Thirty Days of Star Trek: Favorite Trek Novel

Day 17 - Favorite Trek Novel

There was a time when I read a lot of these, all through the 80s and early 90s, i.e. before the internet really took off for me. These days, it needs a particular author to get me buying them (to wit: I enjoyed Una McCormack's Tilly novel, and of course her Cardassian saga, The Never-Ending Sacrifice, detailing what became of Rugal, the Bajoran-raised boy in DS9's Cardassians). Now, it's not that I don't like Diane Duane as well as the next fantasy reader. And I loved Vonda McIntyre's Star Trek movie novelizations which really took the trouble to go beyond the script and create books out of them. Several of the Peter David TNG novels, I read repeatedly (and was crushed years later to find out he's on the Kirk side of the fanboy Kirk vs Picard debate), with Q Squared, probably the most ambitious ST novel he wrote, crossing multiple timelines and starring three versions of the entire TNG ensemble in addition to Q, Trelane and some OCs, being my second favorite ST novel.

But there's no question as to which Star Trek novel I loved best and still love best. The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Cowles, which is about Saavik, fleshing out the backstory Vonda McIntyre added in her Wrath of Khan novelisation (short version: Saavik is a half Vulcan, half Romulan who spent the first few years of her life on a prison camp world named Hellguard until the Romulans abandoned it (and the surviving prisoners); she and the other survivors were then rescued by Spock & Co., and Saavik ended up as Spock's protegé) as well as providing an adventure plot set between ST movies I and II. The Spock and Saavik relationship is central, but it's also a coming of age story for Saavik, the Enterprise cast is well drawn, Admiral Nakamura who has about two lines in the movies becomes a main character and the most interesting and fleshed out ST Admiral at point of publication (when Admirals other than Kirk were there to be an obstacle to him), and there's even a subplot that explains why Kirk took the desk job he has at the start of Wrath of Khan. Oh, and there's a great Romulan OC who is a trickster type of character (a trader of uncertain loyalties and with a sense of humor), preventing that the Romulans come across as uniformely evil.

Young!Me ate this up with a spoon, and older me still has it as her headcanon forever and ever.

( The Other Days )

Thirty Days of Medici: Shag, Marry, Stab

Day 23 ~ (S1) Cosimo, Lorenzo, Marco Bello, (S2) Lorenzo, Giuliano, Francesco Pazzi: Shag, marry, stab - what would you do?
(Ladies edition: (S1) Contessina, Lucrezia (T), Maddalena, (S2) Lucrezia (D), Clarice, Simonetta Vespucci)


S1 (men): I have to think of my own survival here in addition to my tastes. If I try to stab Marco Bello, he'll stab me instead. If I stab Cosimo, Contessina and Marco will both kill me. If I stab Lorenzo (di Giovanni), otoh, Cosimo might want to order my death, but he'd get the wrong person instead of me. So clearly, death to Lorenzo the Elder is the safest choice. Which leaves me with shagging Cosimo and marrying Marco Bello; marriage to Cosimo demands Contessina's strength, and Marco Bello is bound to leave me a none-too-badly off widow earlier rather than later, given his job choice and state of employment when last we see him. Otoh, he's actually nice when interacting with someone he's attracted to, which puts him ahead of Cosimo in the long term relationship department.

S2 (men): Stab Francesco, and not just because he's the stabby kind himself. I might not survive his heel turns otherwise, and the looming uncle is just too much. Giuliano, otoh, is ideal for a fun fling, but definitely not for a long term relationship, so shagging him it is. Lorenzo (di Piero), otoh: early fidelity issues not withstanding, he's definitely marriage material. Also, I'd be set for life (well, until the Medici get kicked out of Florence anyway, thanks Piero (di Lorenzo) and Savonarola) and have access to all the great art and mind of the era.

S1 (women): Now that's cruel. I don't want to kill any of these ladies! And I feel like a horrible exploitatative person of privilege, but Maddalena would be the safest to kill (unless Marco Bello discovers I'm responsible, but he's bound to get that wrong, so...) without risking life or limb. Contessina might be my No.1 character in this show, but I'm not quite sure whether she'd find me worthy of her long term affections, so shagging Contessina it is; Lucrezia Tornabuoni has a reassuring canonical ability to love her spouse without said spouse being the biggest alpha in the room, plus she's a poet in her own right and really into books: I propose marriage!

s2 (women): Poor Simonetta dying young is good for art and art history, so I'm afraid it's death for her in this scenario, too. Lucrezia Donati is gorgeous but has a tendency to make her political opinions dependent on how she thinks someone else feels about her, which reminds me of Morgana in Merlin, so let's just leave it at the short term shag. Meanwhile, Clarice is loyal, insightful and passionate about causes - would marry, indeed.

( The other days )