Trusting the Spirit

Zine
Title:	Trusting the Spirit
Publisher:	Merry Men Press
Editor:
Author(s):	Anna S. Greener
Cover Artist(s):	I.M. Mueller
Illustrator(s):	I.M. Mueller
Date(s):	July 2002
Series?:	No
Medium:	print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:	zine on the MMP site
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cover by I.M. Mueller

sample text

Trusting the Spirit is a 179 page K/S slash novel by Anna S. Greener. The art is by I.M. Mueller.

Among other things, it contains a fair amount of description about Spock's alien genitalia.

Summaries

From an ad in The K/S Press #89: "Join us in the classic world of Trek as Kirk and Spock brush lives with an alien who opens Spock’s eyes to his peoples’ past. Ancient Vulcan, ancient rituals, ancient love blend into and modern lives, commingling to give us the K/S we know and love."

From Gilda F: "A mind-meld with a dying alien brings hidden ancestral memories to the surface...and not so hidden emotional ones Spock harbours for his captain."

Originally Meant to Be a Part of a Different Anthology Series

From an ebay seller in 2007: "This novel started out as a novelette that was meant for the 3rd in the wonderful TWILIGHT TREK series (Trek meets the TWILIGHT ZONE). Sadly, TT2 was the last, but the author listened to Kirk & Spock, and the story grew into a novella, then a novel, then quite a long novel."

Reactions and Reviews: The Story

Several K/S fans had reservations about buying this novel because they’d heard that there was a lot about Vulcan culture in it, and thought it was about pre reform Vulcan. Rest assured, this is not a pre reform Vulcan story. It’s firmly set in the familiar ST universe we know and love, with our heroes Captain James T. Kirk and his first officer Commander Spock. (However, if you do like pre-reform Vulcan stories, there are some very interesting parts in the novel about Vulcan history and culture that I’m sure you’ll like.) I normally don’t like pre reform Vulcan stories at all, and I did like Trusting the Spirit very much. It had an interesting plot, and I enjoyed the author’s characterizations of Kirk and Spock. There’s a lot of dialogue in this story which is all well done -there‘s some wonderful conversations between Kirk and Spock. Plus some really erotic and unusual love scenes added to the appeal of the novel.

This is not a pre reform Vulcan novel! I thought I’d mention this right away, because I know several K/S fans who had reservations about buying this novel because they’d heard that there was a lot about Vulcan culture in it, and thought it was about pre reform Vulcan. Rest assured, this is not a pre reform Vulcan story. It’s firmly set in the familiar ST universe we know and love, with our heroes Captain James T. Kirk and his first officer Commander Spock. (However, if you do like pre reform Vulcan stories, there are some very interesting parts in the novel about Vulcan history and culture that I’m sure you’ll like.) I normally don’t like pre reform Vulcan stories at all, and I did like Trusting the Spirit very much. It had an interesting plot, and I enjoyed the author’s characterizations of Kirk and Spock. There’s a lot of dialogue in this story which is all well done - there‘s some wonderful conversations between Kirk and Spock. Plus some really erotic and unusual love scenes added to the appeal of the novel. And Anna is a wonderfully talented writer, one of the best K/S writers I’ve ever read. So there’s lots to like about this novel.

[much snipped]

There’s a lot of discussion about Vulcan culture, and the transmission of memories in parts of this novel, which is mainly told in dialogue. There is only one part actually set in pre Reform Vulcan, where Kirk and Spock see the past lives of two Vulcan warriors. (This is accomplished through the use of a mind meld that allows Kirk to experience with Spock the ancestral memories that the alien released. ) This is only one chapter (22 pages) out of a 179 page novel, and the rest of the novel is set in Kirk and Spock’s time. However, there is quite a bit in the novel about Vulcan history and culture, and Spock’s youth on Vulcan, so if you don’t like this sort of thing, then this novel may not be for you. I, personally, found this background to be well thought out, very interesting, and believable given what we know of Vulcans from the TV show and movies. (But I do think some readers might think there’s a tad too much of it, especially the chapter set in pre Reform Vulcan. This chapter is near the end of the novel, and by this point we‘ve heard a lot about Vulcans, so I found it a bit too long. Plus, as I said, I‘m not a fan of pre Reform Vulcan stories, and this is the pre Reform part of the novel.)

There is a whole middle section I really liked where Kirk and Spock talk, and make love, and talk, and make love again, and talk, and make love yet again.... Anna has some really unique ideas on Vulcan genitalia that I thought were quite fascinating. While there was some initial experimentation with Vulcan genitals in the early days of K/S, nowadays most writers adopt the “fanon” approach of double ridges, and except for this (and some minor variations in the testicles) Vulcan males usually don’t seem too different than human males. Well, Anna has different ideas on the subject, on everything from Vulcan semen (love the idea of the globules), the Vulcan penis and testicles, and even Vulcan anal glands. All very interesting to read, I thought. Anna is also gifted at writing love scenes - I found the love scenes in this novel to be very erotic and quite hot! (And I loved the whole part about the kaithla oil.)

There are many more parts of the story I really liked, such as when Kirk suspects something is wrong with Spock after the mind meld with the alien, and what he does to try to resolve the situation. Kirk is torn between his trust in Spock, his worries about his friend, and his duty as captain not to let anything endanger the Enterprise. Or how Kirk feels incomplete, as though something is missing, after Spock‘s deep mind meld when he was Kirok, and how this mind meld plays into events in the novel. Or how Spock and Kirk exchange stories of teenage behavior that they are now ashamed of. Or the creative futuristic touches (such as stasis seals for food containers, or how their clothes fasten. I liked calling the zipper on Kirk‘s jeans “archaic“.) But if I discussed everything I liked about the novel in detail, this LOC would be 10 pages long!

I’ll just end by saying that I thought Trusting the Spirit was very entertaining, well written, and definitely worth reading. I recommend it.

Reactions and Reviews: The Art

I know I said that Trusting the Spirit was not a pre reform novel, (and it’s not) but the novel does contain two great pictures of a warrior Spock with long hair. (Or given the events in the story, these pictures are probably of Spock’s distant ancestor, who apparently looks exactly like him!) While I may not much care for pre reform Vulcan stories, I love the look of a muscular, exotic, long haired AU warrior Spock. Boy, is he smolderingly sexy in these pictures!

In the one on the left, we see him from about mid thigh, wearing a belted sleeveless tunic. I liked the whole look of the tunic - the way it was belted, the asymmetrical line, the mandarin collar, and the designs near the collar. I really liked how the hair was done in this picture. It’s so shiny I wanted to reach out and touch it, and I can almost see the movement of the hair as it blows to one side. The face seemed young to me, and very beautiful. This is really a wonderful picture.

The other picture is more of a close up, from slightly above the waist, and again our warrior is wearing a sleeveless shirt or tunic. But one big difference from the first picture - this shirt is open to the waist, revealing chest hair and nice abs! This Spock looks more to be the age he was in the TV show. Nice muscles in this picture —not too much so, but just appropriate for an ancient Vulcan warrior! I liked this one a lot, too.

Between Pages 101 and 102: Kirk and Spock are both nude in this picture. Kirk is in front of Spock, arching back in his arms, ready (ahem) for action! I liked the suggestion of a smile on Kirk’s face, and his half closed eyes, as Spock nuzzles his neck. I also liked the way Spock’s hand is cradling Kirk’s head as he caresses his lover. Spock’s face is just wonderfully drawn and I love the way his hair falls forward. (Which is a very nice detail and very realistic. It’s what you would expect since he is leaning over Kirk. Marianne really does such a great job drawing hair!). This is a very sensual picture, and very well done.

Between Pages 113 and 114: This is another nude picture. It portrays Kirk and Spock looking like they have drifted off to sleep after an enthusiastic love making session. (At least that’s what I see!) Both are on their stomachs, left knee drawn up a bit, and a sheet only partially covers them so we can see almost every detail of their nicely muscled bodies (and a hint of Kirk’s testicles.) I like the way Kirk’s left arm is resting on Spock’s back, and his head is on Spock’s shoulder. It’s like he doesn’t want to let go of his Vulcan, even in sleep. In case you can’t tell from this LOC, this is a very erotic picture!

Color picture: Following the last page of the novel is beautiful color picture of Kirk holding Spock. Both Spock and Kirk have such contented, happy expressions on their faces. Spock is resting against his captain’s chest, and what a nice chest it is, too. Kirk appears to be wearing his green wrap around tunic, but it is open to expose his bare chest, one nipple and a hint of muscle. Very, very nice.