TOS #13 The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane Review Thread (42nd Anniversary)

[tomswift2002]

Published: December 1983 (Timescape/Pocket/Paperjacks, US/Canada), 1988 (Titan Books, UK), 1989 (Heyne Verlag, West Germany), 1997 (Grijalbo Mondadori S.A. Barcelona, Spain) (https://www.dianeduane.com/portfolio/the-wounded-sky/)
Publisher: Timescape/Pocket Books/Titan Books
Titan Books # 19

Plot: The Enterprise Leaps Beyond Our Galaxy---Into The Deadly Void Of The Universe!

A pretty alien scientist invents the Intergalactic Inversion Drive, an engine system that transcends warp drive---and the Enterprise will be the first to test it! The Klingons attempt to thwart the test, but a greater danger looms when strange symptoms surface among the crew---and time becomes meaningless

Now Captain Kirk and his friends face their greatest challenge---to repair the fabric of the Universe before time is lost forever!

Review: This is an odd book, because it doesn't have a teaser page at the front. Instead of the teaser page it has a couple og glowing recommendations by Michael Reaves, 'author of Dragonworld' (who compares the space battles in this novel to the battles in "Lucas' films", and C.J. Cherryh, 'author of Downbelow Station'. Otherwise, I have no idea who either author is.

And obviously going into this novel, it is well known that Diane Duane later adapted part of this book into the Star Trek The Next Generation episode Where No Man Has Gone Before. However, more recently I think the producers of Star Trek Beyond went back to The Wounded Sky for it's description of Starbase Eighteen, to use that as a template for Starbase Yorktown in the film, since the way the base is described on pages 20 to 26, people in office buildings in the base, or walking anywhere in the base, could see the Enterprise flying through the base. Page 20 describes it as "oblong, rounded at the ends like a cigar...other starships, light cruisers and cutters in for repair or scheduled maintenance, were nested among the innumerable spikes and struts and spires of its outer surface.'

Page 22 further describes it as '...to show one unspiked end of the huge structure irising open for them, revealing a portal that could have swallowed twenty starships side by side...the great silver and gilt interior that drew the eye...the exterior "skin" of the base was really only a tight fine mesh woven of what seemed, at this distance, delicate threads of mirror-finish steel---and were actually long single-crystal extrusions, each two meters thick. From the "skin" substructures hung, tethered by cables or jutting out on odd-shaped supports, looking like packages dangling or stuck on poles; they were offices, service bays, living quarters. All along the interior of the structure, little drones glided along twisting rails or sailed by on chemical propulsion, flashing suddenly if they happened into a sunbeam piercing the interior...'

For a 1983 novel, Starbase Eighteen sure doesn't follow the design pattern of anything that had been seen in TOS, TAS, TMP or TWOK up to that point in time, or any starbase that would be seen over the next three decades. Even Deep Space Nine/Terok Nor, for an alien space station, was not big enough for starships to fly through it. And reading it now, it reminds me more of Starbase Yorktown and how we saw the Enterprise and the Franklin flying through the base, and buildings and other supports suspended inside a giant snow globe!

Another thing with this novel, is that is doesn't seem to be able to figure out which side of Star Trek The Motion Picture it is on. The cover has Kirk and Spock (and that is the Hamalki K't'lk on the cover of the US/Canada book, and the Hamalki were the creators of Starbase Eighteen) in what appear to be TOS uniforms (although Kirk's is blue for some reason), but in the story the uniforms seem to be a mix of the TOS colors and a more formal design (not as formal as the TWOK uniforms, but not the pajama type uniforms that were seen in TOS and TMP) but something closer to the TOS ceremonial uniforms for standard duty.

And the Enterprise is described as having the flat nacelles that were seen in TMP, but the rest of the ship is described more like the TOS/TAS ship when seen from the exterior. So I think The Wounded Sky is set in the 80's "second five-year mission"/Phase II line, like Black Fire, that a lot of Trek authors were writing about, but at times was set before TMP, while other times it was set sometime between TMP and TWOK.

 

[Christopher]

Review: This is an odd book, because it doesn't have a teaser page at the front. Instead of the teaser page it has a couple og glowing recommendations by Michael Reaves, 'author of Dragonworld' (who compares the space battles in this novel to the battles in "Lucas' films", and C.J. Cherryh, 'author of Downbelow Station'. Otherwise, I have no idea who either author is.

Well, aside from his extensive writing in animation (including He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles) and prose science fiction (including a number of Star Wars novels), Reaves was Duane's coauthor on TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before," so it's surprising you didn't recognize his name. Cherryh is a very famous science fiction novelist with over 80 SF & fantasy books to her name (as well as having an asteroid named after her).

For a 1983 novel, Starbase Eighteen sure doesn't follow the design pattern of anything that had been seen in TOS, TAS, TMP or TWOK up to that point in time, or any starbase that would be seen over the next three decades.

Well, why would it? In 1983, onscreen Trek consisted of a mere 100 live-action and animated episodes and two movies. There wasn't that much worldbuilding for novels to draw on, so people looked to the novels to expand the universe and show us things we hadn't seen before, not just to rehash the limited amount of stuff from the shows.

Another thing with this novel, is that is doesn't seem to be able to figure out which side of Star Trek The Motion Picture it is on. The cover has Kirk and Spock (and that is the Hamalki K't'lk on the cover of the US/Canada book, and the Hamalki were the creators of Starbase Eighteen) in what appear to be TOS uniforms (although Kirk's is blue for some reason), but in the story the uniforms seem to be a mix of the TOS colors and a more formal design (not as formal as the TWOK uniforms, but not the pajama type uniforms that were seen in TOS and TMP) but something closer to the TOS ceremonial uniforms for standard duty.

Novelists are not responsible for the choices of their cover artists. Many early Pocket novels have covers that blend TOS and movie-era elements, most likely because the artists had limited access to photo references in those pre-internet days and weren't necessarily familiar enough with the franchise to know the difference between the TV- and movie-era references.

And the Enterprise is described as having the flat nacelles that were seen in TMP, but the rest of the ship is described more like the TOS/TAS ship when seen from the exterior. So I think The Wounded Sky is set in the 80's "second five-year mission"/Phase II line, like Black Fire, that a lot of Trek authors were writing about, but at times was set before TMP, while other times it was set sometime between TMP and TWOK.

Basically, but as I've said before, none of those books ever explicitly proposed a second 5-year mission pre-TMP. Rather, they just assumed that the TOS mission lasted significantly more than 5 years, without getting into specifics. The "second 5-year mission" idea is a fan conjecture after the fact to try to reconcile the time frame suggested in those novels.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I always smile at "pretty alien scientist". I don't recall realising that K't'lk, the crystalline, spider-like alien, was actually depicted on the cover until a few years later, when the original painting (sans cover text) was promoted on Boris Vallejo's old website, but I did keep wondering who had latched onto "pretty" for the cover blurb.

This novel probably impressed me more because of where I was when reading it. I was off on my first overseas trip: six weeks hopping around the USA. I was convinced that I would find a new Trek novel during my first stopover in Hawaii, but my well-travelled Trek friend insisted that not many shops there carried Trek. Of course, in my very first hour in Waikiki, I found a rack of "The Wounded Sky". Vindicated! I had to buy a copy for myself, plus three for friends back in Sydney.

What made this novel so special was that K't'lk's experiments often coincided with takeoffs and landings during my in-flight reading. There was even a period of turbulence on the plane that felt reflected by events in the book.

I loved Diane Duane's use of alien crew members. As a TAS and TMP fan, I would have loved her to use aliens from those productions, too, but I really enjoyed Athendë, Amenkentra, Mahásë and D'Hennish, plus the venerable human, Harb Tanzer. Alien crew added a lovely extra dimension to her stories. Several of Duane alien races would return in future works, including DC Comics. By the way, Jerry Freeman in the novel is named for her writer colleague, David Gerrold. Freeman was David's own author insertion into the episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles". Freeman is possibly the same character as "Specks" in Gerrold's novel, "The Galactic Whirlpool". (And, in an in-joke, Alan Dean Foster had named the character "Hacker" in the TAS novelisation, "More Trouble, More Tribbles".)

As I prepared for home, I did one more check of the nearest San Francisco bookshop: there was "The Trellisane Confrontation", just unpacked and shelved! Yay! Something new to read on the way home!

I found myself really craving my next Duane hit and made a point of reading each of her Trek contributions ASAP. I have looked back at "The Wounded Sky" in recent years and it didn't feel as immersive. Maybe I need to try it out on a plane again?

The "second 5-year mission" idea is a fan conjecture after the fact to try to reconcile the time frame suggested in those novels.

It wasn't just after-the-fact. There was much fan discussion in the lettercols of early fanzines, and panels at conventions, as these novels were being written and published. Ideas which eventually made their way into general fan debate.

 

[Christopher]

I always smile at "pretty alien scientist". I don't recall realising that K't'lk, the crystalline, spider-like alien, was actually depicted on the cover until a few years later, when the original painting (sans cover text) was promoted on Boris Vallejo's old website, but I did keep wondering who had latched onto "pretty" for the cover blurb.

Maybe, instead of an alien scientist who was pretty, they meant a scientist who was pretty alien. A glass spider seems pretty darn alien to me.

It wasn't just after-the-fact. There was much fan discussion in the lettercols of early fanzines, and panels at conventions, as these novels were being written and published. Ideas which eventually made their way into general fan debate.

Sure, but my point is that the books themselves never explicitly mention a second 5-year mission. It's more just an open-ended mission, or a timeless mission.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

An early masterpiece from an early master. Full stop.

 

[FredH]

An early masterpiece from an early master. Full stop.

I fully agree. The Wounded Sky was a rarity: a straight-up excellent science fiction novel that was also good Star Trek. (Joe Haldeman’s Planet of Judgment from the earlier Bantam line was another.)

 

[Therin of Andor]

Oh, that's weird. The Boris Vallejo cover of "The Wounded Sky" was used on the Heynes' German edition of MS Murdock's "Web of the Romulans".

Das Netz der Romulaner. Star Trek : Amazon.co.uk: Books

Das Netz der Romulaner. Star Trek : Amazon.co.uk: Books

www.amazon.co.uk

(The German "The Wounded Sky" uses an image with a Klingon vessel, which could have easily swapped with the above, since Romulans also used that vessel in TOS.)

The Spanish edition of "The Wounded Sky" uses the cover of "Mutiny on the Enterprise". At least it has a "pretty" female guest star on the cover?

 

[Reanok]

This was one of the very first Star trek books I bought and I got hooked on Diane Duane's Star Trek novels . K'tlk is a great character and this book I've read many times over the years. It's one of my all time favorite star trek books ever.

 

[Greg Cox]

Sadly, just this week Cherryh posted that she was reluctantly retiring from writing, due to health issues.

But, yes, she had a long and successful career as an SF writer, so a quote from her definitely carried some weight back in 1983.

 

[Avro Arrow]

An early masterpiece from an early master. Full stop.

I don’t have many opportunities to reread books I’ve already read. But The Wounded Sky has the distinction of being the book I have reread the most, and I would need more than one hand to count the times.

The review in the OP kind of surprises me: it spends three paragraphs discussing the starbase that appears at the beginning and end, then another paragraph discussing the uniforms, and then a final paragraph talking about the Enterprise’s nacelles, of all things. But doesn’t touch on the interesting characters or amazing story at all. If you haven’t read it yet, give it a try… the ebook is readily available. If you’ve held off because you watched the TNG episode, and it didn’t do much for you: just be aware that the episode does not do the book justice, and the book is a much better experience.

Perhaps it’s about time for another reread…

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

If I weren't already taking three books, three or four magazines, the SNW S3 set, the still-unfinished PRO S2 set, and some disposable reading material on my Spring vacation, I might have taken TWS along, just because of this thread. Decades ago, I upgraded from the TPB edition to a used SFBC HC. And I have the DJ in a mylar library DJ protector.

 

[Christopher]

If you’ve held off because you watched the TNG episode, and it didn’t do much for you: just be aware that the episode does not do the book justice, and the book is a much better experience.

Duane & Reaves's script was probably a loose enough adaptation of the novel to begin with, but it got taken away from them due to the revolving door in the season 1 TNG writers' room, and rewritten to the point that only one or two lines from their script survived.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

It's certainly easy enough to see elements of TWS in "Where No One . . . ," but the episode diverged broadly from the novel, and never did have its scope.

 

[David cgc]

That's putting it mildly. How many Star Trek stories have the crew debating theodicy from the perspective of God?

Well, I guess TFF comes close.

 

[tomswift2002]

I was reading the comments by Diane Duane in Voyages of Imagination and it was kind of interesting to read just when she wrote this novel, it was because she had read an earlier Trek novel (she thinks its one that was printed in the early 80's---so it might been a Bantam book) and she basically wanted to really one-up the author of that book because she thought that it was one of the most stupidest books every written and she could write an even better book. (Robert Vardeman in his commentary for The Klingon Gambit mentioned that he remembered a lot of the Bantam books having been stories that the writer's had written years earlier, not even connected to Star Trek, but then shoved in a drawer, and finally pulled out with the most minimal editing done---which essentially amounted to changing the names from Captain Starburst to Captain Kirk and then handing that manuscript in and getting the book published. Vardeman basically says the Bantam Trek books were Star Trek books in name only. So I can even see why Duane would have that reaction to the Bantam Books!)

However, Duane then mentions that she wrote the book outline while Bantam was still the publisher (she mentions that it was during the time when Paramount was signing the contract with Simon & Schuster and was switching to them), and it was submitted to Bantam by her agent, but somehow got sent over to Simon & Schuster, so I think her dating is wrong in terms of the early 80's, since it was mentioned elsewhere with other authors, the first S&S TOS books were being written in the late-70's around the time of the TMP novelization, but the original novels were held back because Bantam still had original Trek novels to publish for close to another 2 years (the last Bantam book, Death's Angel, was published in April 1981, with the first S&S title, The Entropy Effect, being published in June 1981). And with Duane mentioning that her outline approval was delayed by six months while the contract negotiations between Paramount and Simon & Schuster were going on, it definitely sounds like The Wounded Sky was started prior to TMP coming out, and written around the debut of TMP, and possible Paramount was asking for the novels to incorporate things from TMP.

I notice that The Wounded Sky has a Bibliography in it and at first it was interesting to see that, but then I realized that Duane was, literally BSing us fans (while de Sitter space is a real mathematical concept, it was created by William de Sitter. Duane lists a paper that he supposedly published in 1970, even though he died in 1934, plus she listed de Sitter's first initials as "B.S." For de Sitter, I could not find whether he went by Bill, and I never found any reference to what his middle name was.) while saying that we should check out some papers that she consulted back then. However, another paper she references is dated from June 1, 1996 (considering that the book was published in December 1983, and I'm reading a first printing that was printed before I was born, Duane either figured out literal time travel in 1983 and was able to go to sometime after June 1, 1996, get the paper then returned to the late-70's/early-80's or she threw that Bibliography in for laughs). And then Duane also listed a paper by Spock (and not Dr. Spock, since she just put "Spock") and another Vulcan with two different sd's (or stardates) for their publication.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

<shrug> Blish dragged Hilbert space into Spock Must Die.

 

[tomswift2002]

<shrug> Blish dragged Hilbert space into Spock Must Die.

But Spock Must Die did not have a Bibliography.

 

[JD]

If I weren't already taking three books, three or four magazines, the SNW S3 set, the still-unfinished PRO S2 set, and some disposable reading material on my Spring vacation, I might have taken TWS along, just because of this thread. Decades ago, I upgraded from the TPB edition to a used SFBC HC. And I have the DJ in a mylar library DJ protector.

That's one of the advantages of going digital, I can have all of that and all I need to bring is my tablet or my phone.

 

[bdub76]

Looks like it's on Kindle Unlimited.

I'll grab the wife's Kindle and read it once I finish up The Stars My Destination. I'm almost done with that one.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

That's one of the advantages of going digital, I can have all of that and all I need to bring is my tablet or my phone.

I'm with Samuel T. Cogley.