Continuum (Star Trek:TOS zine by Lois Welling)
You may be looking for the Star Trek: TOS anthology Trek Continuum.
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Continuum |
| Publisher: | Catspaw Printers |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Lois Welling |
| Cover Artist(s): | Bev Zuk |
| Illustrator(s): | Becca Randant |
| Date(s): | 1983 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | at AO3 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Continuum is a het 29-page Star Trek: TOS novel by Lois Welling.
The Series
Summaries
From an ad in Universal Translator #23: "'Continuum' presents an interesting tie-in with Susan's world and ST:WK. Lieutenant Saavik accompanies Kirk and McCoy to Vulcan for a visit with Spock's grieving family. But are they grieving? Do they believe he is dead? And just to make things interesting, Saavik finds a childhood companion from Hellguard."
From the Zinedex: "After Spock's death, Saavik finally consents to meet his family, which she has so far avoided, not wanting to share him. Turns out he had been imprisoned and used for stud-duty to produce a number of hybrid children; his wife Susan has kept all the children, and both she and several of the kids are telepathic and insist that Spock is not dead. Susan confronts Saavik with Spock's past and her feelings; Saavik learns to respect her and is given renewed confidence that, somehow, her future will include Spock."[1]
 interior art by Becca Randant |
 interior art by Becca Randant |
Reactions and Reviews
From her dedication, it is apparent that this story is not the first she has written concerning Spock's past, and she is tying in these stories to what happened in ST:TWOK. The time frame of the story starts after ST:TWOK with Saavik as our focal point. Lois has conjoured up a past for Spock between Star Trek and ST:TMP that is colorful, to say the least. Dealing with her loss at Spock's death; meeing Spock's 'family,' and an old friend are only part of what Saavik must do. It is hard to say which is more interesting, Spock's past or Saavik's dilemma. I became so involved I cried at one point, and what there was to cry about, I don't know. I was sorry to have the story end. The zine itself is 29 plus pages with adequate artwork and cover. Basically a no frills zine. I didn't see one typo in the whole thing. It's worth picking up! [2]
The first thing I realized when I opened this zine was that to truly understand all the characters and all that is going on in the story, it is necessary to have done some 'outside reading.' The characters are largely from Lois' two previous works, The Displaced and Transition. I would say that reading these two works is almost mandatory before picking up 'Continuum.'... Also necessary to complete understanding of this zine is a reading of the novelization of ST:TWOK, but then most ST fans have already done that! The story is set after the end of ST:TWOK. Spock is dead (or is he?) and Susan, his children, Sarek, Amanda, and most of all, Saavik are left to face life without him. Saavik 'grows up' a bit through some of the realization she comes to in this story as she is forced to face Spock's family as well as her own Vulcan heritage head-on for the first time. If you've read the first two zines in the series, this volume is a must. If you haven't read the first two, get busy. ... The text is only 29 pages, so this makes a terrific 'short read.' Between 1 and 10, I'd rate this zine a 7. [3]
Lois, you need not have written this one! It is definitely not the sane standard as your others [in the trilogy]. In trying to link the two with the film stories, your story misses completely. It is out of sinq. [sic] It conflicts with the story lines of "The Displaced" and ""Transition" and ""The Motion Picture". I think it should be quietly buried and perhaps another could be thought about featuring a similar story line without using the films as background. [4]