JediKermit's Full Review: Diane Duane - Sand And Stars
The mission of Star Trek has always been to "explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations..." Some of those strange new worlds became explored so well that it seems like we knew them as well as we did our own planet. The one that probably got the most airtime in movies and television was Mr. Spock's homeworld of Vulcan. The history of Vulcan and the sometimes touchy relationship of that logical race with illogical humanity is explored in the volume Sand and Stars.
Sand and Stars is the 2004 collection and republication of two earlier novels: Spock's World (1988) by Diane Duane, and Sarek (1994) by A.C. Crispin. Both novels use the Star Trek family of characters well, and give us insight into Vulcan and her pointy-eared people.
Spock's World This is the better of the two books, in my opinion. Duane had written several other Star Trek novels by the time she wrote Spock's World, and used several recurring characters in writing this one. The galactic crisis this time around is Vulcan's desire to secede from the United Federation of Planets. This would cripple the Federation of course, but would strike a much more personal blow at the USS Enterprise by forcing Mr. Spock to either resign from Starfleet or say goodbye to Vulcan forever. The story culminates in a massive hearing of sorts where Spock, his father Ambassador Sarek, Captain Kirk and others all testify in their support of keeping Vulcan as a full Federation member. The surprise in this is Dr. McCoy--always a favorite character of mine--who uses his decades of sparring with Spock to full advantage. Some authors write Bones as being a bit dimwitted; Duane uses him brilliantly, and it's made all the more poignant coming from him. Captain Kirk isn't the one who saves the day, but the "good ol' country doctor." It's written so it makes sense, and it's a powerful scene. Interspersed with this drama are passages from "Vulcan's history," beginning with the formation of the world and continuing up to the age of Surak, the philosopher who brought logic to the masses. Altogether, a delightful novel that looks at the planet and the people, and makes them all seem more real than most authors are able to do.
Sarek This is a more personal book, dealing with Spock's relationship with his father. Sarek is the ambassador from Vulcan to the Federation, and has never fully understood Spock. Sarek's wife (Spock's mother) is a human, Amanda Grayson, and the debates between father and son were frequently only assuaged by her intervention. When she falls ill, a conflict between father and son escalates out of control. This novel makes a nice companion piece for Spock's World, although there is a similar plot about Earth wanting to expel all Vulcans from Earth and the Federation. This "Keep Earth Human League" never quite gels, and is a weak side story compared to the powerful drama happening at the core of the book. Crispin's book does do a nice job of dovetailing with previously established Star Trek lore, including details and characters from television episodes, movies, and even the animated series. The movie builds on characters and situations presented in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and viewing that movie before reading Sarek would be both beneficial and enjoyable. Several passages from Amanda's diaries flesh out the courtship and early years of her marriage to Sarek, and give us great insight into what it would be like to be married to a Vulcan--even an enlightened one like Sarek. This is a new way to "explore a strange new world," and it works to great effect here.
Neither of these novels makes use of the secondary crew of the USS Enterprise: Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov are all mentioned in passing, but the real story is always about Spock, Captain Kirk, and Dr. McCoy. Sometimes that bothers me, but here it works fine. This triad is established early in the books as Spock's "real family," and they mingle freely with Spock's actual family of Sarek and Amanda. Both authors are good at characterization, and they've written at least a dozen Trek novels between them. If you're looking for a fix, and have a particular pon farr crush on Spock and his homies, you'll enjoy Sand and Stars.
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