The Fire Give In to the Sun

Fanfiction
Title:	The Fire Give In to the Sun
Author(s):	Kathy Resch
Date(s):	1988
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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The Fire Give In to the Sun is a Kirk/Spock story by Kathy Resch.

It was published in the print zine T'hy'la #7.

Summary

"Scientist Richard Delmar has vanished on the planet Sigma Gamma U. Science Officer Spock and a select crew go to the rescue - and vanish, as well. Kirk follows - but the Spock he encounters is far different from the Science Officer he knows so well. And this Spock is on an obsessive quest of his own - a quest that James Kirk discovers he must follow, as well."

Reactions and Reviews

1989

I have to say that it's been done. The amnesia element, which dominated the story, has been handled better elsewhere. The author scarcely handled the rape and recovery element at all. After Kirk voices his concern about Spock's recovery from the rape and brutal treatment he received, the theme is dropped. Even McCoy doesn't bring it up in his examination of Spock. It seems as if this Spock is so resilient he doesn't require any recovery, and I find that less than plausible. Given the situation, the resolution seems so pat, so facile. It might make a dandy fantasy for some, but I prefer more verisimilitude.

I don't know why there are so many Spock-amnesia stories. In this story, as in the others, I guess the idea is that Spock's Vulcan disciplines are so rigid that he must fall into a state of forgetfulness in order to realize his great attraction to Kirk. The sort of scenario where either K or S must be reduced to a child-like emotionally retarded state disturbs me; it borders on pedophilia. I do NOT think Kirk is a pedophile by even the wildest stretch of any "A/U" imagination. I also don't think the author intended for Spock to become like a child. But it unintentionally comes dangerously close. I also noticed that Spock seems to have been relatively unaffected by the abuse he suffered at the hands of his various masters. This is unrealistic, as any rape-survivor could state. On the plus side, the story gave a real "feel", a real "atmosphere" of the planet on which our two heroes had their adventure.

1994

Don't you want to read this just from the great title alone?

K and company go to a planet where Spock has been taken as a slave. The surroundings and culture are fairly reminiscent of medieval times with a little wild west and other-world thrown in. Coming upon the Vulcan tied to a post in the middle of a town square, Spock doesn't recognize anyone, least of all Kirk. Then there's the mystery of Spock having grown long hair in what was thought to be a short time.

Fully-realized culture and people- filled with detail along with a nice series feel. There's a wonderful humorous touch as Kirk tells the people he's from Iowa.

Spock escapes and heads out into the wilderness with Kirk after him. Evidently they could be beamed back onto the Enterprise, but K wants to help S back to his real life slowly. I liked this plot device as it took away any worry or concern I might have for their safety and allowed me to focus on the relationship. Once freed from slavery, Spock dreams of going to Delma which is thought to be a mythical city of freedom.

Along the way on their journey, they swim in a lake and spontaneously have sex. It's a wild, free- flowing scene, that really took me by surprise. It's written in a kind of staccato way, as if everything was so sudden that there wasn't time to explain. Really, really neat.

The major drawback to this otherwise well-done story was too much journey, too much description leading nowhere with not enough focus. Perhaps it should have been simplified- tightened with a faster pace. And after a while, I got a little tired of Spock's amnesia and his slave persona and just wanted him to get on with it. But, solidly written with very good sex scenes which add lots of pluses to any minuses.