Saturday, April 17, 2010

Comic Book Report: Star Trek: Spock - Reflections



This, in my opinion, is a rare example of good fanfic. As the title indicates, it's a very introspective story about everyone's favorite Vulcan, and it succeeds by using small moments in Spock's life to build up a larger, character-revelatory narrative. There's not a lot of action here, but it's not that kind of story.

This book also manages to hit every single major Star Trek era in flashback (you can keep score by looking at the uniforms) without feeling like it's running through a checklist, and that is largely due to authorial restraint. Not every supporting character needs to be plucked from established continuity, and not every significant event needs to be a "shadow" of canon.

The point of writing an original story is to add something new to this universe. The contribution may only amount to one pebble on a mountaintop, but that is the scale at which we humanoids appreciate most things. Don't worry about the mountain. Just make sure your rock is the same color.

Here endeth the lesson, before my faux-zen metaphors get out of control.

Buy the book: Powell's, Amazon (affiliate links)

CKL

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