Dwellers in the Crucible

Dwellers in the Crucible
Author Margaret Wander Bonanno
Cover artist Boris Vallejo
Country United States
Language English
Series Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre Science fiction novel
Publisher Pocket Books
Publication date
 September 1985
Media type Print (paperback)
Pages 308 pp
ISBN 0-671-60373-6 (first edition, paperback)
OCLC 12603784
Preceded by Killing Time
Followed by Pawns and Symbols

Dwellers in the Crucible is a 1985 Star Trek: The Original Series novel written by Margaret Wander Bonanno. A bestseller, it was the author's breakout novel, retelling the central Star Trek story of the friendship between James T. Kirk and Spock through the experiences of two female civilians, Egyptian Cleante al Faisal and Vulcan T'Shael.[1][2] It is noted for its emphasis on interpersonal relationships over action, and for the minimal role played in the story by the franchise's established characters.[3]

Reception and legacy

Dwellers was positively received at publication. While Fantasy Review emphasised the regular cast's incidental appearance in the novel, they recommended it highly despite its "minor flaws": "Dwellers in the Crucible is an excellent study of values ... [t]here are things here to think about which belie the Star Trek image."[3]

Later, recalling Dwellers in 2009, author Keith R. A. DeCandido would describe the impact the "cool" story had on him: "I didn't know that a Star Trek book could do that."[4]

Controversy

In 1992, Bonanno was contracted by Pocket Books to write a follow-up novel to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Her manuscript, entitled Music of the Spheres, reintroduced Dwellers characters Cleante and T'Shael. As Dwellers had done, Music focused on Bonanno's characters rather than on the familiar characters from the television show. This had not been a difficulty in 1985, but by 1992 Paramount Pictures had introduced new standards for Star Trek tie-in novels, which outlawed extensive use of original characters.

The story was heavily rewritten, and that rewrite subsequently rewritten by Gene DeWeese. The derivative novel was eventually published as Probe, still naming Bonanno as the author. Despite her wishes, Pocket Books refused to strip her name from the book. Bonanno stated at the time that only one page of the published novel resembled what she had written.[5][6]

Plot

On the planet Vulcan, several representatives of each Federation world are kept as "Warrantors of the Peace". As close relatives of the leaders of their worlds, they serve as hostages against the actions of their planetary governments, and are immediately killed if their world attacks another Federation planet.

Six of these Warrantors - an Andorian, a human, a Vulcan and three Deltans - are kidnapped and held by the Romulan Empire. The Andorian is killed during the kidnap, and the three Deltans are tortured to death by their Klingon captors, acting for the Romulans. The plot focuses on the cultural differences and eventual friendship between the two surviving captives, T'Shael and Cleante.

References

  1. ↑ Nicholls, Peter; Clute, John. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Web). Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "Margaret Wander Bonanno: WIM event transcript". UFOP: Starbase 118. 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 Yoke, Carl B. (December 1985). "Character and Value". Fantasy Review. p. 16.
  4. ↑ Barr, Mike W.; Bennett, Christopher L.; Bonanno, Margaret Wander; Galanter, Dave; Ward, Dayton; Dilmore, Kevin; Weinstein, Howard (2009). Star Trek: Mere Anarchy: The Complete Six-Part Saga (paperback). Pocket Books. p. ix. ISBN 1-4165-9494-9.
  5. ↑ "Wrecked 'Trek'". Entertainment Weekly. 24 April 1992. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Margaret Bonanno. "This is the tale of PROBE: The Novel I Didn't Write".

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.