A Vulcan Trilogy
| Star Trek TOS Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Vulcan Trilogy |
| Author(s): | Doris Beetem |
| Date(s): | 1970 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | |
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A Vulcan Trilogy is a collection of three Star Trek: TOS plays (or fiction in script form) by Doris Beetem.
They were printed in the first issue of Eridani Triad.
They are some of the earliest fanworks dealing with Vulcan world-building.
These fanworks were discussed in Star Trek Lives!.
The Plays
- The View From Glass Hill
- Hadla of Iron Mountain
- The Weregild
Comments by the Author: "On Those Plays You Just Waded Through"
The author includes these endnotes in Eridani Triad #1 ("AT" refers to the episode "Amok Time," "JB" to "Journey to Babel," "SC" to "Savage Curtain," and "BT" to "Balance of Terror"):
The trilogy takes place approximately 200 B.C., Terran reckoning.
The Vulcans have already experienced one period of interstellar expansion culminating in a colonial war (Romulans in BT. "We had suffered devastating wars that nearly destroyed our planet." - Surak, SC. The look of Vulcan from space, AT.) using atomics and other goodies which sank the planet back into barbarism. The small families left living naturally evolved into large families into clans. The clan is still important on modern Vulcan. ("He's never mentioned that his family was this important." - Kirk, AT) The clans on old Vulcan were strontrly territorial. ("The land of my family...held by us for more...than two thousand Earth years." - Spock, AT.) Nuclear families are run by the men ("It sounded more like a command." - Kirk. "Of course. He's a Vulcan. I'm his wife." - Amanda, JB.) but clan government is run by the women. ("Stonn, who wanted very much to be my consort," -T'Pring, AT. Also the position of T'Pau, AT. Plus the fact that the Vulcan pon farr would make the males very inefficient administrators at intervals.) Families are matrilocal.(Because. Also, it goes with matriarchal.)
The Vulcan betrothal-at-seven was instituted after the Reforms. (It had to start sometime. Also, imagine Hadla with seven-year-olds.) Marriage was approximately at 35 (Spock's hybrid heritage evidently removed the normal mental controls that permit marriage as late as 60, JB, and he reverted back to the old pattern, AT.) and betrothal was accomplished in adulthood.
The Vulcan lifespan sans geriatrics was approximately 150 years. Vulcan culture-patterns and language were relatively uniform in the clan-war period, stemming as they did from the unified world-wide civilization that came before. Further standardization, as in proper names, was an adjunct of the Reforms that brought in the present era of peace, logic, and emotional control.
This is the Vulcan of the play trilogy, as extrapolated from the TV show. We realize that all you Trek nuts out there have differing views; that you, like we, are busily engaged in the fascinating pastime of sewing the jacket onto the button. Good luck.
Sample Pages
from the zine, artist is Gail Barton
from the zine, artist is Gail Barton
from the zine, artist is Gail Barton
from the zine, artist is Gail Barton
Reactions and Reviews
1970
There is a trilogy about Surok [sic]. Trekkies are nutty but a fanzine devoted to one character who appeared in parts of one episode is pretty far gone. Next, I suppose What's-Her-Name will be doing a zine for sub-commander Tal. Anyway, the middle play of the trilogy, 'Hadia,' [sic] is the best. A couple of other short stories fill out the remainder of the 94 pages. Conclusion: if you want to spend more than the cost of 2 copies of 'Trumpet' on a Surok zine, you ARE a Trekkie.[1]
1971
[The zine has] three plays, set in the period of Surak's lifetime and including him (or should that be Him...?)...l couldn't get into them, maybe you can. [2]
1977
Six or seven years ago, this zine pioneered material on Vulcan background. For a long time it had remained only an unobtainable rumor, but how it has been reprinted to the joy of us who missed it the first time around. It features three short plays, outlining the beginning, middle period, and the end of the career of the great reformer Surak. The plays, as plays, are not without flaws -- the authors have trouble getting their characters offstage and scenes tend to run down -- but at the same time, they do produce with a minimum explanation a strong impression of the characters and graphic illustration of the process by which the founder of Vulcan's pacifism spread his philosophy. [3]
1983
When I read C6 and saw the bit asking for reviews of some of the stories in ST Lives, I knew I had some of them, looked them out, read them, wrote resume/review/opinions on them and sent them off with a covering "these are all I have of the stories you mentioned" then I got out ST Lives and reread the chapter on fan fiction...and realised that I had some more! Namely, Doris Beetam's play trilogy. Why didn't I remember I had them?
Well, first they aren't (to me) ST, although they are ST universe, being set in Vulcan just at the time of the Reforms; Surak is the main and continuous character since he and his beliefs are pivotal to all three plays. Second, though I had the zine - and have had it for some years - I hadn't read the trilogy. I don't have that much spare time, and spending part of it reading something not about the Enterprise or the Enterprise crew doesn't altogether appeal.
However, as I doubt many people in Britain have either printing of Eridani Triad I, and Rosemary wanted a review, I gritted my teeth and plunged in.
The 'View from Glass Hill' concerns mainly Surak. It starts with his purification after visiting Glass Hills - an area reputed to be poisonous, though Surak doubts this. The time is shortly after a fierce battle. It becomes clear that the characters dislike the killing, but 'it is for the clan good'. Yet nobody really knows what started the fighting; different clans are 'traditional opponents'. It transpires that the Glass Hills are the remains of a city which Surak believes was destroyed by (nuclear) war.
Vulcan healers have developed the neck pinch as a form of simple anaesthesia; Surak realises its defensive potential. He also advocates emotional control to damp down the need for excitement, and manages to persuade his immediate family of the logic of his beliefs.
'Hadla of Iron Mountain' - Hadla is a powerful woman (this Vulcan is matriarchal as far as clan government is conoerned), of a different clan.' She has kidnapped a kinsman of Surak's, Sotram, wanting to marry him; even as he enters pon farr, he still refuses. He preaches peace and considers that to marry her would betray his beliefs, for her clan is still warlike.
Hadla finally agrees that if Sotram remains inflexible, she will marry Bennil, of her own clan.
Two of Hadla's brothers decide to kill Sotram and thus solve the problem; Hadla arrives in time to stop them. She-agrees to send for Surak if Sotram marries her, though she cannot guarantee that her clan will listen. Sotram accepts; it is at least a chance for peace.
Hadla's Matriarch is actually very willing to listen to Surak; new weapons - explosive projectiles - are being used in some battles, and there is no defence except pacifism, Surak insists. And Hadla agrees.
'The Weregild' - Surak, now elderly, is a prisoner of Draikon, son of the Matriarch of another hostile clan, having come talking peace. He is the 17th Ambassador he and his fellow pacifists have sent to this clan; all the others have been killed. This clan has records going back to before the Great War...and claims ancestry from the crew of a 'ship-to-stars', though Surak still believes them Vulcan. However, the Matriarch agrees to hear Surak; she refuses to listen to his arguments, however, though Draikon is not unsympathetic.
Surak is murdered by Draikon's brother-in-law, to Draikon's annoyance. The two men are at the point of battle when Draikon's sister points out that a pacifist would exact less bloody a revenge; Draikon suggests listening to the next Ambassador, and giving him safe conduct.
The clan is not, however, yet ready to consider peace at all costs...though 'the thought is not unpleasant'.
The background for the Vulcan of the trilogy is extrapolated from several episodes, and Doris remains true to the culture as she understands it. The basic writing is competent, but I feel she did herself less than justice with the play format.
Frankly, although this format doesn't bother me, I'd have preferred this trilogy as a novel. Too much was left inadequately explained -.thoughts and narrated motivations were missing. I felt much more could have been done in a novel to show the working of this culture. In addition, as it stands, the story is left unresolved, though of course a positive resolution is not completely necessary and ending the whole as she does is dramatically quite sound - we all know what happened in the long run, after all.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed reading this, but I felt I could have had it been handled differently. On the other hand, I didn't, dislike it. It's geared to the reader who is interested in the Vulcan culture, its history and development, rather than the mainline Trek fan. [4]
References
- ^ from Pentathlon #1
- ^ by Ken Scher, from the science fiction zine "Space and Time" #12, June 1971, published quarterly by Gordon and Rebecca Linzner
- ^ a comment on the 1977 reprint, from Scuttlebutt #3
- ^ from Communicator #10 (Feb 1983)