#crisis on centaurus

[schn-tgai-saavik]

Happy father's day to Leonard McCoy

[lichqueenlibrarian]

[purple-iris]

Dr. Joanna McCoy of Starfleet (+ details of the Hypospray, life readings, earth and moon and constellation)

[trek-tracks]

Hello! I got a whole shelf of old Star Trek novels from a yard sale and I'm deciding which to read first. Unfortunately none of them are D. Duane. Can you tell me what other Trek novels/authors you've enjoyed?

At the moment, I have far more trek books than I've actually read, partially because I have no self-control when it comes to acquiring them, partially because, when I started to mine them for blog content, reading them started to feel like homework (I thought I put marking pages with tabs behind me after grad school). This is also tough because Diane Duane's novels tend to be far and away my favourites (Spock's World, Doctor's Orders, and The Wounded Sky are all brilliant), but you already knew that! They're also a large chunk of what I've read. I've also read a bunch of Blish novelizations and some of the movie novelizations, which are fun but don't quite count in the same way, since they are retelling known stories.

However, there are a few I can recommend. I really enjoyed A Contest of Principles by Greg Cox, which feels like a real extended TOS episode; our main trio all have plenty to do, and the relationships are very fond and very true to the series. Shell Game by Melissa Crandall also has the character relationships I'm looking for. (Actually, both of these at one point pair Spock and Bones together while Kirk angsts from the sidelines while doing his own part of the mission, which is apparently a fruitful scenario).

J.M. Dillard also knows the characters really well. I enjoyed The Lost Years a lot, though it must be said that it is basically the crew breakup novel because it bridges from the show into TMP, so you'll just have to rewatch the movies after to remember that it all turns out all right in the end.

Jean Lorrah's The Vulcan Academy Murders is fun as long as you don't go in expecting a mystery you can't solve in 30 seconds and just want to appreciate the characters and learn more about Sarek and Amanda.

Brad Ferguson's Crisis on Centaurus is worth it for the backstory look into Jim and Bones' first meeting, as well as giving us some time with Joanna McCoy.

I can't actually fully recommend Carmen Carter's Dreams of the Raven, which has a very strange and queasily unethical romance subplot that doesn't land for several reasons and an unsatisfying ending, but it's an interesting look into McCoy with amnesia (and it did let me coin the term "Character Fondness Power Differential" while writing the review).

This ask did, however, remind me that I need to start making a dent in my book collection before buying more (I store them where I can't see them, so I'm constantly surprised by how many I actually have). I think I'm reading Howard Weinstein's The Covenant of the Crown next.

If you search my "trek books" tag, you'll see more!

[katesdaycabin]

[spocktuah]

Touch Funko Pop, loser!!!!!

[emmett-in-the-real-world]

Why no of course I haven’t stopped thinking about Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson…the first time Kirk and Bones met…McCoy and his daughter…Uhura in command…Joanna calling Kirk “Uncle Jim”…learning Spock’s a neat freak…Spock wanting to spend time w Kirk on Centaurus… “I think I might like it on the riverbank, Captain”…Spock telling Joanna she does Bones a great honor…Spock thinking to Bones “draw strength from me, if you need it”…no no I’m not crying why do you ask…

[youandthemountains]

Need to read Crisis on Centaurus already bc I've done a lot of thinking about McCoy co-parenting Spock's kids (Zar, V'ger lol, trying to get Spock to hold Leonard James Akaar, etc.) and was thinking of how Spock is NOT comfortable with babies but I think he enjoys the mentorship role (Saavik, Valeris), and I think he'd actually feel much more secure being emotionally involved with kids he's not biologically related to.

And then I remembered an excerpt I saw from that novel with Spock's thoughts on meeting Joanna and what he saw of Dr. McCoy in her and thinking she was spectacular and now I need more Stepdad Spock actually.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Crisis on Centaurus" review

Novel from 1986, by Brad Ferguson. This one has a very "80's American action movie" feel. From the terrorist attack on a country incidentally called "New America", to the incursion into the Pentagon (I mean, the "Centaurus Defense Center"), up to the obligatory car chase (only that they're flying cars). There are also plenty of references to American brands, that supposedly would have survived into the 23rd century. Though the constant mention of money seems a bit weird (I thought money was a thing from the past in Star Trek? Might be wrong, though). Also, the terrorists are racists that want to see their country free of alien influences (and it's made abundantly clear that for them, "alien influences" include also any non-white human). It's a fast-paced novel, and keeps the reader's attention at all times, though I don't think there's much more to it than that.

The cover would suggest that Joanna McCoy plays a big role in the story. In reality, she appears very, very little, the same as her father. The other characters, however, get a fair amount of exposure, including Uhura (who gets the con for a large part of the story), Scotty (who's given an even more Scottish engineer partner), Chekov (with his own mini-romance subplot) and Sulu. As it's usual with many of these novels, Kirk seemed to me a bit off. At times, he's more Bruce Willis than Kirk here. And I have difficulty imagining him as a land-owner who's been investing in the Centaurian countryside all these years (if the movies had shown anything at this point, it's that Kirk's heart was never on land). Anyway, I don't know why getting Kirk right is so hard, while Spock and McCoy are usually fine; it might be due to the subtleties of Kirk's character. Another noteworthy thing, is that this novel often presents the thoughts of the characters, to a greater degree than other books.

Spoilers under the cut:

The first chapter already sets things into motion at a breakneck pace. A suspicious guy is waiting in the New Athens spaceport (a city of New America, in the planet Centaurus). When two policemen recognize him as a certain Holtzman, he gets arrested, and in a panic, he activates a minuscule piece of antimatter inside the box... A microsecond later, New Athens doesn't exist anymore, being replaced by a giant, smoldering crater.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise is having problems of its own. The computers have been completely fucked up, and nobody knows why: there's no air circulation, no temperature regulation, no artificial gravity, nothing... The scene of everybody floating around, while Sulu's scalding shower water floats through the corridors as a giant ball, is actually pretty funny. Scotty and his new partner, MacPherson, manage to reestablish some sense of order, but the ship is seriously crippled. Repairs will have to wait, though, since Starfleet orders the Enterprise to assist in the Centaurus crisis. There's been at least a million deaths in the explosion; possibly among them several relatives of the crew, including McCoy's daughter: Joanna. However, the tachyon cloud released by the antimatter explosion has made all subspace communications impossible, so Centaurus is isolated. For his part, Spock investigates the computer malfunction, and finds out a mysterious hole that has pierced several computer banks at exactly the same point; however, he can't make heads or tails of it.

Upon approaching Centaurus, they discover that other relief ships in orbit have been reduced to debris. And a transmission through conventional radio (the only radio that can penetrate the tachyon cloud) warns the Enterprise not to approach. Sure enough, the ship is attacked by a nuclear missile from Centaurus. It seems the Defense Center has gone crazy after the explosion, and now launches missiles at any approaching ship, friend or foe. Fortunately, the Defense computers consider the Enterprise anihillated after the first strike, so they don't continue the attack. Kirk leaves in a shuttle with Sulu, to meet with the new government at the temporary capital of McIverton. While Spock leaves with Chekov in another shuttle, to investigate the Defense Center and deactivate the missile system.

There's a brief interlude, that presents some suspicious guys (led by this Barclay dude) hiding at a safe house. It's obvious they're related to the terrorist attack, and Barclay instructs some of his goons to meet with a certain person, and force him to cooperate.

In McIverton, Kirk meets with the new president, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Internal Security (Nathaniel Burke). The president explains that the terrorist attack was done by a racist political group, led by the scientist Holtzman, to get more power for his group.

At the Defense Center, Spock is unable to reprogram the computer to differentiate between friendly and hostile ships. So he's like "well, let's blow up this bazillion missiles in the sun and problem solved!" (and yeah, this is totally in-character for Spock; the guy is that crazy sometimes). Thus, Spock expands the defense area of the computer to include Alpha Centauri, the computer interprets the sun as a hostile element, and launches all the remaining missiles at it. Poof! After solving this problem, Spock takes the shuttle to the northern area of New Athens, where there have been some survivors. A makeshift hospital has been established in a park, and there they find Joanna working as a nurse, safe and sound. There's a moving reunion between her and McCoy, who stays behind to help the injured. While Spock's shuttle makes trips to the Enterprise to bring medical supplies.

At McIverton, Kirk is visited at his hotel by the lawyer Samuel Cogley (from the episode Court Martial). Cogley explains that he was approached by Barclay to defend them at a Federation trial, and not on Centaurus (which has a death penalty for terrorism). And Kirk, despite not having the slightest sympathy for the criminals, considers that the matter belongs in a Federation court and vows to fulfill his duty. However, that same morning, Sulu appears drugged in bed, and the hotel surrounded by Burke's men. The Minister isn't going to let the terrorists off the hook, since he lost his family in the explosion. Kirk, Sulu and Cogley make a frantic escape in a flying car (well, not so frantic for Sulu, who's still sleeping like a log). They retrieve Barclay and his men, and take refuge in Kirk's cabin in Garrovick Valley (a beautiful, secluded forest area that Kirk bought a long time ago).

In the final part, Kirk and his companions barricade themselves inside the cabin, surrounded by Burke's troops. Until the Enterprise, having received a faint distress signal from the cabin, comes to the rescue... by entering the godamn atmosphere!! (didn't I say earlier that Spock's totally nuts?). Cogley decides to just bring the terrorists to the Federation, but not represent them, when it's made obvious that they were also involved in Holtzman's attack. The rest of the antimatter bombs, that the terrorists kept as leverage, are also identified and deactivated. While New Athens is slowly reconstructed, by the joint effort of the locals and new relief ships from all over the Federation.

As for the strange holes in the Enterprise computer banks... Spock ends up concluding that they were caused by a minuscule black hole, which existed just for a fraction of second, and the Enterprise traversed at warp speed. Does it mean that, at any time, at any place, a mini-black hole could appear out of nowhere and just pierce you like that!? That's the stuff of nightmares, really...

Spirk Meter: 5/10*. Kirk wants to show Spock his "special, secret place" (no! not THAT!, I mean his valley at Centaurus). Kirk considers that Spock would appreciate its aesthetic beauty, and invites him to stay there with him as long as he wants. Spock is also a bit hurt because Kirk didn't tell him about the valley earlier. Actually, the rating could be a bit higher, considering that the cabin is said to have just a twin bed, and a massage bed for two. Apart from this, Kirk notices things about Spock that nobody else seems to see (like Spock swallowing nervously sometimes). The two of them interact very little in the novel, though, since they take separate paths.

Some Spones too. When Spock meets Joanna, he finds her strikingly similar to McCoy and... magnificient. He thinks of her as a "softer McCoy, pretty without glamour", which says a little about how he sees the doctor himself. Also, when McCoy is in emotional turmoil upon learning that Joanna is alive, after so many days of uncertainty, Spock says to himself: "I know that feeling well, Doctor. Draw strength from me, if you need it." (only that McCoy has no telepathy so... how is he going to hear that!?).

And then there's the McKirk. A flashback chapter presents a young Ensign Kirk recovering from a wound at a starbase hospital. There he first meets this kind Dr. McCoy, who helps him through the painful months of recovery. After Kirk is healed, McCoy invites him to stay with him at Centaurus, where his daughter lives with some relatives. And McCoy brings Jim to these beautiful woods and wilderness areas, just the two of them and Joanna, and well... you know. It's even more evident, because McCoy is relieved upon seeing that Joanna approves of Jim (seems like the little girl was troublesome with most of her daddy's dates). Too bad for poor McCoy, that Kirk ends up inviting a pretty nurse (and then Spock) to his cabin, and not him...

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[katesdaycabin]

It's not fanfic (but not canon either so I guess you could make the argument that it IS fanfic now), but the 80s licensed novel Crisis on Centaurus is, I think, a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Kirk and Bones' friendship. It has a flashback to their first meeting, and as for angst the main plot endangers McCoy's daughter Joanna, and he spends most of the novel not knowing if she's alive or dead.

Bonus points for Sulu wearing just a towel in zero-g and Uhura getting to command the Enterprise.

Can some lovely people please recommend me some Star Trek TOS fanfics where the character portrayal is VERY canonical/accurate in your opinion? Would love hurt-comfort /whump/damsel in distress of someone of the triumvirate (bonus points if it’s Bones but not necessary) and where all three are in focus and have cute or interesting or angsty moments with each other. Please and thank you. Will leave the authors comments!

[schn-tgai-saavik]

The artwork of Crisis on Centaurus, featuring Joanna McCoy (and sadly not Bones)

Full cover under the cut

[lichqueenlibrarian]

The only one who had ever noticed it was Kirk.

[purple-iris]

The childhood of the children of the triumvirate in a nutshell

Joanna McCoy: pretty good childhood, living in Georgia with her parents, when she's about 6 they divorce and she goes to live on Centaurus with her father and later stays there with her aunt and uncle when he joins Starfleet (she's a teen at this point). (Based on the book Crisis on Centaurus)

David Marcus: doesn't know his dad but never lacked love, everyday was bring your kids to work day with Carol, grew up around scientists and was absolutly cherished on every starbase they lived on.

Saavik: the plot of Lord Of The Flies amped up to 12 for the first ten years, then gets rescued by Spock and goes on to become a Starfleet nepo baby and we love that for her. (Based on the book The Pandora Principle)

[electronickingdomfox]

This makes even funnier these passages from the novel Crisis on Centaurus:

McCoy shamelessly trying to seduce this young Ensign Kirk, telling him that all his friends call him "Bones" (wink, wink, you know why, right?), then feeling relief because Joanna approves of Kirk...

I'm not even posting the part where McCoy helps Jim to buy and decorate a nice cottage in the woods. I'm sure he sent Joanna fishing with her aunt one of those days, to have some private time with "uncle" Jim.

this is silly, but go with me on it anyway: the nickname Bones is, in fact, because when they met years ago, long before Kirk ended up as Captain of the Enterprise (and long before he dragged his fave doctor onboard after him) they had a one-night stand where McCoy did, in fact bone Kirk so well that Kirk's brain kinda half-melted out his ears, and then McCoy deeply obnoxiously explained that he was not in the right headspace for anything more, and declined to sleep w/ him again, and Kirk was like, obviously I will accept your decision, but I'm still going to befriend you and also nickname you for what you're good at, so that I can not so subtly remind you of what we could be doing for the rest of our lives (yes we've only known each other for one (1) day, but I'm already planning on knowing you until we die, get on board because that's non-negotiable)

and it's like. It's genuinely fine, because McCoy would in fact die for Kirk (and attempts to do so every now and again just to prove it), so it all basically worked out, even though sometimes McCoy maybe hears the nickname and is just ".......it's definitely too late now, but maybe I should have made a different choice?"

(it is absolutely not too late, he just doesn't know it/can't admit it to himself.)

anyway this could obviously be mckirk, but I'm gonna be honest:

mcspirk where Spock finds out JUST how McCoy got the nickname, and he's just. Hmm. Fascinating. There is a theory baked into your nickname (that you're great at sex) and I am a scientist interested in testing theories (we should have sex).

anyway yada yada yada they all end up together probably, i don't make the rules, I just think it would be very funny for Spock to be like ".....this entire time you've been referencing how well he performed sexual intercourse?" and Kirk's just "listen if he'd melted your brain like he did mine, you'd understand" and Spock's just. "hm. Challenge accepted." and McCoy's just "....do I get a say in this?" and they're both just "No <3" and he's like. "....okay, fine."

[iamenits]

Crisis on Centaurus - Brad Ferguson (1986)

[ladyofdecember]

Tagged by @circe154

Rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Ships: oh no there's far too many to list! Like over 100. The latest is Data and Geordi from Star Trek. But I'm also really into Colin Jost and Michael Che lately. I've been watching a lot of SNL 👍😊

Last song: Waving Through A Window from Dear Evan Hansen

Last movie: Hail, Caesar!

Reading: Hmm... I'm not a big reader. Recently I tried reading one of those ancient Star Trek novels I got for $0.99 at Half Price Books? Crisis On Centaurus? I should try to keep reading it.

Tagging: @paperwillow @beltainefaerie @carpetstoremotherfucker @fiftythoughtfulthings @lacefuneral and anyone else that would like to!! 😊