So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Christopher]

BTW: Anybody remember who gave Dulmur his definitive spelling, and when, and in what opus?

The Dulmur spelling comes from the original shooting script for "Trials and Tribble-ations," and appeared in David Gerrold's novelization which was released in the same month as the episode (its December 1996 publication date means it was on bookshelves by mid-November). So the correct spelling was there from the beginning, and was also used in Dulmur's first original prose appearance, the young-adult Deep Space Nine: Trapped in Time by Ted Pedersen in February 1998. As far as I can tell, the "Dulmer" misspelling first appeared in Strange New Worlds II in May 1999 and New Worlds, New Civilizations in November '99, and was used consistently in Pocket fiction (including "The Road to Edos" in New Frontier: No Limits in 2003 and ST Online: The Needs of the Many in 2010) until I restored the original spelling in Watching the Clock.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Thanks. Didn't know that "Dulmur" was in the shooting script (and therefore asymptotically close to being canonical).

Why do I suddenly find myself thinking of the mathematical concept of "taking a limit" for one of the first times since I took my last class involving Calculus, nearly four decades ago (these days, the only calculus I have to deal with is the kind my dentist has to jackhammer off my teeth, four times a year).

Assuming I haven't already done so, one of these days I'll post the fanfic I mentioned in the fanfic section.

 

[KRAD]

The Dulmur spelling comes from the original shooting script for "Trials and Tribble-ations," and appeared in David Gerrold's novelization which was released in the same month as the episode '

Minor correction: the novelization of "Trials and Tribble-ations" was by Diane Carey, not David Gerrold.

 

[Christopher]

Minor correction: the novelization of "Trials and Tribble-ations" was by Diane Carey, not David Gerrold.

Whoops, brain hiccup.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

According to Memory Beta, he did write the foreword. Just as he wrote one for Stephen Goldin's Trek to Madworld (always a fun read).

But he wrote more produced ST episode scripts than poublished ST novels.

And I just learned something: he adapted his "Bandi" story premise into a ST manga.


*******
Next morning:
Last night, I started re-reading Trek to Madworld. I'm now 5 chapters in. One more chapter, and we meet Enowil, and the tone starts to shift from dire to silly.

And only a few minutes ago, I was reminded of Zelazny's Lord of Light, with an entire chapter (and some say the entire book) contrived as an excuse for the spooner-pun, "Then the fit hit the Shan." But I don't think I'll bother re-reading it at this time. Zenda has just been shipped. Along with some very small windows for an HO scale yard office I've been working on ever since the "laser-cut buildings" clinic at the NMRA Convention last month.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I wanted to return to this, now that I had a little time to dig into my Holmes library.

I didn't know that about "A Scandal in Bohemia," though. Bohemia is a real place, but looking it up, I see that at the time the story was published, it had been absorbed into Austria-Hungary and didn't have a separate king like in the story.

Any idea what the real country in "Scandal" was supposed to be?

I have two passages from William S. Baring-Gould's work. First, from The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, in one of the notes on "A Scandal in Bohemia":

The real "King of Bohemia" at the time of the "Scandal" was Franz Josef von Hapsburg, "Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary," but it could not have been the aging (born 1830) Franz Josef who called on Holmes in Baker Street. Possibly it was his only son and heir, the Grand Duke Rudolf (he who died so mysteriously in the hunting lodge at Mayerling on January 30, 1889); this was the late Professor Jay Finley Christ's view, as it is that of Dr. Julian Wolff. Mr. T. S. Blakeney ("A Case for Identification--in Bohemia") prefers to identify Holmes' visitor as the Archduke Franz Ferdinand; Professor John B. Wolf ("Another Incubus in the Saddle") has put forward Crown Prince Wilhelm von Hohenzollern of Prussia, soon to become Wilhelm II of the German Empire; and the late Edgar W. Smith, as we have seen in Chapter 8, once made a strong case ("A Scandal in Identity") for the then Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, later King Edward VII. If Mr. Smith was correct in his identification, it is possible that Sherlock Holmes was of service to Albert Edward on no less than five occasions--in the affair of the Suicide Club, in the case of "A Scandal in Bohemia," in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet," at the time of The Hound of the Baskervilles ("At the present time, one of the most revered names in England is being besmirched by a blackmailer, and only I can stop a disastrous scandal") and in "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client." It is small wonder that Edward VII offered Holmes a knighthood ("The Adventure of the Three Garridebs").

Next, a footnote in his fictional biography, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street. A footnote from Chapter 8, "The Woman: November 1886-May 1887" (italics in the chapter title):

Who, then, was this "Prince Florizel," this "hereditary King of Bohemia"? Sherlockian scholars do not all agree, but the late Edgar W. Smith, in "A Scandal in Identity" (op. cit.), in a piece of deductive reasoning worthy of Holmes, has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Holmes's client was none other than the then Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, later King Edward VII (1841-1910). It shows remarkable attention to detail on his part that he should take the trouble to acquire genuine Bohemian writing paper before sending his anonymous letter to Holmes. But it is not surprising that he should have used a Germanic turn of phrase, for he spoke English with a guttural accent all his life, and both his parents were German. Holmes, as we shall see, was to be of service to the prince and later king on several other occasions.

I have not read the Edgar W. Smith essay that Baring-Gould says proves that "the King of Bohemia" was the Prince of Wales "beyond all reasonable doubt," so I can't judge B-G's claim. (Note to self: find a copy of Smith's Profile by Gaslight.) In any event, the first note shows that Sherlockians have been skeptical of Watson's account for as long as they've been playing The Great Game.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Now almost 2/3 of the way through Trek to Madworld, and it's just as much fun as I remember. Kind of a pity that this and Ford's How Much for Just the Planet? are the only outright comedy ST novels.

 

[Greg Cox]

Now almost 2/3 of the way through Trek to Madworld, and it's just as much fun as I remember. Kind of a pity that this and Ford's How Much for Just the Planet? are the only outright comedy ST novels.

Q-in-Law by Peter David probably comes close, as does (ahem) Dragon's Honor by me and Kij Johnson.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

My apologies. Make that "outright cornball/screwball comedy."

And of course, we now have LD, which would be the perfect setting for such a book.

 

[Falconer]

I read only a few pages of Dwellers in the Crucible before determining it was a going to be a huge waste of time and probably not good for my mental health.

Next up, Crisis on Centaurus. It was a palate cleanser after some of the preceding snoozers. Good size of a Star Trek adventure novel (184 pages in my hardcover), it was zippy and readable. I liked the level of engagement with Star Trek tech and science—spaceships and engines and computers and weapons and stuff like tachyons and antimatter and black holes. Kirk and Spock had appropriate and heroic lead roles. There were fun chases and fist fights and phaser fights. Moral dilemmas competently fielded. But I was disappointed at the essentially non-existent role for McCoy; and Joanna in her long-awaited (and cover-heralded) debut was sadly a total nothingburger. It would have been better to leave her a blank slate for another author who might have wanted to actually do something with her. The other thing is, I don’t mind occasional 20th Century references, but this book really hit it so hard it was odd. I mean like cars and airplanes and white supremacists and nuclear bombs and Hilton hotels and Sears Roebuck stores. It just crossed a line, for my enjoyment. Centaurus was all-around too generic and American. Finally, a minor complaint but there were just a few too many minor characters introduced here, not interesting enough to be worth the effort of remembering their names.

 

[Stevil2001]

It's probably been twenty years since I read Crisis but I still remember the sheer profusion of 1980s brand names.

 

[bdub76]

Finishing up Firewall. It was okay. Author really nailed Janeway's voice. I'll give a more complete review in the thread for the book. It's a 3 out of 5 for me.

Half way through the Drop by Dennis Lehane. It's really good. I definitely recommend. It's based on the film by the same name that's based on a short story called Animal Rescue in Boston Noir. I have that on hold at the library now. All written by the same author. I still have to watch the film.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

My current book list:

Lost To Eternity by Greg Cox
Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes
A Murder for the Sages by Amy Lillard
The Amish Quiltmaker's Uninvited Guest by Jennifer Beckstrand

 

[Greg Cox]

I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER by Stephen Graham Jones.

Interestingly, the book uses underlines in place of italics, the conceit being that that the narrator is typing on an old keyboard that can't do italics.

 

[Christopher]

I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER by Stephen Graham Jones.

Interestingly, the book uses underlines in place of italics, the conceit being that that the narrator is typing on an old keyboard that can't do italics.

That might've led to some interesting conversations with the copyeditors/typesetters. In Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder, I included some in-story blog posts with underlines to represent hyperlinks, and I recall there having to be some care taken to make sure they were left as underlines instead of turned into italics.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

In letterpress, whether using foundry type or linecast type, underscores are a major pain in the butt.

 

[Victoria]

I have been feeling a little down recently but reading "Trek to Madworld", "Dragon's Honor" and "Q-in-Law" has been a tonic.
Thank you to @hbquikcomjamesl and @Greg Cox for reminding me of these books.

Currently reading STTNG "The Brightest and The Best" by Susan Wright. This is a standalone novel about a group of cadets at Star Fleet Academy. Usually my preference is for ST novels that are about "our" crews within the period of the relevant television shows and films so my liking for this book is out of the ordinary. This is about a group of complete strangers but they and the episodes in which they are involved are engaging. There are some references to known characters from the shows but they feel natural and appropriate rather than the desperate attempt to give legitimacy found in some works.

 

[Stevil2001]

I haven't read The Best and the Brightest since high school but I have very fond memories of it.

Somewhat embarrassingly, perhaps, I think it is the first media work I ever knowingly encountered a same-sex relationship in. Thanks, Susan Wright, for expanding the mind of this sheltered Midwestern conservative Catholic kid!

 

[Christopher]

Somewhat embarrassingly, perhaps, I think it is the first media work I ever knowingly encountered a same-sex relationship in. Thanks, Susan Wright, for expanding the mind of this sheltered Midwestern conservative Catholic kid!

And I believe it was the first work of Trek literature to depict a same-sex relationship (not counting vague slashy insinuations here and there).

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I haven't read The Best and the Brightest since high school but I have very fond memories of it.

I also have not read it since then and could not tell you anything about the new characters in it, but I remember hoping some of the characters would turn up when the Novelverse kicked off a few years later.