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Fascinating
Oct. 1st, 2021 07:38 pmBook Review: The Autobiography of Mr Spock, by Una McCormack
Although I'm only passingly familiar with the Star Trek universe, I thought this was an interesting idea, realised by an author with whom I'm slightly acquainted. Whilst serious and knowledgeable fans will doubtless find more depth, my superficial Star Trek knowledge was quite sufficient to enjoy the book. It takes the form of a t'san a'lat, explained as a Vulcan "book of wisdom", addressed to some presumed survivor or inheritor - in this case, Jean-Luc Picard - and each chapter is framed around a character from Spock's family or working life. In fact, the events of the original series play a relatively minor part; there's a lot about Spock's childhood and upbringing as a Vulcan-human hybrid (I assume we're not supposed to ask astrobiological questions about the feasibility of such a thing) and the later events he documents from his time with Starfleet or in the service of Federation or Vulcan diplomacy seem weighted towards films and other spin-offs. The presence of a same-sex couple on the human side of Spock's family was an oddity: it served no larger purpose in the book, but was perhaps pleasantly unremarkable for its inclusion; I suppose it remains to be seen whether this or any of Spock's other liberal views on diversity, badged now as Vulcan values, might trigger the Gammonati. Overall, this book fulfilled expectations, and certainly felt like the real deal, the writing clearly suited to the voice of Leonard Nimoy.
Although I'm only passingly familiar with the Star Trek universe, I thought this was an interesting idea, realised by an author with whom I'm slightly acquainted. Whilst serious and knowledgeable fans will doubtless find more depth, my superficial Star Trek knowledge was quite sufficient to enjoy the book. It takes the form of a t'san a'lat, explained as a Vulcan "book of wisdom", addressed to some presumed survivor or inheritor - in this case, Jean-Luc Picard - and each chapter is framed around a character from Spock's family or working life. In fact, the events of the original series play a relatively minor part; there's a lot about Spock's childhood and upbringing as a Vulcan-human hybrid (I assume we're not supposed to ask astrobiological questions about the feasibility of such a thing) and the later events he documents from his time with Starfleet or in the service of Federation or Vulcan diplomacy seem weighted towards films and other spin-offs. The presence of a same-sex couple on the human side of Spock's family was an oddity: it served no larger purpose in the book, but was perhaps pleasantly unremarkable for its inclusion; I suppose it remains to be seen whether this or any of Spock's other liberal views on diversity, badged now as Vulcan values, might trigger the Gammonati. Overall, this book fulfilled expectations, and certainly felt like the real deal, the writing clearly suited to the voice of Leonard Nimoy.