It wouldn’t do to have had those Omicron Ceti III spores on Vaal’s planet (Gamma Trianguli VI)…Eden’s plants and those of Prodigy’s Dreamcatcher…I could see some mad scientist splicing all that together for what we saw in Gold Key #1 and justifying Spock’s reaction…having a parasite on his back and all…Who started the killer plant trope anyway?
The Way of The Spores: Review of the first draft of This Side of Paradise
- Thread starter Sir Rhosis
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The friends of the first prehistoric human who ate poisonous berries.
Here's a "Monstrum" video on the subject...
Obviously, not the the "be all, end all" on the topic, but it's intriguing what examples Dr. Emily Zarka brings to the table.
(I wonder how often people address her as Dr. Zarkov (not with ill will, but simply because the fictional character is well known)?)
One link in the long sci-fi chain of this stuff is Lost in Space "Attack of the Monster Plants." It pre-dates Star Trek, and has the added benefit of being a fantastic episode. It strongly features Marta Kristen in dual role, and has a climactic gun battle that Don fights out of the Chariot's roof bubble. Good stuff.
Question: is the description of Sandoval and co as being "Amish" yours or the script's? That is, does the script use that word? Because his use of "thee" instead of "you" sounds more Quaker than Amish.
Sandoval's clothing is described "reminiscent of the Amish" in the script.
Sir Rhosis
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I don't remember the title, but it was a Pocket book. And they actually reprinted it and either removed that scene or toned it down. I remember reading about it at the time. I have the original copy of it somewhere.
The review is very nice. But it seems incomplete without a link the actual script. It's always good to provide the source on stuff like this.
^^^The scripts are out there but not at a location to link to, nor am I going to post them online. I would imagine they are still owned by (whoever owns STAR TREK these days), and to post them would be a violation of their rights. Yes, me downloading for my own use is probably a violation, but I won't go further than that.
Sir Rhosis
Sir Rhosis
Hmm.
Incidentally, while the video mentions A. toxicaria, no mention is made of the Manchineel (H. mancinella), which is so toxic that rain that has picked up sap from contact with the leaves will cause skin blistering, and smoke from burning it can cause eye damage. But there is a species of iguana, C. similis, that is apparently completely immune.
I only know of one Trek book where this happened: Killing Time by Della Van Hise went to press with the wrong version of the manuscript for the first printing. It was judged “too slashy” by Paramount. For the second (and subsequent) printings, a handful of lines were changed or cut.
Other books had minor running changes for typos, etc. But that’s the only time I’m aware of that substantive changes were made.
The book I'm thinking of was originally published in the summer of 1984 or 1985, which fits Killing Time (July 1985). I'm going by memory so I'm not sure. But it was during the time when I got each new paperback when it came out. I was pleased that I got the unaltered version.
However, the scene that I'm thinking of was one where Spock raped a crewmember. He was influenced by something. Later he made her think it was a dream. Was that also in Killing Time?
No. That's in "Death's Angel." And it is absolutely, positively, not portrayed or depicted as rapey in any way. Nuh-uh. No way, no how.
No, it's not that one. Death's Angel is too early (1981) and a Bantam book. The book I'm thinking of is 84 or 85, maybe 86 at the latest, and definitely a Pocket book.
See the discussion above covering all of that. I didn't read it until around the same time you did or later.
Yeah, it looks like I must have been conflating the two. I thought for sure it was a new Pocket Book novel in that time frame, but none of them match my recollection. So, it must've been Death's Angel, as you say, because its description sounds the closest. Well, it has been nearly 40 years! I probably read both Death's Angel and Killing Time right around the same time.
Death's Angel is the worst Start Trek novel ever. I stopped reading at the point Mary Sue took over the ship and Kirk couldn't help but admire her tactics.
I didn't realise it got worse with Spock spectrally raping someone. Please make it stop.
I got the impression that Spock had some relationship with Leila back at the Academy and it ended badly so much that Spock was acting immaturely at the beginning of the episode by pretending he didn't know her. Spock's actions towards Leila differed so much by his kind behaviour to Leila at the end of the episode.
I didn't realise it got worse with Spock spectrally raping someone. Please make it stop.
I got the impression that Spock had some relationship with Leila back at the Academy and it ended badly so much that Spock was acting immaturely at the beginning of the episode by pretending he didn't know her. Spock's actions towards Leila differed so much by his kind behaviour to Leila at the end of the episode.
It was six years before the episode, so it would've been long after the Academy, late in Spock's time on Pike's Enterprise. That would be 2261, and season 1 of Strange New Worlds was in 2259, so it's possible we'll see Spock and Leila's relationship in a later season. (I wonder if they'll cast a blond actress or someone whose ethnicity better fits the name "Leila Kalomi," who of course was originally intended as Sulu's love interest.)
I think that was the idea, and I used to think so too, but Leila is an Arabic name (or rather, Lord Byron's spelling of an Arabic name also transliterated as Layla). Leilani is the Hawaiian name that the writer and we probably had in mind. As for the name Kalomi, a quick web search turns up no references to it outside of Star Trek, so I guess the writer just made up a vaguely "Eastern-sounding" name out of thin air.
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