Star Trek TOS novel book review: The Prometheus Design
So my day has sucked. The vet has told me that my cat has cancer and maybe 3 to 6 months to live. He's 8 1/2.
So, in an effort to distractdistractdenydistract, I'm going to give a Star Trek novel book review. It's sooo bad it's good. Sort of. Well not really. ANYWAYS.
I just finished reading The Prometheus Design by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. These are the authors who wrote Triangle, The Price of the Phoenix and The Fate of the Phoenix. They also wrote The Procrustean Petard in Star Trek: The New Voyages 2, which is essentially a genderswitch! story in a collection of published fan fiction. You can see my summary of The Procrustean Petard --> HERE.
As cliche and sometimes even Mary Sueish as these stories can be, they still hit some of my favorite kinks. And I'm not the only one who likes them. seperis mentions several of their works in the second to last paragraph HERE. There are several reviews--good & bad--at kirkspock.
Go to riversidepub for more exerts and info about The Price of the Phoenix and The Fate of the Phoenix. Now on the the review.
The Prometheus Design: There is a lot of OOC that is supposedly instigated by these super-powered "Designers" aka evil alien scientists. Needless to say, this is one of the slashiest K/S novels I've read. I give you the following evidence:
1) Nakedness. Or near nakedness. There is a lot of it. Spock is nude or nearly so in several instances, as is Kirk. And of course, as soon as it's Kirk that's missing clothes Spock practically throws his robe at him with an unspoken, Cover yourself, human. Only I get to see you naked. (Ok, that last part was my addition but it's not really that much of a deviation from the book itself).
2) Lots of touching during completely unnecessary dancing wrestling between Kirk & two Vulcans, Spock being one of course. No really--there is no logical plot-development device that you can present to me where satisfying the voyeuristic tendencies of another Vulcan supersede the impending doom of the galaxy. Wrestle your Human for me, Spock--show him who is superior. (Paraphrasing out of my ass, but essentially verbatim. Geez, dirty old Vulcan).
3). Kirk is Spock's. Fuck you, Universe. There is a lot of posturing and Kirk is MINE behavior from Spock. He takes it to the point that he would rather let the galaxy perish than allow his T'hy'la to trade himself for their salvation.
4) Kirk is placed in a position of vulnerability. This seems to be a common theme with these two authors. Kirk is usually portrayed as a strong character who does not have a breaking point. Here, through some plot justification I'm not even going to begin to explain, Kirk is demoted to First Officer and has placed Spock as captain. And now that he IS captain, he demands absolute obedience. You can imagine how well that goes over with Kirk. Some character traits never change ^_^ Also, all the YOU WILL SUBMIT TO ME that Captain Spock is throwing at the demoted Kirk has a little bit of BDSM undercurrents to me. Whaaaat?
5) Kirk & Spock are T'hy'la. Canon, baby. The authors go out of their way to show this. They even spell out the first two definitions in the book; the third definition is in the glossary with several other Vulcan translations.
6) Gratuitous mind melds and calling through The Bond. Here the authors actually make it known that it was Kirk's mental cry that brought Spock back from Gol. He also uses this ability once again when he is in danger to reach Spock. Ok, really--I want to see the Vulcan bonding ceremony all ready! The only thing they're not having in their de facto marriage is sex.
7) Or are they? In the end, once everything is back to normal Spock makes it clear that even though Kirk's insubordination will not be professionally punished, the matter will still be resolved between them in private. Yeah. Let me quote it.
Spock looked at Kirk and Kirk saw that the anger had not dissipated. But it was becoming somewhat more personal.......
"As for the matter between us," Spock said in the tone of not letting him off the hook. "I believe that can be resolved privately."
"Yes, sir."
"When you are quite recovered, you will conform to double fitness schedule and meet me for asumi--and chess."
"Yes, Captain Spock."
8) ::FLAILS:: OMG REALLY??! I really want to see that private lesson.
Overall, the plot makes absolutely no sense, but if you like protective!aggressive!possessive!Spock fighting all the aliens that want his T'hy'la, then you're in for a treat. This is a guilty pleasure. I can't explain it any other way.
EDIT: cut tag for tl;dr
So, in an effort to distractdistractdenydistract, I'm going to give a Star Trek novel book review. It's sooo bad it's good. Sort of. Well not really. ANYWAYS.
I just finished reading The Prometheus Design by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. These are the authors who wrote Triangle, The Price of the Phoenix and The Fate of the Phoenix. They also wrote The Procrustean Petard in Star Trek: The New Voyages 2, which is essentially a genderswitch! story in a collection of published fan fiction. You can see my summary of The Procrustean Petard --> HERE.
As cliche and sometimes even Mary Sueish as these stories can be, they still hit some of my favorite kinks. And I'm not the only one who likes them. seperis mentions several of their works in the second to last paragraph HERE. There are several reviews--good & bad--at kirkspock.
Go to riversidepub for more exerts and info about The Price of the Phoenix and The Fate of the Phoenix. Now on the the review.
The Prometheus Design: There is a lot of OOC that is supposedly instigated by these super-powered "Designers" aka evil alien scientists. Needless to say, this is one of the slashiest K/S novels I've read. I give you the following evidence:
1) Nakedness. Or near nakedness. There is a lot of it. Spock is nude or nearly so in several instances, as is Kirk. And of course, as soon as it's Kirk that's missing clothes Spock practically throws his robe at him with an unspoken, Cover yourself, human. Only I get to see you naked. (Ok, that last part was my addition but it's not really that much of a deviation from the book itself).
2) Lots of touching during completely unnecessary dancing wrestling between Kirk & two Vulcans, Spock being one of course. No really--there is no logical plot-development device that you can present to me where satisfying the voyeuristic tendencies of another Vulcan supersede the impending doom of the galaxy. Wrestle your Human for me, Spock--show him who is superior. (Paraphrasing out of my ass, but essentially verbatim. Geez, dirty old Vulcan).
3). Kirk is Spock's. Fuck you, Universe. There is a lot of posturing and Kirk is MINE behavior from Spock. He takes it to the point that he would rather let the galaxy perish than allow his T'hy'la to trade himself for their salvation.
4) Kirk is placed in a position of vulnerability. This seems to be a common theme with these two authors. Kirk is usually portrayed as a strong character who does not have a breaking point. Here, through some plot justification I'm not even going to begin to explain, Kirk is demoted to First Officer and has placed Spock as captain. And now that he IS captain, he demands absolute obedience. You can imagine how well that goes over with Kirk. Some character traits never change ^_^ Also, all the YOU WILL SUBMIT TO ME that Captain Spock is throwing at the demoted Kirk has a little bit of BDSM undercurrents to me. Whaaaat?
5) Kirk & Spock are T'hy'la. Canon, baby. The authors go out of their way to show this. They even spell out the first two definitions in the book; the third definition is in the glossary with several other Vulcan translations.
6) Gratuitous mind melds and calling through The Bond. Here the authors actually make it known that it was Kirk's mental cry that brought Spock back from Gol. He also uses this ability once again when he is in danger to reach Spock. Ok, really--I want to see the Vulcan bonding ceremony all ready! The only thing they're not having in their de facto marriage is sex.
7) Or are they? In the end, once everything is back to normal Spock makes it clear that even though Kirk's insubordination will not be professionally punished, the matter will still be resolved between them in private. Yeah. Let me quote it.
Spock looked at Kirk and Kirk saw that the anger had not dissipated. But it was becoming somewhat more personal.......
"As for the matter between us," Spock said in the tone of not letting him off the hook. "I believe that can be resolved privately."
"Yes, sir."
"When you are quite recovered, you will conform to double fitness schedule and meet me for asumi--and chess."
"Yes, Captain Spock."
8) ::FLAILS:: OMG REALLY??! I really want to see that private lesson.
Overall, the plot makes absolutely no sense, but if you like protective!aggressive!possessive!Spock fighting all the aliens that want his T'hy'la, then you're in for a treat. This is a guilty pleasure. I can't explain it any other way.
EDIT: cut tag for tl;dr