Welcome to the first day of #TMPRead where I'll be reading Gene Roddenberry's novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and commenting on the interesting bits that aren't in the film. You can read along, but it's not necessary. I'll be adding plot details as well.
The book starts with a preface written by Admiral Kirk. He starts with explaining his name. "James" is the name of his father's brother as well as his mother's "first Love Instructor".
We can only guess what a "love instructor" is. Is it someone who teaches you love poetry? Is it a sexual surrogate who teaches you methods and positions for love making? What age is instruction and is it mandatory? No flipping idea.
Kirk explains that his masculine first name is indicative of the old-fashioned nature of Star Fleet. Officers of the service are considered "primitives" as opposed to a movement called "New Humans" which symbolize humanity's future. #TMPRead
Early years of Star Fleet had many mutinies because New Humans like to run off with the aliens the encountered. This is oddly reminiscent of Picard running off with the space cloud in "Lonely Among Us". #TMPRead
So all of Star Fleet are made up of "less evolved" humans who still aren't instant enamored with new cultures. This is going to have an interesting effect on the plot later on, so remember it. #TMPRead
Now Kirk reminds us that the Enterprise is not a special ship and that her and her crew have been too romanticized. It's a sobering reminder that there are many other ships with untold stories in the universe. #TMPRead
The reality is more that Roddenberry made several attempts at new franchises over the course of the 1970 that just didn't pan out. #TMPRead
Chapter one. The book tries to maintain the view point of main characters as much as possible, so the Klingon Battle plays out as a transmission Kirk is being sent via a brain implant. #TMPRead
A footnote tells us the public isn't aware of these implants that all Star Fleet top brass have because of nervousness over the 2043 "Mind Control Revolts". We're not told anything about them other than that they were extremely violent. #TMPRead
At first he thinks the transmission is about the Klingons' new K'Tinga ship, but the cloud they are approaching is obviously the more urgent image. Footage is said to be sent from a "drone". #TMPRead
Epsilon 9 is not mentioned at all in the signal. The drone puts the cloud on a heading toward earth. #TMPRead
Chapter 2 switches to Spock on Vulcan. Spock has been training for the Kolinar for "nine seasons" or "2.8 years", giving us a definite time stamp on the time since the 5 year mission ended. #TMPRead
Spock says goodbye to everything that is Earth, but especially to Kirk, who is his "t'hy'la". This term can mean both "brother" and "lover" according to the footnotes. #TMPRead
In the same footnote Kirk chimes in in what is one of the oddest parts of a very odd book. He claims any rumors of Spock and him being lovers is false. This seems like a Roddenberry attempt to directly address the "slash fiction" of the time. #TMPRead
This is not a "nohomo" rant, however. In fact, Kirk seems to claim to be a bisexual who prefers women best and that having a lover that "only goes into sexual heat every 7 years" would not be ideal. #TMPRead
At this moment Spock detects V'ger while also remembering Kirk's advice that it's best to straddle two worlds rather than reject one. He also seems to be hearing Kirk's current thoughts and knows about the Klingons' destruction. #TMPRead
Chapter Three finds Kirk looking over Gibraltar. The straight has been damned and the Mediterranean sea is no more. It's old facility, but it still functions. This seems... insane. #TMPRead
He finds his way to a comm station room thinking about how he became and Admiral and how unhappy he was. Command felt he was too valuable to send back into space. This was done despite McCoy warning the brass that such a move would mentally injure Kirk. #TMPRead
Kirk has a very #Discovery conversation with Vice Admiral Lori Ciani as a holoimage that sits in a chair opposite him. #TMPRead
This is the first of many boner updates we get on Kirk throughout the book. "He could almost catch the scent of her body fragrance and he could feel the slight pressure of his genitals responding to those memories" #TMPRead
Kirk and Ciani had co-habitated. Kirk wonders if the two of them meeting through Nogura was a scam to get him to accept his promotion. #TMPRead
Ciana finally throws him a bone. There is one ship that can make it to the cloud in time: The Enterprise. She insists Kirk doesn't know the ship and his protoge, Decker, is a better fit. But we all know what happens next... #TMPRead
That's the end of today's read folks! Hope it was fun and educational. We got through way more than I expected - about 10%. I'll see you tomorrow same time for more! #TMPRead
