The Awakening Past
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Awakening Past |
| Author(s): | Donna Rose Vanderlaan |
| Date(s): | 1992 |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | slash |
| Fandom(s): | Star Trek: TOS |
| Relationship(s): | Kirk/Spock |
| External Links: | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Awakening Past is a Kirk/Spock story by Donna Rose Vanderlaan.
It was published in the print zine Counterpoint #7.
Summary
"During Kirk and Spockʼs trip to Egypt, they are approached by a stranger who shows them a way to spend the night in a mysterious pyramid and tells them that it will change them forever."
Reactions and Reviews
1992
A very interesting idea to transfer Kirk and Spock to ancient Egypt! Like the Vulcans and Egyptians who believed in a life after death and their "Ka" was similar to the Vulcan "Katra" I love Egyptian history and I'm enthusiastic about Tut-nch-aaun since my childhood... Yes, I can imagine that Spock was an Egyptian prince in a former life! If the author had described the life in the palace more detailed (e.g. we know nothing about Spatuk's father and his siblings. Spatuk's relations with Raten would have been interesting, too, and of course the daily life in ancient Egypt), this wonderful 50 page story could have been a novel! [1]
I like the scenario of a long leave on Earth, especially to Egypt. The stone in Kirk's apartment was a good story device, yet the strange feelings it evoked seemed a little too subtle. Not for Spock, but they were the kind of feelings it doesn't seem Kirk would tune into or pay such conscious attention to.
The rustic, romantic restaurant on North Coast was a lovely touch. Sweet, tentative innuendoes. The embrace kind of unconvincing, even with the wine, the walk in the fog [2]. etc. A touching scene anyway.
I like all the strange happenings in the Egyptian desert (reactions to those inexplicable feelings felt more authentic here! and then their trip into past lives. The way they "traveled" was well done. Imaginative past-life characters. Egyptian S's feelings to Egyptian K. very beautiful, in a highly romantic style.
Something slightly off about the story-telling: perhaps some over-explaining, or stating the obvious; supplying what should be the reader's perceptions. [3]
1993
This is a double story: tragic Romeo & Juliet (sorry, make that Romeo & Romeo) and a fairy tale where Prince Charming finds his missing love through a magic stone. This story is a very well done, very original, and basically believable. I would recommend it to anyone. I am being vague because I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
I do have a complaint, though. On page 190 the writer ties up EVERY detail (in case we slept through part?). It irritated me no end. Some of the detail was necessary because it gave information not given before, but the listing of everything that was similar and insulting. Hey, I knew the names were similar! Kirk and Kirkhaten??? Would I have missed that? [4]
1999
Who among us doesn’t delight in the mystique surrounding the pyramids and enigmatic ancient Egypt? And when someone has the talent to involve Kirk and Spock (in their own personas) in this land of dark secrets? All the better! Kirk has invited Spock to take leave with him on Earth and Spock accepts, even admits his longing to visit Egypt. During a brief layover at Kirk’s San Francisco apartment, Spock is intrigued by a curious smooth stone which the human explains he bought from an antiquities dealer because he was somehow drawn to it. The dealer said it was supposed to have some kind of magical powers. What is its significance? A mystery! Is something supernatural involved?
Perhaps so, because on their visit to the famed terran sands, Spock whispers, “it is here I first came to love the desert...”. Kirk feels a little spooked by the disjointed comment, and Spock has no explanation. Our sense of the unknown drawing ever closer comes in the presence of a pedestrian dressed in the garb of an ancient Egyptian. He challenges the men to spend the night in a “sealed” tomb to which he knows a secret entrance, and prophesies they will be “forever changed”. Of course, K & S can’t resist that kind of temptation, and off they go.
The eerie feeling that pervaded this story was so well done and so different it made “Awakening” a very unusual and unpredictable read. My spirit is always buoyed by the premise that Kirk and Spock only appear as mere mortals, that they are truly ageless and will go on forever; that their only limitation is that they travel the planes of existence together. If you enjoy that premise, you will be overwhelmed by the truth they find within the temple ruins.
Three thousand years ago they shared a love that could only appear to be broken by a tragic event. Pledging to each other in that long-ago land, they share solemn wishes. The frail Spock wants only to be strong and able to share thoughts with another so that he may truly become one with Kirk. Kirk simply wishes for the stars...and Spock. Do you believe that dreams come true? Do you believe in Destiny? Read “The Awakened Past” and you will believe. You will even learn the secret of the stone and why it once again glows with rose and golden light. [5]
References
- ^ from The LOC Connection #48
- ^ Fog in Egypt?
- ^ from The LOC Connection #48
- ^ from The LOC Connection #49
- ^ from The K/S Press #35