AFTER AMOK

 Name: Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 – Story 10 “Soliloquy”

Author: Marguerite B. Thompson

Publication Date: 1/1978

Publisher: Bantam Books

Page Number: 2

Historian’s Note: During Amok Time   

Cast of Characters:  Commander Spock             

Starships and/or Starbases: none

Planets: none

My Spoiler filled summary and review: This section is just a single poem that follows:

My father gave no work of love to me.

My mother practiced laudable restraint.

My Vulcan childhood lessons logically

Prepared me to despise the human taint.

I could not blame T’Pring; I saw that she

Let flawless logic over pledge prevail.

For she would stop at nothing to be free

Wisely to mate with a pure Vulcan male.

Human tormentors do not understand

Acknowledgement of feeling causes pain,

Cruelly subvert defenses I had planned,

Plot to anesthetize my watchful brain.

What will they find when I am ripped apart?

“I love you, Captain,” written on my heart.

Additional thoughts: Like with my reviews of “Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti III” and “Elegy for Charlie,” I must confess to have no talent when it comes to judging any type of poem.  I will be breaking it down for its Star Trek content alone.

                It is interesting that, according to the editor’s introduction, Thompson wrote and submitted this shortly after the earlier mentioned “Sonnet.”  I don’t know if that was because she felt filled with positive inspiration to make a poem just as magical or she was an overly enraged Spirk pusher who was highly offended at making Leila Kalomi Spock’s one true love and she needed to correct the narrative. I think it was probably the former but you never know. 

Personally, I think Spock's one true love was Zarabeth not Lelia

                The work begs the question of “who is Spock speaking to?”  I think it is actually no one. I place this into the mess of that was in Spock’s head from the moment he realized he “killed” Kirk to the moment he finds out the truth in Sickbay.  In fact, I imagine the transporter trip up was the longest he ever experienced.  It would be the perfect place for this internal monologue.

T'Pring act of treachery 

                 The monologue covers everything about Spock.  His parents’ actions as well as his own interpretation of the world he grew up on caused him to despise his human traits. How this self-hatred allows him to forgive T’Pring and not blame her.  He should blame her as she is a heartless prick who tried to manipulate two friends into killing one another in order to get the traumatized one to just let her go and so she can be with her lover.  It’s not that she wanted to break up with Spock that was the problem it is that she could have done it a different way that didn’t involve killing someone. (I say a lot about that in my review of “Amok Time.”) The poem ends with Spock’s shattered soul realizing that he killed his best friend and what that will make of him. 

Spock's worst day ever!

Should it be canon: I would say the events discussed already are canon.

Cover Art: As I stated from the first story:

The cover has the Enterprise flying in front of what appears to be a wrecked space station.  Both appear to be in orbit around a planet that you can see part of in the corner.  There is this red haze that surrounds everything.

Final Grade: Final Grade 3 of 5