Spoilers TOS: Ishmael by Barbara Hambly Review Thread
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Huilan. A small, furry being, coloured blue, with a spiky back, four arms, large black almond-shaped eyes, from a species called the S'ti'ach.
He's Stitch from Lilo and Stitch.
For some reason.
Went right over my head. Probably because I missed that picture (about the only Disney films I've seen since The Lion King were Fantasia 2000, Enchanted, and (with Pixar) Ratatouille. I've only had very peripheral connection with Lilo & Stitch, mostly through ads and theme park character appearances.
I have fond memories of this novel. Spock losing his memory and living in a different time always held a certain fascination for me. Especially the Western setting was great. I don't think that HCTB was ever shown on German TV, so the references were lost on me. But it can easily read without that background.
I liked how Aaron and Spock got along with each other. The overall story was well done. One of my all-time favorites.
I liked how Aaron and Spock got along with each other. The overall story was well done. One of my all-time favorites.
I have fond memories of this one, too. And having grown up in Seattle in the 1960s ... trust me, it was pretty much impossible to avoid HCTB . . . or its theme song.
"The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle, and the hills the greenest green, in Seattle. Like a beautiful child, growing up free and wild . . . . ."
I assume you've heard that Aaron was played by Mark ("Sarek") Lenard on the TV show, making the whole book something of an elaborate in-joke?
That's what I found out when I did some research about this show. So essentially the whole fun is lost to the German audience. But the Ishmael story is still great.
I also found out, that DeForest Kelley appeared in Bonanza. I didn't watch Bonanza (which definitely was shown on German TV), but I like listening to Pernell Roberts and Lorne Greene singing old western style songs.
Which is more than the original book had. As I mentioned earlier in this (old, resurrected) thread, I didn't even discover the existence of Here Come the Brides until years after I first read Ishmael. As far as I knew, the characters and situations in it were Hambly's own creations for the novel.
It was almost lost on me, but I was lucky to have recognised a scene in "Ishmael" in which it describes "a good-looking boy in the dusty clothes of a trailhand just in from Virginia City, and his oxlike older brother" - and suddenly a bar fight broke out! I instantly realised it was a Little Joe and Hoss in-joke cameo and rang a friend who is a huge "Bonanza" fan. As I was reading out paragraphs over the phone, I mentioned a few other details and she made the connection to "Here Come the Brides".
I did know of "Here Come the Brides", but only because of Bjo Trimble's chapter, on its Trek actor connections, in "On the Good Ship Enterprise: My 15 Years with Star Trek".
I loved that people mention, in "Ishmael", a physical similarity between Aaron Stemple and the man he passes off as his "son".
Later I found out there are more cameos - from Paladin, a Maverick, two Drs Who, and Ben Cartwright (and Ben's "Battlestar Galactica" lookalike?), Apollo and Starbuck, and Han Solo.
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Some things I noticed about Barbara Hambley's version of the Here Come the Brides story and what they actually had on the show. I guess you could say she fixed holes in the plot of the show.
1. The number of women that came to Seattle from New Bedford, MA. In the show it was supposed to be 100. In the book Ishmael it was much less, maybe 30-40. I thought to myself when I watched the show all those years ago that there was no way 100 women would fit in that dormitory that was built for them to stay in until they got married.
2. In the series, all 3 Bolt brothers went to New Bedford to convince the women to come with them. This was before the Panama Canal, before the Transcontinental railroad. Even if they made the trip East overland on horseback or stagecoaches to get to New Bedford, there was still the voyage back on a ship from there to Seattle. You had to sail all the way around the tip of South America. Who was supposed to have been running their lumber operation all that time. Yeah, they had a foreman, but he was the one leading the other men to quit if they didn't get some women into Seattle soon. In the book Ishmael, only one of the brothers went, which I think makes more sense.
I can't think of any others right now.
1. The number of women that came to Seattle from New Bedford, MA. In the show it was supposed to be 100. In the book Ishmael it was much less, maybe 30-40. I thought to myself when I watched the show all those years ago that there was no way 100 women would fit in that dormitory that was built for them to stay in until they got married.
2. In the series, all 3 Bolt brothers went to New Bedford to convince the women to come with them. This was before the Panama Canal, before the Transcontinental railroad. Even if they made the trip East overland on horseback or stagecoaches to get to New Bedford, there was still the voyage back on a ship from there to Seattle. You had to sail all the way around the tip of South America. Who was supposed to have been running their lumber operation all that time. Yeah, they had a foreman, but he was the one leading the other men to quit if they didn't get some women into Seattle soon. In the book Ishmael, only one of the brothers went, which I think makes more sense.
I can't think of any others right now.
By the standards of today's TrekLit, it would probably only get an "Above Average" out of me. But for its era, it was right up there with Uhura's Song, and Diane Duane's best stuff.
That's Paladin right there on the book's cover. No, he doesn't look like Richard Boone or John Dehner, but it's still Paladin, based on the novel's events.
So, if Ishmael posits that Here Come the Brides, Have Gun Will Travel, and Maverick all exist in a shared "Old West" universe, then you can add Gunsmoke to that as well; HGWT made reference to Gunsmoke on occasion; Paladin knew Marshall Matt Dillon.
I'd heard of the show, and even knew that the popular song, "Seattle," originated as its open music, but (as I probably mentioned before) I never actually saw an episode until after (1) I found out about Ishmael being a crossover, and (2) I found it in strip syndication.
I will also point out that Aaron's canonical last name in the series is spelled "Stempel," at least in everything I've read on the subject, which (I'm guessing) is a more correct Ashkenazic spelling (and certainly a more correct German spelling).
I will also point out that Aaron's canonical last name in the series is spelled "Stempel," at least in everything I've read on the subject, which (I'm guessing) is a more correct Ashkenazic spelling (and certainly a more correct German spelling).
That's one of my favorite books, but I loved both Star Trek and Here Come the Brides. It seems weird that I never saw Here Come the Brides in syndication.
I’ve not seen Here Come the Brides. I’m sure it’s fine, but I really don’t see it happening.
