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',...: ...............: ...t :::.,:.1.: ?:. .:".'":.d}}.:"} >iir33:3}}'" {., ..: '' ".... .... r.'to-.. ..r, ...'x, ". 4.._ ..... a' ,". .,fi .. .... ..........:: ... ........... ..., .. ...,. 4".. .. ,.......... r..., ,......:........3}...?,......,.,...,..... .. sY..,::.:..::........., ,..tr....,............ s.:.......... __..,.... r:............ _....: :3,..: }s. ...?}'}:,".;:v ". r :i"}$; 'a!b:A:ti }i}} .,V' 4":t{A :"}nU'rvvfn ri'.S"":. ::A.',":h"+::::.,:"::?:,-0 i:.r. ::.v::.:".+x:...: r.. r....y r$}'"r'". n,.,.:.,Y.,.:.:.?"+2}r..r;,.,";.,:.;".:...:::.,....:tr.. rih:..A......., ...........:......:, .... t4 ":" t Star treckin' The Trellisane Confrontation By David Dvorkin Pocket Books $2.95 By Laurie Ochsner T HE TRELLISANE Confrontation, by David Dvorkin, is Pocket Books' most recent entry in its line of Star Trek books. These novels feature the characters from the original T.V. series in newly-written, book-length stories. This book, although it has a few good moments, suffers from many of the problems that its predecessors have. Star Trek books began with SF author James Blish's first adaptations of the T.V. episodes 15 years ago. Blish pen- ned the first Star Trek novel-the im- mortal work Spock Must Die!-which was followed in 1976 and '77 by Star Trek: The New Voyages I & II (collec- tions of surprisingly good short fiction by fans). A flurry of -Star Trek fiction followed rapidly, published at first by Bantam and now by Pocket Books, as its commercial potential was realized. The list of original Star Trek fiction now comes to approximately 30 titles. But this figure doesn't include Blish's 12 books of episode adaptations, Alan Dean Foster's nine Star Trek logs, Ban- tam's many foto-novelizations of series' episodes, the myriad "Making of... World of'. .. ", "Letters to . . . " Star Trek books, the I anr not Spock/Chekov's Enterprise line of spin- offs; or the Starfleet Technical Manual/Star Trek Concordance series of books. . . the list is endless. What sets Star Trek novels apart from the other Star Trek books is that they are, ideally, accessible to the general reader who is not a devoted Star Trek fan. This presents a problem. to Star Trek novelists which often goes unresolved. A good Star Trek novel should show a thorough understanding on the author's part of the characters and their backgrounds, for the fans who expect three-dimensional characters who will respond in expected ways in certain situations. At the same time, the novel should have a plot that is in- teresting and fresh enough to stand on its own apart from its characters, and should avoid the excessive references to past adventures which lose the less ardent Star Trek reader. There are quite a few Star .Trek novels which do this-which manage plot and character development well, while telling the story in an interesting way. The Trellisane Confrontation is not one of them. Kirk, Spock, and Mc- Coy are little more than wooden exten- sions of the characters in the series;- the most mediocre television episodes gave them more depth of character than this book does. Dvorkin is one of those unfortunate authors who is totally ignorant of what has come before him. His main connec- tion with Star Trek seems to be the signature on his contract with Pocket Books. Dvorkin shows no evidence anywhere in The Trellisane Confron- tation of having read any of the other Star Trek books or of having seen either movie or even an old episode recently. His attempts at developing the characters of Ensign Chekov'and Nurse Chapel (yes, they're still 'Ensign' and 'Nurse' to Dvorkin) are the only glim- mers of light in an otherwise dismal lack of character development, and these are as unconnected from the existing body of Star Trek lore as the rest of the book. It really is quite sad, in a way, that Dvorkin managed to drown his in- triguing story premise. In The Trellisane Confrontation, the Enter- prise rushes to the aid of the planet Trellisane, which has broadcast a weak and garbled distress signal. It seems that the Klingons have been helping- Trellisan's neighbors to attack Trellisane. Trellisane is located in a very strategic spot-right at the point where the Klingon, Romulan, and Federation territories intersect, and the Federation had been hoping that Trellisane would choose to join in. I won't spoil the fun of those of you who might actually choose to read this book by giving away any more of the plot. (You'll be able to guess everything for yourself 10 pages before it happens). But I will use one example to illustrate the fine artistry with which Dvorkin has crafted this book. The planet which neighbors Trellisane, and which is attacking it, is inhabited by an aquatic race. Dvorkin's description of . this race makes them sound as though they look like sea lions. Guess what the planet is called-Sealon! It's inhabitants are called Sealons! What a leap of the imagination it must have taken to come up with those names. If you've never read a Star Trek novel before, then you might enjoy The Trellisane Confrontation. But if you're into Star Trek at all, there are other books which you would probably enjoy much more. Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, two fans-turned-pro- author, have written four excellent Star Trek novels-The Price of the Phoenix, The Fate of the Phoenix, The Prometheus Design, and Triangle. The last two fall slightly prey to the "Lt. Mary Lou Syndrome" (thesyndrome in which a spunky, attractive young woman comes aboard the ship), has Trellisane Confrontation: Treckless trash eveyone fall in love with her (including Spock), and single-handedly saves the entire ship from destruction, but are still very much worthreading. Vonda McIntyre, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, has also written two good Star Trek novels-The En- tropy Effect, and the novelization of The Wrath of Khan. The Wrath of Khan covers a lot of background material that isn't in the movie, and is a must- read for those of you who are waiting for The Search For Spock to open on June 1sts t Mm Coming attractions Warday, written by Whitley are: "The European nationp Strieber (The Hunger, The Wolfen) were spared any damage, as and James Kunetka, is a fact-based Japanese. The British Re account of a limited nuclear exchange become a fact of American li f between the U.S.. and U.S.S.R. The the increasing economic cont war starts when American Japanese, leading to chare deployment of an anti-missile defense America is being colonized." satellite in 1988 provokes the Soviets (To be published by Holt, into shooting down the Space Shuttle and Winston on April 16.) Enterprise. Some of the startling -Mar events that take place after the war ,is powers s were the 4elief has ife; as has itrol of the rges that Rinehart rrk Kulkis a U I For reproductive health care services sexuality education, sterilization, abortion, pre-marital exams: PPlanned Parenti 912 N. Main, Ann Arbor 996-4000 Panned !EParenthood hood of Mid-Michigan 567 N. Hewitt, Ynsilanti 434-9300 This rainbow pinstripe cotton dress has front yoke, and a self-buttoning belt for the elastic waist. A vatii/blin nP-S-M-L- Reg. $50 NOW $40 Kenya Bag, Reg. $31 NOW $25 Silk Belt. $11.99 FASHIONS-N-THINGS 415 N. Fifth (in Kerrytown) 12 Weekend/Friday, March 23, 1984