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Star Trek: The Original Series #24
Killing Time
Killing Time (Star Trek, No 24) by Della Van Hise - Second History: a Romulan time-tampering project that has transported the Enterprise and the galaxy into an.......
311 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1985
About the author
Della Van Hise
24 books19 followersDella Van Hise is a native of Florida, transplanted to California at the age of 21, who has subsequently sunk her roots into the high desert near Joshua Tree National Park. She has not personally seen any aliens since around 1992, but there is rumored to be a secret UFO base underneath her house.
Della's writing started around age 11, when she would bang out some of the very earliest "fan fiction" on an old Smith Corona typewriter. No, not an electric one. A real antique, made of metal and heavier than a wet coffin. Her first professional novel was best-selling KILLING TIME - the controversial Star Trek novel which was recalled and re-edited in 1984. None of the rumors were true, of course. It was just a Star Trek book - but apparently a good enough work that the first "reboot" movie borrowed heavily from the plot and structure.
More recently, Della has written extensively in the non-fiction genre, with titles such as QUANTUM SHAMAN: DIARY OF A NAGUAL WOMAN and SCRAWLS ON THE WALLS OF THE SOUL. "Quantum Shaman" focuses heavily on the author's metaphysical explorations and experiences, while "Scrawls" is a continuation of those journeys many years later. If you enjoyed the works of Carlos Castaneda or Don Miguel Ruiz, you'll enjoy the non-fiction works of Della Van Hise.
In addition, Della has written professionally for Tomorrow Magazine and other prominent science fiction publications. Her most recent fiction works include Ragged Angels (an award-winning vampire novel); Year of the Ram (a space-faring gay romance); and COYOTE - a romantic science fiction novel combining the mystical aspects of martial arts, coming of age, and personal sacrifice.
Della's favorite mantras include:
The destruction of faith is the beginning of evolution.
You have to BE immortal before you can know how to BECOME immortal.
The core of your beliefs determines the realities you *see* and obliterates those you choose to ignore.
Della's websites include:
http://www.quantumshaman.com
http://www.eyescry.com/html/publicati...
To contact the author directly... info@quantumshaman.com
Thanks for being a reader. You are a rare and vanishing breed and we love you!
Della's writing started around age 11, when she would bang out some of the very earliest "fan fiction" on an old Smith Corona typewriter. No, not an electric one. A real antique, made of metal and heavier than a wet coffin. Her first professional novel was best-selling KILLING TIME - the controversial Star Trek novel which was recalled and re-edited in 1984. None of the rumors were true, of course. It was just a Star Trek book - but apparently a good enough work that the first "reboot" movie borrowed heavily from the plot and structure.
More recently, Della has written extensively in the non-fiction genre, with titles such as QUANTUM SHAMAN: DIARY OF A NAGUAL WOMAN and SCRAWLS ON THE WALLS OF THE SOUL. "Quantum Shaman" focuses heavily on the author's metaphysical explorations and experiences, while "Scrawls" is a continuation of those journeys many years later. If you enjoyed the works of Carlos Castaneda or Don Miguel Ruiz, you'll enjoy the non-fiction works of Della Van Hise.
In addition, Della has written professionally for Tomorrow Magazine and other prominent science fiction publications. Her most recent fiction works include Ragged Angels (an award-winning vampire novel); Year of the Ram (a space-faring gay romance); and COYOTE - a romantic science fiction novel combining the mystical aspects of martial arts, coming of age, and personal sacrifice.
Della's favorite mantras include:
The destruction of faith is the beginning of evolution.
You have to BE immortal before you can know how to BECOME immortal.
The core of your beliefs determines the realities you *see* and obliterates those you choose to ignore.
Della's websites include:
http://www.quantumshaman.com
http://www.eyescry.com/html/publicati...
To contact the author directly... info@quantumshaman.com
Thanks for being a reader. You are a rare and vanishing breed and we love you!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
October 10, 2023
I do not doubt that writing any novel is difficult. However writing a Star Trek novel, is especially difficult. You have so many fans, hoping to get something transcendent, but also vigilantly watching to make certain that the property has been placed in hands worthy of curating and aggregating. IMHO, Della Van Hise with the 24th Star Trek novel Killing Time does just that.
The story revolves around a Romulan time altering project that is called Second History. The objective is to erase history and over-write it with a better historical situation for the Romulans. In the newer version of history, Kirk is an ensign with a proclivity toward belligerence and blatant disregard of Star Fleet regulations.
“No, say it isn’t so! I don’t believe it.” Okay, that is a lie. Totally, believable, dead-on, duh. Spock is the Captain of a ship. (Not the Enterprise.) Yet, the crew appears to be suffering nightmares as a side-effect of time-tampering where the original timeline is attempting to reassert itself. Despite the fact that this is not a terribly original story, it is told and plotted in an original way.
The story revolves around a Romulan time altering project that is called Second History. The objective is to erase history and over-write it with a better historical situation for the Romulans. In the newer version of history, Kirk is an ensign with a proclivity toward belligerence and blatant disregard of Star Fleet regulations.
“No, say it isn’t so! I don’t believe it.” Okay, that is a lie. Totally, believable, dead-on, duh. Spock is the Captain of a ship. (Not the Enterprise.) Yet, the crew appears to be suffering nightmares as a side-effect of time-tampering where the original timeline is attempting to reassert itself. Despite the fact that this is not a terribly original story, it is told and plotted in an original way.
July 6, 2015
[These notes were made in 1988:]. Now why does Ms. Van Hise's name sound so gosh-darn familiar? I have the feeling that she has written far more inflammatory stuff than this mild and rather interesting tale of time-travel/alternate universe. Because of time-tampering by the Romulans, the crew of the Enterprise find themselves haunted by dreams (shades of Strangers From the Sky) and then slip into an entirely different universe where Spock commands the ship and Kirk is a lowly and embittered ensign. Introduction of the first K/S element: Kirk out of power, under the command of Spock. (O implacable females!) However, even in this strange universe, the two of them recognize each other in some strange way, and confirm the "real story" through mindlink. Introduction of the second K/S element: telepathy as symbol of sexual conjunction. Together, they restore the original version of history, and fade unselfishly into oblivion (mindlinked of course) so that their alternate selves and the universe generally may continue to exist. Third K/S element: cosmological importance of K/S relationship. Then of course there is the constant dwelling upon the emotional state of the two men, and the introduction of the lady Romulan commander, who seems to hold some great fascination for the K/S crowd (vid. Marshak and Culbreath). The time-shift brings "pon farr" on for Spock (rather gratuitously, I thought) and he - or rather his alternate self - actually sleeps with the lady commander to get rid of it. There are two "new" characters: Richardson, who fills a sort of "buddy" role for Kirk (the ensign) in exile, and S'Parva, a telepathic canine-girl whose chief functions in the book seem to be 1) to illustrate Richardson's Romeo tendencies (incidentally Richardson calls Kirk "Juliet"!) and to push Spock telepathically into dealing with his "pon farr." Did you like it, miss? Oh come on, give me a break - of course I liked it!
December 5, 2022
Is it gay? Yes. Is it all that good? No. But congrats to Della for getting away with what she did. We salute you.
March 31, 2019
Not a great book, but a lot of fun if you're interested in vintage K/S fanfic (No spoilers)
So, to give some context here for a second: Killing Time is (in)famous in the Star Trek fandom as the official Star Trek novel that got published, then recalled, censored, and re-published, when the publishers found out that it was written by an established Kirk/Spock shipper, and that the book had homoerotic undertones. (There is a comparison here, but it contains spoilers!) About 150 000 copies of the uncensored version were put into circulation, and those copies which had already been sold and could not be recalled have become more or less collector's items for fans. This book is a tangible piece of fandom history, and I was so excited to get my hands on an uncensored copy.
What this means - and this is a caveat to readers - is that I went into this with a very positive attitude and extremely low standards. I read this as a fanfiction, not as a novel, and I'm reviewing it as a fanfic. If you're not (like me) a K/S shipper, a fandom history fan, lgbt, and/or someone who has read a tonne of badfic, this may not be the book for you.
This book commits a multitude of writerly sins that I was very lenient with:
- Purple prose. Kirk's eyes are at one point referred to as "hazel globes", which is a deeply unfortunate image that is now seared into my memory.
- Exposition dumps in dialogue. So many. At one point there is even an exposition dump on the mechanics of a weapon in the middle of an (in theory) fast-paced fight scene.
- Tropes and fandom cliches. You could play fanfiction trope bingo with this book. I'd encourage someone to try, I think it'd be a lot of fun.
- Worldbuilding / science fails. A lot of the plot of this book is based around alternate universes, time paradoxes and time travel, so if handwavey science makes you angry, this is probably not the book for you. (But then again, if it does, why are you reading a Star Trek novel?)
- Logic fails. At the end of a calamitous action scene a character is revealed to have a weapon they could have used at any point, but didn't, because of reasons.
It should also be stated that although 300 pages is not a very long book, Killing Time took me months to finish because I put it down, forgot all about it, and then had to start over when I finally picked it back up. Even though the premise itself was kinda cool, and I really enjoyed how it provides a sequel to a specific episode in TOS, the plot didn't hold me in suspense.
But at the end of the day, a lot of these things are also what I feel characterises a TOS episode: you know it's going to have a happy ending, the science is not in any way even remotely convincing, and the plot is ridiculous. You watch it for the characters and the interactions between them, and the warmth and humanity they bring. The science is not the core of Star Trek, after all: it's the characters that are the core of Star Trek (and in this case, that means Kirk, Spock and Bones, as we don't see much of the others). Even the not-so-good stuff, the campy and the silly, the tropes and the hamminess, felt kind of like a TOS episode.
Characterisation and character interaction is definitely the strong point of the novel. Especially in scenes with Kirk, Spock and Bones, I could quite easily imagine how the dialogue would sound in their voices. The crux of writing an AU is the balancing act of showing the reader how different experiences have shaped a character into a slightly different version of themselves, while still keeping them recognisable at the core, and I thought the mirrorverse Kirk and Spock were pretty well done. The original characters felt believable, and a couple of minor characters from TOS were also developed and given more screen time, which was interesting.
"How slashy is it though?"
In fanfic terms, the only thing missing is the final chapter right at the end where the characters finally get their shit together and kiss and have sex. For obvious reasons, the book never gets that overt. Everything else is there: there's cuddling, there's hands touching, there's shirtlessness, there's other characters being jealous or amused, there's internal monologues about how they belong together in all universes forever... There's even a metaphorical sex scene (but see below). If you can think of a trope, this book's probably got it. It is, for all intents and purposes, a 300 page slow burn.
As far as Kirk/Spock goes, I was very gratified with it and I definitely felt like I got my money's worth from reading this, despite how much the book has been hyped by other Star Trek fans. Despite having a token "female love interest" subplot, it really is incredibly gay.
While on the topic of sexuality and lgbt+ themes, though, I wanna add a couple of small content warnings (very minor spoiler):
1. There is a taunt on page 41 which, although spoken with the express intention of provoking a bully by targeting his toxic masculinity, has not aged well, and involves accusing him of "wearing lipstick and playing with dolls".
2. There's a non-consensual and violent mind meld on pages 173-6 which is framed very much like a sexual assault. While this isn't an unusual trope in fanfiction, and the meld is ultimately necessary in the narrative, it's still something to be aware of.
TL;DR: If you're looking for something great in terms of the writer's craft, this isn't the book for you. This is a fanfic, and in my opinion, if you're going to get the most enjoyment out of it, you should treat it as a fanfic.
So, to give some context here for a second: Killing Time is (in)famous in the Star Trek fandom as the official Star Trek novel that got published, then recalled, censored, and re-published, when the publishers found out that it was written by an established Kirk/Spock shipper, and that the book had homoerotic undertones. (There is a comparison here, but it contains spoilers!) About 150 000 copies of the uncensored version were put into circulation, and those copies which had already been sold and could not be recalled have become more or less collector's items for fans. This book is a tangible piece of fandom history, and I was so excited to get my hands on an uncensored copy.
What this means - and this is a caveat to readers - is that I went into this with a very positive attitude and extremely low standards. I read this as a fanfiction, not as a novel, and I'm reviewing it as a fanfic. If you're not (like me) a K/S shipper, a fandom history fan, lgbt, and/or someone who has read a tonne of badfic, this may not be the book for you.
This book commits a multitude of writerly sins that I was very lenient with:
- Purple prose. Kirk's eyes are at one point referred to as "hazel globes", which is a deeply unfortunate image that is now seared into my memory.
- Exposition dumps in dialogue. So many. At one point there is even an exposition dump on the mechanics of a weapon in the middle of an (in theory) fast-paced fight scene.
- Tropes and fandom cliches. You could play fanfiction trope bingo with this book. I'd encourage someone to try, I think it'd be a lot of fun.
- Worldbuilding / science fails. A lot of the plot of this book is based around alternate universes, time paradoxes and time travel, so if handwavey science makes you angry, this is probably not the book for you. (But then again, if it does, why are you reading a Star Trek novel?)
- Logic fails. At the end of a calamitous action scene a character is revealed to have a weapon they could have used at any point, but didn't, because of reasons.
It should also be stated that although 300 pages is not a very long book, Killing Time took me months to finish because I put it down, forgot all about it, and then had to start over when I finally picked it back up. Even though the premise itself was kinda cool, and I really enjoyed how it provides a sequel to a specific episode in TOS, the plot didn't hold me in suspense.
But at the end of the day, a lot of these things are also what I feel characterises a TOS episode: you know it's going to have a happy ending, the science is not in any way even remotely convincing, and the plot is ridiculous. You watch it for the characters and the interactions between them, and the warmth and humanity they bring. The science is not the core of Star Trek, after all: it's the characters that are the core of Star Trek (and in this case, that means Kirk, Spock and Bones, as we don't see much of the others). Even the not-so-good stuff, the campy and the silly, the tropes and the hamminess, felt kind of like a TOS episode.
Characterisation and character interaction is definitely the strong point of the novel. Especially in scenes with Kirk, Spock and Bones, I could quite easily imagine how the dialogue would sound in their voices. The crux of writing an AU is the balancing act of showing the reader how different experiences have shaped a character into a slightly different version of themselves, while still keeping them recognisable at the core, and I thought the mirrorverse Kirk and Spock were pretty well done. The original characters felt believable, and a couple of minor characters from TOS were also developed and given more screen time, which was interesting.
"How slashy is it though?"
In fanfic terms, the only thing missing is the final chapter right at the end where the characters finally get their shit together and kiss and have sex. For obvious reasons, the book never gets that overt. Everything else is there: there's cuddling, there's hands touching, there's shirtlessness, there's other characters being jealous or amused, there's internal monologues about how they belong together in all universes forever... There's even a metaphorical sex scene (but see below). If you can think of a trope, this book's probably got it. It is, for all intents and purposes, a 300 page slow burn.
As far as Kirk/Spock goes, I was very gratified with it and I definitely felt like I got my money's worth from reading this, despite how much the book has been hyped by other Star Trek fans. Despite having a token "female love interest" subplot, it really is incredibly gay.
While on the topic of sexuality and lgbt+ themes, though, I wanna add a couple of small content warnings (very minor spoiler):
1. There is a taunt on page 41 which, although spoken with the express intention of provoking a bully by targeting his toxic masculinity, has not aged well, and involves accusing him of "wearing lipstick and playing with dolls".
2. There's a non-consensual and violent mind meld on pages 173-6 which is framed very much like a sexual assault. While this isn't an unusual trope in fanfiction, and the meld is ultimately necessary in the narrative, it's still something to be aware of.
TL;DR: If you're looking for something great in terms of the writer's craft, this isn't the book for you. This is a fanfic, and in my opinion, if you're going to get the most enjoyment out of it, you should treat it as a fanfic.
August 6, 2014
Having barely made a dent in the TOS tie-in materials (I only started watching the show a little over a year ago), I was drawn to read this book out-of-sequence by its reputation. I was amused and intrigued by its almost urban legendary status as the Kirk/Spock slash fiction story that actually got a brief publication run as an official tie-in novel, so I made sure to get a hold of the PDF of the "uncensored" first edition.
My verdict as to its aforementioned reputation: yes, there is some significant homoerotic subtext there; but, on the other hand, nothing much more outrageous than you're going to find in some of the canonical material (especially the movies), not to mention the near-infamous passage from Star Trek: The Motion Picture: A Novel (which, in attempting to put the issue of the exact nature of Kirk and Spock's relationship to rest, actually added considerable fuel to that particular fire). Van Hise's (tongue-in-cheek?) claims that there's no truth to the rumours about this book's original content seem pretty unlikely after actually reading the first edition - any time Spock attempts to mind-meld with Kirk is played up as a pretty blatant metaphor, and there's even some vaguely unsettling stuff with Spock performing said action on a sleeping Kirk and then justifying his actions because his friend was "practically asking for it"... I still can't decide if that's being subtly satirical of the K/S slash following, or straightforwardly just plain creepy. Or both. But, ultimately, the novel ends on a rather sweet note between Kirk and Spock's alternate universe counterparts. I won't give anything away, except to say that I think 'shippers who don't mind things staying (just barely) subtextual will like it a lot, but there's nothing so blatant as to detract from the enjoyment of fans who are happy to view the characters as just very good friends. Either way, it's a surprisingly heartwarming conclusion to a novel with such a risque reputation attached to it.
However, it's important to remember that, regardless of Van Hise's actual intentions with regards to Kirk/Spock, Killing Time is first and foremost intended to be a Star Trek novel. In that regard, I found it to be very much like other media tie-ins I have read. With very few exceptions, they are not particularly outstanding works of written fiction, and more than a few are really dreadful, whether it be the poor quality of the prose or the failure to capture another creator's well-known characters. This novel is far from being one of the dreadful examples, but neither is it one of those rare outstanding ones. Van Hise demonstrates a good understanding of the characters and their particular styles of dialogue, and whenever Kirk, Spock and McCoy are speaking you can more or less hear the actors' voices. Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and Chapel all play minor roles and are similarly well written. (I was happy to see Van Hise resist the temptation to render all of Chekov's dialogue in distracting phonetics, which some Star Trek authors do instead of trusting their readers to know what the character sounds like; though she did lose points with me again for doing so with Scotty for some reason.) There's a nice use of (if I'm identifying the character correctly) the guy who sits at the helm whenever Sulu or Chekov isn't there in Season 2 (here called "Richardson" and identified as the swing-shift relief for both): Van Hise gives his personality some development and utilises him very cleverly as a significant character in the alternate universe sections of the book. Having not seen all of the TOS episodes yet, I'm not sure to what extent some other major characters were borrowed from one-off guest appearances or created specifically for this novel, but they were all compelling enough that I'm actually hoping a few of them do pop up somewhere along the way in the TV show. Characterisation was definitely one of this novel's strengths; and, while the prose was nothing special, it served its purpose well and moved the plot along without becoming bogged down in description, even if this resulted in a few phrases being repeated so often as to get oddly jarring.
The plot: Van Hise claims that the 2009 Star Trek reboot borrowed heavily from this novel, and there would seem to be considerable justice in that assertion: a Romulan time travel plot creates an alternate continuity wherein Spock is the captain of the Enterprise, Kirk is an ensign assigned to him primarily as punishment for an infraction committed at the Academy, and Vulcan may or may not have been destroyed by the Romulans. Sounds pretty similar. Of course, there are differences as well: the Romulans' hijinks in the fourth dimension have wiped out most Terran contributions to the formation of the Federation, which is now Vulcan-led, leaving most humans with considerably lower status than in the main continuity. Furthermore, Kirk's history is considerably darker: suspected of the murder of one of his tutors, he's spent time in prison before a torturous stint in a mind-reading machine concludes that he has no memories of the night in question, but most people still believe in his guilt, resulting in his assignment to Spock's crew as something like supervised probation, and the torture he underwent has resulted in an addiction to a mind-numbing drug. These last three plot points promise to be very interesting; unfortunately, they are badly under-used, and if you're hoping to find out more about who framed Kirk (since that's clearly where that was heading), you're out of luck. However, though there are a few such dangling plot threads and inconsistencies (has Vulcan been destroyed by the Romulans or not? Spock doesn't seem sure), the story moves at a good pace, and is very entertaining. It would have made a very good episode of TOS, which in my opinion is all you should really ask of a spin-off novel - and, of course, they more or less made it into a movie, which says a lot about the potential of the story itself.
Van Hise also gets in a couple of hilarious nods to the danger of wearing a red shirt: while in the main continuity everyone seems blissfully unaware of the mortality rate of security personnel, the AU characters have apparently developed a certain superstition requiring you to borrow a friend's blue or gold shirt during your first away mission, which is regarded not only as good luck but a sensible precaution. Fans of John Scalzi's Redshirts will doubtless appreciate the feeling of in-jokey humour the novel has at times.
3.5 stars, if Goodreads allowed half stars.
My verdict as to its aforementioned reputation: yes, there is some significant homoerotic subtext there; but, on the other hand, nothing much more outrageous than you're going to find in some of the canonical material (especially the movies), not to mention the near-infamous passage from Star Trek: The Motion Picture: A Novel (which, in attempting to put the issue of the exact nature of Kirk and Spock's relationship to rest, actually added considerable fuel to that particular fire). Van Hise's (tongue-in-cheek?) claims that there's no truth to the rumours about this book's original content seem pretty unlikely after actually reading the first edition - any time Spock attempts to mind-meld with Kirk is played up as a pretty blatant metaphor, and there's even some vaguely unsettling stuff with Spock performing said action on a sleeping Kirk and then justifying his actions because his friend was "practically asking for it"... I still can't decide if that's being subtly satirical of the K/S slash following, or straightforwardly just plain creepy. Or both. But, ultimately, the novel ends on a rather sweet note between Kirk and Spock's alternate universe counterparts. I won't give anything away, except to say that I think 'shippers who don't mind things staying (just barely) subtextual will like it a lot, but there's nothing so blatant as to detract from the enjoyment of fans who are happy to view the characters as just very good friends. Either way, it's a surprisingly heartwarming conclusion to a novel with such a risque reputation attached to it.
However, it's important to remember that, regardless of Van Hise's actual intentions with regards to Kirk/Spock, Killing Time is first and foremost intended to be a Star Trek novel. In that regard, I found it to be very much like other media tie-ins I have read. With very few exceptions, they are not particularly outstanding works of written fiction, and more than a few are really dreadful, whether it be the poor quality of the prose or the failure to capture another creator's well-known characters. This novel is far from being one of the dreadful examples, but neither is it one of those rare outstanding ones. Van Hise demonstrates a good understanding of the characters and their particular styles of dialogue, and whenever Kirk, Spock and McCoy are speaking you can more or less hear the actors' voices. Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and Chapel all play minor roles and are similarly well written. (I was happy to see Van Hise resist the temptation to render all of Chekov's dialogue in distracting phonetics, which some Star Trek authors do instead of trusting their readers to know what the character sounds like; though she did lose points with me again for doing so with Scotty for some reason.) There's a nice use of (if I'm identifying the character correctly) the guy who sits at the helm whenever Sulu or Chekov isn't there in Season 2 (here called "Richardson" and identified as the swing-shift relief for both): Van Hise gives his personality some development and utilises him very cleverly as a significant character in the alternate universe sections of the book. Having not seen all of the TOS episodes yet, I'm not sure to what extent some other major characters were borrowed from one-off guest appearances or created specifically for this novel, but they were all compelling enough that I'm actually hoping a few of them do pop up somewhere along the way in the TV show. Characterisation was definitely one of this novel's strengths; and, while the prose was nothing special, it served its purpose well and moved the plot along without becoming bogged down in description, even if this resulted in a few phrases being repeated so often as to get oddly jarring.
The plot: Van Hise claims that the 2009 Star Trek reboot borrowed heavily from this novel, and there would seem to be considerable justice in that assertion: a Romulan time travel plot creates an alternate continuity wherein Spock is the captain of the Enterprise, Kirk is an ensign assigned to him primarily as punishment for an infraction committed at the Academy, and Vulcan may or may not have been destroyed by the Romulans. Sounds pretty similar. Of course, there are differences as well: the Romulans' hijinks in the fourth dimension have wiped out most Terran contributions to the formation of the Federation, which is now Vulcan-led, leaving most humans with considerably lower status than in the main continuity. Furthermore, Kirk's history is considerably darker: suspected of the murder of one of his tutors, he's spent time in prison before a torturous stint in a mind-reading machine concludes that he has no memories of the night in question, but most people still believe in his guilt, resulting in his assignment to Spock's crew as something like supervised probation, and the torture he underwent has resulted in an addiction to a mind-numbing drug. These last three plot points promise to be very interesting; unfortunately, they are badly under-used, and if you're hoping to find out more about who framed Kirk (since that's clearly where that was heading), you're out of luck. However, though there are a few such dangling plot threads and inconsistencies (has Vulcan been destroyed by the Romulans or not? Spock doesn't seem sure), the story moves at a good pace, and is very entertaining. It would have made a very good episode of TOS, which in my opinion is all you should really ask of a spin-off novel - and, of course, they more or less made it into a movie, which says a lot about the potential of the story itself.
Van Hise also gets in a couple of hilarious nods to the danger of wearing a red shirt: while in the main continuity everyone seems blissfully unaware of the mortality rate of security personnel, the AU characters have apparently developed a certain superstition requiring you to borrow a friend's blue or gold shirt during your first away mission, which is regarded not only as good luck but a sensible precaution. Fans of John Scalzi's Redshirts will doubtless appreciate the feeling of in-jokey humour the novel has at times.
3.5 stars, if Goodreads allowed half stars.
January 19, 2018
there was some bad het nonsense in here that i didn't like very much but overall i liked it a lot!
July 31, 2007
VISIBLE SUBTEXT.
Read
October 30, 2022Listen. This book is not "good." It's not "well-written." It's barely even "a good story." But is it incredibly homoerotic and a cultural artifact? Yes. And I love it.
March 7, 2023
I'm kind of on the fence about how to rate this one. On one hand, it tugs at my various heart strings because it takes place in an alternate reality (kind of - and I love, love, love the potential stories which can ensure in that environment), and it has a tremendous amount of, for lack of a better word, longing, nearly romantic longing, between Kirk and Spock. But, on the other hand, it's a rather mild version of an alternate reality. By which I mean, apparently the universe itself remembers what the timeline is "supposed" to be like, and any major alterations thereof cause the whole thing to fall apart...like a body rejecting an organ and an organ rejecting a body...as alternate-Spock states.
Essentially, the Romulans go back and ensure that the Federation is never formed, but in its place is a region of space controlled by Vulcans and the Human League of Planets, who have joined forces in an Alliance. Meanwhile, the Romulan Empire, which they were trying to make more powerful with the experiment, is only marginally larger. The Alliance uses the same style of ships as the Federation, only the crews are more like 50/50 Humans and Vulcans, with Captain Spock commanding the ShiKhar (the Enterprise equivalent)...and the whole crew are pretty much in their usual places: Scotty is Chief Engineer, McCoy's the Doctor, Sulu, the Navigator, Uhura on Comms, but, Chekov is the First Officer and Kirk is a lowly Ensign (but, he's not a plucky young one...he's a bitter, grizzled, mid-30s washout Ensign). Starfleet still exists, too...although it is only half the size of its Federation counterpart - and is still able to balance against the Romulans. Those poor, poor Romulans...these novels really rake them over the coals over and over and over again. Oh, Captain Pike even makes an appearance as the Captain of another Vulcan "Constitution-class" ship.
However, many people are experiencing nightmares as their brains are trying to "remember" their actual selves, which run counter to their alternate selves, and the more drastic the difference, the more damage is being done to their psyches. Spock even theorizes that the universe has roughly two weeks left before half the population of everyone everywhere goes completely insane. However, with the help of the Romulan Praetor, Kirk and Spock travel back in time, stop the Romulan agents, and fix the timeline - you just need to go Warp 17 and slingshot around a star.
There's a smattering of non-canonical history here, as well, what with Humanity apparently founding the Federation...in 2097...on Earth...before having met any aliens...but, the novels are known for their lore drifting.
As an aside, Captain Spock is suffering from Pon Farr and mates with the Romulan Praetor, a lovely lady named Thea, who is responsible for the time-travelling events and is the only one (well, kind of - more like the entire crew of her personal battlecruiser) who will remember the events in both First History and Second History (as they call the timelines) completely as she was in a protected environment.
There is also a mention that the Romulans have conducted small-scale time travel experiments to try to improve small sections of the Empire, such as altering the history of one planet to make them stronger, only to have it result in that planet's self-annihilation due to a global war. Or when they apparently tried to alter their historic gene pool to make all Romulan men stronger...which was moderately successful, but led to diseases wiping out 50% of their population due to the genetic changes, as well as making Romulan women smarter, overall. These poor Romulans are just falling apart- what with them losing 1/3 of their population previously due to space COVID...I really feel for them...and still wonder in what way they were ever a threat...
Should you read it? Well...um...I dunno...maybe?
Essentially, the Romulans go back and ensure that the Federation is never formed, but in its place is a region of space controlled by Vulcans and the Human League of Planets, who have joined forces in an Alliance. Meanwhile, the Romulan Empire, which they were trying to make more powerful with the experiment, is only marginally larger. The Alliance uses the same style of ships as the Federation, only the crews are more like 50/50 Humans and Vulcans, with Captain Spock commanding the ShiKhar (the Enterprise equivalent)...and the whole crew are pretty much in their usual places: Scotty is Chief Engineer, McCoy's the Doctor, Sulu, the Navigator, Uhura on Comms, but, Chekov is the First Officer and Kirk is a lowly Ensign (but, he's not a plucky young one...he's a bitter, grizzled, mid-30s washout Ensign). Starfleet still exists, too...although it is only half the size of its Federation counterpart - and is still able to balance against the Romulans. Those poor, poor Romulans...these novels really rake them over the coals over and over and over again. Oh, Captain Pike even makes an appearance as the Captain of another Vulcan "Constitution-class" ship.
However, many people are experiencing nightmares as their brains are trying to "remember" their actual selves, which run counter to their alternate selves, and the more drastic the difference, the more damage is being done to their psyches. Spock even theorizes that the universe has roughly two weeks left before half the population of everyone everywhere goes completely insane. However, with the help of the Romulan Praetor, Kirk and Spock travel back in time, stop the Romulan agents, and fix the timeline - you just need to go Warp 17 and slingshot around a star.
There's a smattering of non-canonical history here, as well, what with Humanity apparently founding the Federation...in 2097...on Earth...before having met any aliens...but, the novels are known for their lore drifting.
As an aside, Captain Spock is suffering from Pon Farr and mates with the Romulan Praetor, a lovely lady named Thea, who is responsible for the time-travelling events and is the only one (well, kind of - more like the entire crew of her personal battlecruiser) who will remember the events in both First History and Second History (as they call the timelines) completely as she was in a protected environment.
There is also a mention that the Romulans have conducted small-scale time travel experiments to try to improve small sections of the Empire, such as altering the history of one planet to make them stronger, only to have it result in that planet's self-annihilation due to a global war. Or when they apparently tried to alter their historic gene pool to make all Romulan men stronger...which was moderately successful, but led to diseases wiping out 50% of their population due to the genetic changes, as well as making Romulan women smarter, overall. These poor Romulans are just falling apart- what with them losing 1/3 of their population previously due to space COVID...I really feel for them...and still wonder in what way they were ever a threat...
Should you read it? Well...um...I dunno...maybe?
March 9, 2015
Time travel Not just in the book, but I also time traveled reading it. I have owned the German translation of this TOS novel for two decades, and I clearly remember it being one of my favourites.
It was interesting re-reading it (or rather, reading it in the original English for the first time), as it made it really obvious that even back then what drew me to Star Trek were the relationships, most notably the one between Kirk and Spock. Because that's what this novel is about - as the internet has informed me, it was actually quite notorious as being one of the "slashiest" pro novels. (Side note. I find this rather amusing, considering that I had no notion that something like slash (same-sex fanfiction) existed, being rather busy imagining myself as Spock's girlfriend. *g*)
Even without this, I still enjoyed this book very much. Some of the writing is a bit weak, tending towards drawn-out exposition, and the plot is necessarily somewhat timey-whimey, but I liked the characterisations and enjoyed the supporting cast. Generally speaking, especially for a novel focusing so much on the two male protagonists and their relationship, the women we do see are treated well. For example there's a nice scene with Chapel that, although short, manages to make her seem like a real person. There's a somewhat superfluous pon farr sub-plot and an overabundance of mind-melds, but I can totally forgive that, and only wish we'd have gotten more time with the Kirk of the other timeline, since his incredibly angsty backstory is only hinted at. (Like, what the heck was up with that murder charge?)
So yes, I consider the hours reading this well-spent indeed.
It was interesting re-reading it (or rather, reading it in the original English for the first time), as it made it really obvious that even back then what drew me to Star Trek were the relationships, most notably the one between Kirk and Spock. Because that's what this novel is about - as the internet has informed me, it was actually quite notorious as being one of the "slashiest" pro novels. (Side note. I find this rather amusing, considering that I had no notion that something like slash (same-sex fanfiction) existed, being rather busy imagining myself as Spock's girlfriend. *g*)
Even without this, I still enjoyed this book very much. Some of the writing is a bit weak, tending towards drawn-out exposition, and the plot is necessarily somewhat timey-whimey, but I liked the characterisations and enjoyed the supporting cast. Generally speaking, especially for a novel focusing so much on the two male protagonists and their relationship, the women we do see are treated well. For example there's a nice scene with Chapel that, although short, manages to make her seem like a real person. There's a somewhat superfluous pon farr sub-plot and an overabundance of mind-melds, but I can totally forgive that, and only wish we'd have gotten more time with the Kirk of the other timeline, since his incredibly angsty backstory is only hinted at. (Like, what the heck was up with that murder charge?)
So yes, I consider the hours reading this well-spent indeed.
July 5, 2010
This book was actually one of the best Star Trek books I have read so far. (About 20 or so) The beginning was kind of corny, before the alternate universe takes over, but from then on it's a blast. There's enough action to keep the story moving, with enough character interaction to keep me extremely happy.
I enjoy a good Spock/Kirk FRIENDSHIP story, and that's what this brought. Although some might argue this could be viewed as slash, (meaning homosexuality) I don't view it that way. The book was that of the bond of brothers through the screw-ups of Romulans. It was immensely personal and sweet between Kirk and Spock getting to know each other and feeling uncomfortable meaning to much to a stranger.
I can understand why Roddenberry banned this book because it doesn't show Kirk as the hero he is, but I like a flawed hero, and all too often we don't get to see that flawed side of Kirk. No character can be pristine and survive the public, and this proves it.
If you can get your hands on a copy, DO IT. It was the best decision in a Star Trek book I've made thus far. The review at the top that has "censored" in the title convinced me to buy it. Please do, you won't be disappointed. (Posted from my Amazon account.)
I enjoy a good Spock/Kirk FRIENDSHIP story, and that's what this brought. Although some might argue this could be viewed as slash, (meaning homosexuality) I don't view it that way. The book was that of the bond of brothers through the screw-ups of Romulans. It was immensely personal and sweet between Kirk and Spock getting to know each other and feeling uncomfortable meaning to much to a stranger.
I can understand why Roddenberry banned this book because it doesn't show Kirk as the hero he is, but I like a flawed hero, and all too often we don't get to see that flawed side of Kirk. No character can be pristine and survive the public, and this proves it.
If you can get your hands on a copy, DO IT. It was the best decision in a Star Trek book I've made thus far. The review at the top that has "censored" in the title convinced me to buy it. Please do, you won't be disappointed. (Posted from my Amazon account.)
December 10, 2018
A Romulan attempt to alter history creates an alternate timeline where Captain Spock of the 'V.S.S. Shi Kahr' must work with an embittered ensign called Kirk to restore a reality that is only found in dreams.
This is the second edition of 'Killing Time', where all the homoerotic subtext has been removed, but the novel is still an unusual love story between Kirk and Spock.
An interesting concept and it is worth looking up the story of the pulped first edition to discover if the original adds to or detracts from the story.
Please note that genuine first editions of this novel prove expensive on the resale market.
This is the second edition of 'Killing Time', where all the homoerotic subtext has been removed, but the novel is still an unusual love story between Kirk and Spock.
An interesting concept and it is worth looking up the story of the pulped first edition to discover if the original adds to or detracts from the story.
Please note that genuine first editions of this novel prove expensive on the resale market.
June 8, 2020
I never really suspected I would wind up reading Star Trek tie-in novels but it's so much fun!!! It's practically fanfiction -- and in this case it's a role reversal soulmates AU, where Spock is captain of the ShiKahr and Kirk is a rowdy ensign with PTSD. I picked up this one specifically because I had heard rumour of romantic subtext between Kirk & Spock, and I was not disappointed. This bad boy was rife with parallels and romantic dialogue. It's a shame that they will never have the guts to publish explicitly gay content of Kirk and Spock but it is fascinating to see writers flirt with the limitations.
There was a lot about this I really enjoyed. I love the antics of the Enterprise crew, the characters just have fantastic chemistry and I'm so sentimental about then, I would watch a kitchen sink drama about them. And I really liked the approach this took to time travel. Normally I'm averse to it (it seems more trouble than it's worth and it's so easy to mess up), but focusing not on the time travelers but on two people who find themselves haunted by other versions of themselves, and drawn to one another as reality collapses around them? Phenomenal.
The only issue is that I found the story really lagged in the third act, which focused on Spock and an original character who was pretty underdeveloped. And the writer inserted a romance between them but there was zero chemistry between them.
There was a lot about this I really enjoyed. I love the antics of the Enterprise crew, the characters just have fantastic chemistry and I'm so sentimental about then, I would watch a kitchen sink drama about them. And I really liked the approach this took to time travel. Normally I'm averse to it (it seems more trouble than it's worth and it's so easy to mess up), but focusing not on the time travelers but on two people who find themselves haunted by other versions of themselves, and drawn to one another as reality collapses around them? Phenomenal.
The only issue is that I found the story really lagged in the third act, which focused on Spock and an original character who was pretty underdeveloped. And the writer inserted a romance between them but there was zero chemistry between them.
August 23, 2014
It's very intense, in terms of characterization, and it does best when it's exploring the Enterprise crew trying to figure out why their new parallel universe is insanely wrong. But this is also a book that tends to hammer home its points -- both large and small -- with a sledgehammer. The Kirk/Spock relationship is extra intense...and I can see where the original, infamous pulped version of this novel was heading. Frankly, it isn't necessary...and the author could have dialed back the emotional intensity without losing any of its power. As for the Romulans, with the exception of one particular character, they certainly weren't as interesting as the human characters. I'm also disappointed that there wasn't more exploration of what this new universe was like, and we're given only hints of the great expanse outside the walls of starships. It's a fascinating, gripping story...but it's also far too high strung and exhausting for its own good.
January 24, 2015
Ah, the elusive Killing Time. Bless the person who typed the whole first edition onto a PDF.
The writing is extremely amateurish and I've read much better fanfiction, there's no question. I could go and list the details about where her writing fell short, but it would take too long and I think you all know the kind of mediocrity I'm talking about.
But rating this three stars feels right. The premise was actually enjoyable and interesting, and the Romulans make any story fabulous.
And of course I couldn't resist all the blatant K/S moments! The ending few chapters were my favorites; they were especially sweet. A shame that it was edited so heavily, because the book honestly loses nearly all it's charm when that aspect is taken away (shirtless scenes and sexually tense mind-melds, oh my!)
Anyway, I'm just glad I finally got to read this.
The writing is extremely amateurish and I've read much better fanfiction, there's no question. I could go and list the details about where her writing fell short, but it would take too long and I think you all know the kind of mediocrity I'm talking about.
But rating this three stars feels right. The premise was actually enjoyable and interesting, and the Romulans make any story fabulous.
And of course I couldn't resist all the blatant K/S moments! The ending few chapters were my favorites; they were especially sweet. A shame that it was edited so heavily, because the book honestly loses nearly all it's charm when that aspect is taken away (shirtless scenes and sexually tense mind-melds, oh my!)
Anyway, I'm just glad I finally got to read this.
November 19, 2010
This had been one of my favorites since I'm a big fan of alternate universes, but... okay, this is way overwrought. WAY overwrought. I enjoy a good drama-fest, but wow. WAY overwrought. Did I mention it's overwrought? It's overwrought. And why didn't I ever see the glaring homoerotic subtext before? I have lost my innocence!
June 6, 2019
This is hard to rate... as a standalone book, it is not good... as a Star Trek story that is faithful to the franchise, it's not good... but in some crazy way of its own, it's pretty good.
September 26, 2021
muito gay, amei.
March 30, 2023
people died
June 13, 2023
“I have, and always shall be, your friend.”
—-
Hits so much harder for me after reading this novel. I’ve read the 1st edition without the censorship and the bond Jim and Spock have is incredible. Their bond is what stood out to me in this novel. In every universe, alternate reality and timeline, Spock will always be Jim’s friend. This really shows when Captain Spock confronts Ensign Kirk about his abuse from Donner and demands to have Kirk change quarters. Spock will always look out and worry for Jim, no matter the circumstances, even if he doesn’t know what’s going on. I can only dream of having a bond as strong as these two, one that transcends time and space. One that always leads back to being “the two of us against the world”. Killing Time is a very well written piece that highlights the best parts of Star Trek (for me), one founded on companionship and space shenanigans.
—-
Hits so much harder for me after reading this novel. I’ve read the 1st edition without the censorship and the bond Jim and Spock have is incredible. Their bond is what stood out to me in this novel. In every universe, alternate reality and timeline, Spock will always be Jim’s friend. This really shows when Captain Spock confronts Ensign Kirk about his abuse from Donner and demands to have Kirk change quarters. Spock will always look out and worry for Jim, no matter the circumstances, even if he doesn’t know what’s going on. I can only dream of having a bond as strong as these two, one that transcends time and space. One that always leads back to being “the two of us against the world”. Killing Time is a very well written piece that highlights the best parts of Star Trek (for me), one founded on companionship and space shenanigans.
Read
December 1, 2019This is probably one of my favorite Trek books, dealing with the notions of a mirror universe, but altering the notion somewhat. Instead of seeing caricaturized opposites of the main characters, we see an Enterprise crew that is still fundamentally good. Just different and experiencing a different reality. And while I was let down at first to see another consecutive book centered around time travel, I thought the approach of this was quite original, showing what could be the actual aftermaths in a timeline after someone was sent back to tamper. The book dragged for me a little early on but overall I loved it.
May 30, 2020
This wasn’t my cup of tea. I think it might have played out better on screen with the actors for Kirk and Spock playing themselves and their evil counterparts. For some reason, it fell flat for me reading it in text.
February 9, 2023
Listen, I knew I'd be getting a kind of suggestively gay book, being that it had to be edited and reprinted after its first run because Roddenberry got mad about it, but I had no idea it was THIS blatantly homosexual. Also! The story is really good! bless you Della
February 16, 2023
The gay bits were really good, the rest not so much. I’m aware that I could just go read better written gay fanfiction if I wanted to, but knowing that this was published under official star trek was what made me want to read this.
March 11, 2023
i have no words right now... so i'll just leave this here
(meme made by my hilarious gf)
(meme made by my hilarious gf)
August 27, 2022
3.5.
Della Van Hise really did it for the gays, and I'm here for it. 🏳️🌈
Della Van Hise really did it for the gays, and I'm here for it. 🏳️🌈
March 11, 2023
This book is a beautiful piece of lgbt history. Thank you, Della Van Hise. ❤️
June 9, 2024
id say what i think but... 2.7
October 20, 2017
I have read a great deal about this book's history. The version I have is the one that was revised and published as a second addition. I am surprised that, if what I have read is true, a same sex relationship would have made it past the editors of Pocket books in 1985. I am sure there were places that such fiction could be found but for a national publisher to allow it most of been a real scandal.
I found this to be an interesting story. I enjoyed watching the crew of the ShiKahr figuring out what is going on and how it can be fixed. I also enjoyed reading how the relationship between Spock and Kirk developed in this alternate universe/time. Especially since it is only days maybe weeks in Second HIstory and not the years in First History. I have always thought that there was a deeper friendship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy than any normal person could have. I think that is because Spock has development a telepathic link with both Kirk and McCoy. I have also always felt that Spock and Kirk were two halves a whole.
I do wish that authors of the Star Trek stories would keep in mind the established history and the names of the characters that have already been established in previous books or episodes. It is very confusing to be reading along and suddenly realize that the secondary character that you are currently read is the same as another character by a different name in a different story. Consistency is a good thing and it is your friend.
There are some twists and turns in this story and it does have a rather sad ending. Overall though it is a good story and worth reading even if it doesn't seem to fit into the rest of the official story line.
I found this to be an interesting story. I enjoyed watching the crew of the ShiKahr figuring out what is going on and how it can be fixed. I also enjoyed reading how the relationship between Spock and Kirk developed in this alternate universe/time. Especially since it is only days maybe weeks in Second HIstory and not the years in First History. I have always thought that there was a deeper friendship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy than any normal person could have. I think that is because Spock has development a telepathic link with both Kirk and McCoy. I have also always felt that Spock and Kirk were two halves a whole.
I do wish that authors of the Star Trek stories would keep in mind the established history and the names of the characters that have already been established in previous books or episodes. It is very confusing to be reading along and suddenly realize that the secondary character that you are currently read is the same as another character by a different name in a different story. Consistency is a good thing and it is your friend.
There are some twists and turns in this story and it does have a rather sad ending. Overall though it is a good story and worth reading even if it doesn't seem to fit into the rest of the official story line.
February 4, 2019
I first read this book from a library shortly after it was published when I was a young teenager. Many years later I found a copy at a book store and was puzzled because it seemed to be missing parts of scenes. It was years after finding that copy that I learned something of this novel's publication history. So. The amount of 'homosexual subtext' to be found in the book depends largely on the printing of the copy you read. The earliest printing has additional material in a number of scenes--largely between Spock and Kirk.
I believe Van Hise demonstrates a solid grasp of the characterization of the established characters such as Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, etc. (And even though the focus of story is Kirk and Spock, there are some really nice scenes between the other characters--such as .)
Van Hise also appropriates two minor characters and creates several original characters--using them to advance the plot and add to the richness of the book's world-building while creating surprisingly complex characters.
There are some grammatical and stylistic weaknesses, but overall I think Killing Time is a good example of some of the earliest Star Trek novels where authors were able to be creative in adding to the characterization of the main cast or the worlds of Stark Trek's universe. It was also very satisfying to me on an emotional level because of the emphasis on the emotional ties of relationships--Kirk and Spock, but also Richardson and S'Parva, and Thea and Sarela.
I believe Van Hise demonstrates a solid grasp of the characterization of the established characters such as Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, etc. (And even though the focus of story is Kirk and Spock, there are some really nice scenes between the other characters--such as .)
Van Hise also appropriates two minor characters and creates several original characters--using them to advance the plot and add to the richness of the book's world-building while creating surprisingly complex characters.
There are some grammatical and stylistic weaknesses, but overall I think Killing Time is a good example of some of the earliest Star Trek novels where authors were able to be creative in adding to the characterization of the main cast or the worlds of Stark Trek's universe. It was also very satisfying to me on an emotional level because of the emphasis on the emotional ties of relationships--Kirk and Spock, but also Richardson and S'Parva, and Thea and Sarela.
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