the origin of the name? I've been curious about this one for a while, so I'm glad to see this thread bumped. One question - is there a lot of "small universe syndrome" in the book?
Not really. The Borg-related material is handled pretty tastefully, and the author(s) don’t hit you over the head with it.
In Probe? Not really. It's a sequel to Star Trek IV in that it brings back the Probe, it's a sequel to The Lost Years in that it brings back Kevin Riley for what I remember was a pointless cameo, and Borg material is something that a reader would understand better than the characters themselves do. In the main, I remember it as a book about the exploration and discovery and sense of wonder side of Star Trek.
Don't know if there is any more backstory than that @garamet is almost an anagram of Margaret. Somewhere the second "r" must have been lost in the shuffle.