Masterlist / The Novels

Jan 31, 2014 21:53

THE NOVELS
According to Dr. Leonard H. McCoy

These books are a mixed batch of the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one author wrote more than a few contributions, and for that reason, they are full of contradictions, inconsistency, and plain old awful. One of my worst complaints is that some writers simply “forget” key characters - Dr. McCoy being one of the most typical losses. That being said, Some of these books ARE truly excellent and many more are worth at least a casual look. Since there are over a hundred of them, however, I’ve attempted to cull out the best and worst as I go through them.

The Authors:
If you are looking at a second-hand bookshelf and don’t have a guide on hand, here are the writers with whom you just can’t go wrong:
  • J.M. Dillard (a truly good story teller with great characterization and insight).
  • Diane Duane (easily the most capable writer of the series, if occasionally verbose).
Note: Because Dr. McCoy’s involvement and the readability of a novel aren’t necessarily the same thing, I’ve also given each book a star rating. Any with three or above is worth reading, a four or five star rating emphatically so.


#1 - The Klingon Gambit by Robert E. Vardeman

A mysterious artifact causes people to recklessly seek their deepest desires; Vulcans kill themselves in order to attain total intellect, Klingons kill each other over power, and humans self-realize with sex, booze, and sculpture. Right. This book does a good job of mimicking the television show - it presents a believable scenario reminiscent of some of the episodes’ adventures. The characters are believable, the dialogue acceptable. But it just isn’t enough for a “novel.” There’s no real introspection or character development beyond what we already know, and I got bored - like watching a rerun. There just isn’t enough to call this literature.

Rating: 2

Highlights:
  • Because I know you’re curious, McCoy’s enhanced self loathes machinery (more than usual) and harbors an intense desire to get back to the simple things. He actually stitches someone up, with thread.

#11 - Yesterday’s Son by A.C. Crispin





This book is famous for tying up potential loose ends from the episode “All Our Yesterdays”. In it, archeological evidence reveals that, while trapped in the ancient icy wasteland of Sarpeidon, Spock helped conceive a child. Feeling bound by duty, he travels back through the Guardian of Forever and retrieves his son…who is, unfortunately, already an adult. An absolutely stunning piece of work by a creative and capable writer. My favorite part of the story is the fact that McCoy adopts Spock’s kid. :)

Rating: 5

Highlights:
  • The book opens with Spock and McCoy playing chess. It is during this scene that McCoy’s Vulcan-senses tingle and he realizes that something is very deeply troubling his companion. To me, this kind of attentiveness shows his role as his friends’ doctor/caregiver, and I always like to see him display this.
  • Typically, Spock and Kirk make plans to leave McCoy behind, but the doctor is too clever for them. It’s really a good thing that he’s so deductive; the other two never tell him anything!
  • Poor Spock is stunned by the revelation that the child he came for is all grown up. Unable to properly express his feelings to his child (who assumes that he’s doing something wrong), he turns custodianship of the boy over to Papa-McCoy.
  • McCoy assumes guardianship of Spock’s kid, grooming him and instructing him on everything from clothing himself and bathing to the birds and bees. It’s just all kinds of sweet and funny. :)
  • In addition to offering his support, McCoy also does his fair share of scolding (teenage-rebellion!). For example, when the young man struggles to interact with his father, McCoy defends Spock and censures him for his childish behavior.
  • Angsty mini-Spock is sometimes a bit of a drama queen, like his daddy (true!) Also like his father, the doctor manages to get under his skin better than anyone else. When confronted, he comes very close to pinning McCoy to a wall in a way eerily reminiscent of Spock’s actions on Sarpeidon.
  • After the boy’s aggressive outburst, McCoy reflects that he must have a special talent for causing emotional meltdowns in supposedly emotionless beings. Be careful, McCoy, or they’re going to ban you from Vulcan as a disease.
  • Zar, Spock’s son, has a few touching scenes with the Dr. McCoy, including one in which Zar laments that McCoy was the only one who cared if he left the Enterprise. Another occurs when the doctor speaks of his daughter. Zar asks, “Is she like you…nice, I mean?”
  • Much as he obviously likes the boy, McCoy refuses to introduce Zar to Joanna. Something about pointy ears and female hormones. :)

#13 - The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane





More than any other book I have yet read, this one challenged me. It makes strong assertions about physics and the philosophy of life and existence in the midst of a plot which takes the Enterprise on a historic journey out of the galaxy for the first time. However, the drive that allows them to accomplish this triggers an extraordinary shift which forces the crew of the Enterprise to see each other - in mind and essence, with nothing hidden at all. A book that, amazingly, does not neglect any character and absolutely dazzles when, in the end, Dr. McCoy and the others act as father and mother to a protogod.

Rating: 5 (for radiance).

Highlights:
  • I’ll mention that, in so far as plain involvement is concerned, this book deserves a (4) rating. However, the doctor’s moments are worth waiting for, and all of the story captivates. Just don’t let yourself get stuck on the complex physics.
  • When the new drive is introduced to the awed crew, Dr. McCoy chimes in with a querulous, “I don’t like it!” Spock eyes him wearily.
  • A discussion about creative physics leads to Spock creating a metaphor out of the probability that McCoy would contradict him. When he doesn’t, the Vulcan is annoyed. “That is entirely like the doctor,” he says. “He cheerfully flouts the natural course of the whole Universe to prove me wrong.” :)
  • At the end of the book, the crew comes to a universe where their minds are entirely open to one another. This is VERY revealing. Dr. McCoy’s mind, for example, is described as subtle, but as complex as Spock’s - a mirror compared to the Vulcan’s sun.
  • Not only minds, but the truest essence of people comes on display. Some even change shape entirely, or gain companions. Dr. McCoy blazes, with compassion and his desire to seed life. Entropy and death scream before him, knowing their enemy. This is an exquisite scene.
  • Kirk’s response to seeing the true selves of his two best friends is moving; Spock and McCoy’s response to seeing each other - especially from Spock’s perspective - is stunning.
  • McCoy, in true parental style, shouts at the baby protogod for throwing a tantrum, thereby saving two universes.
  • When the rules are being laid down for the newborn universe, the doctor pleads that it be spared pain and death. Even he knows it cannot work this way, but it still profoundly hurts him.

#20 - The Vulcan Academy Murders by Jean Lorrah




A book this good deserves a more discreet name, but don’t let the title or the rather uninspired first chapter detour you. This may be the most readable (if not altogether the best) of the Star Trek novels. For one, it’s fair to all the characters (rather then only Spock, which is common), showing their strengths while also presenting their various faults as a part of their character rather than as glaring deficiencies. It also contains a great deal of Vulcan, Sarek, and a host of thoroughly captivating original characters who moved me deeply. These characters are the real draw of the book, and that is the reason that I give this four stars instead of five. Kirk and Dr. McCoy, as well as Spock and his family are wonderfully portrayed, but they just aren’t the headliners.

Rating: 4

Highlights:
  • McCoy’s portrayal is satisfying; he is at his energetic, passionate best - showing an emotional grief at the condition of a gravely wounded crewmember, forcing alcohol on Spock, etc.
  • It was exceedingly good to see Dr. McCoy use his thinking-brain in this story - he keeps Jim from embarrassing himself (and all humans) by challenging T’Pau, and avoids the entanglements that Kirk falls into with the story’s females.
  • Amidst the larger story, there are some wonderful character tidbits. My favorite for McCoy is when Kirk responds to hearing the chastisement - “If I did not see that you were cared for, you would eat nothing, fall asleep on the couch in your office, and tomorrow morning force yourself to do your duties on coffee and a sense of responsibility” - by asking the question, “Where is Doctor McCoy?”
  • In the novels, Spock and McCoy’s relationship is often described as cool or even hostile - but without the undercurrent of playfulness and intimacy that one picks up in the television series. This story, however, creates a much better balance, as when Spock requests that McCoy consult on the health of his mother, implying that he trusted McCoy’s opinion over even Vulcan healers.
  • McCoy saves the life of both Spock and Kirk.
  • One of the most satisfying elements of the book are two neatly tied plot holes - one in which Dr. M’Benga is connected with the Enterprise for the first time, and the other involving a resolution between Kirk and T’Pau - the matriarch to whom McCoy lied in Amok Time about the survival of his captain!

#24 - Killing Time by Della Van Hise





Many of the Star Trek novels can seem like published fanfiction…but in this case it’s a good thing! Killing Time does all the things that make fanfiction great - it has crazy, indulgent scenarios, male bonding, fan service - only, in this case, it maintains excellent, high-quality writing too. The result? Just wow. To summarize, a shift in dimensions causes the Enterprise to merge with another universe. In this alternate world, Spock is captain, Kirk is a lowly ensign, and Vulcans are in charge of the Federation. It involves insanity, role reversals, and McCoy as the personal slave of the Romulon Praetor! With a collar! Yeah, fanfiction. But still good.

Rating: 5

Highlights:
  • As this book has both a Captain-Kirk and Captain-Spock, readers get to witness two very different takes on the relationship that a commanding officer of a vessel necessarily has with his CMO - in both these cases, Dr. McCoy!
  • In the show, it always seemed like McCoy had a harder time hiding his admiration for Spock than vice versa. This is true here also. For example, McCoy comforts Kirk about his reoccurring dreams of Spock as captain by informing him that Spock’s mystique made him easy to fantasize about. :) I’m sorry, it’s just a funny-sounding conversation; McCoy is such a frank, unabashed human being.
  • It charmed me how much faith Captain Spock has in McCoy, and how different (and less hostile) the doctor treats him in return. Their relationship doesn’t have the same casual warmth that the Kirk-McCoy friendship, but it’s still very close.
  • That being said, though McCoy is consistently supportive, even fiercely protective of his alternate Captain, it’s a bit disappointing that his devotion is overshadowed by the pinning that Kirk and Spock do for each other. This kind of overlooked quality seems to be a reoccurring feature of McCoy’s character. Grumble.
  • Because of the merger of universes, many people suffer from headaches or even madness because of how different their role is from one world to another. Doctor McCoy is not one of these people; apparently he is a healer, no matter where.
  • McCoy absolutely refuses to let Spock go undercover into the Romulan Empire without him. Spock consents to his help, but then almost smiles. Apparently blue eyes can’t be easily covered up, which leaves only one way for him to take a human along. “You will be my…personal attendant,” he explains. “However, the Romulans have another word for it.” XD
  • Slave-McCoy wears a golden collar. He is also called T’Lennard, complete with female prefix. Voila, fanfiction.
  • Did I mention that he is a terrible slave? He swears at people and gets (an ill, Pon Farr-ing) Spock so upset that the Vulcan throws him against a wall. Whatever else he is, demure, McCoy is not.
  • As a side note, in the Vulcan Federation, Human beings are almost considered disabled, and their presence is therefore partially restricted on starships. It makes an odd kind of sense; being telepathic themselves, it would seem like Humans were missing one of their senses - like being blind. And you don’t want blind people driving your expensive vessels, now do you? :)

#27 - Mindshadow by J.M. Dillard



J.M. Dillard is a capable writer, but this book did exasperate me somewhat due to his one failing - his tendency to dwell on the universe’s conspiracy against Dr. McCoy’s happiness, particularly in his romantic relationships. This book is particularly distressing because his relationship 1) distracts him from his medical duties (which is plain OCC), and 2) results in a show of jealousy that is never attractive. The story also includes Jim cheating on McCoy with the same woman (extremely upsetting), and the final revelation that she had been using the poor doctor all along(devastating). All that being said, I got over my trauma and cried at the end of the book, which included a surprisingly wonderful (if bittersweet) resolution.

Rating: 4

Highlights:
  • This author has a talent for dialogue and especially resonate characterization (though it occasionally veers off to exaggerate Kirk and McCoy’s failings). Readers will appreciate McCoy’s wit and sensitivity.
  • Taking a leaf directly from the television series, McCoy bears the brunt of Kirk’s grieved anger when Spock is badly injured.
  • McCoy refers to the sickbay as his vegetable garden. :)
  • When it comes down to it, McCoy passionately protects Spock from the cruelty of his lady - and absolutely refuses not to honor Spock’s request to return home.
  • Nurse Chapel affectionately teases Dr. McCoy’s giddy, romantic happiness.
  • As McCoy tells Kirk, he doesn’t do casual flirtation. He loves. It’s a sweet and vulnerable dedication, which is why it is so, so upsetting when he realizes why he can’t contact either her or Kirk one night…
  • As is his relief when she later admits to being attracted to the captain and to kissing him, thereby allowing him to believe that she was at least being honest. So he forgives. Then he proposes. Actually, this whole conversation kills. Poor McCoy; it’s evident that love has left him pretty damaged.
  • Kirk and McCoy jointly refuse to be kept away from Spock, and it is the woman’s inference that McCoy loves Spock that causes her to spare the Vulcan’s life.
  • Final confrontation between McCoy and his lady involves a phaser. ;_;
  • Though occasionally rocky, the relationship between McCoy and his lady was ultimately touching, if wholly sad (more details would spoil to the point of ruin).

#28 - Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson


Going into this book, I was hopeful because part of its premise included an appearance by Dr. McCoy’s daughter. However, this was misleading. Joanna has less than a page of dialogue, and Dr. McCoy himself possibly even less. Not particularly intriguing or well written, though it does include some interesting details to fill the doctor’s patchwork back-story.

Rating: 2

Highlights:
  • While this novel doesn’t have the canonical authority of some other writers, it does include a description of Kirk and McCoy’s first meeting. In this version, McCoy treats a young Jim Kirk whose leg had been damaged enough to require amputation. The doctor, of course, saves and rehabilitates him instead.
  • McCoy is sited as being a resident of the earth-like planet, Alpha Centari, where his daughter also has lived since age nine, either with her father or with an aunt and uncle. This should please those who considered it out of character for the doctor to have abandoned his child and have no part in raising her. It’s a nice and believable compromise.
  • Joanna McCoy is a nurse. :)
  • Spock, who finds Joanna among the survivors at Centaurus, recognizes her based on her resemblance to her father. She is blood-covered and filthy from working among the injured, but Spock describes her as “magnificent” and tells her she is a credit to her father.
  • There are two reunion scenes between Joanna and McCoy, once when she is nine and the other at the end of the book. Both times, she calls him daddy and then “mushball” when he cries. It’s very sweet.

#30 - Demons by J.M. Dillard



A thoroughly readable story about a Vulcan archeological dig which unearths a force which possess like a parasite and then feed off of sadism. Several make it to Vulcan, where they affect Spock’s family and cause the first Vulcan murders in a thousand years. Another remains on the Enterprise, with obviously consequences. One detractor is a thoroughly unlikeable romantic interest, which results in a (dubious, unjustified) love triangle that includes both Spock and McCoy. There is also some disappointing and embarrassing jealousy on the doctor’s part, again, without much justification.

Rating: 4

Highlights:
  • A well-paced story with a premise that, if not wholly original, is somehow handled in a fresh way. Difficult to put down, especially the portions on Vulcan.
  • McCoy is called a “pipsqueak” at a tourist bar and gets a black eye trying to defend a woman’s honor. Scrappy, underdog McCoy is hard not to like.
  • When everyone on the Enterprise is possessed, including Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy is one of only three crewmen to make it off the ship. Yea for not getting knocked off early in the plot!
  • The desert of Vulcan hates Dr. McCoy. He is attacked by a man-eating plant, suffers from heat exhaustion, is attacked by a carnivorous lizard, and then manages to get lethally poisoned before succumbing to convulsions.
  • Spock is gentle with delusional, convulsing McCoy and tells him it isn’t his fault that he’s a walking disaster area.
  • After being essentially written off by Spock and a crewman as worthless, Dr. McCoy manages to save everyone’s lives with his imagination. Take that, logic.

#32 - Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese



An novel that resembles a series episode, with little character development or special insight. That being said, it does include an outside perspective in the form of a mutinous civilian, and it does characterize the crew well. The adventure itself is also compelling: the Enterprise is propelled into a distant galaxy while experimenting on a space distortion. There, they find hundreds of “slaughtered worlds” and two warring species of kamikaze aliens.

Rating: 3

Highlights:
  • Spock doesn’t have a sense of humor, but when McCoy asks if he minds them having a laugh now and then, Spock assures the doctor he does not. His reason? Apparently laughter increases human efficiency. McCoy retorts it’s a good thing Spock never laughed, then. If he increased his efficiency any more, the rest of the crew would become redundant. :)
  • McCoy calls Spock out on what he calls an “unquantifiable possibility”. Otherwise known as a hunch.
  • A terrible accident results in a badly wounded nurse. McCoy responds with all the calm and decisiveness befitting a combat medic.
  • McCoy nettles predictably when Security prevents him from providing medical care, and disagrees with Kirk, who cautiously puts off providing assistance to an alien race.
  • The civilian onboard, a manipulative, emotionally volatile, and vindictive politician, misinterprets Kirk and McCoy’s disagreements and stages a mutiny, turning over control of the ship to McCoy.
  • McCoy calmly distracts the civilian with the oldest trick in the book: “Look over there!” Wham; Vulcan nerve pinch.
  • Kirk consults with McCoy, seeking his personal and medical opinion about whether to trust the civilian to assist them in a survival situation.

#35 - The Romulan Way by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood



A singularly strange but quintessentially Diane Duane-esque novel which involves Romulans, historical forays, talking rocks, and Doctor McCoy - in that order. The plot takes us to the planet Romulus where a Star Fleet agent has been undercover as a household servant for so long that she has “lost” herself in the culture. Then Dr. McCoy gets dragged in the front door, a prisoner bound for torture and execution. Espionage of the most puzzling sort follows after SPOILER is revealed. Seriously, this is one of those books that I can only say so much about without absolutely ruining it.

Rating: 4 (which is funny, considering he is the only non-original character present)

Highlights:
  • In true “Diane Duane” style, this novel is mostly an excuse to discuss planetary history - in this case, of Romulus and the Romulans. Dr. McCoy’s imprisonment is basically just a foil (though he does have some spectacular moments). Expect to bounce back and forth in time (skimming is okay!)
  • The true circumstances which bring McCoy into Romulan clutches are somewhat farfetched, but putting familiar characters into fantasy scenarios is the whole purpose of fanfict - er, Star Trek. Right? :)
  • Dr. McCoy is captured off a private starship on his way to a medical conference. He bribes his way onto the bridge though a very funny conversation with a Sulamid.
  • Poor blue-eyed, oh-so-human McCoy is quite the spectacle in the Romulan household.
  • Arrhae, the spy-servant who dominates the story, gives one of my favorite descriptions of McCoy: “There was a gentleness about the man that ran so deep is accorded ill with the hot rage he wore like a garment. As if he knew himself justified in his anger, but would as soon find reason to put it aside, even here, among his enemies.”
  • The Romulan pronunciation of McCoy’s name is Mak’khoi. :)
  • McCoy’s brain has been tampered with by Star Fleet. I can’t decide if this is fantastic or disturbing.
  • The doctor spends a lot of his imprisonment in the rain communing with nature. And by nature I mean SPOILER (you’ll like this).
  • McCoy’s relationship with SPOILER is very endearing. Have I mentioned that you should rewatch TOS Episode 1:26 “The Devil in the Dark” before reading?
  • During his trial, McCoy utilizes the Right of Statement and filibusters the Romulan Counsel for hours. He doesn’t have a phonebook, but there is some nonsense about baked beans… (Seriously, I died from laughing).
Minor Issues/Rant:
  • Why the hell did Spock and Kirk agree to this? Considering their friend’s situation, their complete lack of involvement is somewhat out of the spirit of Star Trek.
  • No resolution for any recognizable Star Trek character - truly a story about Arrhae.

#37 -Bloodthirst by J.M. Dillard




As ridiculous as it sounds, this is a Star Trek “vampire” novel. That being said, this story is very well written, with some of J.M. Dillard’s best reoccurring side characters (you’ll see them again in his other novel “The Lost Years” - another good, if depressing read). The basic premise is that the Enterprise is sidetracked to a Federation outpost on Tanis, where dubious work was being done on bioweapons. A virus that causes an unexplainable lust for blood is loosed on the ship by way of the base’s only survivor…and Kirk finds himself involved in a possible cover up that goes all the way to the admiralty.

Rating: Strong 5 (read this one cover to cover, folks).

Highlights:
  • As always, J.M. Dillard does an excellent job keeping McCoy in character and yet also extending his development with intriguing interpretations of his motives, as well as offering up tidbits, quirks, and info. He does tend to ignore the fact that - like Spock and Kirk - McCoy is also a fleet officer (and not a civilian), but it’s forgivable since even the doctor’s most flawed moments read with dignity.
  • Lots of time in sickbay, with multiple outside perspectives of the one who runs it. My favorite has to be by Lieutenant Tomson, the frigid, taciturn Security Chief from an icy world. Her comment: “Excitable, isn’t he?”
  • The intensity with which McCoy cares about his patients is very evident, including a very touching scene where he comforts an angry, devastated crewman.
  • McCoy-Spock bantering - their interaction is rather understated in this novel, but the moments that are there are quite nice.
  • There’s a lot of time spent on the relationship between McCoy and Nurse Chapel as colleagues and friends, all handled really well. Heartbreaking stuff too.
  • McCoy in mourning, with semi-comforting Spock.
  • Romulan hostage situations! - oh, Dr. McCoy. This man is kidnapped more than anyone else in the series, I swear. This time, he’s even injured.
  • Fierce and infuriated outburst at a deserving party - no one can go on a ream about the sanctity of life better than McCoy.
  • Kirk-Bones drinking party, with the doctor as his captain’s personal grief councilor.

#50 - Doctor’s Orders by Diane Duane





My absolute favorite book. The basic premise is that Captain Kirk decides to torment McCoy by leaving him in charge of the Enterprise while he goes down to a planet’s surface. Unfortunately, he then disappears. Then a Klingon ship shows up, and Dr. McCoy has to use his wits as a doctor and a psychologist - rather than as a commander - to keep them all alive until they can find the captain.

Rating: Strong 5 (BEST NOVEL EVER).

Highlights:
  • This book could have gone very south if the author had taken the typical route and had the “inexperienced commander” make any number of humiliating errors, all the while facing the scorn of the crew. Refreshingly, some of the strongest elements of the story are that McCoy 1) realizes he’s in over his head, and seeks guidance immediately, 2) reacts admirably, with all the ability that one would expect from a senior officer in Starfleet, 3) is still strikingly human and himself in the best possible ways, 4) HAS THE FULL SUPPORT OF THE BRIDGE (including, and perhaps especially, Spock), and 5) always acts as a doctor first, which makes his method of command surprising, fresh, and extremely entertaining.
  • Strikingly witty dialogue; I laughed aloud from cover to cover.
  • The alien species in the novel are unusually convincing and well-contrived. Dr. McCoy’s interaction with them is grin-worthy too; he pets one and calls it “son.” The creature, whose name is unpronounceable, purrs and cuddles with him a bit.
  • Workaholic, scolding, hypocritically-unaware-of-his-own-health McCoy is in evidence here. He is such a typical mommy doctor. :)
  • One of the strong points of the novel is the keen insight the author lends to the Spock-McCoy relationship. The doctor - whose esteem for his Vulcan comrade has only ever been very thinly veiled by his gruffness - really demonstrates his faith in Spock, while Spock himself is gracious, supportive, and gentle, but in a way that is just as subtly presented as in the series itself.
  • McCoy HATES command; however, his lack of military training doesn’t stop him from using the skills he does have, as a psychologist, a pragmatist, a medic, and as an incredibly convincing liar. It’s a surprisingly potent combination.
  • Uhura has to edit McCoy’s recordings to Starfleet. Tact was never one of the doctor’s strong points.
  • Kaiev, the Klingon commander who threatens the Enterprise, is my favorite original character ever. He and McCoy become buddies.
  • McCoy uses their own psychology to outsmart the Klingons. First, he grins liked a madman and blithely announces that he killed the famous “Kirk” and was now the captain (which the Klingons believe, as this is apparently a fairly typical form of advancement in their culture). Then the doctor alternates between flippancy and aggressive posturing. By the end of it, poor Kaiev is convinced that McCoy is a lunatic barbarian who had murdered his captain and would be as likely to blow them both to bits as to continue giggling madly from his command chair. Everyone is surprised at how effectively this renders the usually hostile Klingons edgy and cautious (apparently it’s something about wolves and eye contact and warrior-cultures).
  • One of the highlights of this interaction is McCoy’s diagnosis of Commander Kaiev’s chronic medical condition, the revelation of which so startles the Klingon that he almost kills his whole crew in order to find the “spy.” Right.
  • In all seriousness, McCoy’s concern for his adversary as a doctor is a sterling and earnest portrayal of his deeper character, which will always manifest - first and foremost - as a healer.
  • Favorite scene in the book: McCoy and Kaiev’s conversation in which the doctor revealed that he has no background whatsoever in command. Sincerely, I cannot remark enough on how interesting this dynamic is.

#55 - Renegade by Gene Deweese

The reason I sometimes call these novels published fanfiction is because fanfiction is generally characterized by wildly varying levels of writing ability, shoddy characterization, and an imbalance of action, introspection, and dialogue. This book is on the lower tier such novelized fanfiction. The premise was promising - Spock and McCoy are “killed” on a landing party, leaving Kirk to grieve - but there’s no follow through. Action happens, but it doesn’t capture. The characters are overly foolish and unrealistic. Even Kirk’s sorrow is shallow. And mostly Dr. McCoy’s role in the whole mess is just to ask the “right” questions to move along the plot.

Rating: 3 (but not even worth a skim).

# 60 - Ice Trap by L.A. Graf




A delightfully traditional adventure set during the original five-year mission. It has two major subplots - one which follows Uhura and Chekov as they investigate a missing shuttle in the frigid northern climes of the planet, while the other follows Kirk and McCoy on a plankton-harvesting submarine as they seek out clues about a recent outbreak of madness among workers beneath the ice. Oh, and did I mention that McCoy is afraid of water?

Rating: 5

Highlights:
  • One always appreciates attempts to further character development beyond what we already know from the series, and the major tidbit from this book is McCoy’s near debilitating fear of water. This works surprisingly well (without being over the top), especially since the authors promptly drop the poor doctor into a submarine.
  • Rare Kirk-McCoy dynamic. Very warm - even touchy. Though poor McCoy might be excused since he’s half out of his wits with fear.
  • Not McCoy related, but I also love the other team of the book: Uhura-Chekov. It doesn’t turn any more romantic than the first, but is just as nicely woven. Awesome exploration of these character without becoming annoying.
  • Appreciate the sense of biological reality (which even TOS conveniently forgets in All Our Yesterdays): Spock, being a Vulcan, cannot safely endure a prolonged visit to the icebound planet and therefore must stay behind.
  • Pleasantly, there is actual justification for McCoy’s phobia.
  • Hard knocks for the doctor in this novel - he is attacked by a maddened college, cut up, throttled, and then locked into a room filling with water.
  • Nuie, a native, bonds with the doctor while they attempt not to drown together. At the end, he will declare them friends and brothers and gift the doctor with an heirloom weapon.
  • The madman returns to capture McCoy a second time, and this time it gets creepy. It sort of reminds of me of that horrible scene with Sybok; it’s just too intimate and awful.
  • McCoy saves the planet just slightly ahead of Spock. He enjoys this. :)

#72 - The Better Man by Howard Weinstein



This book made me angry. One of the most consistent McCoy-centric themes is the doctor’s absolute inability to be happy in love. This is perhaps made even more distressing because the man is so damn gentle about it that it’s like watching someone emotionally torture a child. Repeatedly. “The Better Man” continues this trend when an alien counselor (with whom McCoy had a liaison during his time as a young doctor) contacts him, claiming she needed his help to save the life of their daughter. As it turns out, however, the woman had been simultaneously seeing the McCoy’s best friend, and after he saves the day, the woman announces that he wasn’t really the father and that she still preferred the other guy. The new family then jettisons poor McCoy, who stands there looking fractured and forlorn while I started down at the pages and went, "Wut? Really? Really?”

Rating: 4

Highlights:
  • The book opens with a rare turn-around; Kirk has sought out McCoy to find the reason behind his recent outbursts of temper. He compares him to a pon farr-ing Vulcan, actually, which McCoy doesn’t appreciate. :)
  • One always enjoys back story; see scrawny bitty-Bones get tormented by bullies and witness tidbits of his early service in Star Fleet.
  • There’s some interesting tension over the fact that Ambassador Rousseau, the “other man”, had been McCoy’s best friend - a title that Kirk claims for himself.
  • The relationship that McCoy has with Rousseau is complex enough to chew over. It makes me wonder if this is was where McCoy received training being friends with people whose charisma seems to consistently overshadow him.
  • I like the concept that on the planet of genetically engineered super-humans, it’s McCoy’s flaws that make him so strongly attractive.
  • Going into his relationship with the counselor, shy, gawky McCoy is convinced that he doesn’t deserve to be loved or happy. His tentative trust makes the parallel passages with her and Rousseau almost nauseating.
  • The Counselor blatantly uses McCoy…twice. And you may find it too cruel for words to find the doctor being tormented with the idea that he had unwittingly failed another daughter.
  • Then the doctor is mistakenly kidnapped by a “radical group”.
  • It is hard to resist how charming McCoy is when he takes to calling someone “son” - even if that person is the one who abducted him.

A Choice of Catastrophes by Michael Schuster and Steve Mollman




When the Enterprise encounters a series of space distortions, the ship’s human espers begin falling into comas. With a steadily mounting doubt in his abilities and his sanity, Dr. McCoy must discover the reason before he loses his patients to brain death. Meanwhile, Captain Kirk and the Enterprise’s entire compliment of senior officers become involved in a conspiracy to enslave a race frozen in time.

Rating: 4

Highlights:
  • The major issue of the book is the doctor’s restlessness and insecurity. Concerned that he is becoming too personally involved with his crewmates and having doubts about his competency as a doctor in deep space, McCoy considers an assignment off of the Enterprise.
  • A little glimpse of McCoy the psychologist: An ensign comes to McCoy looking for advice about how to deal with the senior staff on the bridge. I like the concept of him as “family practitioner”, responsible for the ship personnel’s total care. :)
  • When the ship hits a major distortion, McCoy keeps his head and performs triage in the rec room. One always loves to see the doctor’s professional skills at work.
  • McCoy begins hallucinating voices and then people from his past, who criticize his choices and behavior. In the course of the book he sees his wife, father, daughter, dead patients, and finally the ship’s espers.
  • Not McCoy related, but a major treat in this book is the dialogue between Kirk and the frozen race, the Farrezzi. They don’t have verbs in their language and translating their noun-speak is great fun. For example, “I don’t believe you” becomes “Assessment: Lie!”
  • Ultimately, in order to help the espers, McCoy must submit himself to a risky procedure that suppresses his brain activity and allows him to connect with them on a subconscious level. It nearly kills him, but he manages to pull through.
  • As a delightful end-note, Spock’s final exchange with McCoy is a very smug statement about how the doctor’s logical actions were surely a sign that his subtle tutelage was working. McCoy is, of course, outraged by the very thought.
Minor Issues/Rant: Touted as a Dr. McCoy-centric book, it does devote time to flashbacks of the doctor’s past and his looming insecurities. Sadly, said insecurities are of a very predictable vein, and while both the medical mystery and the landing party adventure are enjoyable reads, I was disappointed that the same old issues were rehashed.

Spock’s World by Diane Duane





How do I love this novel? Let me count the ways. It’s basic premise is that Vulcan is considering withdrawing from the Federation, thereby recalling all its resources and effectively isolating or exiling its population. But since they are such a civilized people, they decide to put humanity on trial first to prove that men are either 1) Imitative monkey-barbarians who need to be protected from the superiority of Vulcan influence, or 2) war-like imperial barbarians too depraved to be associated with. Sounds like fun, right? But what makes this book so truly fantastic is Dr. McCoy - and, no, I am not being prejudiced. He effectively pwns the entire Vulcan race, and he does so by being a lying, stealing, psychoanalytically manipulative bastard. :)

Rating: 5 (for radiance)

Highlights:
  • Not McCoy related, but you should know that this novel has a two-fold approach. It alternates between chapters in the present and from an ancient past. You may be tempted to skip these unknown passages, but DON’T. They build a masterful answer to the following question: why, if Vulcans are so devoted to the concept of infinite diversity, are they so afraid of the Other - and of themselves?
  • Between Spock and McCoy, just the right amount of annoyance, exasperation, and genuine fondness exists. For example, when Kirk hypothesizes that McCoy had been grumbling, Spock regards the captain “as if he had just announced that space was a vacuum: his look said both that the statement was obvious, and one about which a great deal more could be said.” Ha. XD
  • Kirk and McCoy are both summoned to the trail to “bear witness.” When asked whether he would accept the invitation, the doctor pauses and then replies, “Dammit, when did I last turn down an argument with a Vulcan? I can hardly pass up one with an entire planet.”
  • Though sometimes overshadowed by the brightness of his companions’ intellect and talent, it should never be forgotten that Dr. McCoy is brilliant. This whole book is basically one long dissertation on the matter - and it’s amusing to see others (including Spock, Kirk, and Sarek) realize it, too.
  • McCoy keeps shocking the pants off of people. SO many raised Vulcan eyebrows.
  • Dr. McCoy skips his shore leave and submits himself to violent, prolonged illness so that he can become fluent in Vulcan (a medical procedure involving RNA transplanting is involved). His use of this skill is awesome in the older sense - it makes your mouth hang open.
  • Watch Dr. McCoy out-psych the whole Vulcan population with body language and Surak’s own philosophy.
  • All of the presentations are wonderful, but the he doctor’s speech is o.o - like, wow.
  • After calling all of them cowards and shouting in their faces, McCoy receives a standing ovation from the formerly hostile Vulcan audience. He tells Spock that this speech was “every argument they ever had rolled into one.”
  • Sarek follows McCoy’s speech and acts as his opponent. Poor fellow, he wasn’t expecting McCoy to drop that giant…SPOILER…on his head.
  • Did I mention that McCoy is a genius and manages to orchestrate the end of the anti-Federation position through outright thievery and sensational timing? That being said, everyone forgets this fact immediately afterward because Kirk and Spock are so shinny. Sigh.

Vulcan’s Forge by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz



An interesting take on the years after Captain Kirk disappears, leaving Spock and the other bereaved members of his crew to decide what to do with themselves. It fills the time-void before Spock becomes an ambassador by playing that favorite-of-cards - what if he were captain? In fact, he is in charge of the Intrepid on a diplomatic mission to a Vulcan-like desert planet wherein he will face old pals, moving on, and loony-toon religious fanatics. Did I mention that McCoy is kidnapped again? Oh boy.

Rating: 3 (worth reading on discount or loan)

Highlights:
  • The book opens with Spock the micromanaging, I-am-so-over-the-loss-of-my-soul-mate Captain. McCoy is a member of his crew, and it’s interesting to see the captain-CMO relationship play out between them.
  • The doctor plies Spock with alcohol and chides him about getting enough sleep. They dance circles around one another with very targeted minor blackmail. I guess this comes from knowing each other so long.
  • At the beginning, it’s a little heart-breaking to read how carefully Spock categorizes McCoy as acquaintance more than friend. It causes the doctor to abort an attempt to comfort, for example, that makes you go :(
  • Grumbly McCoy doesn’t like Spock’s old human buddy (and vice versa). Spock’s believes that he is jealous. Hee.
  • The truth is actually a little more sad. McCoy is really upset that Spock is easy with another human friend, as though he were replacing Jim.
  • Amidst the blazing desert waste, replete with a radioactive, cancer-causing sun, McCoy manages to get kidnapped by Romulans.
  • Said Romulans attempt to insult their captive, which isn’t effective. McCoy calls one of them “son”, and receives a blistering rejoinder from a young commander about how he would fall on his sword if it were so. McCoy snipes back, saying that if the boy were really his child he would have exposed him at birth. This actually makes the Romulans like him. Perhaps it’s a cultural thing.
  • Much talk about war-criminal Mak’khoi. Apparently some Romulans think he was called “Bones” because he tortured prisoners. Tee hee.
  • Indubitably insane renegade Vulcan antagonist blackmails McCoy by refusing to let him treat the abused natives unless he led Spock into a trap.
  • Wily, humanitarian McCoy.
  • McCoy and Spock communicate through the bond left after the fal-tor-pan. This becomes very funny when Spock tries to discern whether McCoy is alive and has to blink, admitting, “Alive, yes. And furious.” Aha.
  • In an effort to write this story, the authors must have read “The Romulan Way” by Diane Duane over and over again. Parts of it are rather a knock-off. For example: McCoy’s pre-execution filibuster about the Kentucky Derby. The Romulans love this, fascinated by the “war-beast” tales. Crazy-ass Vulcan renegade fumes.
  • Have I mentioned yet that alien OCs always end up loving McCoy? Klingons, Romulans, assorted... I think it must be his charming personality combined with how small he is. Scrappiness diplomacy.
  • Nice resolution between Spock and McCoy: commendation on the doctor’s file, more alcohol, and the future. As well as Spock’s final, understated recognition of their friendship.

Short Stories:

The Procrustean Petard by Sandra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath




After responding to a siren call, the Enterprise landing party find themselves altered so that they are exactly as they might have been if they had been born the opposite gender. This immediately causes command issues for Kirk, who now must face old prejudices, a smallness and unfamiliarity of form, and an old Klingon adversary…as well as the protectiveness of his friends.

Rating: 4

Highlights:
  • This is a certain poetry to the way each person reverses. For example, Kirk comes out surpassingly lovely, while Uhura is a “magnificent black warrior.” Fear not, though - it is exceptionally well handled and you won’t find yourself rolling your eyes.
  • Loved the description of McCoy: “There was no mistaking Bones McCoy…. He made a handsome woman, slim, almost willowy, yet with the strength of his experience still written in the woman’s face, his quizzical, ironic eyebrow a little finer, hair a little longer, skin softer. But he was still - Bones.”
  • In another well-contrived turn, the physically strongest male is not turned, but is instead given the equivalent of an extra Y chromosome. Spock, therefore, comes out hyper masculine rather than feminine.
  • The first thing that ultra-aggressive Spock does is lash out at McCoy.
  • Actually, Spock is the representation of all male prejudice, though it is sometimes hard to tell if he is more disparaging of femininity or of humanity. Somehow, because it’s Spock, this works without damaging his character.
  • While the others struggle to varying degrees, McCoy seems largely unaffected. Perhaps this is because his character really isn’t defined by masculinity or femininity in the same the way as Kirk, Spock, or even Uhura.
  • There is a fantastic confrontation between Spock and McCoy after Kirk dashes off to face the Klingon commander alone. Try to imagine tiny female McCoy putting herself between aggressive, He-man Spock and a shuttlecraft.
  • Of course, they both go after Kirk anyway. Woo, triumvirate!
  • Warning: Some mildly disturbing sexual tension and innuendo between Kirk and the Klingon captain. Incredibly, this manages to come over philosophic (though still somewhat squicky).
  • In classic fashion, one of Spock’s final comments is a witticism about how the male population of the universe had lost out by McCoy and Kirk’s return to normal. McCoy chokes, “Why, you pointy-eared elf, how would you know?” Spock is smug without outright saying that he’d been checking them out for most of the story. Awkward. XD
  • Did I mention that Spock isn’t “fixed”? I actually liked this. If it had been a true continuation of the show, it would have been an interesting long-term development of his character.

In the Maze by Jennifer Guttridge





The Enterprise has, surprise surprise, lost their landing party on a backward alien planet while investigating a possible contamination from an advanced, non-native species. Spock warns caution, but of course Kirk grabs up his best buddies and a few disposable red shirts and plows into a featureless black abyss…where he promptly disappears. Spock and McCoy must seek him in a contrived, labyrinthine experiment while Kirk watches helplessly as his injured friends struggle toward him.

Rating: 5

Highlights:
  • Spock-McCoy tag team for the win! Seriously: here we have hurt/comfort scenes, protective!Spock, and heroic!McCoy. You almost couldn’t wish for more.
  • After Kirk disappears, Spock resolutely intends to follow. He gives permission to a fearful McCoy to return to the ship with the others, but of course his faithfulness leaves no room for something so absurd. “Leave Jim in trouble and you heading into the same mess?” McCoy asks. “Not likely! And if you tell me I’m being illogical -”
  • It’s telling that Spock doesn’t. In fact, it reads rather warmly as if that had been his intention from the beginning. They go together.
  • I like this passage: “McCoy stretched out his hand, feeling for the touch of Spock’s sleeve.” It’s just a nice little piece of character insight, as is his continued insistence that others are in command. McCoy is such a deliberate follower that it somehow makes him seem tough and autonomous instead of weak. Perhaps this is because, as his position as CMO makes it obvious that he can lead, it implies a great deal of faith in his friends. Not that he doesn’t occasionally grumble, of course. :)
  • Both are injured in a fall. Spock’s leg is strained, and McCoy lands in a way that breaks some of his ribs. He spends much of the story clammy, hurting, and struggling to breathe. A concerned Spock keeps an eye on him.
  • McCoy refuses to use the painkillers in his field kit because he doesn’t want to be hazy. Both men are very stoic in the face of their hurts and their situation, actually.
  • The unknown experimenter puts Spock and McCoy up against a tentacle-monster in an inky underwater environment. Spock is caught by his injured leg, being pulled inexorably toward the water, but in an enjoyable reversal, McCoy comes to his rescue.
  • Spock insists that cutting off his own leg is the only solution (… XD), but clever, McCoy manages without amputation. He does almost get drowned in the process, however, and tears up his ribs fighting to keep his friend above water.
  • Since he was unconscious at the end of the tentacle debacle, when Spock wakes up he isn’t sure if he still has two lower limbs. “Dr. McCoy. My leg. I can’t feel it. Did you…” he stammers. This is a :( moment.
  • The alien experimenter is a higher being whose “intelligence” is based on purely emotional responses. Spock disapproves, though he finds it predictably fascinating. Tee hee.
  • A very short story, but the little tidbits you get of this working partnership are worth reading, whatever the length. It’s as rich as the series itself was with the possibility of more. You don’t need an epic to imply the closeness between the three men, the complexity of their relationship as friends and as colleagues, or to enjoy the intricacies of the Spock-McCoy dance of spiky witticisms and genuine esteem. I really, really liked it.

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