Star Trek: The New Voyages

Title:	Star Trek: The New Voyages
Creator:	Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath
Date(s):	1976, 1978
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Trek TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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You may be looking for the fanfilm series, Star Trek: Phase II, previously known as "Star Trek: New Voyages".

Star Trek: The New Voyages was a two-volume series of Star Trek fan fiction anthologies edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, and published commercially by Bantam Books.

The two books were a project born of the pro book Star Trek Lives!. Jacqueline Lichtenberg wrote:

That center fiction section of Star Trek Lives! eventually was published as a stand-alone anthology titled STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath and containing a story co-authored by Jean Lorrah -- the second early contact between us. (by the time the New Voyages went to market, I was too busy with my own sf novel contracts to participate in the final editing.) That anthology changed the perception of fan readers about pro ST publications.

The books were very popular for many reasons, three being the public, mainstream recognition of fan fiction, the reputation of the names Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, and because the books were published after Star Trek had gone off the air, the latter which meant many fans were starved for new material.

The first volume was much more popular than the second one. This was due to the first volume's reliance on actual fanfic, the story introductions by actors from the show, and possibly because some of the fan writers chaffed at their fiction being edited without their permission.

For many fans, this pro book series was their first introduction to fanfic.

See List of Star Trek TOS Pro Books with Fan Connections.

Groundbreaking

The series is noteworthy on several grounds. Not only did the fanfic appearing therein receive professional publication, but many of the stories in the first volume were accompanied by introductions written by members of the original Star Trek cast, and Nichelle Nichols, originator of the role of Uhura, contributed a story to the second volume.

In 1991, a fan wrote:

These excellent stories were my first contact with ST after many years of deprivation after the TV series. The revelation that I was a fan came as I had not known how empty life was without ST until I discovered these and subsequent literature to fill the gap.

The first volume's content: seven of the nine stories/poems had originally appeared in fanzines.

The second volume's content: four of the ten stories/poems were originally from zines.

Born of "Star Trek Lives!"

From a 2012 interview with Jacqueline Lichtenberg:

I first encountered Jean's writing during the compilation of STAR TREK LIVES! Jean had co-authored a Star Trek story which we wanted to include in a center section of Star Trek Lives! featuring fan fiction -- no fan fiction devoted to any TV, film or book series had ever been professionally published, aired, or discussed in professional journalistic media of any kind at that time.

It turned out that the fanfiction section would make the book too long, (and yes, they [Bantam] were against the concept of fanfic, and there were nasty copyright issues with Paramount which owned Star Trek at that time). So it wasn't included.

However, to their utter astonishment Star Trek Lives! was a best seller and went 8 printings -- we blew the lid on Star Trek fandom! So Sondra Marshak took on another partner, Myrna Culbreath and did the anthology STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES (and some sequels, plus some original Trek novels) while I went on developing Sime~Gen.

Creation & Editing Process: Marshak & Culbreath's Account

According to Marshak and Culbreath in Star Trek: Voyages of Imagination, Bantam editor Fred Pohl had initially turned down the proposal for Star Trek Lives!, then later accepted it, realizing that the Star Trek phenomenon was by no means dead. While it was in production, Marshak and Culbreath proposed that "with the right editing, the best of the fan fiction could be made professionally publishable.... New Voyages was to become the true mass-marketing breakthrough. It has been widely credited with helping fuel the growing fan phenomenon that led to increasingly massive Star Trek conventions and eventually to the revival of Star Trek in movies, then in ongoing new formats." Marshak and Culbreath refer to this period as "the birth of new Star Trek fiction."

We were collecting, editing, and sometimes, at the authors' requests, extensively cutting or partially rewriting some stories or long novellas for fan authors who threw up their hands and said that they couldn't do it, please do it for them. While there was exciting raw material, fanzines had different editing standards and no great limitations on length. Everything we would send to Fred to show Paramount had to pay off on our promise that it could be extremely professional, marketable, meet space requirements, and leave Fred some options for final choices. Probably that editing or rewriting process was foredoomed to be an example of "no good deed goes unpunished." While the fan authors wanted us to do it, it's hard for any writers to let editors touch a hair on a story's head. Eventually our judgment was vindicated when Star Trek: The New Voyages became one of the most beloved books of Star Trek fiction.

Many fans saw it as a sign that Star Trek fandom and fan fiction were being taken seriously by the mainstream culture and by Paramount as well as the Star Trek producers. Thanks to their friendship with Joan Winston, Marshak and Culbreath had long portrayed themselves as having a special "in" with the likes of Roddenberry, Shatner and Nimoy, as seen in Star Trek Lives! and other publications.

Not All Fans Were Happy With This Colonization

In April 1976, A Piece of the Action 37 included a discussion by fans revealing that not all were happy with these books, citing unauthorized alterations to the fiction and neglect in mentioning their original sources. It appears that the heavy editing and rewriting -- in some places, completely rewritten from the originals -- took place without the authors' knowledge, control or permission. The authors did not receive copies of their contracts before the book went to press. None of the material was ever returned to the authors, and the stories were presented as "never before published", which was untrue: every one of them had appeared in a copyrighted fanzine, and no fanzine was mentioned or credited.

Also in 1976, a fan speculated:

What might be the long term effect of publishing fan fiction in the pro market? Star Trek: The New Voyages is the first attempt at this and somewhere along the line the original stories have been clipped, mangled, or metamorphosed out of shape. Bantam is notorious in STrekdom for their sloppy or inconsiderate editing. Perhaps New Voyages will be the straw that breaks the camel's back and turns fandom against Bantam.

A fan in 1983 wrote:

Problem with the stories picked up in a pro book, as was done in New Voyages 1, not 2 (which had mostly original work), was that the authors [were] not given their just share of the profits. No one would object to that, but that isn't what happened. There was a big controversy at the time and that's why none of the fan authors wanted to submit anything more. One of my best evenings was watching SM trying to wangle a story out of one of fandom's best writers who kept repeating "show me a contract I can show my lawyer" while SM kept trying to get around it. The first book burned too many authors for the rest of us to look kindly on another one.

In 2009, a fan wrote:

"Grandma Trek" Shirley Maiewski, author of "The Mind-Sifter", "spent the rest of her life very vocally blasting [Bantam Books] for their disrespect of fans disguised as 'doing us a favor'. She's credited by fans for killing the [New Voyages] series, because fans then refused to submit anything to [Bantam].

Comments from Some of the Authors

• In 1984, Shirley Maiewski wrote:

  First of all, I am writing as ME, Shirley Maiewski, author of "Mindsifter" and writer, editor, publisher of ALTERNATE UNIVERSE 4 - NOT as Chairman of the Star Trek Welcommittee! I don't know if anyone realizes how difficult it is to keep one's private life separate from something as public as head of STW! "The opinions that follow are those of ME and not of STW!" Now - regarding such things as the Star Trek books we buy and read, I want to thank Ann Crispin for her exceptionally fine explanation of what goes into the publication of professional Star Trek books as opposed to fan publications. I mentioned "Mindsifter" up there because it is a good example of what can happen to a fan's material once it goes pro. Many of you have heard the story of the changes that were made in the original material, first published in Sharon Emily's Star Trek Showcase, changes that were made WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE before publication of STAR TREK:THE NEW VOYAGES. I don't know if you realize that almost without exception, every story in that book was also changed? I assume that such things can no longer happen, and authors at least know of changes before the book goes to print. I certainly hope so! I would send a word of caution to anyone submitting material to a publisher to be sure they know what they are doing and/or signing! I would hope, however, that writers continue to submit material, even under the restrictions Ann tells us about and hopefully we will be able to read more of the kind of books we can enjoy! One thing I'll say about the pro books - the covers are getting better.

• In 1984, Ruth Berman wrote:

  Shirley Maiewski remarked that "almost without exception, every story in that book ((ST: THE NEW VOYAGES)) was also changed." I know that her "Mind Sifter" was greatly changed by the abridgement of it, but I wonder if it's true to say that the stories were changed almost without exception. I know of two exceptions — my "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" and "The Face on the Barroom Floor" by me and Eleanor Arnason. The only change I noticed in either of these was that the spelling of Perez had an accent mark put over it, as would be done by a native speaker of Spanish, a trivial change (for which I was grateful).

• In 1985, Shirley Maiewski commented on this story and explained why she didn't write anything after it:

  I agree whole-heartedly... re the sniping, called 'critiquing.' at Trek writers! Some of those doing it are dear, dear friends, but, doggone it folks! Gee! We do this for fun, after all, at least in zines... Somebody likes them or they wouldn't be printed! Many, many fans enjoy all ST stories? Why make them feel dumb by telling them they have no taste or smarts? It's an awful putdown to read that something you have enjoyed a great deal is 'poorly written; no character development; a -- horrors -- Mary Sue!' So what? Frankly, people have asked why I don't write more after the success of Mind Sifter. It's a long story, but there are two main reasons: First, the damage done to my story by editors (without my knowledge or permission), second, the thought that anything else I might write would be torn apart by the 'experts.' Best reasons in the world for a terminal case of Writer's Block.

• In a letter to Interstat #113 in March 1987, Claire Gabriel referred to the version of "Ni Var" in the pro book as "heavily edited." (The original story is online at sime-gen.org.)

• In 1991, Shirley used her story as a warning to other fanwriters:

  ...a word of caution—know what you're getting into, if you decide to go the professional route! Find out how to do it correctly and never sign anything until you know what it says! Take if from someone who found out the hard way. Anyone wanting to know the sad story about my "Mind Sifter," in Star Trek: The New Voyages, can write me.

Some Fans Felt Excluded from the Process

In an article in Trek magazine in 1979, amateur author Mary Jo Lawrence described her experiences as a "late bloomer" Trek fan who wanted to contribute to the culture of Trek fandom. She wrote numerous letters to Marshak and Culbreath after the publication of the two New Voyages books, wherein they had issued what appeared to be an open invitation to amateur authors to submit material for further volumes. Taking this literally, Lawrence did send a short story. Marshak and Culbreath never replied to her letters or acknowledged the story. Lawrence then read Joan Winston's The Making of the Trek Conventions, which gave her the impression that "Miss Winston and her cronies were on the 'inside Trek' and she obviously wanted us to know it":

My concern deepened as I found a dismal pattern emerging. Joan Winston, Jackie Lichtenberg, and Sondra Marshak (who collaborated on the popular Star Trek Lives!) were right in the center of an elitist group which expanded, as the narrative progressed, to include Myrna Culbreath (of course) and, to my growing consternation, such people as Shirley Maiewski and Connie Faddis. Now, these are all very versatile and extremely talented people, but, as I checked back over the list of contributing authors in my volumes of The New Voyages, I found my suspicions completely confirmed. It was these, along with such obvious insiders as Nichelle Nichols and Jescoe von Puttkamer [a prominent NASA engineer], Russell Bates (who wrote a script for the animateds) and Jennifer Guttridge (who was published in both volumes) who were getting their work into print. This was in direct conflict with what Marshak and Culbreath were purporting in their prefaces. It seemed that if you wanted to get anywhere in Star Trek fandom it wasn't what you knew, it was who you knew. There are thousands of artistic Trekkers in the world, but only a handful of mutually supportive individuals are getting to share their talent and ideas with the rest of us. I was angered and hurt by what I felt was a betrayal of everything Star Trek fandom stood for. I could feel my enthusiasm ebb and my momentum come to a grinding halt.

Why Were There Only Two Volumes?

It seems that there were definite plans for at least two more volumes of of New Voyages:

From 1978:

Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath are looking for stories for NEW VOYAGES 3 and 4 (Bantam). Stories should be syntonic with the series, and not make any major changes — such as marrying, killing, etc., a major character. Bantam prefers stories with a sound science fiction premise, and they prefer the upbeat. Would any zine editor who has printed a story that could be considered please send a copy of the zine to Sondra and Myrna, c/o Yeoman Press? (I log them, and send them on.) Thanks for the help.

A very similar request for contributions was also published in Warped Space #35/36 (March 1978). In that blurb, these additions were included:

There is some room for poetry and some flexibility for experiments. The deadline for consideration is June 1 [1978] for #3 and shortly after Labor Day [1978] for #4... Individual stories, and suggestions, may also be sent in.

Fans have long speculated on why Marshak and Culbreath didn't complete these two additional volumes. The most likely explanation is that the second volume didn't sell as well and Pohl didn't feel a third one was worth considering. It is possible that Shirley Maiewski's very vocal and widely publicized opposition to the series really did influence fan writers to refuse to submit anything further, or they heard about the editing of the stories in the first two books in another way. Given the nature of fan communication, even people who had not yet read the first book or weren't familiar with the original stories would have known about what happened within weeks of publication. Or they had had a similar experience to Mary Jo Lawrence's and felt that their submissions wouldn't be considered if they weren't in the clique.

David Gerrold in a 2013 Facebook post relates an anecdote which references Marshak and Culbreath and may pertain to a proposed third volume:

...there's a tale of a young gay trek-fan who wrote a K/S story and had it rejected by the two most aggressive women behind the phenomenon. They said he didn't understand male homosexuality. (Despite being a male homosexual.) I admit to being put off by that kind of patronizing arrogance, that claim of ownership over someone else's sexual identity. I met those two women once. One of them began her conversation with, "What you Star Trek writers don't understand--" Oh, really? I was trained by Gene L. Coon and D.C. Fontana. "--is that Kirk secretly wants to be raped by Spock." I gnawed off a leg and escaped. So that might be part of my skepticism. The sentence, "What you Star Trek writers don't understand--" coming from a self-appointed expert who'd never been closer than 3000 miles to the actual creation of the show.

Some fans blamed Bantam, and not Marshak and Culbreath, for the editorial hatchet job. In a 2009 discussion on the old Star Trek: Phase II forum, a fan using the handle Andriech had this assessment:

"STTNV was the first acknowledgement of fanfiction by The Powers That Be. When Bantam Books offered to legitimize some fanfiction, fans were eager to submit their stories and have them published professionally. Being the age of innocence, fans signed the contracts happily with blissful knowledge that everything was going to be great. Unfortunately, the contract gave full editorial control to BB.

"Mind-Sifter" was (and is) one of the most famous classic fanfiction stories, however, when BB published it their changes to it, in Shirley's opinion, destroyed it. Their response to her objections was basically "trust us, we know what we're doing and you're just a fan".

Known as "Grandma Trek", Shirley was a real force in early fandom and spent the rest of her life very vocally blasting BB for their disrespect of fans disguised as "doing us a favor". She's credited by fans for killing the STTNV series, because fans then refused to submit anything to BB.

So, along comes James Cawley in the 80's. Shirley met him at a convention and they spoke about her story and his dream to film more TOS. Shirley gave James her original story and asked him to film it and restore her story to what she wrote.

So, along comes Patty Wright after the turn of the century. Now James has his sets, is filming episodes, and is still talking about the first real story he was given to film... but has no idea how to contact Shirley to pursue it further. Patty tells him that we lost Shirley in 2004 but, (as most NVP2 stories go) it just so happens that she was good friends with Shirley (Shirley actually edited her first fanfiction novel "Broken Image"). Shirley's family was contacted and... well....

"The next episode to be produced is Mind sifter" ~ Patty

The Star Trek: Phase II episode "Mind-Sifter" can be seen on YouTube. There are several editions with modern and 60s-era style visual effects, and with commentary and production interviews.

Slash in New Voyages

Writing in 2009, fan reviewer delmarsdoll found the initial story, "Surprise!" to be filled with slash subtext. Written by Nichelle Nichols with Marshak and Culbreath, the story is a screwball comedy about the Enterprise crew conspiring to a surprise birthday party for Captain Kirk, dropping understandable hints that if anyone is intimate with Spock, it is Uhura. According to Marshak and Culbreath, Nichols based the story on something that really happened in her family, and that the ending was "absolutely authentic".

"I have only read the first story [in New Voyages 2] so far, and the slash doesn't just drip from the page, it pours in cascading buckets. This story, Surprise!, was written by Marshak and Culbreath, and, wait for it...Nichelle Nichols! That's right ladies and gents, our very own Miss Uhura took part in writing the slashiest thing I have read so far in this fandom. (Of course I'm speaking of, ahem, subtext). And the copyright is held by Paramount, which at the time, probably meant, Roddenberry. Completely sanctioned slash."

Responding to this, KLangley56 says:

"Even though Marshak and Culbreath do have, as seen in their other works, a tendency to "slashy subtext" (that they would deny completely, as they were not K/S fans), and there's none of it in this story. My opinion of it has not changed since I read it at publication--it's an intended humorous story that just ends up being silly and out of character and a bit too "precious."

Volume 1

cover of Star Trek: The New Voyages 1

Star Trek: The New Voyages appeared in March 1976, with the following table of contents. All but one of the stories and poems had been selected by the editors from a variety of fannish sources.

Regarding "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" -- from the editorial in Masiform D #5: "I'm very happy to say that my copyright dispute with said Bantam Books has been settled. They had neglected to include my copyright statement when they published a story drawn from SPOCKANALIA #5 in The New Voyages, people told me that I should ask for money, too, but I hate fights (9 parts chicken, that's me)."

Volume 1: Gene Roddenberry's Introduction

...Certainly the loveliest happening of all for us was the fact that so many others began to feel the same way [about Star Trek as we did]. Television viewers by the millions began to take Star Trek to heart as their own personal optimistic view of the Human condition and future. They fought for the show, honored it, cherished it, wrote about it--and have continued to do their level best to make certain that it will live again.

...We were particularly amazed when thousands, then tens of thousands of people began creating their own personal Star Trek adventures. Stories, and paintings, and sculptures, and cookbooks. And songs, and poems, and fashions. And more. The list is still growing. It took some time for us to fully understand and appreciate what these people were saying. Eventually we realized that there is no more profound way in which people could express what Star

Trek has meant to them than by creating their own very personal Star Trek things.

Because I am a writer, it was their Star Trek stories that especially gratified me. I have seen these writings in dog-eared notebooks of fans who didn't look old enough to spell "cat." I have seen them in meticulously produced fanzines, complete with excellent artwork. Some of it has even been done by professional writers, and much of it has come from those clearly on their way to becoming professional writers. Best of all, all of it was plainly done with love.

It is now a source of great joy for me to see their view of Star Trek, their new Star Trek stories, reaching professional publication here. I want to thank these writers, congratulate them on their efforts, and wish them good fortune on these and further of their voyages into other times and dimensions. Good writing is always a very personal thing and comes from the writer's deepest self. Star Trek was that kind of writing for me, and it moves me profoundly that it has also become so much a part of the inner self of so many other people.

Viewers like this have proved that there is a warm, loving, and intelligent lifeform out there--and that it may even be the dominant species on this planet.

That is the highest compliment and the greatest repayment that they could give us.

Volume 1: Contents

• Foreword (Gene Roddenberry)

• Acknowledgments

• Introduction (Marshak & Culbreath)

• Ni Var (story by Claire Gabriel; introduction by Leonard Nimoy) (earlier version published in Quartet) from T-Negative #10)

• Intersection Point by Juanita Coulson (originally printed in T-Negative #10)

• The Enchanted Pool (story by Marcia Ericson; introduction by Nichelle Nichols)

• Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited (story by Ruth Berman, introduction by Majel Barrett Roddenberry) (Originally appeared in Spockanalia 5, it is very early RPF and a sequel to Visit to a Weird Planet in Spockanalia #3) -- online here

• The Face on the Barroom Floor (story by Eleanor Arnason & Ruth Berman, introduction by George Takei) (previously published in T-Negative 1#8)

• The Hunting (story by Doris Beetem, introduction by Marshak & Culbreath)

• The Winged Dreamers (story by Jennifer Guttridge, introduction by DeForest Kelley) (also in Tricorder Readings)

• Mind-Sifter (story by Shirley Maiewski, introduction by William Shatner) (revised from a story in Showcase #2)

• Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti Three (poem by Shirley Meech) (also in T-Negative #15 and Star Trek: The Poems)

Reactions and Reviews: Volume 1

See reactions and reviews for Ni Var.

See reactions and reviews for The Mind-Sifter.

See reactions and reviews for The Winged Dreamers.

See reactions and reviews for Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited.

See reactions and reviews for The Face on the Barroom Floor.

See reactions and reviews for Intersection Point.

See reactions and reviews for The Enchanted Pool.

See reactions and reviews for The Hunting.

1976

[book]: In Star Trek: The New Voyages, Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath have gathered together eight fan-written stories of very good quality. Several of the writers included here are Big Name Fans -- Ruth Berman, Shirley Meech, Shirley Maiewski — and the others, I'm sure, will soon become as well known. The stories included here are both humorous — especially Ruth Berman's "A Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" — and serious.

"A Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" deals with what happens when William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Deforest Kelley are, through a space-time inversion, beamed to the real Enterprise. By keeping this story on the short side, Ruth Berman does not beat the humor to death.

My favorite story in this volume is, by far, Shirley S. Maiewski's "The Mind-Sifter", which deals with what happens to Kirk after being captured by the Klingons, put through their mind-sifter, and being sent, via the Guardian of Forever, to the United States of the 1950's. Miss Maiewski writes a gripping, compelling tale, which sticks with you after you have set the book down.

The rest of the stories, with the exception of Marcia Ericson's rather weak "The Enchanted Pool", are all solid, and the book as a whole is enjoyable reading. Each story has an introduction written by one of the original Star Trek cast, except "The Hunting" by Doris Beetem, the introduction to which is by the editors; there is a very nice foreward by Gene Roddenberry.

Marshak [and] Culbreath invites letters of comment and manuscripts for consideration for future volumes, and gives and address in the book where they may be sent.

[book]: [from Joanna Russ, who went on to write her own Trek fanfiction]: The Kindly Editor sent me Star Trek: The New Voyages with the comment that Fantasy and Science Fiction has an obligation to cover “one of these” books. But New Voyages isn’t one of these books; it’s neither about the program (like The Making of Star Trek ) or a novelization by a professional writer of produced or unproduced scripts. Voyages is a collection of fan fiction, i.e. a ten-year-old’s toy rabbit made very carefully with love and effort but a lot of the little wheels and things got left on the kitchen table and when you try to make it stand up it collapses. Most of the authors are ignorant of such fictional niceties as point of view, to mention only one mess-up, and the strain of reading stories that can’t or won’t distinguish between the television medium and written prose narrative finally did me in. I survived part-way into each story (considering this better than not reading any of them) and if you think this impairs my credentials as a critic, remember the story of the playwright who fell asleep during a neophyte’s play, and afterwards, to the young person’s pained protest, replied, “Young man, sleep is an opinion.” What seems to be wrong with the stories (besides their technical faults, which I would deal with in a writing class – where some of the authors might get A’s, by the way – but not here) is that they mechanically re-create the stalest trivia of the show – its names, its star dates, its log, its mannerisms – without in the least trying to replicate the essence of its appeal. The best story I’ve ever seen about Star Trek (which carefully avoids trying to ritualistically re-create the superficialities) is James Tiptree’s “Beam Us Home,” which can be found in his Ten Thousand Light Years From Home (Ace, 95¢). I recommend it to the Little League writers in New Voyages , as a way of learning how to play with the big folks.

NOTE: Fan fiction is extremely interesting as a sociological phenomenon, sociological value being – of course – separate from literary value. Analyses along many dimensions are needed, e.g. the perennial interest in Spock, the s.f. themes that crop up, the kinds of alien worlds created, the imaginary– real interface, and so on. Some comments on the sexism of New Voyages, especially interesting because the editors and most of the writers are women, appear in a pamphlet sent to me, which was written and distributed by Joyce Rosenfield at the Science Fiction Fair held May 22, 1976 for the Children’s Brain Diseases Foundation in California. This is only one possibility and perhaps the most obvious. New Voyages represents the taste of its editors, and is not (I would assume) representative of the range or typicality of fan fiction. Some popular culture scholar might go through the fanzines in search of all this material. As an old Trek watcher I would be interested in the results of such a search … as long as somebody else did the large quantities of reading required.

[book]:

This review is slightly different from the usual book review. When this book was prepared, the editors did not consult with some of the authors about making changes in their stories. I will., therefore, be comparing the pieces in this book to their original version published in fanzines as well as criticising the stories.

We first come to "Ni Var" by Claire Gabriel, which was originally published in Quartet Plus One.There, it's a well-constructed story, though a bit melodramatic at times. The plot of a Spock split into a Human half and a Vulcan half is not entire ly original., but it is carried out excellently. Gabriel shows keen psychological in sight into Spock's hybrid personality. Her characterisations of Kirk and Scott were also excellent. She also showed herself to be a skilled writer with a thorough mastery of the English language. I wallowed pleasurably in her analogies, metaphors, and other figures of speech. Gabriel has said (Halkan Council #18)' that the editing was done by her or with her permission. Unfortunately, the story has been reduced to a mockery of its former self. The plot has been so chopped up and fragmented that its taste is that of cake too hastily removed from the oven. There is no continuity: rather it is rough and uneven. The reader is jerked to and fro, left to wonder too often what happened in the preceding paragraphs. The logic of the plot, what little there is, is very hard to follow. The whole piece feels patchworked. There is a story, but it has not been developed. The characters seem to be puppets manipulated by the editors. They are no longer true to themselves. I could go on, but it would become monotonous. ... Claire Gabriel wrote a touching story. Clumsy editing has turned it into a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.

Juanita Coulson's "Intersection Point" was first published in T-Negative #2. I would venture to guess that this story of the Enterprise collision with another dimension was originally planned as a script submission. It has a tight, suspenseful plot typical of an hour TV show. The characters are handled adequately but not brilliantly. It is structured with the same format as a typical TV episode. One can even easily imagine the commercial breaks. The story appears here virtually unchanged. There There is one minor improvement. In two places in the original Coulson referred to Nurse Christine Chapel as Chris: these were changed to Nurse Chapel.

I was unable to locate the original version of Marcia Ericson's "The Enchanted Pool." It is an enchanting tale of Spock's encounter with a delicate, fairy-like young lady while he is on a lone mission to recover a secret weapon. It is handled delicately and with a light touch of humour. It is somewhat of a mystery with word clues sprinkled throughout. The pixie-like creature frolics and speaks in a way reminiscent of Shakespeare. The clues are very cleverly concealed in the poetic prose of the mysterious being. I was completely fooled, but enjoyed re-reading the story to spot the hidden symbols. This story is a real treat for puzzle-lovers.

"Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" by Ruth Berman appeared originally in Spockanalia #5 and is unchanged. This is a very humorous piece about what happens when William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Leonard Nimoy are transported to the real Enterprise in a parallel dimension. Berman has carefully blended her knowledge of Hollywood and the Star Trek universe. I have always been of the opinion that comedy requires more than ordinary writing skill. One must first construct a serious story into which the humorous elements are injected. The interior plot in this piece is deadly serious and would itself have made a good story.

"The Face on the Barroom Floor" by Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman appears here exactly as it was originally published in T-Negative #18. I believe the story could have benefited from rewriting. Some of the parts, particularly the dialog, are awkward and uneven, moreover, the authors have committed an unforgivable sin, as far as I am concerned, by introducing an element of suspense that is never explained. I would like to know why the planet is called Krasni's Folly. Also, the piece gives the discomforting impression that the whole thing is some sort of inside joke about Star Trek. The authors seem to have gone out of their way to include every peculiarity and idiosyncrasy of the main characters in the story. While this may be appropriate in a fanzine, I am not sure this book is the place for it.

Another shore leave party, Doris Beetem's "The Hunting," is also essentially unchanged. Published originally in 1972 in Eridani Triad #3, it is about a Vulcan hunting ritual to prove one's adulthood. The idea is original and the story quite well executed. There were just a few spots where a different choice of words would have improved the telling, for instance on page 137, "Catching the polite battle stance of his science officer and chief medical officer. Kirk extrapolated..."

Jennifer Guttridge's shore leave story, "The Winged Dreamers," is unchanged from its original version in Tricorder Readings. Guttridge has a fairly good command of the English language, and the story is pleasant to read. There are some lovely descriptive passages. The story takes place on a pastoral planet where and unknown tele pathic force gives illusions, usually desirous ones but occasionally fatal, to the Enterprise crew. Unfortunately, her piece reminds me too much of a short story I read ten or more years ago. That one was also set on an alien planet, and I believe the characters were scientists studying the place. One form of alien life was, I believe, a giant, telepathic flying animal resembling a butterfly. It is unfortunate that I cannot recall the names of the author, story or book. I remember only the first name of one of the characters—Midori. I cannot remember the entire story, so I cannot justify accusing Guttridge of plagiarism, but I had the eerie feeling when I started "Winged Dreamers" that I had read it before. If anyone reading this knows this story, please let me know. Guttridge also made one astronomical error. She assumed that being in the galactic plane was synonymous with being near the galactic core (p. 155). She also committed what I consider a literary sin. This story has a mystery that must be solved; however, the presence of the possible solution was never mentioned until the end. When a setting for a story is an alien planet, the author must never take the environment for granted. How are the readers to know that just because there are flowers on this planet that there are also butterflies?!

Shirley Maiewski's "Mind-Sifter" first appeared in Showcase 2. It is a good story, brilliantly told, of the events following Kirk's subjection to the Klingon Mind-sifter. He becomes trapped in earth's past with amnesia and trauma from the mind probing experience. Maiewski wrote with compassion and understanding. Her characterisations are excellent and true to the original Star Trek. As I read the original version, I alternately laughed and cried. This story was highly edited for this book unfortunately. There were also a few alterations, some good, some bad. Spock's acts were better explained; in the original, the reader is left to wonder about many of his actions. Another major change which decreased Chekov's role diminished considerably the human impact of the piece. Maiewski's story is mainly one of human interest, not of action. In cutting so much, the editor seem to have been attempting to change this. However, the editing is clumsy and the apparent purpose of it is not viable. Human interest is something that takes time to develop. The editors repeatedly cut short touching scenes of pathos and thus prevented the readers from becoming involved in them. Too, they removed less crucial, yet also touching, moments of humour among various Enterprise crewmembers. In short, the story as presented in the book is a travesty of the original.

The book closes with a "Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti Three." It is a very touching poem but distinctly un-Vulcan.

As a whole, I would say that this book is worth its price to the Trek fan. Many of the original stories have been unavailable for awhile; moreover, the price of all the fanzines would far exceed $1.75. None of the stories will be appearing in future re prints of zines. Most of the stories are unchanged anyway. For the ones that were badly edited, I advise finding a fellow fan willing to lend you his copy, but buy the book, unless you have all the originals.

For those of you who are not Trek fen, I would advise you to spend your money else where. Because of the nature of the original, that is, because Star Trek was a TV show. Trek fan fiction tends toward mediocrity. The only good story here is the original Mind-Sifter," and that is not in the book.

[book]:

If this is fan fiction, a new series of Star Trek should not have to worry about finding writers.

Most fan writings that I had read or heard about were those in which Kirk or (predominantly) Spock fall in love or face danger with the girl who wrote the story. (Why girls write most of the Star Trek fiction is for another column.)

However, in this case the writing is imaginative, solid, and down right good!

"Ni Var" by Claire Gabriel may have a familiar plot idea, but does not copy -"The Enemy Within" episode of ST. Rather it gives another angle and pleases those who believe one Spock is better than any number of Kirks.

"Intersection Point" is a favorite of mine because I like Scotty and particularly members to the "real" Enterprise, in "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited." My opinion was, however, that the piece ended too abruptly and too soon for my taste. I would have liked to see them in an actual conf1ict.

Berman strikes again, this time co-authoring "Face on the Ballroom Floor" with Elanor Arnason.

An entertaining "Kirk outwits everyone" story with good character on Kirk's part in a lighter vein. It also contains a good fight, which is usually enjoyable.

Better take a machete with you for "The Hunting" because the confusion is deep in this story by Doris Beetem. Another Spock-oriented vehicle that I couldn't tell whether it was a Vulcan background story or a fable of two good old boys stalking the wild "Mok Farr." However, you fans of "Amok Time" might take a liking to this one.

"The Winged Dreamers" by Jennifer Guttridge may remind you of two ST episodes, but that doesn't bog down this interesting story of R & R and a call for help. Light, easy to read, beautiful.

Shirley S. Maiewski created the highlight of this book with her story "Mind Sifter." Kirk is out of place in time, a Klingon plot to take over earth, and dissention [sic] among the crew, all end with a frantic rescue. Good characters, good plot, good ending. Saurian Brandy for everyone!

"Sonnet from the Vulcan" by Shirley Meech was, to coin a phrase, fascinating.

All in all, what I thought was going to be the highlight of the book, the intros by the stars, was only average.

It's well worth your time to read however the buck seventy-five may be more than you care to spend on something you're unsure of liking. Maybe you could borrow it from a friend , and later buy it.

One last thing. If you're one of those people who read something and think 'I can do better than this,' you're welcome to try! The address to send manuscripts is in the front of the book. Live long and prosper, Pilgrim.

[book]:

In our February issue, we mentioned STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES, a new Bantam paperback containing eight pieces of fan fiction, edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. We now feel obliged to point out that the fan authors and publishers in whose fanzines the stories originally appeared are very unhappy. In at least two cases, the stories were changed a great deal. In fact one of the stories was not only altered greatly, but additional characters and situations, belonging to an entirely different (professional) author were introduced — making both the pro and the fan author extremely unhappy. We hasten to point out that this is not illegal if the rights have been signed over, but it is customary to let an author know that his story is being altered before publication. However, in the case of this book, the first inkling the authors had of any changes in their stories were when they found the paperback on sale. They were not given any chance to approve or make their own alterations. Another serious issue is that none of the authors with whom we have spoken had a copy of their signed contract before the book appeared on the stands, nor did they at the time that the alterations were made in their stories. Further, none of the material submitted — whether used or unused — has been returned. In addition, the fan publishers are very unhappy because the original [copyright] publication of these stories in their respective fanzines are neither credited nor even noted. And as one fanzine editor points out "both covers of the book state clearly 'first time published' and 'never before published', and the introduction states that 'for seven lean years there was no new Star Trek fiction published' which is certainly not the case. All of these stories have been previously published in [copyrighted] fanzines." And the STW Directory carries listing of over 300 fanzines, all crammed with new Star Trek fiction. Of course what the covers and introduction of STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES ran was professional publication — but they did not say professional — they only said publication — which makes the claim of "first publication" untrue.

[book]:

Ni Var by Claire Gabriel is one of those which has been printed before. I hadn't read it although I'd read a lot about how good it was. On the first reading, I was slightly disappointed, but on rereading it a couple of times I found it had grown on me, and I would in fact agree that it is extremely good.

Intersection Point by Juanita Coulson I had already read. I don't dislike it, but neither do I like it. I don't fault the writing or the development of the story, I just can't accept a story in which the Enterprise is seriously damaged by colliding with 'nothing.'

The Enchanted Pool by Marcia Ericson. This is another one that does nothing for me. Objectively, I can say, nicely written, well worth inclusion on several counts - but it doesn't turn me on.

Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited by Ruth Berman I had also read before. This story is fantasy in that Messrs. Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley are accidentally beamed aboard the Enterprise and have to act as Kirk, Spock and McCoy - rather successfully, too. It definitely appeals to me.

The Face on the Barroom Floor by Ruth Berman and Eleanor Arnason is another one I had read. I can't really believe that Kirk would ever get involved in a barroom brawl... but again, I like it.

The Hunting by Doris Beetam [sic] I did not like, and for the same reason that Amok Time isn't one of my favourite episodes. I can't believe the Vulcans would do anything so illogical as maintain ancient traditions. I think they would be one of the most up-to-date races in the Galaxy. Even though Spock finds a reason for maintaining this tradition, I don't even find the story very well developed. Sorry, Doris, but...not for me.

The Winged Dreamers by Jennifer Guttridge is the last of the ones I'd already read. I like it although it isn't my favourite of Jennifer's stories. Nicely thought out, nicely developed, well worth including - but I still prefer her 'In the Maze.'

Mind Sifter by Shirley Maiewski. Shirley likes to separate Kirk from the others and then put him in a terrible psychological position to bring out his strength of character, and this story is no exception. It is a marvellous story - though I was left with one unanswered question. For two years, Spock was in command of the Enterprise - but there was no mention of his having a First Officer...

The book finishes with Sonnet from the Vulcan - Omicrom Ceti III by Shirley Meech. A very moving little poem. My three favourite stories are Ni Var, Winged Dreamers, and Mind Sifter, with Ruth Berman's two not far behind.

[book]:

We're official, gang! Not really, but the recent incredible proliferation of ST professionally produced items, seems to point in that direction. There is now an official-type newsletter, THE FINAL FRONTIER. They want $10/year, and that's for a monthly, too. Then there's New Voyages, only the beginning, in the opinion of the editors. On to the reviews.

STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES Bantam, $1.75. A description of a lower-class prostitute in the late 19th century was "no worse than she could be, but not so good as she should be." That would just about describe Sondra Marshak's latest excursion into the literary, New Voyages.

From a field that has produced the Laser book series, Testament XXI, and other well-known effluvia, it may have been presumptuous of us to expect Art in the way of ST fiction. But these stories weren't produced in the usual manner; they were not written by half-somnolent hacks who had watched maybe three episodes before churning them out--these were written by known trufen, each offering a token of their love to ST. Most are reprints from the fanzines, and in the fanzines they were stupendous! colossal! and other cinematic adjectives. Marshak et Culbreath made good choices; I don't think there are any quibbles that they picked the best short stories and novellae written in the past 10 years. So how come NV comes off so gawd-awful?

Let me rephrase that. NV is not that bad; it is merely...not good, not so readable as we would like it to be; perhaps worth half the buck 75 we laid out for it; no literary treasure, just part of the 94%. It's no worse than one of Elwood's anthologies or a DAW book. It can be read, though not savored; it is diverting, though not memorable. It is simply mediocre.

This probably cannot be blamed on the editing--at least, not entirely. We have read the originals, with the exception of "Ni Var," the editing is...reasonable; I do not say" good." The plot of "Mindsifter" remains intelligible; "Visit to a Small Planet Revisited" and "The Face on the Barroom Floor" are still very fine tales indeed. If the editing was more heavy-handed in some stories than in others, the result was not greatly worse than the original. NV is not a lye-pit. It is hardly the millenium [sic], either. It is simply a vaguely- agreeable waste of two hours and two bucks. Damn us all if we settle for that.

[book]:

How would William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley react if they found themselves aboard the real Enterprise? What would happen if Kirk was flung back into the twentieth century;his mind destroyed, and Spock was forced to take control of the ship? Could Spock respond to love when he gazes into a magic pool and sees a lovely wood nymph-his true,,beloved? What would Kirk do if his crew deserted the Enterprise to live on a planet where their every wish would come true? These are only a few of the questions that can be asked about the stories in a recently published Bantam anthology called Star Trek: The New Voyages, Unlike many of the books written about the popular science-fiction television show, this one contains eight original Star Trek stories never seen on the screen, and have been written by fans of the show; some of them have even been published in fanzines. Another special thing about the book is that Gene Roddenberry and several of the Star Trek cast "were kind enough to write introductions to many of the stories.

It is a great pleasure to sit down to read something new and fresh for a change for after awhile, one does grow rather tired of the James Blish and Alan Dean Foster books and at times, even the seventy-nine episodes. The stories in The New Voyages are dramatic and thrilling, and several are even able to penetrate deep inside the characters for the their true feelings and actions. After reading all of them, I can even admit that should Star Trek come back to television, one of the stories could be considered as an episode in one or two parts; but as many of us probably know from reading The Making of Star Trek and Gerrold's book, The Trouble With Tribbles it would be forced to go through a million changes in order to be suitable for the tube, Yet, when one remembers and and considers the majority of those insulting third season episodes, it would be very nice to see the work of someone who can writs much better. This writer's favorite story of the anthology is Visit to a Small Planet Revisited by Ruth Berman, the editor of the fanzine T-Negative. If you have not read it, don't worry: I won't spoil the story for you. hut I do believe you might like to consider the first question at the beginning of the article. Ms. Berman's short story is excellent and hilarious, and it would be a joy to see it on television.

I recommend that every Trekkie purchase a copy of this book if they do not have it already, for it is a must for any Star Trek library. The editors seem to want more manuscripts which must mean that they want to do another collection. I certainly hope so, for that would be a fantastic addition.

[book]:

It was inevitable that a book containing fan fiction would finally come out. Here it is. Bantam has tried this new venture by using writers that are well known in fandom: Ruth Berman, Juanita Coulson, Shirley Maiewski, etc.

There are some problems about the stories in the book, most of them dwell on Spock, some are terribly edited, and one "Ni Var" especially has much of both problems. I had to read the last 2 pages of "Ni Var" ten times before I had understood how they had solved the problem. Two stories have escaped most of these flaws. They are "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" and "Mind-Sifter". The stories were written by Ruth Berman and Shirley Maiewski respectively. My personal favorite is "Mind-Sifter".

The forward was written by Gene Roddenberry. The introductions were written by most of the regular actors and the editors, Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. The little introductions add some more spirit to the revival of STAR TREK.

Everything taken into consideration, 'New Voyages is a fair to good book. It would make an interesting addition to the ever growing STAR TREK library.

1977

[book]:

Star Trek: The New Voyages, is a collection of short stories concerning the Enterprise and her crew, with introductions by everyone but the sound-stage janitor. Sounds like a glorified fanzine when one hears about it, sans illustrations. Or another Ballantine-Paramount gimmick to earn the almighty dollar. Or both. Of course, a lot of trekkers (and trekkies) couldn't care less, it's the old story of "Hah, a new ST book!", grabbing it, turning over 150 of one's hard earned A.C.U. [American Credit Units) and then rushing home, clutching the new book to one's chest like it's made of gold. As if dropping it would cause an explosion that would rip off half the atmosphere and merge the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Fat chance!!! The chances of something like that happening are astronomical.

But back to the subject at hand. If you are tired of the same old ST stories, the book is probably worth all 150 A.C.U. Over all it's a book worth reading, better than a good deal of the new pap or old crap most sci-fi publishers are putting out these days. Several stories could be better if the authors paid a little more attention to the main plot and ignored the useless details.

My personal favorite was The Mind-Sifter, by Shirley Meiewski [sic]. It was a touching, revealing story that went into Kirk's character without contradicting any of the established facts. The only thing that bothered me some was that Jan, the woman who helps Kirk, is too much like Edith Keeler. Otherwise, it's a very good story. It has an introduction by William Shatner which shows that he either has a very good scriptwriter or is really full of soggy milquetoast.

Another good story is Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited in which three of the actors, Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley are somehow transported on to the real Enterprise, 200 years in the future, where they go through several embarrassing situations. It is rather reminiscent of Mirror, Mirror but it is tactfully so. The story is good but could use more development. The potentials of the situation are not fully explored and the plot is not fully developed. All in all, however, it was a good try by Ruth Bergman [sic] to present the other side of Visit To A Weird Planet and was a decent effort for an amateur writer. The introduction is by Majel Barret Roddenberry.

Another story was Face on the Barroom Floor which centered around some misadventures of James T. Kirk. Of course, there's a lot of plot manipulation in it. For instance, it seems rather strange that no one would comment on the outlandish samuria [sic] outfit that Kirk wore during the story. It requires quite a stretch of the imagination to believe this and other "little coincidences" which occur throughout the story. However, I suppose if O. Henry can do it, so can Elwanor Amoson [sic] and Ruth Bergman [sic]. The introduction is by George Takei.

Another story is Ni Var the parallel of The Enemy Within. Only this time it's Spock who's divided into his Vulcan and human halves, no less. And of course neither half can survive without the other. The only redeeming parts of the story are a few titillating bits such as Spock smiling and shicking the entire bridge crew. All in all, it was a sweet, mushy little story reminiscent of a Harlequin romance. The introduction is by Leonard Nimoy.

For an interdimensional sleeper, there's nothing like Intersection Point. All I can say is, if I was grading this, I would give it a failing grade for both creativity and writing style. Juanita Colson [sic] should receive a card saying "Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass 'go', do not collect $200." Anyone who would hinge a story on the fact that Spock is more invulnerable than any human, and not even do that tactfully, should be ridden out of town on a rail. This is definitely a story worth missing. The introduction is by James Doohan.

A good story in that it reveals some Vulcan symptoms is The Hunting by Doris Beetem. In this story, Spock links his mind with that of a predator animal and becomes one mentally. Several parts are rather reminiscent of This Side of Paradise: change McCoy to Kirk and the resemblance is startling. Anyway, it's a good story. The introduction is by the editors.

For a mushy, sweet story that makes no sense, read The Enchanted Pool by Marcia Ericson. Full of fairytale gibberish and technical tripe, it has a plot that leaves a lot to be desired. All in all, a story worthy of Space: 1999, and not ST. The introduction is by Nichelle Nichols and reveals a kind compassionate interior underneath an equally kind, compassionate exterior.

Last and just about least is The Winged Dreamers, a re-written This Side of Paradise. Go to the back of the class, Jennifer Guttridge, and turn in your gold stars. Plagiarism is an art and you have abused it. Over all, this story doesn't deserve more than a quick skimming. The introduction is by De Forest Kelley.

The book is ended by Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti III, a small poem by Shirley Meech. It doesn't say who "the Vulcan" is, but one can tell from small clues like "the rites of Vulcan bound me to T'Pring" that "the Vulcan" is Spock. From reading it, I believe it is written to Laila Kalomi since it says things like, "I left you and Earth behind" and "You told me you loved me, and you cried, I said I had no feelings. And I lied." A rather touching way to end a book.

The only thing noticeably missing from the book was male authors. All the material is by females. Could this be discrimination? Is such a thing possible? I wonder. By the way, if you would like to send comments or even manuscripts to the editors for possible inclusion in one of the future "New Voyages" books the address is: Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, Box 14261, Baton Rouge, La., 70808. Ms. Marshak and Ms. Culbreath request that you send two copies of all manuscripts.

Well, that's Star Trek: The New Voyages; I recommend that you buy it, if you haven't already, if just for the pleasure of reading new and mostly original ST stories.

[book]: Now this is a book about Star Trek, by people who know Star Trek. This book contains eight original stories, and they are all great. Stories written by familiar names in Trekdom like Shirley Maiewski, Ruth Berman, Shirley Meech and others. (My only disappointment was that Paula Block didn't send in one of her McCoy-Faulwell stories. Sniff.) (Grade: B)

1979

ENTERPRISE INCIDENTS #6 is the first issue of yours that I have ever read, and for a person who is not 'open-minded and even somewhat liberated' (at least not as I perceive what you mean) your issue was a disturbing shock! It seemed singularly determined to undermine every attraction and enjoyment I have in Star Trek, namely THE NEW VOYAGES series (whose editors and style I admire to the very depth of my soul, and wish to emulate someday if I can ever receive assistance in developing my very amateurish efforts at writing Star Trek stories!, Also the Kirk/Spock relationship which is my main interest theme (the discovery that the K/S relationship, which to me has always been one of the most ideal and perfect formats upon which to develop friendship and brotherhood, is being 'explored and developed' into a homosexual relationship is immensely disturbing to the point of fury and indignant outrage), and the standards and criticism required of fan fiction (by the time I was half-way through "The Many Faces Of Fan Fiction" I was totally unable to even think about picking up a pencil and resuming work on my ST stories and series that I have been eagerly and enthusiastically developing for the past two to three years. If they're already 'mediocre,' 'just plain dull,’ and so forth before they've even been finished, why bother?!)

1981

[book]:

[ Devra Langsam of Spockanalia had this to say]: Not only has Paramount known about ST fanzines, but there is published evidence. I have in my possession a newspaper clipping showing Roddenberry holding a copy of Spockanalia. You can see the title of the zine fairly clearly in the photo. Further, the article speaks of fanzines. Also, I have letters of thanks from Roddenberry for copies of Spockanalia which I sent to him while the show was still in production. When New Voyages first came out, they neglected to indicate on the copyright page that Ruth Berman's story was a reprint. I had warned Joan Winston (friend of Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath [editor's of New Voyages]) that I expected to have my original copyright acknowledged. I did not at any time object to the author's sale, or ask for any money -- I just wanted my original copyright listed (the way they do in the reprints of sf collections.) When it was not done, I got my lawyer after them and, in due course -- after many months, the copyright was included. When they then printed New Voyages #2, and again did not include an acknowledgement of prior publication, I got really irritated. This time my lawyer asked them for money to cover my expenses, and a letter of assurance that they would not neglect to include copyright in the future. (I considered the second publication without notice to be malicious and intentional the first could have been an accident.) Bantam inserted the notice, paid the expenses, and sent me a letter of assurance. I know that the major copyright in this case belongs to Gene and Paramount, but it is interesting that Bantam was willing to insert the notices, send me the letter, and pay my lawyer's expenses — they didn't want to go to court over it. Maybe I would have lost, and maybe not — after all, I was basically asking for due acknowledgement of my great editing. Anyway... In any case, the copyrights I took out on Spockanalia are now more than ten years old, and they might have some trouble contesting them in court... that's a long time to wait, especially when we have evidence that they were aware of the material years ago.

1993

My first intro to fan slash: I was slow in Trek for some reason (my friends say it's because K/S is not plausible). It took reading Sondra and Myrna's 1st anthology of fan writers. All the stories were relationship, but there was one (sorry I never can remember names and titles) where Spock while off his rocker told Kirk 'they didn't need anyone else,' and I knew just what that love-struck Vulcan was talking about. I was primed when Thrust arrived...it finalized, in writing, what I had started playing in my mind.

1994

[book]:

This was the last original ST book I read before discovering fandom and thus fanzines. At the time, I found the departure from the series style quite alarming and difficult to adjust to, though I read and reread it simply from Trek starvation. This was ST going in an entirely new direction. I could just about relate ST:TMP to the original series, but the stories in New Voyages were a revelation! From knowledge gained later, I can note some names among the various authors which are very well-known now. not to mention introductions to the stories personally written by George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, Jimmy Doohan, Majel Barrett. Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley and William Shatner; Gene Roddenberry wrote the overall introduction. Although this is fantasy, it is all of top quality and very readable: the stories are good, the characters believable and, for the most part, the situations would fit in with, or carry on from, the series itself quite well. But in these short stories, ideas are intriguingly taken one step further than on television; for example, what does the Klingon mind-sifter do exactly? What happens when Spock really does meet his true love? How does Kirk really cope with being trapped in the body form of a woman? In their later novels, the editors took their own way with Kirk and Spock in danger stories, and also worked on Shatner's biography with him and his wife Marcy. There is also a sequel to this book, New Voyages 2, in which they work with Nichelle Nichols on a story. Sondra Marshak has also collaborated with another noted ST writer Jacqueline Lichtenberg and with Joan Winston (organiser of the first ever ST convention) to write a book about the effect of Star Trek on people's everyday lives.

1999

I ran across a copy of "New Voyages" in the used book store yesterday, so I picked it up. I'd never seen it before, just heard about it plenty. Holy potatoes! Quel slash-o-rama! People always talk about "The Winged Dreamers" -- and well they might -- but "Ni Var" and "Mind-Sifter" are pretty damn K/Sy, too.

Here's my question. Both the latter two stories, while ostensibly gen, suppose that K & S share a mental bond of some undefined nature. Is this widespread in gen nowadays? Was it a gen assumption in the mid-70s? I gather it shows up in some pro novels -- e.g. "Yesterday's Son." What about the more recent ones? It's implied in "The Pandora Principle", but the slash subtext there is kept very low-key so as not to frighten the children.

Still reeling, Mary Ellen Curtin

Well, personally, I write only gen, and frequently use the Kirk-Spock link but without any sexual overtones to it -- or at least not any I intend or see myself. I suppose you can find K/S sexual overtones anywhere if that's what you're looking for. But, while I don't object to K/S and occasionally read a bit of it, I don't really believe in the premise, so I don't write it. To me, Kirk and Spock are extremely close friends who share a mental link as a result of their occasional mind-melds, but they aren't, never have been and never will be lovers. Again, that's a personal opinion and is in no way a criticism of K/S or those people who read, write and enjoy it. But my opinion is reflected in my writings, and I *have* included the link in several of my stories.

As for "Mind-Sifter," it actually pre-dates K/S, I think, having first been published in a fanzine several years before New Voyages (although I don't know the exact date and I could be mistaken). But I didn't take it as K/S at all -- perhaps because I read it before I even was aware of K/S. But I saw nothing sexual in the Kirk-Spock relationship depicted in that story. Again, I read it as an extremely close friendship, but not a lover relationship. -- Ann

You just found that? Arghh. I read that so long ago I am ashamed to say, and I think mindsifters irrevocably shifted my mind. Also the line where Spock tell Jim, "Jim, now we can do what we alway wanted to do!" And Kirk hollers at him to keep from outing them. In Gen, even the novelization of V'Ger, Spock was called back by Kirk's need, through their link. So, Gen that keeps pace with Roddenberry, has them linked. - Sydvick

Interesting, no? :) I'm not sure exactly what the term "gen" refers to (general? General what?) but if you've read any of Marshak and Culbreath's novels (Price of the Phoenix, Fate of the Phoenix, Prometheus Design), you can see that the stories they chose for New Voyages are exactly the kind of stuff they liked.

I never thought the mental-bond thing expressly had to accompany a sexual relationship. My take on it is that anyone who chooses to, because of friendship, love, or otherwise, can become bonded. The bond between Kirk and Spock would be a result of the close friendship that naturally developed between two officers, and the fact that one of said officers is a telepath and that they have made telepathic contact more than once for various reasons (it was on the show). In my own canon :) it's something that just happened to them over the course of their friendship. I think that must be how most of the pro publishers see it, since I don't think they'd publish it, unfortunately, if they thought it implied homosexuality.

So, have you read both books yet, or just the first? Wait 'til you get ahold of "Surprise!" by Nichelle Nichols (really!) in the second volume. --DragonGrrl

2002

[book]:

The names or Marshak and Culbreath were familiar to me, and when I read this collection of 8 short stories I felt at home immediately.

Of them, three stand out; Ni Var by Claire Gabriel, Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited by Ruth Berman and The Face on the Bar-Room Floor by Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman. These, I hasten to add, are only peaks in what is an excellent anthology of early fan fiction. At last someone's got the courage to publish it properly.

Ni Var by Claire Gabriel charts the problems caused when the two halves of Spock are deliberately separated by a slightly deranged scientist. There are echoes of similar stories; I found myself recalling James Blish's Spock Must Die beside the rather obvious The Enemy Within {to which reference is made) and Datalore, but the resolution of the problem is brilliantly handled. And, much to my surprise, it has a stardate. Also the story is beautifully set up by a modest introduction by Leonard Nimoy.

Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited by Ruth Berman is a delight. Introduced with a humorous page and a half by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry it asks the question, "What would William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley do if they found themselves aboard the real Enterprise?" The little side references to production crew (such as Vincent McEveety nearly blowing his top) are wonderful.

The Face on the Bar-Room Floor by Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman and introduced by George Takei has Kirk caught in a bar-room brawl while on shore leave, thrown into jail and his hilarious attempt to a) get out and b) prove he is who he says he is...

Altogether a very pleasant surprise The introductions to the stories alone make the books worth obtaining. For those who haven't seen these stories before (myself included) or even if you have, it makes a useful addition to the bookcase.

2000

[book]:

The best of the Bantam series, and a must for any Star Trek Fan.The two best stories in this collection are "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited," a hilarious look at what would happen if you transplanted the Star Trek actors in the Star Trek universe. (Kind of like GalaxyQuest, except this was written 25 years earlier.) The other story is "Ni Var," in which Spock gets split into human and Vulcan halves. (Not by transporter accident, thank goodness.) It's a premise that could go horribly wrong, but here everything goes right. It's something like Voyager "Faces," again, written 20 years earlier. I think "Ni Var" actually gives us an even better insight into Spock and Kirk than "Faces" does for B'Elanna Torres and Paris. The other stories in this collection are good too. 09/2003 update: "Visit to a Weird Planet," originally published in Spockanalia 5, which "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" is based on, is now available online. Spockanalia, wonder of wonders, is still in print. For the K/S fan, there is a very slashy moment in the story "The Winged Dreamers." Claire Gabriel, who wrote "Ni Var," is now online, and her novel, "Simple Gifts" is as well. The story is Spock/f, although slash fans may also enjoy it.

2007

[book]:

A slash gaze is something inherent to the way a story is shaped that will color it regardless of wider context, if it's there - something that called out to me, sitting alone in my room with no fandom contacts, the minute I opened that googled link to the Draco Trilogy. Or even years and years before that, reading one of Marshak & Culbreath's Star Trek stories with no idea what I'd stumbled on but knowing it was something new and something strange and maybe dangerous and oh, I wanted more. Neither of those examples are even m/m, mind, but they read as 'slashy' almost universally, I think, because the male characters are kept so aware of their own forced passivity, and potential desirability, and the ways in which that limits them.

2008

[book]:

Oh god… we enter “Marshak and Culbreath” territory, someone save us… Fortunately, this were not actually written by them, just gathered by. Unfortunately, they have absolutely no idea of what’s good literature. They were actually fans, recollecting fiction made by fans, so technically this is just published Fan Fiction!

Ugh, and I hate fan fiction! Why? Because they linger and describe all the wrong things, describing long and lovingly their favorite characters, they put them up in all type of weird situations that are not proper to the series, or to the genre. And the dialogues, ugh! They overuse and overextend the dialogues horribly, repeating and reiterating the same things over and over. Well, to put it succinctly, fans do not make the best writers.

But publishers had began to notice the Star Trek publishing phenomenon, so they were really short on stories, so they published this horrible stuff. Well, on the other hand, we have a collection of really different stories, in a very different format. Let’s see:

Ni Var

Well, for starters, it’s nice to have an introduction by Leonard Nimoy, which tries to explain Spock's duality and just further messes up the issue.

Here, Spock is separated in two by a crazy scientist (oh god, the clichés!), and as you might have guessed, one is totally logical by his Vulcan side, and the other is emotional, by his duh!-you-know-what side. The story then tries to examine how each Spock react and delve into his thoughts and feelings… ugh… banal and overdone…

Intersection Point

This one is not that bad. It captures the adventure and the action part of Star Trek, focusing a bit more on Scotty’s character.

The ship somewhat manages to get stuck into a weird singularity-time-space-distortion, and is in grave danger, so someone must fix it out…

Short and to the point, it could have been made longer, but as it’s a short story format, it fits exactly as it should. Even so, you still feel something was a bit missing, like why go to all this trouble to just say “Whew, that was a close one”…

The Enchanted Pool

Here we go… un-educated readers might jump and shout with glee about it’s “originality”, but this is what I would call a “forced-motif”, forcing a story to fit into another totally different theme, and this is totally out-of-the-water and it feels so.

This is a story about the fabled Arthurian Excalibur sword forced to match up in a Star Trek storyline. Serious science fiction editors reject this type of stories almost immediately.

Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited

A “Meta” story, breaks out of the whole fiction universe entirely. It’s a fan fiction dream: “Oh! What would happen, if, like, the actors, were, like, transported, and like, were taken, and be like, Captain Kirk, and Spock, and be on the real Enterprise?”

Nice as a fan-fiction story, not as good as an actual Star Trek story… At least it’s short.

(Yeah, this was actually the whole plot in the “Galaxy Quest” spoof movie, but that was well done…)

The Face on the Barroom floor

A so-so story, about what goes on during shore leave… not very memorable.

The Hunting

Spock and McCoy go on shore leave and some of Spock’s weird vulcan ways puts them in trouble. Nice exploration in character bonding, but not much else.

The Winged Dreamers

A typical alien-on-planet interacts weirdly with the ship’s crew, which will later be beaten to death over and over… An interesting selection of weird it-was-there-all-along alien selection, but it suffers from the fan-fic dialogue problem.

The Mind-Sifter

Weirdly, the best of the bunch and the best of a lot of stories in a while. It has all the elements, time-travel, mind-psyched-out, adventure, action and a big emotional involvement. I do highly recommend this story ven if the rest of the bunch are not that good.

So well, just the last story barely makes it up for the whole book. It would look nice to have different styles of all type of different stories, but it does make it long and tired at the middle of most stories.

2009

[book]:

The Review: This is a collection of short stories written by fans that was professionally published with a foreword by Gene Roddenberry and individual story introductions written by the TOS cast members. The quality is a bit up and down, but the better pieces are well worth a read, and not only for the enormous amounts of slashy content that made it into publication :D

The Fannish Stuff: I just can't get past how fantastic it is that the Trek folk embraced fandom and fanfiction in this way. As someone who has been involved with fandom for over a decade but who came to the Trek fandom extremely late, it's hard to believe that this precedent was set right back in the beginning and thoroughly ignored by so many copyright holders ever since. Fandom makes money, not takes money, and it's about time that this message should sink in.

The Story: Ni Var, by Claire Gabriel

The Details: Okay, this one is pretty slashy. Spock is divided into two versions of himself in a way reminiscent of "The Enemy Within" – only this time the division is along species lines, with the result being a human Spock and a Vulcan Spock. Slash-wise, there's nothing overt, although Spock does mention the L-word, but it takes the usual subtext from the show and heightens it. You can read this as a short story about Jim and Spock's friendship, but it's extremely easy to read more into it as well. Hell, to me it's kinda blatant :D

The Story: Intersection Point, by Juanita Coulson

The Details: Nowt much in this one. The story's pretty ordinary too. Typical Enterprise-encounters-trouble story, and not one of the best I've read.

The Story: The Enchanted Pool, by Marcia Ericson

The Details: Ohgod, this was terrible. Ridiculous prose, bad characterisation and a stupid story.

The Story: Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited, by Ruth Berman

The Details: Dude, not only does is this book officially printed fan-fiction but it's also officially-printed RPF. I was really not expecting that. Interestingly enough, this is one of the picks from the collection. Shatner, Nimoy and Kelly are all transported onto the Enterprise for real and mistaken for their characters. I have no idea whether the actors are well-characterised, but the story itself is really amusing and a pleasant read.

The Story: The Face on the Barroom Floor, by Eleanor Arnason & Ruth Berman

The Details: This one works as an episode-like story. It's not fabulous, nor fabulously slashy, but there are a few nice Kirk/Spock-ish moments and Bones is very Bones-like.

The Story: The Hunting, by Doris Beetem

The Details: I didn't think much of this one. The characterisation was a bit iffy, and the writing quality was pretty ordinary. Spock/McCoy shippers might find something to play with in there, but for me it was really a non-event.

The Story: The Winged Dreamers, by Jennifer Guttridge

The Details: This piece was quite definitely better than most in this collection in terms of writing, and the characterisation is great as well. It's an interesting, authentic story as well, where most of the Enterprise's crew are 'trapped' on a planet by the realisation of their own greatest desires.

Of course, that's not the reason I liked it. This is the reason I like it:

"Kirk looked at him and shook his head again. Not believing. Not wanting to believe.

Spock stared into his face. "Jim, have I ever lied to you? Believe me! Now, of all times, believe me!"

Kirk gazed into the dark alien eyes. The Vulcan seemed to see into him, into his very soul, and the bond between the two men asserted itself. Kirk believed. He relaxed and let Spock go."

And this is the reason I love it:

"Spock reached for the computer, and then his hand hesitated. He turned in his seat and looked down at Kirk. In the depths of his eyes something was kindling. His face was intent with what was almost a dawning joy.

Kirk stared back at him with mild alarm. "Mr. Spock?"

"Jim," Spock said in a whisper, "why do we have to leave here? We can stay. Just you and I. We don't need those others."

"He's off his head." McCoy grunted. "He's finally cracked."

"No. The thing's finally got to him," Kirk said, climbing out of the command seat. "It's offering him the one thing..." He stopped abruptly, realizing that he was giving too much away. He ignored McCoy's startled look and went up to the Vulcan.

"Spock!"

"We can go down to the planet," Spock explained reasonably. "We can be together, always..."

There's also a scene in which Jim's hallucinated nightmare involves Spock dying. And this is an official, published novel. Oh fandom ?

The Story: Mind-Sifter, by Shirley S. Maiewski

The Details: This story is serious hurt/comfort, so while it's v. well written and characterised, it's not particularly fun to read a lot of the time. It's a strong story, though, and is mildly slashy throughout, with one hell of a slashy ending.

A large part of the story is based upon the fact that Jim, when in trouble, calls out to Spock in his mind. The K/S builds from there...

(RE: Jim) "Is... is he married? Is there someone else?"

McCoy smiled ruefully. "No, he isn't married, and there isn't anyone—no woman."

[And]

Kirk chuckled softly and continued. "Look, my friend, it's time you and I stopped fooling ourselves. I know you have emotions, you know I know, so why not admit it? At least, in here" — Kirk smiled — "I promise not to tell McCoy."

Spock didn't speak for a moment. He seemed to be struggling with himself; then he looked into Kirk's eyes and smiled ever so slightly as he said, "Captain... Jim. I am what I am. I cannot change."

Kirk didn't insist. Even this much was a great concession. "I know, Spock. I hope you don't change—too much." He paused for a minute; then: "When sanity began to filter back to me, finally, in that place I was in, I remember thinking of you Spock. It was one of the first realities I remember. Somewhere there was a... a friend I called 'Spock.'..."

[And]

"It seems I always turn to you when I need help."

"As I have turned to you, Jim. It is because we... we need each other that our minds are drawn together.

Unknown Date

[book]:

Each of the eight stories in the volume is introduced by one of the series regulars, and although the stories focus mainly on Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy as did the series itself, there is something for the fans of every character.

The book begins with "Ni Var," a story that focuses on a Spock who has been divided into two individuals: one totally Vulcan, one totally Human.

This is followed by "Intersection Point," where the Enterprise has collided with another dimension. Somehow a necessary part of the ship has been lost in this other reality, and the crew of the Enterprise must find a way to retrieve it before the connection is severed and the ship is destroyed.

In "The Enchanted Pool," Spock gazes into the waters of a strange world and sees his true love—and finds the answer to the mystery of a lost starship at the same time.

During the filming of a Star Trek episode, Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley somehow find themselves on the real Enterprise, facing the real Kor in "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited."

"The Face on the Barroom Floor" follows Kirk as he enjoys shore leave and finds that a small lie as to his identity causes all kinds of problems.

McCoy accompanies Spock as the latter takes part in a Vulcan ritual in "The Hunting." However, the doctor soon finds himself in a fight for his life as Spock takes on the characteristics of the wild animal whose thoughts he has tried to read.

Someone or something is attracting the Enterprise crew to the new world they are exploring by offering them what they want most in "The Winged Dreamers." When the three senior officers try to retrieve the rest of the crew, they soon find themselves caught in illusions that may spell their doom.

And finally in "Mind-Sifter," Kirk becomes a victim of the Klingons who abduct him while he is on shore leave. After they use their mind-sifter on him, he escapes and finds himself on earth in the 1950’s, his mind totally destroyed.

Although the stories in this volume are written by non-professionals, they are all of professional quality and provide a most enjoyable read. Some of these stories, such as "Mind-Sifter" can be found in longer, more detailed versions on the authors’ websites or in the fanzines in which they first appeared, but the shortened versions contain all the essential ingredients. While my favorites of these eight stories seem to change with each reading, I’m sure that those who pick up this 238 page book will find the stories to be worthy additions to the Star Trek legend.

Volume 2

cover of "Star Trek: The New Voyages" 2#

cover of "Star Trek: The New Voyages" #2, Bantam Reissue, February 2000, artist is Kazuhiko Sano

Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 appeared in January 1978, with the following table of contents. In this volume, all story introductions and editorial matter were written by Marshak and Culbreath unless otherwise noted.

This volume differs greatly from the first one in that instead of the majority of its content coming from prior fan publications, only three (according to the authors' preface) of the ten stories were from zines.

[From the book regarding the influence of fan writing, and less content generated by zines in this issue]:

The excellence of certain Star Trek fanzine publications can be seen in stories like "In the Maze" -- published here essentially as it appeared in T-Negative, which is scrupulously edited by Ruth Berman, a writer and editor with a Ph.D. in English, whose work appeared, twice, in New Voyages (1).

In New Voyages (1), of course, we acknowledged in the introduction our profound debt to Star Trek fan fiction, to the fanzines which published it, and to the writers, including many professionals, who wrote it. We want to continue to to acknowledge that debt. This time only three of our ten items were published in fanzines before being submitted for New Voyages 2, and once since. But this volume of New Voyages continues to include both previously published professionals and those whose first professional publication is in New Voyages.

[From the book's introduction]:

Very special acknowledgment must be made to Carol Frisbie, who has had her own part in the space connection, and an enormous part in the New Voyages connection—searching for good material for us, helping fan writers write better—and helping us, beyond telling. Thanks Carol — again beyond measure.

Our acknowledgments to Nichelle Nichols an apparent throughout this book, as are our appreciation of her, our thanks, and our love. Nichelle — voyage in delight, always.

Our acknowledgments to Jesco von Puttkamer and our thanks, permeate the book—and still are not sufficient. Thank you, Jesco, beyond measure, not only for what you did in this book, but for what you will do to the future.

You'll find also our acknowledgments to writers, readers, fanzines, their editors, and everyone who has made New Voyages 2 possible.

Two people who must receive very special acknowledgment here: Frederik Pohl and Sydny Weinberg of Bantam. Once again, there are editors and editors ... You have not heard our last word on that subject.

Finally, the Merlin of our particular Camelot, Sondra's husband, Alan, is still working his practical sorcery to make our voyages possible. Without him, we wouldn't get off the ground. Trips, deadlines, his advice needed—all while he teaches electrical engineering at LSU, and devotes far more than full time to his students and his own creative work: fundamental research in electronics. This is perhaps the proper place to acknowledge that without that kind of work done by teachers and researchers all over the world, nobody would get off the ground or to the stars.

[...]

Yet without all his twenty-four-hour-a-day dedication to his work -- like Spock to that starship -- Alan will take time, for us, to take care of Jerry, and everything which has to be taken care of when we are away. That is the kind of thing which is beyond acknowledgment -- but we must keep trying.

What Alan doesn't do, Mama -- Mrs. Anna Tornheim Hassan -- does, and she'll do it first before anybody if we don't watch out. She is an enormous help that we couldn't function without her. Not one of our books could have been done without her practical help, limitless inspiration and boundless love.

[From the 12-page editors' preface, titled "The Once and Future Voyages 2 -- The Camelot Connection"]: You even made the most of the box number we published for manuscripts end comments. Did you ever! Our box runneth over. Boxes. Bales. File drawers. There are stories, poems. Epics. Tomes. Volumes. Sagas. Trilogies. Soliloquies. Elegies. Eulogies. Sonnets from the Vulcan.

Letters. Letters. Letters. From all over the world. Every state. Many foreign countries. An Israeli kibbutz. A Polaris submarine. Air Force bases. Ships at sea ... From somewhere behind the Iron Curtain . . . From places where someone voyages, or stands sentinel . . . One or two of them broke our hearts ("...We cannot here receive Star Trek ... Your books are our only contact with it. .. Please do not delay ...")

There were one or two in languages we didn't think we could read. (We managed. There seems to be a certain universality to what they are saying.)

We read them all with great interest and appreciation. You have reached us. And touched us. We are, literally, overwhelmed, both by the volume of mail and by its content It is a profound tribute to Star Trek— and a gorgeous way of saying "thank you" to us— which virtually every letter, even from the youngest fans, did...

[...]

Interestingly, there was essentially no negative mail. We received two letters which were mildly critical, in the sense that: "Couldn't you have picked this instead of that?" Two.

Volume 2: Contents

• Editors' Preface: The Once and Future Voyages 2 -- The Camelot Connection (xi)
• Introduction by Jesco von Puttkamer (xxiii)
• Editors' Introduction (1)
• Surprise! by Nichelle Nichols (2)
• Editors' Introduction (32)
• Snake Pit! by Connie Faddis (first published in the zines Universal Transmitter #1 (1975) and Rigel #3 (1977)) (33)
• Editors' Introduction and Bio-Introductory Notes (56)
• The Patient Parasites, a story in Script Format by Russell Bates; includes bio-introductory notes by Bates ("a Kiowa Amerindian") which includes: "[The first draft for the animated series] of "The Patient Parasites" attempted to do several things. 1, write ST in half-hour theme and still be faithful to the show's original quality; 2, introduce an Amerindian character aboard the Enterprise (Dawson Walking Bear first appeared in this script; Dorothy Fontana sadly said that he was not very different from any other crewman; he was lifted out and later became pivotal to "Serpent's Tooth," which was an Amerindian myth-based story; thus it is that I have substituted Sulu for Walking Bear in this book); and, 3, finally write for ST as I set out to do back in the sixties.") (58)
• Editors' Introduction (96)
• In the Maze by Jennifer Guttridge (first published 1974 in the zine T-Negative Issue #23) (97)
• Editors' Introduction (124)
• Cave-In by Jane Peyton (first published 1970 in Spockanalia #5) (124)
• Editors' Introduction (130)
• Marginal Existence by Connie Faddis (first published 1971 in the zine T-Negative Issue #11) (131)
• Editors' Introduction (150)
• The Procrustean Petard by Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath (151)
• Editors' Introduction (195)
• The Sleeping God by Jesco von Puttkamer (198)
• Editors' Introduction (246)
• Elegy for Charlie, poem by Antonia Vallario (247)
• Editors' Introduction (248)
• Soliloquy, sonnet by Marguerite B. Thompson (249)
• Epilogue by Nichelle Nichols (250)
• Acknowledgments (252)

Reactions and Reviews: Volume 2

See reactions and reviews of Snake Pit!.

See reactions of In the Maze.

See reactions of Cave-In.

See reactions of Marginal Existence.

See reactions of The Procrustean Petard.

1978

[book]: I am quote pleased with The New Voyages second volume, though I have noticed that again they have not included the fanzine publication in one or two of the stories.

Anyone with access to the stories in their original zine versions has learned to stay clear of them after Marshak & Culbreath get through with what they laughingly call editing. Of course, the books are popular with "some" people, but then "some" people voted for Nixon, so that doesn't prove much.

[book]:

Despite its many inaccuracies, I found both books of ST:The New Voyages to be entertaining as well as a means to get a fair representation of fan writing. And the cost was relatively cheap.

[book]:

"The Procrustean Petard" in New Voyages II (105) reminded me of something that has been bothering me about that book. (By the way, I enjoyed your presentation of the scientific facts ignored by the above story.) Having treasured New Voyages when it first came out, I found myself gravely disappointed by NV02. It was sadly lacking in the freshness and naivety that helped make NV01 the treasure it was. Where were the 'fan' written stories? I counted three by professionals and two by the same author. (Much as I love the work of Connie Faddis, I would have preferred being able to read another author as well.)

The first New Voyages seemed to me to have been published with the purpose of printing all the marvelous fan-written stories that would never have been published professionally otherwise. While it nowhere states specifically that New Voyages is to be for amateur material, the impression remains. Then comes NV02. Jesco Von Puttkamer: "Sleeping God" was a good story but he is a professional author having had science fiction stories published in Europe and scientific articles published in several countries. Russel Bates: I quote from the book "a professional writer of STAR TREK." Why are these two authors in New Voyages II? They have been paid professionally for their science fiction and scientific writings; surely they would have enough experience and connections to have published entire books of their own, and we would have that much more new material in print.

Then we come to Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. Having edited one book, co-authored another and written an entire novel, they qualify as professionals and obviously, after Price of the Phoenix, could get just about anything they wanted in print. So why is their own work in a book they have edited? They may qualify as professionals (i.e., participating for monetary gain) but is that action really professional, to say the least, ethical?

[book]:Concerning professionals, I wish Mr. Walker would make up his mind. He demands professional quality in zines, then screams bloody murder when in New Voyages II (107), the editors, who have published professionally, included one of their own stories. Mr. Walker seems to believe that such a professional venture should be reserved for fan writers, the same ones he screams about when they print their stories in amateur fanzines. He can't have it both ways. Although I didnot care for Marshak and Culbreath's story, the "Procrustean Petard", I do not believe they are guilty of a breach of ethics by including one of their own works as well as the stories of other professional writers. What they include in their anthology is their decision. Also, for an anthology, stories cannot be plucked will-nilly out of thin air or taken from fanzines. They must be submitted to the editors.

[book]: Re New Voyages II: I loved it. I thought New Voyages I was almost horrendous (save for about three of the submissions included) and so Sondra & Myrna's second book was a real treat. I was, of course,very excited to see Nichelle had written a story of her own (and disappointed that it wasn't everything I expected it to be. But the work she has done on her book is, I hear, excellent.) and even more happy was I that Connie Faddis had some material included. Her works are always so entertaining and terrific that her two pieces alone made the price of the book seem shallow and cheap! I didn't think Sondra & Myrna handled the sex changes in "Procrustean Petard" very well, and I couldn't help but think that Alan Dean Foster's own version of sex exchange in "Log 10" was highly superior and very, very well handled. Jesco's "Nagha" knocked me around the room with it's potency, and now we're trying to persuade him to write something for us. (What a mind!) I'm looking forward to the next book in the series now — I hope it's as good as this one was....

[book]:

I was totally disappointed. The "professionalism" was certainly higher, but from what I can see that is no positive point. To be a professional in the Bantam Books school of writing—indicated by the examples we have been shown here—means to be certain that the writing is as broadly appealing as possible. In this case, it is impossible to be anything but bland-boring, basically bland. If there was any one aspect that shone brilliantly in New Voyages I, it was that certain natural sparkle—George calls it "freshness and naivety" —I might call it the "basic Star Trek charm" that was so apparent in the aired ST episodes, delightful to see renewed in New Voyages I and definitely missing in this second "up-graded attempt. In this case, "upgraded" down-graded. To me, all these stories read like they were either edited or re-written to death. I, too, thought that the New Voyages series was to be a showcase for fan-written material. Obviously that is not the actual situation. The object of the series seems to be to sell Star Trek books, not to encourage or showcase new talent at all. This is not to say that the stories are totally incompetent or that Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, as editors, do not have the right to place within their book whatever stories they see fit. Nor do I wish to put down efforts of actual fan-written material that does happen to appear in the second edition. I am only confused and disappointed in that #2 has such a different orientation from #1. And I can't make myself believe that fandom has produced so few good ST stories that M and C have been forced to turn to professional writers, an actress, and themselves for most of the included material. Sure, you have to read a lot of mediocrity in fanzines—maybe 20 poor stories to every good one. But the good ones—oh, sister, are they good! This collection does not represent the best that fandom has to offer—in fact, it barely represents fandom at all. I guess to be totally objective one would have to see the entire spectrum of fan-submitted material. Since we won't get that opportunity, well, what can I say? I myself shall reserve a final opinion after the release of #3. But, at this time, I wouldn't be even the slightest bit surprised at seeing a story even more blandly co-authored by Shatner, Nimoy and some former ST stuntman.

[book]:

Don't let THE NEW VOYAGES fool you into believing that most fan fiction is mediocre. It isn't. Most (if not all) of the stories which appeared in THE NEW VOYAGES were originally published by "amateurs" in fanzines, yet had a far more professional flare then than as they finally hit the newsstands in the form in which most of you saw them. The stories which appeared.

NEW VOYAGES 2 seemed to show the work of heavy-handed editors who appeared to be trying to interject far too much of their own ideas and style into stories ere not their own, and ended up deleting far too much of the author's original intent. Essentially, this resulted in most of the stories coming off as just plain dull. This is unfortunate, since there is an entire universe (and several alternate universes) which deal quite professionally with the Star Trek characters, giving them a background and a future far beyond anything seen on the series.

This is not meant to discredit the ability of the fine writers who had their stories published in THE NEW VOYAGES, for in their original form, in the fanzines discussed herein, the stories were far superior, as stylistically imaginative, and left you feeling glad you'd had the privilege of reading them instead of sorry you'd just shelled out $1.95 for a paperback.

[book]:

The New Voyages 2 is, on the whole, rather a stronger work than the first volume in this series. In addition to stories and poetry, there is an introduction to the book as a whole, and to each story, by the editors. There is also an introduction by Jesco von Puttkamer, and an epilogue by Nichelle Nichols. Nichelle has also contributed a lovely story called "Surprise!", in which she looks at the Kirk-Spock, Kirk-ship's crew relationship from; a unique vantage point. Jesco is represented in this book by a long story called "The Sleeping God", about alien intelligences. It's a good story, but it does tend to give itself away at the end. The poetry in this book is quite good, as are all the stories, mixing the exploration of relationships with enough action to keep the plot moving. I think that many of the writers here represented will someday soon show up in the ranks of the professional sf writers. This book is well worth the price, and I highly recommend it.

RATING: 9 out of 10.

1979

[book]: The second volume of the New Voyages series, a book of "Star Trek" fan stories, was published last spring. A's with the first book, it was edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. Ten pieces of fan fiction are contained in this book. I felt that the New Voyages II, was disappointing. Some stories were well done, for example, Surprise by Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura). Most of the other stories were of marginal interest with no special qualities. Indeed, some tend to drone on while others are overly complex and fail to keep the action going at a good pace. Often, the crew of the Enterprise is put into situations without explanation or background. This can often be unsettling and annoying to the reader. In general, Star Trek:The New Voyages II is an average work that lacks any special flair for writing. We hope that New Voyages III will make up for this lack.

[book]: I tried. Believe me, I tried. I just couldn't do it. The New Voyages II is the pits — I couldn't even read it through once. I'm sorry I wasted my good money on it in the first place. The book is nothing more than a glorified fan zine in paperback. At least the first New Voyages had one good story. But in this book -- Kirk half-dressed, Spock in love. Kirk in love, this main character in love with that main character, etc. B-O-R-I-N-G!! If anyone is crazy enough to want to buy a copy, they can have mine. I don't want it anymore, and I can't review it. I tried -- I really did.

[book]: This is the editors' second collection of original fan-written Star Trek fiction, and while one can appreciate the difficulties of compiling a selection which would match up to the exceptionally high standard of the first volume, it must be said that this second book is something of a disappointment after the excellance [sic] of the first. Indeed, considering the wealth of material which the editors claim to have had at their disposal, it seems rather surprising that the contributions should be so uneven in quality.

The book is very much a mixed bag, with six stories in conventional style and one in script form, two short poems and a narrative dialogue, with each item preceded by an editors' introduction. This follows a similar pattern to the first volume , except that there it was the Star Trek actors who provided the introductions thus giving them a certain interest and significance in their own right. Here the formula seems overworked, making the format altogether too rigid and contrived, with the editors' presence rather to intrusive. The editors' preface to the collection as a whole is also effusively and self-indulgently effusively and self-indulgently overlong, and the introduction by the NASA scientist Jescoe van Puttkamer, on the quasi-scientific and cultural value of Star Trek for the modern age, occupies space which some fans might well rather have seen given to another new Star Trek story.

The most successful contributions are undoubtedly the two in which the editors themselves had a hand: the opening story, Surprise!, and The Procrustean Petard, both of which not only have strong story lines but are also very much concerned with character interaction and development. Surprise!, co-authored with Nichelle Nichols, is particularly interesting in that it portrays the Enterprise in more intimate domestic mood -instead of battling the forces of evil in events of galaxy-wide significance, the crew are concerned simply with the problems of- organising a surprise party for the Captain's birthday. It is a light-weight plot with lots of slapstick humour of the custard-pie variety, but there is a certain human fascination in seeing the characters "off duty" as it were, and the whole story is written with an infectious warmth and sense of fun.

The Procrustean Petard is another highly original story dealing with the effects of a strange planet where the crew turn into members of the opposite sex, with the exception of Mr Spock who becomes super-masculine with the doubling of his Y-chromosomes. A novel and entertaining plot with the details well thought out, but the real interest lies in the treatment of the characters and their psychological motivations. The notion of Captain Kirk transformed into a beautiful woman could have been played for laughs, but in fact the theme of gender reversal and sexual identity is handled seriously and with sensitivity.

Unfortunately, none of the other contributions come up to this standard. Cave-in, by Jane Peyton, described as an "Open-textured" poem, is an intriguing piece of work and open to a variety of interpretations, but the two short poems, although obviously deeply felt personal expressions, are not exactly literary masterpieces. Snake Pit, by Connie Faddis, is a typical example of the "wish fulfillment" genre of fan writing, where the author is identifying herself with one of the secondary characters, in this case Nurse Chapel, whose role is then inflated so that she can perform great acts of heroism to save the Captain's life - at the expense of her own, naturally - to the universal admiration of the rest of the crew. Strong overtones of women's lib in this one, too, though the message is not handled with any great subtlety.

The Patient Parasites, by Russell Bates, and In the Maze, by Jennifer Guttridge, are both competent but fairly routine stories with largely unoriginal plots and little new to offer in the way of character development. Little seems to be gained by presenting the Russell Bates story in script format; it was originally conceived as an episode for the animated series, but conversion into straight prose would have made it considerably more readable and effective.

The Marginal Existence, another contribution by Connie Faddis, is an unsatisfactory story altogether, with a confusing plot and little attempt at sustained characterisation.

The Sleeping God, by Jescoe von Puttakamer [sic], is again not particularly original in theme hut the plot is well worked out and the personalities of the crew are well drawn, and it brings the collection agreeably enough to a close.

NEW VOYAGES 2 inevitably suffers by comparison with its superb predecessor but it is never less than entertaining and enjoyable reading and a"must" for all dedicated fans, to whom any new Star Trek, whatever its shortcomings, is a treat to be feasted upon.

2000

[book]:

Not quite up to the level of New Voyages 1. The best story in here is probably the Uhura story "Snake Pit," by Connie Faddis. I don't have much more to say, except that for slash fans, there is the Marshak/Culbreath story "The Procrustean Petard," which is an absolute disaster of a work of fiction, and the sonnet "Soliloquy" by Marguerite B. Thompson on page 249, which is K/S in nature and quite bad.

2013

[book]:

Ok, another collection from the hellish fans Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. Taking in fact that they have been accused of hogging the initial fan-fiction publications for only them and their top vip convention friends, it’s clearer why this low-quality stories ever got published. There was an initial response to the unheard-of fanatical conventions, so getting ANY fiction at all published was a high priority.

This book is interesting because of the prologue, which documents the convention feeling of that time, and also because one story is preceded by a writing of a cast member.

Nichelle Nichols writes a preface on the awful “Surprise Story”, where they prepare a surprise birthday party to the captain. A typical fan-fiction piece, where they almost imagine themselves there in a silly situation. I absolutely hated it, especially the “getting out of the shower” bit.

Then there’s “Snake Pit”, an awful story, but this time where women are protagonist. I don’t mind women in the center stage, but not when that’s the only purpose of the whole piece.

As fan-fiction can be written in any way, the author of “The Patient Parasites” takes the liberty in writing it as a play. The story is a bit more typical “Star Trek”, but it’s very tedious even though the story is border-line interesting. One of the good ones of the bunch, but the play format does not help.

“In the Maze”, by another women author. Absolute tripe and boring.

And to keep it varied, they inserted a POEM, and written from Spock’s perspective. Also by a woman author. I’m not a poet expert, but I find it pointless, unless you adore and fantasize with Spock.

Then, ANOTHER story by Connie Faddis: “Marginal Existence”, a semi-interesting short story full with robots and computers… and of course natives. Very similar to some original episodes, from where the author did not diverge much.

“The Procrustean Petard”: Another fan-fiction fantasy: What if Kirk changed gender? Gruesome, and let’s leave it at that.

And “The Sleeping God”, by a NASA scientist. Not a bad piece, of novelette length, it were not another derivative of a common Star Trek theme: Fight against a sentient computer.

Taking in accounts that these WERE early stories, taken directly from fan-fiction scenes and barely cleaned up for publication, it’s a wonder that some are not at all that bad. Even so, the amateurish of the works pass through, and will dominate the Novels for quite some time.

2014

[book]:

What we see in Star Trek: The New Voyages then is a perfect microcosm of the split in Star Trek fandom: The first volume wears how indebted it is to the fanfic writers on its sleeve: Indeed, it can be seen as an official acknowledgment and adoption of the overwhelmingly female fanzine structure and culture that defined Star Trek fandom in the 1970s. The second volume, however, shows the less savoury side of the franchise: The top-down, technologistic side that would much prefer to cozy up to (and sell out to) NASA and the aerospace engineering sector for a cross-promotional deal with the shiny new bit of branded Star Trek Soda Pop Art ultimately is if you take it at face value and only consider it worthy for its extant media artefacts. rather than engage with the people who are actually trying to internalize Star Trek's idealism and act on it on an everyday basis. And this is pretty much how the fandom is going to remain divided, at least until Nerd Culture comes along (but even now it's rather clear where Nerd Culture is going to spring from).

Unknown Date

[book]:

"Star Trekkers alone can make the difference between a future in which mankind will fall back into a dark age that will last a thousand years, and one in which we will go upward, outward—to the stars. The turning point is now. We make it now, or we don’t make it. But I believe that we will."

So said Robert Heinlein during an interview with Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, the editors of Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 at San Francisco’s Space Con Three. And even though those words were spoken more than 30 years ago, there are those who believe that truer words were never spoken.

Throughout this second volume of fan fiction, Marshak and Culbreath do their best to capture Heinlein’s sentiment and to show "man’s truest legend, seen at last—the legend of a golden age not lost, but of one yet to be found…" To do so they have included eight short stories and two poems that show the world of Star Trek at its best.

The collection begins with the story "Surprise," written by Nichelle Nichols and the editors, which recounts preparations for a surprise birthday party for Captain Kirk while an alien presence is loose on the Enterprise.

Then there is "Snake Pit" which tells of Kirk and Christine Chapel’s visit to the planet Vestalan where a native uprising is in progress thus depriving the Federation of a badly needed serum. During the course of their visit, they find themselves prisoners of the natives with Kirk becoming a sacrificial victim to their gods. This story, written by Connie Faddis, is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats as Chapel tries to rescue the captain from certain death.

Written by Russell Bates (writer of the animated episode, "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth"), "The Patient Parasites" is presented in television script format and tells the story of a machine found during the survey of a new planet. The machine desires the knowledge of warp drive before it will release the crew members it holds captive. However, knowing that this machine would prove dangerous to the entire galaxy, Kirk refuses to provide the necessary information. It quickly becomes a race against time as Kirk must find a way to save his men before their minds can be sent to the machine’s creators. (Readers might be interested to know that this story can be found in illustrated form at the startrekanimated.com website: http://startrekanimated.com/tas_comic08_main.html.)

As the crew of the Enterprise explores a feudal world, Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy try to find the secret to a building that could not have been constructed by the planet’s inhabitants. When Kirk disappears in the depths of the building, it’s up to Spock and Doctor McCoy to find him. Little do they know that they are part of an experiment set by an alien scientist "In The Maze," by Jennifer Guttridge.

"Marginal Existence," by Connie Faddis, presents a world where most inhabitants seem to be in a state of suspended animation; however, their "sleep" is anything but peaceful. When Doctor McCoy is thrown into a sleeper machine and appears in great distress, Kirk and Spock must find a way to release him.

A distress call lures the Enterprise to a strange planet where crew members are plucked from the ship and sent through a machine that changes them into the opposite sex. It’s up to Kirk and the Enterprise crew to find a way to return everyone to his or her normal gender in "The Procrustean Petard" written by the editors of the book.

In "The Sleeping God," by NASA rocket engineer Jesco von Puttkamer, Captain Kirk and the Enterprise face an immensely powerful being from another dimension and must find a way to defeat it before it can destroy the worlds of the Federation. Their only help in facing this threat is a young mutant who has been in suspended animation for the past eight-five years.

The book is rounded out by two poems, one about Charlie X and the other about Spock, and an epilogue by Nichelle Nichols that thanks all those who summon the future.

Readers of this collection of stories will find that this is a volume they will want to return to time and again. Not only does it offer plenty of suspense, it also manages to capture the Star Trek legend in its entirety as the crew continues to travel "where no man has gone before."