26Has anyone read the ST:TOS novel Crucible: McCoy? Just wondering, because the only TOS novel I enjoyed with McCoy was Doctor’s Orders. I’m debating on whether to read this or not… Here is the synopsis:
David R. George’s Crucible Trilogy explores the legacy of one pivotal, crucial moment in the lives of the men at the heart of Star Trek – what led them to it, and to each other, and how their destinies were intertwined. For Doctor Leonard McCoy, life takes two paradoxically divergent paths. In one, displaced in time, he saves a woman from dying in a traffic accident, and in doing so alters Earth’s history. Stranded in the past, he struggles to find a way back to his own century. But living an existence he was not meant to, he will eventually have to move on, and ultimately face the shadows born of his lost life. In the other, he is prevented from saving the woman’s life, allowing Earth’s history to remain unchanged. Returning to the present, he is nonetheless haunted by the echoes of an existence he never lived, and by fears which will bring him full circle to the shadows he never faced.
Related Posts:
- I can’t get this out of my head. – from July 12, 2014
- Dubstepping the Trek – from December 7, 2013
- When All Else Fails, Watch Star Trek – from November 30, 2013
- This Should Have Been – from September 14, 2013
- Today’s Musing – from August 31, 2013
Years ago I read many of the star trek novels when they came out in paperback. It has been so long that I can’t recall the titles of any of them, but of those I read, all were enjoyed. Sorry not much help here. It is conceivable that I have read this and just don’t recall. If it is of any help, all the books I read were published prior to 1990.
How interesting! Did you read only TOS or others like TNG?
I read only TOS and now that I’m thinking about it, they would be only from maybe 1983-1984 at the latest. I also saw the movies from that era..but can also say I don’t remember much about them. It is entirely possible that I never saw “the wrath of khan” because I absolutely hated the television episode, and I would have to believe I wouldn’t have wanted to see a feature length movie. So I guess basically I have no recollection about any of the details of these stories/movies. I wonder if I went back and read some of these books, who would I be picturing in my mind, TOS or AOS?
For me, TOS stays TOS. AOS is the one that I kind of shift sometimes to a TOS perspective. Funny that, since the first ST I ever experienced was the STXI movie. :)
Seriously, your first Trek experience was the STXI movie. Do you mean you never watch the television episodes or any of the other movies? If so, I find it fascinating how you depict the characters in your stories. You started with a clean slate and yet were able to honor the core qualities of the characters,AOS and TOS both. Spock says “Fascinating.”
I watched the movie after much reluctance and with nothing else to do one day (it was Karl that decided me because I love him to pieces)… and went, “Huh, this isn’t bad.” Being the insane person I am, I then dug up TOS and devoted myself to learning everything I could. I fell in love with the characters, went back to STXI, re-watched it, and found myself loving them too. It was clear to me then that JJ had spawned something new from a classic without making it feel like a betrayal to long-time fans. It’s become somewhat of a game to me, mixing the two ‘verses. Hee.
I love this….I am an original trekkie of sorts. I did participate actively in the fandom, but I watched real time as the shows aired in the sixties. I personally was very pleased with the movie. I absolutely agree that JJ’s casting was spot on. I am not a hard core trekkie in that I can accept new things, but believe me there was no one more surprised than me that I was able to accept a new Kirk and gang
It does have interesting thoughts but the end is not fulfilling. It also doesn’t focus on the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamics that are truly what I’m interested in for any TOS Star Trek novel
That said, I love McCoy and the McCoy voice in this (if I remember correctly) is well done.
What else would you recommend as far as ST:TOS novels?
It’s been a long time since I read any, frankly; but I never have put one down feeling that the trio was done justice. :/
This news just makes me incredibly sad. No wonder we turn to fanfiction.
Sorry. I should have done this in the last comment. For quality, excellently voiced K&S&M, I go here.
LOL! I grinned like a loon after I pulled the webpage up. Thanks, omphaloskepsist. Do you see the lovely friend who commented below, kcscribbler? She writes some of the best gen Kirk-Spock-McCoy you will ever read but she will never tell you this herself.
Oooh, I have not read her stuff but I am now! Thank you for the rec!
I have all 3 crucible novels on kindle but have only read halfway thru Kirk’s. It, at least, is well written, though not as focused on the K/S/M dynamic as I would want.
A while back I tried to find novels with the K-S-M dynamic and just couldn’t find any that satisfied in this respect. I gave up the search, really. If you have found at least one, please tell me the title! I’m dyin’ here for my trio…
Time for Yesterday by A C Crispin was one I loved immensely, as was The First Frontier by I think Diane Carey. The latter especially is one of only a few I remember loving out of the dozens I’ve read.
Sorry for the weirdly punctuated posts, Im typing on my phone. Have you read everything else by Diane Duane? All her stories are fabulous, not just Doctors Orders. There’s one more that Im trying to dig up now from my kindle archive. Brb
I concur, Diane Duane is amazing. I read her fantasy novels long before I realized she had written ST too. Besides her, I tried looking for good McCoy novels. I never ventured farther than that. I’d love your recommendations, though!
Try these. None are like utterly amazing and its been a long time, but I do remember at least finishing and enjoying then for one reason or another. Twilight’s End by Jerry Oltion Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese Killing Time by Della van Heese I also remember a couple from long ago but no idea as to the titles; remind me tomorrow when I can look them up on my amazon account.
I’ve read this! I really liked it – well, let’s face it, there’s very few Bones-focused stories out there. This one really gets the voice right though, and it is very interesting to see what would have happened if Kirk and Spock HADN’T found him after COTEOF. It’s interesting how he goes about things and, more importantly, it’s utterly believable. Don’t know how much you know, but the book is split into two timelines, the first being the actual timeline, the second if he had stayed in the twentieth century. The second is fascinating, not least because it looks at the outcome of WW2, which references the event Spock saw during the episode of Edith ending up on speaking terms with the US government and persuading everyone to stay peaceful, with horrific results. Seeing how Bones fits into all that really is very readable. The only warning I’d give is that in the first, original timeline, you do get to see Tonia Barrows again, which I personally didn;t mind too much but I could easily see it dividing people. It’s still more of an insight into Bones than a whole bunch of other ST novels though, and has a good chunk of backstory and history added too. Hell, you get more of an insight into him in this one book than you do when they finally gave the poor guy a backstory in Film 5! I’ve read Spock’s one too in this series (well, skimmed really – we all know who was really my favourite :p ) and maybe it’s just me, but McCoy’s one feels fuller somehow. More fully considered and well-explored, if that makes sense? It’s worth reading the Spock one too though, but not especially liking Kirk and not reading the Kirk book, I couldn’t possibly comment beyond saying reviews of that, from what I’ve seen, are good too. Maybe I should read it, might make me warm to Kirk a bit more? :p I’ve recenty had a bit of a splurge on old ST novels and the ones that get Bones the best have been Dreams of the Raven by Carter (Amnesiac Bones, but still Intriguing Bones :) ), Honor Blade by Duane (which is written mostly about an entirely separate character, but does have nice scenes with Bones. Also the second in a series, but it can be read alone. Also also, veyr odd to write, if you’re used to putting a ‘u’ in ‘honour’ ;P), Ice Trap by Graf (so THIS is why everyone reckons Bones hates water!), Shadows on the Sun by Friedman (McCoy and Jocelyn!), Spock’s World by Duane (Clever Bones!), The Wounded Sky by Duane (Oh God, there’s this one scene which is just SO Bones, Duane ALWAYS gets him spot on, even when the book is Spock-centric. Which makes sense to me, because you can’t ever really have Spock without Bones somewhere :) ). Recovery by Dillard is aso cool – dcotors are the main characters, including our favourite one :) The books I do not really recommend are The Better Man(I really disagreed with the portrayal of McCoy in that one) and the One Whose Name I Have Forgotten and Deleted Off My Ereader, which basically involved Kirk and McCoy fighting over the affections of a woman. I REALLY didn’t like the portrayal of Bones in that one and even Kirk didn’t come off that well. These are just my opinions though so take them with a pinch of salt, you could well disagree with them. If you’re interested graphic novel-wise, I’m no expert and only just started researching that minefield myself, but the one I have seen is called Leonard Mccoy, Frontier Doctor, or something like that. Looks at what on Earth he did after the five year mission (and why the beard?!). Quite entertaining anyway :) Any help at all? I have to confess, when it comes to the old ST novels SwissKun’s website was really helpful for me, but Swiss seems to have disappeared online. All their fanfiction was awesome too, and it’s gone :( But yes, all the old books I mentioned I think I got from their recommendations. Freakizimi
You amazing person, you! This is what I was hoping to see. Glad you are a Bones lover like me! McCoy’s portrayal can really make or break a story for me. I am currently reading The Wounded Sky, and I will certainly try your other recommendations! I did not think of graphic novels so those are on my list now too. PS: I miss swisskun too. :(
Pleasure :)Glad I could pass on even a teeny bit of SwissKun’s work, even if they’re not about in the community anymore :( I was kind of hoping you’d know what’d happened to them, I must confess. Also, I didn’t see who commented below KCS whose stories you recommended – could you let me know who it is? I crave more well-written fanfic! Freakizimi
Sorry for the confusion! I meant KCS was the one I was reccing!
Ah, another of my favs! :) You’re both bookmarked and everything :) Freakizimi