Jean Lorrah

These TOS novels from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s are really peak Trek in writing. Maybe that's because we were still in a space where the writers, while professionals, had largely entered into the franchise via the fandom that had been starved for content for so long. The TOS novels of this era in particular really preserve the spirit of old trek while still treading new ground, and in the better cases retaining the voice of beloved characters brought to life by beloved actors.
Vulcan show more Academy Murders is no exception. While ostensibly a whodunit murder mystery, though the actual culprit is pretty painfully obvious early on, its heart and ultimate triumph lies in its exploration of Vulcan emotions, family structures, and traditions. Most of the TOS regulars are absent, with the focus staying on our core trio of Spock, Kirk, and McCoy, back on Vulcan.
I had previously read some of Lorrah's work in the Gen/Sim world, and her own Savage Empire work, and was not overly impressed. However, she handles her beloved Star Trek with aplomb, and I can easily see the influence of her interest in Vulcans having influenced those two other bodies of work. show less

Jean Lorrah is two for three: I didn't love "The IDIC Epidemic," but I really liked "The Vulcan Academy Murders," and she's back on form again here. The idea of dashing space pirates, etc. is a rather TOS vision of Star Trek, but I don't mind it here because it's combined with some geopolitical ideas, and underpinned with a really loving examination of Data and Tasha Yar's relationship. (Of course it doesn't cohere with the backstory Tasha is given later, but whatever.) Is it perfect? No, show more because how could it be when all of Tasha's emotional experience has to get jammed in with an adventure story? I would want to read a whole novel just about her trauma and recovery. But in my opinion it makes gestures in the right direction. show less

You know, I've never seen "Legacy," the episode of The Next Generation where Tasha Yar's sister turns up, and we learn about the long-dead Tasha's backstory in more detail. Yet I have read Survivors, a TNG novel written during the first season (published during the second) that tells us about Tasha's childhood and early Starfleet career in great detail. In a bit of "head-canon," I suspect that even if I had seen "Legacy," I would still prefer this as the "true" backstory of Tasha Yar. Lorrah show more depicts the ideal Yar, the one TNG never actually gave us: a damaged woman from a damaged world, and thus someone who believes in the idealism of the Federation even more than those raised within it. The characterization of Tasha and also Data are really the book's strong points: I think Lorrah gets Data better than the show writers did at this point. (I really liked the touch that his rattling off of synonyms was a purposeful affectation.) You can see why Pocket commissioned Lorrah to write a Data-focused "giant novel" in Metamorphosis, because he just jumps off the page here, a perfect mixture of superintelligence and emotional inexperience. There's a lot else I could praise or say about this book, but suffice it to say that it's the best kind of tie-in fiction-- a story we couldn't have gotten on screen, but fitting in perfectly with the ones we did. show less

You might argue that this book is pointless: its central premise is that Data becomes a human being for real, which of course he never did on the show, nor even alluded to, so the whole thing has to be wiped from both history and memory. But Jean Lorrah is such a good author as to overcome this. I said in my review of Survivors that she excelled at capturing Data and Yar; extend that here to the whole Enterprise-D crew. Picard's speeches sound like ones Patrick Stewart would give on the show more show, Riker doesn't do much but Lorrah captures his openness to all experiences, and even Wesley comes across as smart, naïve, and eager in a way that's not annoying.

It's not just dialogue, either; when Data is transformed into a human, the two people who recognize him without any prodding are Doctor Pulaski and Geordi La Forge, which feels exactly right to me. Best of all is how she captures ways of thinking. When we're inside Data's head as an android, it rings true as the interiority of the character we see the exteriority of on screen. Even better is what she pulls off in the second half of the book: if Data was a human being, this is how he would think, trying to be an android but with only human mental capacities. I'd have loved to have seen Brent Spiner do any of this on screen, but the book gets by just fine without it because it gives us Data's actual thoughts in a way the television never could. The whole book might not have "happened," but if it Data were to become human, this is how it would be.

The only thing not to like is the kind of cursory way it wraps up: Data's motivations for undoing his humanity come out of nowhere, and after the middle of the book drives home that Data has value as a person, not just from his android powers, it's a little disappointing that the end kind of revolves around his android powers saving the day. Though I guess Lorrah undercuts that with the cute last line (which fortuitously foreshadows Data getting Spot in "Data's Day" on screen).

Anyway, this is an enjoyable book, one of the best Next Generation novels. Rereading Lorrah's two Next Generation novels has made me regret that she never contributed to Star Trek again after this. show less