Good Spocks and Bad Spocks

[F. King Daniel]

Dozens of authors have written Spock over the years, and they've all had their own ideas about how the half-Vulcan science officer thinks and acts. Which ones worked for you, and which didn't?

I tend to only notice when a characterization is off somehow (or at least "off" compared to how I percieve the character). That's not to say I can't sometimes enjoy stories where a character has been interpreted differently to how I see them.

With that said, here are the Spocks I think were written wrongly:

Inception
Spock truely doesn't comprehend Leila's feelings for him. I'm firmly in the camp that believes Spock understands and feels emotions but controls them (a la Zach Quinto's Spock in STXI), and lies to all his crewmates about it.

Crossover
Former Starfleet officer Spock has inexplicably become a complete pacifist. I get that he wants to play Surak, but Spock really should know better here.

Vulcan's Heart
Pon Farr or no, everything seemed wrong here, even Spock's speech patterns.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Ex Machina
I don't buy Spock going through such an emotional "experimentation" phase post-TMP. I think he'd be a lot more reserved and subtle about expressing himself - essentially becoming STII Spock without the stuff inbetween.

Captain's Blood
As per the OTT nature of the Shatnerverse, where outrageous is the norm, Spock fakes his own death in an attempt to martyr himself. It just wasn't believable.

 

[Christopher]

Crossover
Former Starfleet officer Spock has inexplicably become a complete pacifist. I get that he wants to play Surak, but Spock really should know better here.

I don't recall the exact details, but given the purpose Spock had chosen for himself at that stage in his life, a pacifist message was logical. He was trying to inspire Romulans to recognize that there were better alternatives to aggression.

Ex Machina
I don't buy Spock going through such an emotional "experimentation" phase post-TMP. I think he'd be a lot more reserved and subtle about expressing himself - essentially becoming STII Spock without the stuff inbetween.

He was more reserved and subtle -- at the end of the book. But he was openly crying on the bridge in the final act of TMP. It's a canonical fact that Spock was unusually emotional after his meld with V'Ger. So the question is, how did he get from that state to the more reserved and subtle emotional balance seen in TWOK? It was more interesting to explore that process in the novel than simply to assume it happened automatically. And more logical to assume that someone who'd spent his life rejecting emotion would not be instantly able to master it, considering how much trouble we humans have mastering our emotions even after a lifetime of practice.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Just don't go back to the works of Marshack and Culbreath, your head might explode.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Of course, there's one ST novel in which you get BOTH a "Good Spock" and a "Bad Spock" in the same book.

Spock Must Die!, by James Blish.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Just don't go back to the works of Marshack and Culbreath, your head might explode.

Currently reading Triangle... Don't ask why. It was next on the pile.

Have to wear a crash helmet to contain the excess cephalic pressure

 

[F. King Daniel]

I kinda think of Marshak and Culbreath's Trek as being it's own pocket universe, like the old Kraith or Alternate Universe 4 fanfics. They're not telling true Star Trek stories as much as they're telling stories set in their own unique version of Star Trek, where Kirk and Spock are gay for each other and Spock's ultra-Vulcan lifestyle is the only thing keeping then apart.

Also: Killing Time! I actually thought it did a good job of portraying an alternate Spock who never found happiness or his place in the cosmos - I just disagree with Della Van Heise's idea of what his happiness entails.

 

[Sky]

An interesting thread.



Ex Machina: I didn't really have a problem with the emotional experimentation. I think it worked quite well.

In Crucible: The Fire and the Rose I think it went too far. Spock kept waffling between Kolinahr and emotionalism, and I did not really buy the romantic relationship thing.

I liked the Spock of Spock's World. And did not care much for the Spock of Killing Time or Black Fire. Or Vulcan's Heart, for that matter. The Spock in Yesterday's Son was quite good, if I remember correctly.

 

[JWD75]

Spock is one of my favorite characters, but Culbreath and Marshak actually made me dislike him in their novels.

I was recently drawn to Triangle as well. I should have known better. It may have been a short novel but it was one hell of a long slog to get to the last page. Kirk and Spock bang the same woman and think of each other while doing so. WTF.

 

[Stevil2001]

I really liked how Spock was depicted in that manga story that takes place at Starbase 47.

 

[ronny]

The Spock in Red Sector by Diane Carey was pretty lame. Well, to be fair, there's a lot of lame stuff in that book but I think you could have change the name of that character and I wouldn't have noticed it was supposed to be Spock.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The Spock in Red Sector by Diane Carey was pretty lame. Well, to be fair, there's a lot of lame stuff in that book but I think you could have change the name of that character and I wouldn't have noticed it was supposed to be Spock.

Diane Carey, in general, wrote a piss-poor Spock, and as offensive as Red Sector was in general, it wasn't her worst Spock characterization.

That came in Challenger.

 

[Therin of Andor]

How about Spock the pirate, aka Black Fire, in "Black Fire" by Sonni Cooper?

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

One place I very much liked Spock--and EVERY TOS character--was in the works of Diane Duane. Especially in The Wounded Sky, the way she described his innermost self seemed so true to him.

 

[JWD75]

^^^I agree, Diane Duane had a very good grasp of all the TOS characters and I especially liked her depiction of McCoy.

 

[21Spike65]

^^That's funny. I haven't read all of Duane's books, but my biggest complaint with My Enemy, My Ally was that the original crew's characterizations were off somehow. I did really enjoy Dr. McCoy in The Romulan Way though.

 

[Christopher]

^^^I agree, Diane Duane had a very good grasp of all the TOS characters and I especially liked her depiction of McCoy.

^^That's funny. I haven't read all of Duane's books, but my biggest complaint with My Enemy, My Ally was that the original crew's characterizations were off somehow.

Duane's take on the TOS characters was somewhat idealized, so I guess whether you think that's on target or off might depend on how much you idealize them yourself.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Day ten, and I'm 70 pages through Triangle. My vision is blurred, I'm suffering hallucinations, and I'm beginning to smell colours.

I may need to read Warped to bring me closer to reality.

 

[ClayinCA]

I'm not sure reading Warped will help you much...!

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

When Warped is your guidepost back to the real world, you KNOW things are bad...