One Sundered Soul

Fanfiction
Title:	One Sundered Soul
Author(s):	Carolyn Spencer
Date(s):	1992
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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One Sundered Soul is a K/S story by Carolyn Spencer.

It was published in the print zine Scattered Stars #4.

Summary

"Two Vulcan youths, one dark, one fair, grow up to be warriors and plan to bond until one, becoming the leader of their people and meeting a prophet of logic, decides to follow this new way."

Reactions and Reviews

1992

I have a weakness for pre-Reform stories but an usually disappointed by what I read because they tend to stretch credibility even in the a/u context. And I'm burned out on pre-Reform stories where either Kirk or Spock are slave/ master. Thankfully, wonderfully that isn't the case with "One Sundered Soul". The story pulled me in from the first paragraph and never let go until the last sentence had ended. This writer has a rare talent for creating a time and place so realistically that one cannot help but find themselves enthralled.

This is a story you read with all senses: one can almost smell the smoke of the campfires, the heat of the desert noon, and the sound of night wind. The writing is superb, the plot flowed without any jerky or awkward or dead parts. The characterization of Kirk and Spock in a/u stories can often be way out in left field. But in this story the personalities were unmistakably the two protagonists I am so familiar with. It is so delightful to read a story by someone who has evidently done their homework. I will admit I was a little thrown off by the meaning of the word 'durma.' (did it mean weeks or days?) but I attribute that to my being slow on the uptake. The characters of Kalen and Jorath are fully fleshed out, well rounded personages, and what makes them so endearing is that they are not perfect beings able to solve their problems easily, but flawed characters with their own unfulfilled dreams and passions and failings, which makes them very real. The choice they are forced to make after Kalen accepts Surak's tenets is heart rending. If anyone is the villain in this story it is fate rather than Ba'ar. Kalen and Jorath are victims of change, and as helpless to staunch that change as a sand castle can the tide.

Above all "One Sundered Soul" is a story of an abiding love that endures even beyond the grave. While I have read other stories dealing with this type of ending, this time, it fit so well and brought the story full circle to its conclusion that I was left with a feeling of completeness and hope. So far I have read the story three times, it is that engrossing, Just at a time I was bemoaning the profusion of 'bland' stories in recent K/S zines, along comes one that jump starts me out of my ennui. This writer has a way with the English language that is both lyrical and powerful at the same time. I hope to see more stories by Ms. Spencer, for I will surely read whatever she writes.

Wow! I haven't had such an emotional reaction to a K/S story in along time. But I have to admit that I finished this story with tears in my eyes, even though the ending was absolutely predictable several pages in advance, Now that's good writing!

I thought the second half of this story was much better written than the first, and as a consequence, lore interesting. Perhaps because the first half was framed by short scenes of Jor's Warrior Journey, much of the first twenty pages or so fall into the common trap of 'telling' and not 'showing.' But the later scenes carry much more immediacy.

A few technical natters. On page 145. the sex scene abruptly shifts to Kal's point of view, when it has been Jor's that has been used almost exclusively before. I found this quite jarring. On page 158. the transition between the first and second paragraph after the break is really rough, and needs a lot more explanation. And where, or how, did Jor come up with the idea of sucking out the poison when Kal is attacked by the le-matya? That's a real loose end.

The action scene at the end when Jor is attacked by Ba'ar was riveting. Even better is the paragraph on 163 when Jor watches the chas (stars) grow brighter. I'm not going to spoil the story for others by saying what happens there, but when I reread the section for this review. I still had an emotional reaction.

The ending scene was very predictable, and left me very dissatisfied. I'm not sure what I wanted, perhaps more definite indication that some happiness would be forthcoming. And why would Spock remember, and Kirk not?

I usually don't care for Vulcan pre-reform stories,and I like it even less when I think that my emotions are being manipulated. But Carolyn Spencer led me through both and actually made me like it. A very good job.

I found this to be a very powerful story that affected me with its forceful images and strong characterizations of a bittersweet romance between two souls that were really one.

The author didn't rush to get to the 'good' parts of her tale but drew a picture of life in often violent pre-Reform Vulcan. She showed us a number of scenes that allowed us to see into this strange culture. The love shared between Kal and Jor was deep and real, which made their ultimate fate harder to take. But in the Star Trek K/S universe, as we know, our two heroes are destined to meet again and again because that kind of love can't be destroyed.

This is the kind land my favorite story of this author and I get the feeling that "Carolyn Spencer" is becoming a synonym for "excellent stories"! Again she writes skillfully and grippingly. This time she takes us along to have a look at ancient Vulcan, when the clans lived only as nomads and the warrior Brotherhood of the S'Kunderi was the greatest goal a young man could reach. We learn a lot about Vulcan life and customs and I believe after reading this story that Carolyn has perhaps Vulcan ancestors (she seems indeed to know everything about this period). The plot is cleverly outlined -- the story begins in the middle, when Jorath is taking his Warrior Journey to gain his Revelation and connects the past with the future. There are a lot of lovely scenes, e.g. when Kal (p. 133) reached down to stroke the bruise gently: "It doesn't matter." -- "It does to me." Or when Jor gave Kal his precious gift: the egg. I had tears in my eyes, when Jor later broke his egg! Speaking of tears. I have to say that I have a great dislike for death stories. But after I removed all the tissues. 1 have to confess that it's the only way in this story (sigh...). When Kal rejected Jor (because "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one"...) and Jor walked away -- after breaking that egg -- they were both already dead inside. They were not able to live apart. But also Kal was not able to risk the future of the whole clan and to betray Surak. And when finally Jor died by Ba'ar's attack. Kal's fate was sealed: "If he didn't know it was impossible, he would have thought he was looking at a man without katra.... this was like looking at a walking dead man." (Soren's thoughts about Kal. p. 163). The two of them had one sundered soul and with Jor's death this soul was set free from their bodies to pass into eternity., and after some thousand years Jor's revelation came true: now Jor was clan leader and Kal was at his side in this strange place with blinking lights, noises, flashes of gold, red and blue -- among the stars. And their sundered soul met again. After all a happy end!

This is really a profound and touching story which. I think, will be remembered still in some years!

1993

Vivid, detailed depiction of pre-reform Vulcan with a beautiful warrior love story. I don't care for battle scenes much, but certainly can admire someone who can write them well.

Wonderful sex -- intensely erotic. The naming was quite special.

I rather like when we can have exquisitely heartbreaking deaths, yet they are not "our" Kirk and Spock. Ending was very satisfying and poetic.

1994

I very much enjoyed this reincarnation story. Although the lives of these earlier incarnations of kirk and Spock end in tragedy, the story ends on an optimistic note. Our heroes need not repeat the pattern. They do have a second chance. I also appreciated the fact that the situations of the characters were reversed. Kalen, the incarnation of Spock, is a respected figure with authority even though his willingness to accept change causes him to be viewed as a maverick by the clan's conservatives. Jorath, the incarnation of Kirk, is the only Human surrounded by Vulcans and suffers from feelings of alienation. This reversal works. The characters are portrayed powerfully and consistently. Most of all, I was glad that Carolyn did not shy away from the homophobic consequences of the Reforms, and how they would impact on the relationship between Kalen and Jorath which began in a Pre-Reform context.

1996

This a/u story is about Jor and Kal, two Vulcans on about-to-be reformed Vulcan. They are linked to Kirk and Spock, but to explain how ruins the ending, so you'll just have to trust me. The characterizations are excellent. The depiction of Vulcan society is really interesting. And the story has a gripping plot. I myself would have left it at the sad ending, but most fans will be happy that Ms. Spencer found a quite ingenious way to make it end happily after all.

1997

It nearly got me sundered. It touched me deeply. I cried and felt comforted because in the end they are given a second chance.

1999

Place: Vulcan. Time: about 20 years PS ([equals] past birthdate of Surak) Warning: somebody is dying but it is still a happy ending! A tribe of Warriors let by Tovar, lives in an oasis in

the desert. There is plenty of water and game and that's why other tribes want to have that place.

One day there is a terrible sandstorm, and when the Warriors go out hunting they find a newborn child between the bodies of his parents. It is a strange child—fair hair, skin lighter than their own, ears not so nicely pointed. He is called Jorath.

The child grows and becomes friends with the war leader’s son Kalen. Their friendship becomes closer and closer and as grown ups they become shield mates and lovers. But before they can bond the warrior way, Surak is coming in their lives, making Kalen decide to bond with the girl Pring instead of his lover Jor. Jor decides to leave. Trying to warn Kalen for a plot against his life he is killed. Kalen kills the murderer in a combat. Then he goes off in the desert to die.

Far in the future, the Vulcan Spock is standing in the transporter room, about to meet his new captain. When his eyes first meet the eyes of this human for the first time, he has suddenly visions of an old savage time long ago, a terrible loss and guilt. His captain shows something of puzzlement, too....

This story is written like a saga, an old tale. The author has created a very vivid community, with very plausible characters. Jor and Kalen are very recognizable as Kirk and Spock, and yet they two totally different persons. The past and the future are connected through the visions of both Kalen and Jor in a perfect 'logical' way. I have read more stories about Kirk and Spock living in Vulcan's past as warriors, but I never read one so plausible as this. Jor and Kalen are not copies of Kirk and Spock in a different time and place, they are living people reacting due to their own time and culture.

The death scene was very sad, and the way Kalen contemplates his life with Jor and his guilt is so wonderful sad. His decision to go to the desert seems the only right thing to do.