Star Born

You may be looking for the similar titles Starborne (disambiguation).

Zine
Title:	Star Born
Publisher:
Editor:
Author(s):	Gloria Fry
Cover Artist(s):	Raymond D. Sless
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	1996
Medium:	print zine, fanfic
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:	zine online here
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cover by Raymond D. Sless showing the Starfleet Academy

Star Born is a 98-page gen Star Trek: TOS novel by Gloria Fry. The cover art is by Raymond D. Sless. Other artists include Joanna McGrory, Maggie Symon and Joanna McGrory.

Summary

From Media Monitor: "After an attack on the Enterprise is dealt with, Spock visits Starfleet Academy. He reminisces about his problems as the first Vulcan cadet there, his meeting and budding friendship with Kirk, and their uncovering of a plot against Starfleet and the Federation."

Gallery

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  cover art by Raymond D. Sless

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  interior art by Maggie Symons

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  interior art by Joanna McGrory

Reactions and Reviews

"It is always a pleasure to open a new zine from Gloria Fry. In my view, Star Born is one of the best stories yet produced by this very able author, and will be a particular pleasure to fans of the original series. The main action of the story is set in a long flashback and deals with the background to an attack on the Enterprise. The bulk of the story, which is seen from Spock's point of view, concerns Kirk and Spock's early years together at Starfleet Academy. Kirk is the eager, impetuous cadet you would expect. He has difficulties with some of his studies, but already he is showing conspicuous command aptitude in his dealings with both his peers and his colleagues. Spock is having to learn to adjust to living away from Vulcan, and has difficulties due to the constant proximity of humans and the associated emotional assault on his shields. He has been readily accepted by most of the cadets and the academic staff at the Academy. Although relatively younger than his peers he is years ahead of them academically But he is naive, and has met with discrimination and bigotry. It is Spock's abilities which enable him to prevent a major act of sabotage, but it is the diverse talents of Kirk and Spock which combine to enable them to uncover the underlying plot. The foiling of this plot puts them in grave danger, and forges the beginnings of the command team they will later form. They are both occasionally aware of, and puzzled by, their growing rapport, which is seen also by the Academy staff. The cadets and professors at the Academy are complete figures and are very well characterised, based on races or characters from the series. I thought the sports instructor and Spock's mentor were particularly well observed. The various threads of the story are very well paced, with cliff-hangers which leave the reader wanting to know what happens next. This zine primarily concerns Kirk and Spock, and it sensitively explores how their friendship grew (and almost floundered). It is very well written and is a thoroughly good read. I would recommend it highly, both as an action zine, and also as an exploration of the two main characters during their formative years."