James Blish
1970
Grade: D-
Though not the first time Star Trek has tackled transporter malfunction doubles (The Enemy Within) this story poses one of my favorite Trek questions. If man has a soul, does it survive the process of being transported? Great use of contemporary scientific theory to support the fiction (tachyons, Hilbert space).
The pace is swift with the “A” plot - the Klingon’s finding a way to isolate the Organian planet (Errand of Mercy) so that the Organian’s cannot use their immense power to enforce the peace treaty- and the “B” plot - Scotty’s attempt to utilize a tachyon’s faster than light properties to create a being that could reconnoiter the planet from vastly outside the standard range of the transporter- work together well and establish a reasonable foundation for the creation of the “Mirror” Spock. This also serves to explain both the Enterprise’s isolation on the far side of the Klingon Empire and their inability to get help from other Starfleet vessels (these elements often come across as plot contrivances that are unbelievable on their face).
The descriptive language relies too heavily on the reader already knowing what the setting and characters look like. While it’s fair to assume that the vast majority of this novel’s audience is going to be dedicated Trekkies, it doesn’t do the novel any favors to lean so heavily on what the reader may, or may not, already know.
Likewise, characterization falls far short in many cases. Hearing Kirk refer to McCoy as “Doc”(2) on several occasions was very jarring (Also Scotty’s selectively disappearing dialect). Furthermore, there are at least two occasions when Kirk chastises the crew and himself for their performance, “This has been a fearfully lax operation on everyone’s part, not excluding my own, and from now on it’s going to be taut. Does everyone understand that?”(67-8) however the author gives no indication as to which behavior or outcome the Captain is referring. The effect of this is to make the statements feel arbitrary as though the author was looking for something “Captain-like” to say. This may stem from trying to compensate for Kirk’s subordinate role in the story. He’s not involved with the philosophical discussion between McCoy and Scott that opens the work, and he often fills the role of the audience as Spock and Scott give detailed explanations of the complex concepts addressed in the story.
The plot is not especially weak except when it goes to extraordinary lengths to maintain the mystery of which, if either, is the real Spock. The plot-gymnastics that occur in order to have the Spocks discover which is the original -thereby reinforcing the legend of his staggering intellect- create a forced logic that leads to hiding the truth from the Captain, and by proxy the audience, in a frustrating attempt at having and eating one’s cake, “I am sorry Captain, but the very nature of the knowledge precludes my telling you that…”(77).
Similarly the climax, where the characters are granted the ability to control their environment with their thoughts, falls flat as it seems to come out of nowhere for the sake of a confrontation between the two Spocks. Overall, it had some great ideas in a clunky but admirable first effort for a Star Trek novel.
Comentários