#timetrap

Young Alicent AU: By some mystical magic, Alicent once again became the young comely lady she was- No longer the stern Queen-Mother.

Time Trap (2017)

Hi to my new followers! Thank you Diane Duane for roasting me, still kvelling/recuperating from that iconic moment. 

So, this is not a review because I just started grad school and it’s kicking my ass, but it is an edifying compilation of Trek lit! 

I have a library of Trek books (about 150, and growing with an alarming frequency). I have culled through my collection to find the weirdest covers for your viewing and perhaps one day reading pleasure. 

Here’s my top 5. 

5. Star Trek: First Frontier by Diane Carey

I’m easing us in with a nice and silly cover. Diane Carey is a prolific Trek author and one of my favs (reviews forthcoming but check out Dreadnought! and Battlestations! for an awesome OC and third party Premise positing), so while I might judge this book’s cover that won’t stop me from digging in. Space husbands. Dinosaurs. What’s not to love?? 

As an added bonus, I really love the back of the book as well: 

It makes the lil dinosaur look like he’s part of the crew <3 Or did Bones get turned into a dinosaur? Read and find out! 

4. Time for Yesterday by A.C. Crispin 

This one rides the line between weird and awesome, but I love it so much I had to share it. Look at this dude bursting out of the Guardian of Forever on his fanged horse! Fuck yeah! This book came out in 1988, a year before Star Trek V (and I haven’t read it yet lol), so I’m not 100% sure if there’s a connection between this carnivorous looking cheval and Sybock’s steed, but I’ll report back as soon as I have any answers.  

3. Ghost-Walker by Barbara Hambly 

There’s A LOT to unpack here. Firstly, we LOVE the classic cover art. It’s super frustrating that a lot of Trek books don’t credit the artists!! However, some quick googling shows me that this amazing cover is by Keith Birdsong, who did a ton of Trek art. Thank you, Keith, for your vision. I have some questions. 

WHY does the bird man have fingernails?? The fingers(??) look like bird feet, so why aren’t there claws/talons?? WHAT is this bird person doing to our Jimbo?? “A mysterious force” indeed. Peep the fleshy-looking stalactites as well as Bird Person’s glorious head of hair. Hair AND feathers?? Ok, moving on to... 

2. Time Trap by David Dvorkin 

Ok, I feel a little mean including this one because I’m just calling it out for being Bad Weird Art. But what is up with everyone’s eyes??? I’m not talking about the Eyebrow Situation going on with the figure on the left (except for how I just did oop); let’s look at our boy Jim. Don’t look too closely at his hand/arm. Let’s focus on the eyes. 

And maybe a little closer... 

Too close?? This cover makes the list for the feeling of Unease it inspires within me. 

But the real winner in terms of Unrepentantly Weird I’m throwing under the cut. Click if you’re feeling brave. 

And #1... 

I was tagged by @whitedeadflower to post my 9 favourite movies. Thank you! :) here’s a few of them

I put on a random netflix movie to have on in the background as I worked that looked like it was going to be really bad sci-fi / horror schlock and HOLY SHIT, is it ever NOT really bad. Really weird, yes, but not bad. Although it’s really going to take seeing the ending to really know.

TOS #40: Timetrap by David Dvorkin Book Jacket’s Summary:      “In a remote area of Federation space, the Enterprise picks up an urgent distress signal – from a Klingon vessel! Tracking the S.O.S., the crew finds the Klingon cruiser Mauler, trapped in a dimensional storm of unprecedented power. Yet paradoxically, the ship refuses both the Enterprise's call and the offers of help.      Determined to discover what the Klingons are doing in Federation space, Kirk beams aboard their ship with a security team, just as the storm flares to its highest intensity. As the bridge crew watches in horror, Mauler vanishes from the Enterprise's viewscreen.      And James T. Kirk awakens... one hundred years in the future.” Yeaka’s Notes:     Timetrap is a short one by numbered Trek standards, and that’s probably due to the sparse writing and singular plotline. Long story short, Kirk’s bashed around in a spot of trouble—which he, the captain, beamed right into first—and then wakes up to a bunch of peaceful Klingons that tell him he’s one hundred years in the future. They claim that humans and Klingons made peace due to Kirk escorting an armada of “New Klingons” to Earth one hundred years ago. Kirk’s initially skeptical—but not nearly skeptical enough for an experienced Starfleet captain. The Klingons around him act pleasantly enough—most of the time—and Kirk falls utterly in love with one of them, initially struggling with her Klingon heritage but ultimately giving her complete trust. Meanwhile, Spock’s off mysteriously investigating things he won’t explain while the rest of the crew dislikes him. Spock’s particularly emotional here and constantly struggling to be more “Vulcan.” Bones pesters a bit, Uhura gets hurt, and Scotty conducts repairs. There are a few side characters that crop up which, at first, don’t seem to be there for any reason, but it all makes sense in the end.     That ending is satisfying; there’s a good reveal, although it’s not difficult to see coming. Because it goes out on a high, this does feel fun, and it has its moments—lots of references to other Trek books and episodes, for example; it mostly takes place in Tholian space. But there are also drawbacks—the Klingons, even in the end, feel more like Romulans, Kirk is rather foolish, and a few minor things like English being the Federation’s preferred language and several old national stereotypes. But it’s short and easy, so worth picking up if you want some of that old-school TOS vibe and can overlook some problems. Noteworthy moments: (below cut)

ΧΡΟΝΟΠΑΓΙΔΑ ⏳️

///

TIMETRAP ⏳️

Details 🎨