NTM Collected

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Zine
Title: NTM Collected
Publisher: Empire Books
Editor(s): Jean Lorrah
Date(s): 1978, 1979
Series?: Yes
Medium: print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom: Star Trek: TOS
Language: English
External Links:
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NTM Collected (i.e. "The Night of the Twin Moons Collected") is a NTM-universe Star Trek fanzine.

In 1978, the zine was reviewed by the editor of Paradise: "This is a fine collection of some of Jean's "Night of the Twin Moons" universe stories, mostly reprints, and with a fantastic Spock-as-a-boy story by Leslye Lilker, too. The tone ranges from serious to humorous, and if you like this universe, you'll love this 'zine."

Zines, Stories, and Essays in the NTM Universe

The Non-Existent Third Volume

Jean Lorrah writes of this volume in spring of 1981:

...if there is going to be new NTM material, somebody's going to have to help me by writing some! At the moment I have exactly one story for #3, and that was written over a year ago! Linda Frankel is collaborating with me on a very long story—but that one may just turn out so long that it will be published as a separate novel. Don't SASE me yet—we're still arguing! Not fighting, arguing; all successful collaborators know the difference. [1]

Timelines in Jean Lorrah's Fanfiction

Jean Lorrah writes of timelines and her fiction:

It is virtually impossible to create a timeline for a series when one does not yet know all the main events! In the NTM universe, which began as a single novel and also "jest growed," I try to make each story independent of the others, just as one must do when writing professionally. My characters do change and grow, and where in the time of the NTM universe we are is indicated within each story—five years after this, or Spock is so many years old, or something to guide the reader who is familiar with the whole series to when we are, but not something to interfere with the enjoyment of the reader who has never seen an NTM story before. New readers start anywhere—I just had a letter this past week from someone whose first exposure to the NTM universe was "Amanda of Vulcan" in Stardate: Unknown. I know that a timeline for the NTM universe would have to include a trip back to Penthesilea—the problem is, I don't know when that will happen! Also, there are two events in the projected future of NTM—beyond anything yet written in the series—that I do not want to put on a timeline until stories leading up to them are filled in. Otherwise, half the readers would be screaming at me to write those stories without the necessary intervening buildup and the other half would be shouting that those events could never happen under any circumstances whatsoever! Therefore, it seems to me that the approach of assuming that every story in a series is being read by readers who have read none of the others is the safest approach. Even in fandom, there are often long waits between reprints of the first volumes of a series (not in my case, as I'm fortunate to be solvent enough to keep everything in print), so that many readers inevitably come in in the middle... Oddly, I have an opposite problem. Because I wrote NTM and EPILOGUE, as well as a large number of other ST stories, many readers assume that they all must fit into a single timeline. No way! NTM and EPILOGUE are completely independent of one another. Only stories labeled "An NTM-universe Story" fit the timeline of the NTM universe. Please don't try to fit both series into the same timeline. [2]

Issue 1

cover of issue #1 by Signe Landon

NTM Collected 1 was published in April 1978 and contains 80 pages. It has stories and essays by Jean Lorrah and other writers, reprinted from other zines. Proofreading was done by Leslye Lilker, Juanita Salicrup, and Johanna Cantor. Art is by Signe Landon (cover, interior), Amy Harlib (interior), and Laurraine Tutihasi (interior).

From the editorial: "NTM COLLECTED, VOLUME ONE is being issued on the tenth anniversary of my first appearance in a Star Trek fanzine. That first appearance was in the classic fanzine, SPOCKANALIA, the second issue. For those of you who may not know, SPOCKANALIA was the very first Star Trek fanzine. It was edited by Devra Langsam and Sherna Comerford. Devra, as you certainly do know, contin ues as one of the brightest lights in fandom today. Thank you, Devra, for bringing me into fandom. Neither one of us knew at the time where fandom, or we, were going!"

Contents:

Printing dates for issue #1:

  • First: April 1978 (500 copies)
  • Second: October 1978
  • Third: April 1980
  • Fourth: September 1982 (500 copies)
  • Fifth: March 1985
  • Sixth: November 1987
  • Seventh: April 1993
  • inside page from issue #1, Signe Landon

    inside page from issue #1, Signe Landon

  • inside page from issue #1, Amy Harlib

    inside page from issue #1, Amy Harlib

  • inside page from issue #1, Signe Landon

    inside page from issue #1, Signe Landon

  • inside page from issue #1, Amy Harlib

    inside page from issue #1, Amy Harlib

  • inside page from issue #1, Laurraine Tutihasi

    inside page from issue #1, Laurraine Tutihasi

  • inside page from issue #1, Amy Harlib

    inside page from issue #1, Amy Harlib

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

  • Domestic Scene With Sehlat / Nice little scenes from Spock's childhood - little bits like Sarek keeping clocks away from Spock so that his time-sense will develop. Centers on a visit from an old flame of Amanda's, who behaves possessively, and Sarek's correct reaction in letting her handle it.
  • The Ambassador's Nightmare / [previously published in Warped Space #16, April 1976] Local ambassador vital to a treaty insists that Sarek give him Amanda. Sarek reacts badly, he thinks.
  • The Joke's On You / Sarek must deal with Spock's troubles at school, which include a bigoted teacher and taunting schoolmates, while he is already anxious about whether Spock will develop the telepathic abilities necessary to a normal Vulcan life.
  • Mother to Mother / T'Pau, horrified that not only was she responsible for Kirk's death, but that she had also condemned Spock to death, either from the Kalifee or by execution for Kirk's murder, resolves to face Amanda.
  • Among the Ways to Babel / "Journey to Babel" and its background and aftermath, from Amanda's point of view, with explanations about Vulcan culture. Sarek had been hiding his first heart attack from her, leading her to believe he wished to be free of her. [3]

Issue 2

front cover of issue #2 by Alice Jones
back cover issue #2, Vel Jaeger, her first zine art published

NTM Collected 2 contains 116 pages. It was first printed in November 1979 (500 copies); second printing (500 copies); fourth printing, September, 1984.

The cover is by Alice Jones. The back cover is by Vel Jaeger. The interior art is by Virginia Lee Smith, Martynn, Mary Stacy-MacDonald, and Debbie Collier. Linda Deneroff did the typing.

Like NTM Collected, Volume One, it was largely reprints (no material from the novel NTM, from Full Moon Rising or from NTM Collected #1) which allowed new fans of the series to find all of the NTM stories that had been written.

From the editorial:

Hello again I How things have changed since four years ago, when I was working on the novel, THE NIGHT OF THE TWIN MOONS, thinking of it as a one-shot, never dreaming that in four years there would be four whole books in the NTM universe. That's right—this is the fourth book-length work in the NTM universe, and it looks as if there are more to come. Because the series has grown into a whole universe, perhaps it would help if I give you a chronology of the NTM stories published thus far. You'll find that on the next page.... To those of you exploring the fan Trek universes for the first time, it may seem confusing that they contradict one another, and probably the movie. How ever, you must remember that universes such as Kraith, ALTERNATE UNIVERSE FOUR, EPILOGUE, SHOWCASE, Sahaj, NTM, and many others were begun long before the movie. It's best to treat them as alternate universes — and then simply suspend your disbelief and enjoy! Remember, all the stories written by fans are labors of love. Otherwise, we'd all be crazy to spend our time doing this!... To those of you who have been reading my stories ever since I started publishing 'way back in the halcyon days of SPOCKANALIA (the first Star Trek Fanzine), or at least since the inception of the NTM universe, thanks for sticking it out! I hope this latest volume is some reward, and notice that I am and intend to remain active in fandom. Special thanks go to the writers who have written in my universe, and to the artists who have so beautifully illustrated these stories. I am proud to have two — count 'em, two! — winners of the FanQ award for best artist in ST fandom represented in this volume. Alice Jones won the award in 1978, and Martynn in 1979.

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

See reactions and reviews for In a Bed of Stone.

See reactions and reviews for Penthesilean Aftermath.

See reactions and reviews for A Matter of Principle.

[zine]:
  • Time of the Hearth / [First published in In a Plain Brown Wrapper] T'Pril sees the radiance of both Sarek and Amanda during their Time, and tries to put into practice some fleeting advice from Amanda to revolutionize the experience for herself and her husband. Nicely written with some lovely, evocative meld sequences.
  • A Matter of Principle / [First published in The Despatch] Amanda opens her bank account on Vulcan - leading to a few surprises for the staid bankers.
  • Ask the Right Question / [First published in Warped Space] Doctor Daniel Corrigan, along with Healer Sorel, is tending Amanda in the early stages of her pregnancy. Amanda questions Corrigan about how pon farr came to be - from her research, she has learned that it was apparently not a feature of Vulcan phsyiology in the time of Surak. Corrigan has not even heard of pon farr, and manages to actually get answers from Sorel. It's always great to have writers tackle the problem of the absurdity of pon farr. In this vision, an earlier Vulcan civilization led to a nuclear holocaust resulting in high levels of mutations and descent into barbaric life. Telepathy appeared about the time of Surak, whose own telepathy - and his resulting experience of the deaths of his opponents - led to his philosophy. The telepaths suffered less mortality in childbirth, and the trait spread. Surak advocated suppressing emotion except for the emotions necessary around reproduction and family life. Later generations attempted to control even that, and began to leave their children unbonded. Pon Farr was the result of another mutation spreading through the population via the chaotic breeding of unbonded males.
  • Amanda of Vulcan / [First published in Stardate: Unknown] Amanda is having something of a mid-life crisis, having to come to terms with her own age progressing so much faster than Sarek's. Her perspective is restored by some needed honesty in their sexual relationship, a run-in with a pair of lematya, her son's approbation of her actions during the lematya attack, and her appointment as a Vulcan ambassador, implying that she is in truth a complete Vulcan. Interesting take here on Spock, suppressing emotion far more than does Sarek, and Sarek's (and Amanda's) initial approval of Spock's intent to join Starfleet - they believe it will help him to spend time with outworlders.
  • To Seek and Find Anew / Mara (Kang's consort) has been sentenced to exile by the emperor, but manages to escape with a shuttlecraft and lands on Penthesilia, where she enjoys the novelty of the female-dominant society.
  • Penthesilean Aftermath / [First published in R&R] Follows upon Night of the Twin Moons, in which, apparently, Amanda has acquiesced to the demand of three women in the Penthesilean hierarchy that Sarek attempt to impregnate them. Amanda attempts to get Sarek to speak of it with Spock, in hopes of giving her son some perspective on his own actions in seducing the Romulan Commander during "The Enterprise Incident" - all in the line of duty.
  • ...In a Bed of Stone / [First published in R&R] Mirror Universe. Ambitous Amanda Grayson has wound her way to the top of the Imperial bureaucracy by seduction, and is appointed governor of Vulcan, which has just been conquered. Her task is to convince the Vulcans that they must allow their children to be raised with imperial values so that the Empire can make use of their telepathic and physical abilities - while providing the adult mental and social support without which Vulcan children will die in chaos and agony. Amanda decides that a side benefit of the negotiations will be her sexual conquest of the Council's representative, Sarek. [4]

Jean Lorrah's latest effort has produced an innocuous little zine filled with only slightly related stories and essentially unimpressive artwork. For an editor/writer with Jean Lorrah's reputation, this zine seems to be a bit of a disappointment.

The cover by Alice Jones is up to her usually superb standards and is quite possibly the best piece of work in the entire zine.

In order to comprehend any of the stories in the collection, the reader must be familiar with Jean's NTM universe. Woe betide the uninitiated reader who picks up this zine.

'Time of the Hearth' is another Vulcans-in-pon-farr story but perhaps its saving virtue is that this time its a different Vulcan, not Spock, not Sarek, but rather a new set of characters of the author's creation This is the follow-up to the 'Amanda helps Sarek enjoy pon farr' story; in this story, Amanda branches out and gives lessons to a friend...

'A Matter of Principle' answers the searching question of what happens when Amanda tries to open a bank account in her own name...

'Ask the Right Question' is a descent into the complexities of Vulcan biology which traces the roots of pon farr to its origins in Vulcan history. The facts emerge during a man-to-man talk between a human doctor and his human friend. The story tends to be complex and rather detailed. Another interesting effort, but it suffers from the burden of a question-answer style of writing.

'Amanda of Vulcan' is the story that this reviewer found to be the least satisfying of all. It tries to cover so many events in the lives of Amanda, Sarek and Spock, that it leaves the writer with the impression that no single subject has been covered sufficiently. In this story, Amanda starts off with a case of the 'blahs.' She feels sorry for herself, she feels sorry for Sarek because he's stuck with her, she feels sorry that she never gave him more children. At the same time, Spock decides to tell his family he's going to join Starfleet. Then in rapid succession, Amanda is anointed as an ambassador, she single-handedly defeats a marauding le-matya, and finally decides her life isn't so bad after all. It is uneven in the extreme, and the overly ornate artwork by Mary Stacy-MacDonald did not always reproduce well or evenly is distracting.

'To Seek and Find Anew' concerns the Klingon Mara from 'Day of the Dove' and her experiences as a rebel on Penthesilea, Jean's female-dominated society. Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the story is that two of the main characters are Penthesilean women who are living in an apparently sexual relationship. There are no explicit sex scenes, though, to offend a reader with delicate sensibilities. The story itself is a bit preposterous and difficult to follow at times. For this story, Mary MacDonald's Penthesilean women are well-done and appropriately aloof-looking.

'Penthesilean Aftermath' is a direct sequel to 'The Night of the Twin Moons' which portrays a meaningful/emotional episode between Sarek and Amanda. It is short and to-the-point without being overly abrupt...

Even the the NTM universe has a Mirror side to it, and 'In a Bed of Stone' shows this. As the Empire's ruler of Vulcan, Amanda has some fascinating ideas on how to obtain the submission of the Vulcan people... and of their representative Sarek. Sarek's total innocence makes for a delightful seduction scene. Definitely the most interesting story in the zine.

As with any collected edition, most of these stories (with the exception of one) have been printed in other sources, so for anyone who has been reading zines for a few years, there is a good chance they already have these stories. This zine is ideal for a collector, but for just the general reader, it provides a great deal of repetition. [5]

Issue 3 (planned, not completed)

A third issue was planned but never completed. In the fall of 1987, Jean Lorrah wrote in the sixth printing of NTM Collected #1 that "I cannot write fan stories now, because of professional commitments." She also wrote:

As the sixth printing of this volume goes to press (Fall, 1987), I have on hand three stories for NTM COLLECTED, VOL III: one by Karen Hunter, ony by Allyson Mann, and an unpublished NTM story of my own. However, that is not enough to fill a volume—so those of you with NTM stories to tell, please let me see them. Be patient, though; my time is so filled with absolute deadlines that I must let fannish activities slide. I do want to see them, and I will answer eventually; it's just that stories seem to come right when taxes, midterm exams, a rewrite of a pro novel, and galleys for another all hit at the same time!... Please forgive my slowness in answering mail. I am at that stage in life (some of you are there, too, and the rest of you will be) at which I must work like mad if I am ever to do anything with my life to be worth remembering. My days are filled. Much as I would like to keep up correspondence with other fen, it's just not possible. I do love to hear from you, though—and a sure way to get an answer (eventually) is to send me an NTM story. About those rumors that I am the toughest editor in fandom? Well, they're true. On the other hand, your appearance in an Empire Books fanzine means your story is up to my standards. Empire Books keeps my fanzines in print so that new fen can find them. I have not left Trekfandom—I never will. Please understand my efforts to keep in touch with flyers and fanzines, since I simply cannot keep up with personal correspondence. Live long and prosper, all you wonderful Trekfen!

References

  1. ^ from Interstat #43
  2. ^ from Interstat #20
  3. ^ Halliday’s Star Trek Zinedex (TOS) - Title Index, Archived version
  4. ^ Halliday’s Star Trek Zinedex (TOS) - Title Index, Archived version
  5. ^ from Datazine #2
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