Star Trek II Biographies

[bok2384]

A couple of weeks ago I was hunting around online and I stumbled across a copy of Star Trek II Biographies by William Rostler going cheap. I was intrigued at reading a biography of the TOS crew, so I snapped it up.

It just arrived today and I must say that I'm impressed. It's not a straightforward biography for each character, more a brief bio and service jacket along with various interviews, extracts from in-universe biographies and what not. Interesting stuff.

Obviously, a lot of it has since been contradicted (the dating is 100 years out for a start and Kirk has a sister!?!), but I wondered if anyone else had read it, what they thought and if anyone knew if the information had been presented elsewhere and if authors wanted to include any information in future novels.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've been on the lookout for a cheap copy of this for awhile.

 

[bok2384]

I've been on the lookout for a cheap copy of this for awhile.

I had to import it in from the States so it takes 2-3 weeks, but I think I only paid £8 for it. Can't remember which site, but I always use www.booksprice.co.uk to get the best deal.

 

[Christopher]

As I recall, the Biographies made some pretty bizarre assumptions here and there. The Scotty bio seemed to imply that warp drive had only been invented in Scotty's lifetime. The Chekov one was particularly bizarre; rather than just assuming Chekov had already been aboard the Enterprise during "Space Seed," it spins this ludicrous explanation about Khan memorizing the face of every person in Starfleet from the comupter files. Not to mention the howler of claiming that Pavel Andreievich Chekov's father was named Alexei instead of Andrei!

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

Guess whoever wrote that didn't know what a patronymic was! LOL

 

[bok2384]

As I recall, the Biographies made some pretty bizarre assumptions here and there. The Scotty bio seemed to imply that warp drive had only been invented in Scotty's lifetime. The Chekov one was particularly bizarre; rather than just assuming Chekov had already been aboard the Enterprise during "Space Seed," it spins this ludicrous explanation about Khan memorizing the face of every person in Starfleet from the comupter files. Not to mention the howler of claiming that Pavel Andreievich Chekov's father was named Alexei instead of Andrei!

Yes, I caught the name of Chekov's father as well. I think I missed the bit about Khan memorizing the names, I'll have to check that out again. I like Chekov's impassioned letter to his uncle following the death of his father though.

The dates are also a bit of nonsense even with the 100 year difference. The book claims that Chekov was born in 2145, was in higher education by 2157 and graduating the Academy in 2161. The dates with Chekov being assigned to the Enterprise fits (2167), the V'Ger incident occurs in 2172, but he is assigned to the Newton soon after, then Wrath of Khan occurs in 2183.

One thing I do like about this book is that the service careers of the crew are fleshed out and some of the criticisms of others that the crew were never really split up.

 

[Dantheman]

Not to mention the howler of claiming that Pavel Andreievich Chekov's father was named Alexei instead of Andrei!

Next you'll probably say Chekov didn't have a brother named Piotr!

 

[bok2384]

Just checked that bit about Khan memorizing the faces of everyone in Starfleet. The book is slightly redeemed as it was just a theory that Chekov came up with in the debriefing, which was quickly lampooned by the interviewing officer.

I started the Kirk bio last night. Radically differing from what was later established with Kirk being born in the city of Farside on the erm... farside of the Moon (yet again Iowa wasn't established until The Voyage Home), the names of his parents, the addition of a sister etc.

One thing that did make me smile, something for the Vanguard fans, was the mention that the USS Endeavo(u)r was responsible for resolving the "Quinn crisis". So, there's an opening for David Mack.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I wondered if anyone else had read it, what they thought and if anyone knew if the information had been presented elsewhere and if authors wanted to include any information in future novels.

It has a few errors and inaccurate predictions. It's been a while since I read it but Rotsler assumes that the Genesis Planet is already being referred to as "Khan" and, IIRC, claims that it was remade out of Ceti Alpha V (or Regula?).

Rotsler most famously rang Nichelle Nichols and asked if she'd approve of Uhura being called "Nyota" in the book, and this first name began to be used in the Pocket novels (eg. "Uhura's Song"), replacing the longtime "fanon" name of "Penda" in fanzines and "The Best of Trek". Of course, the Rotsler-coined name is now canonical.

Leonard McCoy's middle initial, ("E" for Edward), came from Diane Duane and appears in her early ST novels and "The Kobayashi Alternative" computer game. It was overruled by "H" in ST III. IIRC, McCoy's father is not "David" in the book, either.

An Andorian is named Fiawol (60s fanspeak acronym for "Fandom is a way of life").

Janice Rand Dale takes on the surname of Grace Lee Whitney's then-husband.

The book came out in MMPB size in the UK, published by Sparrow Books, but the "II" of the title was deliberately miniscule.

 

[Christopher]

Just checked that bit about Khan memorizing the faces of everyone in Starfleet. The book is slightly redeemed as it was just a theory that Chekov came up with in the debriefing, which was quickly lampooned by the interviewing officer.

Still, why not just assume Chekov was already aboard in a non-bridge post? It's not like we saw all 430 crewmembers.

I started the Kirk bio last night. Radically differing from what was later established with Kirk being born in the city of Farside on the erm... farside of the Moon (yet again Iowa wasn't established until The Voyage Home), the names of his parents, the addition of a sister etc.

Actually Kirk's Iowa birthplace was first mentioned in The Making of Star Trek in 1968. It just wasn't made onscreen canon until TVH.

Leonard McCoy's middle initial, ("E" for Edward), came from Diane Duane and appears in her early ST novels and "The Kobayashi Alternative" computer game.

Actually it's the other way around. Not only did Biographies come out a year before Duane's first Trek novel The Wounded Sky, but in the acknowledgments of that book, Duane credits Rotsler for telling her "His middle name is Edward. You want his serial number?"

What's odd is that Duane kept using "Edward" as McCoy's middle name even after The Search for Spock established his middle initial as H.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Actually Kirk's Iowa birthplace was first mentioned in The Making of Star Trek in 1968. It just wasn't made onscreen canon until TVH.

"I'm from Iowa" just means he considered it his home, not that he was actually born there. My aunt was born in Africa, and spent all of 2 or 3 days there before her parents took her to England. She hasn't left England since, and certainly doesn't consider herself African.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Not only did Biographies come out a year before Duane's first Trek novel The Wounded Sky, but in the acknowledgments of that book, Duane credits Rotsler for telling her "His middle name is Edward. You want his serial number?"

What's odd is that Duane kept using "Edward" as McCoy's middle name even after The Search for Spock established his middle initial as H.

Ah, I knew I should have checked. Yeah, I picked up my brand new copy of "The Wounded Sky" from a shelf in Hawaii on a 24-hr stopover in December 1983 and it became my travel reading for my first US trip. A great book for reading on a plane with all the warp speed testing.

 

[TheAlmanac]

I've been wanting a copy of this book ever since I learned of its existence through The Best of Trek 13, but I've never come across a copy in person and prices/shipping have always kept me from ordering it. :/

Maybe it's time I go looking for an inexpensive copy again...

 

[Steve Roby]

FWIW, the book was one of five published in the same format and written by Rotsler. I liked his Star Trek II Short Stories and Star Trek III Short Stories back then, though I don't know how well they hold up now. The other two books were choose your own adventure style books; Rotsler's were considerably better than the two Trek books published as part of the Which Way Book series a couple of years earlier. Rotsler also did a couple of trivia books for Pocket, but back in the mid-'80s, it was more exciting to find some new Trek fiction.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've been wanting a copy of this book ever since I learned of its existence through The Best of Trek 13, but I've never come across a copy in person and prices/shipping have always kept me from ordering it. :/

Maybe it's time I go looking for an inexpensive copy again...

I've just read the article in question ("More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Star Trek Books, Or What Uhura's First Name Really Is", Best of Trek #13)
I bet William Rostler had a big smile on his face when Spock said "Thank you Nyota" in the last movie!

 

[Defcon]

I bet William Rostler had a big smile on his face when Spock said "Thank you Nyota" in the last movie!

He died in 1997.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Sorry.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The book came out in MMPB size in the UK, published by Sparrow Books, but the "II" of the title was deliberately miniscule.

Ooopsie. That was "Star Trek II Short Stories", also by Rotsler, not "Biographies". I woke up this morning channeling that old post and realised what I'd probably written. "Short Stories" got a MMPB in UK (and a hardcover version, as I recently discovered in a second hand bookshop).

 

[Killie]

I have this sitting on my shelf at the moment, managed to get a copy for £5 with delivery of Amazon in a moment of pure luck just before Christmas.

Looking forward to getting to it as the quick flick looked interesting.

Also have Star Trek II Stories and Star Trek III Stories but I got them for a lot less.