Having Trouble with McCoy: Provenance of Shadows

[Christopher]

^Why would it be unusable? Trek Lit has never had a single continuity, and indeed Crucible was overtly out of continuity with the main Novelverse. In the Strange New Worlds anthology series, there were several different, mutually incompatible "City on the Edge" sequels and reinterpretations. Nothing has ever precluded different tie-in authors from doing different versions of the same event.

 

[E-DUB]

Point taken. I just couldn't see it happening, though.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Without giving anything away, do you think I should hang in there and keep reading?

Yes.

Does the story become more compelling?

Yes.

 

[Tiberius1701170]

Hi everyone,

I have been a lurker here for many years, and was recently re-reading the McCoy Crucible novel. I like to read on other's comments about the novels and when I saw this thread was brought back, I wanted to share some thoughts that I had found on another website but I didn't see here. The following links are the author's ideas on the entire trilogy.

https://hubpages.com/literature/Sta...-Review-and-Thoughts-on-the-Original-Timeline

https://hubpages.com/literature/Sta...Review-and-Thoughts-on-the-Alternate-Timeline

https://hubpages.com/literature/Sta...es-Analysis-and-Thoughts-on-The-Fall-of-Spock

https://hubpages.com/literature/Sta...lysis-and-Thoughts-on-The-Redemption-of-Spock

https://hubpages.com/literature/Sta...dering-Themes-on-Losses-in-Captain-Kirks-Life

https://hubpages.com/literature/Sta...ing-Thoughts-and-Analysis-on-Temporal-Physics

The author seems to have gone and done an analysis on different aspects of the trilogy. It offers some different ideas and perhaps some unseen connections.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The following links are the author's ideas on the entire trilogy... The author seems to have gone and done an analysis on different aspects of the trilogy. It offers some different ideas and perhaps some unseen connections.

Okay, but just to clarify, the blog author quoted in the links is one Leonard Kelley, who "holds a bachelor's in physics with a minor in mathematics". Until I clicked the first link, I was thinking that DRG3 himself had analysed his own trilogy.

 

[Tiberius1701170]

You're totally right, sorry for any confusion.

 

[Admiral Rex]

This novel is my favorite Star Trek novel. That's saying a lot from someone who has read over 400 Trek books (and I possibly have read more than that and should do a recount). I read this one years ago when it first came out, then a second time, and have wanted to revisit it again. Since then, I've become friends with DRG3 and his wife, Karen. I was pleasantly surprise when she told me this novel is her favorite of David's Trek books too. I just wonder if it will still hold up as my favorite when I reread it again. If not, I'm sure it will be near the top. It's interesting to me how someone else is "having trouble" with this book since I love it so much. It just shows we all have different tastes and perceptions.

 

[youngtrek]

It's interesting to me how someone else is "having trouble" with this book since I love it so much. It just shows we all have different tastes and perceptions.

The person who originally started this thread (and therefore the one who named it) spoke of "plodding" through it. I think it perhaps is a question of taste as to a novel's pacing and how much of the story is plot driven versus character. What one person sees as slow/boring/nothing really happening most of the time, another can see as leisurely, and rich in interesting character moments or development of the setting.

I actually started to like the 1930s McCoy story arc more once he got away from New York City and Edith Keeler, and built a new life for himself "down south", eventually losing any sort of hope of every being rescued and returned to his own time (especially once he realized that the timeline had been changed). The end of that story arc came as a big shock to me.

 

[Tiberius1701170]

It could also be a tough read for some people in that for some the novelization pieces wore on them. I know for me it was refreshing to see how they were incorporated or subtly expanded upon to offer new perspectives on traditional scenes.

And yes, the alternate timeline thread blew me away, too.

 

[youngtrek]

It could also be a tough read for some people in that for some the novelization pieces wore on them. I know for me it was refreshing to see how they were incorporated or subtly expanded upon to offer new perspectives on traditional scenes.

And yes, the alternate timeline thread blew me away, too.

You mean the parts mirroring the actual tv episodes or movies? Those parts were good for me as they served as “anchors” for me to what I was already familiar with (although I have to add admit that I’d pretty much completely forgotten about McCoy’s girlfriend from the Enterprise in that one episode that ended up being a serious relationship in the novel).

 

[Tiberius1701170]

You mean the parts mirroring the actual tv episodes or movies? Those parts were good for me as they served as “anchors” for me to what I was already familiar with (although I have to add admit that I’d pretty much completely forgotten about McCoy’s girlfriend from the Enterprise in that one episode that ended up being a serious relationship in the novel).

Yes, indeed the parts mirroring what we've seen before. But it was things like expanding Tonia that really made this trilogy so fascinating.

 

[Sci]

I think the way to approach it is, Provenance of Shadows is the biography of Leonard McCoy -- both of him. And if you approach it that way, as a novel about, in essence, a man struggling with life-long depression and commitment issues (which just happens to be split between being set in outer space in the 23rd Century and mid-20th Century alternate history Earth), it's more rewarding. DRGIII essentially reinterprets the entirety of TOS through the lens of someone struggling with depression, for instance. And I think he hits on something that's true about TOS but which is really only there in the subtext, that TOS is itself essentially the story of three very lonely men who become brothers.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The person who originally started this thread (and therefore the one who named it) spoke of "plodding" through it.

Most of DRG3's books are slow, dense reads. That's his style. But usually well worth the effort. As I mentioned earlier, it is often about where you are, and what's happening in your life, as to how a book can impact upon you. Several DRG3 books have been relaxed vacation reading. "Serpents Among the Ruins", a favourite of many, took me ages to finish. It seemed like I was only able to do a few pages per sitting, but I did enjoy it.

Diane Duane's "The Wounded Sky" was brand new in 1983, and accompanied me on one of my first ever flights, from Honolulu to San Francisco - and then to Chicago and Detroit - and every time the Enterprise was testing out the new drive, I was on a plane taking off! It really made that book come to life, and the exciting events and the tension of the narrative became indelible.