Real world article
(written from a production point of view)
The epic novel of first contact between man and Vulcan!
Strangers from the Sky is a Pocket TOS novel – the second so-called "Giant" novel – written by Margaret Wander Bonanno. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in September 1987.
Summary[]
- From the book jacket
- James Kirk didn't normally pay much attention to this thing – a best-selling book, and a controversial one at that. But Strangers From the Sky had piqued his interest – and everyone else's, it seemed. For the book disputed a fact well known to every Federation schoolboy: That Earth's first encounter with alien life had occurred when the UNSS Icarus came upon the humanoid people of Alpha Centauri in 2048.
- Strangers claimed that history was wrong…that Humanity's First Contact with another sapient species had taken place years earlier. And that when the two races met, something happened. Something so climactic, so dangerous, that it had been wiped from the records and kept secret by both worlds for almost two centuries.
- But when Kirk read the book, it triggered strange dreams… nightmares that threatened first his health, then his sanity. It was only when he discovered that Spock also shared those dreams that the Admiral began to wonder: Could there be more to this book than he or anyone guessed…?
- Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.
Background information[]
- The premise of this novel (a Vulcan scoutship crashing and forcing Vulcans and Humans to interact before the "official" first contact between the two races known to history) was reused in a very similar manner in ENT: "Carbon Creek".
- The framing sequences of this story are set prior to "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- Author Bonanno noted that the framing sequence was suggested by her editor, in order to keep it in the same timeframe as the preceding "Giant" novel, Enterprise: The First Adventure. (Voyages of Imagination, p. 122)
- The "author's foreword" of the novel within the novel puts the "official" first contact between man and Vulcan as occurring in the year 2065 (some 17 years after first encountering beings from Alpha Centauri in 2048). These events were overridden by those seen in Star Trek: First Contact.
- Strangers from the Sky reached number seven on the New York Times Best Seller List for 19 July 1987, its second week on the list. [1] It remained on the list for at least six weeks.
- The Science Fiction Book Club released a special hardback edition of the novel in August 1987.
- The book was re-released in 2006 to mark the 40th anniversary, with a new afterword by author Bonanno.
- The audiobook adaptation was performed by George Takei and Leonard Nimoy, and was released on cassette and as part of the Star Trek 25th Anniversary Audio Collection CD set.
Cover gallery[]
Inside cover art
Cover of the Science Fiction Book Club hardback
2006 re-release cover
Audiobook cover, US cassette edition
Audiobook cover, UK cassette edition
Characters[]
- James T. Kirk
- Spock
- Leonard McCoy
- Nyota Uhura
- Kirk met Uhura in Spacedock One who was in company with Cleante al-Faisal.
- Dr. Krista Sivertsen
- A former student of McCoy's who attended his lectures when he was still married. McCoy visited the psychiatrist to talk about Admiral Kirk with her. Krista was also the roommate of Elizabeth Dehner during their internship and exchanged letters until Dehner's first space mission after Aldebaran.
- Purdi
- The Troyian Purdi owns a bookstore on Earth where Kirk bought Strangers from the Sky.
- Cleante al-Faisal
- Kirk met her in Earth Spacedock. She was the decisive factor why Kirk bought Strangers from the Sky as she claimed a character from the novel was an ancestor of her.
- Cleante is a character from the author's novel Dwellers in the Crucible.
- T'Shael
- Vulcan with a blood disease who needs to consult Dr. M'Benga on a regular basis.
- T'Shael is a character from the author's novel Dwellers in the Crucible.
Vulcan crew[]
- T'Lera
- Commander of the mission. She had no contact with her son's father Sotir for a long time. Together with her son, she is one of two survivors of the crash-landing in 2045.
- T'Preth
- Helmsman and linguist.
- Savar
- Prefect Savar established the rules of interstellar exploration and was the father of Commander T'Lera. He observed the last two major wars on Earth. In 2045, he died at the age of 221.4 years.
- Sorahl
- Navigator aboard the Vulcan explorer and son of T'Lera.
- Selik
- Astrocartographer of the mission. Selik was a member of the Vulcan High Command and would act as representative if contact was established with Earth.
- T'Syra
- T'Syra monitored Earth's radio signals and acted as the healer and xenobiology expert on the mission. She was Selik's partner and accompanied Commander T'Lera in all but their first mission.
- Stell
- Sociologist and musician, who also worked as a technician.
Argo III inhabitants[]
- Yoshi
- Tatya Bilash
- A "full-figured" woman of Ukrainian descent.
USS Enterprise crew (2284)[]
- Tran Van Ky
- Communications officer who received three commendations during Spock's training missions.
- Mathee
- Lieutenant
USS Enterprise crew (2265)[]
- Gary Mitchell
- Elizabeth Dehner
- Psychiatrist aboard the Enterprise who died after in the first year under Kirk's command. Elizabeth Dehner was a student of McCoy's and was once the roommate of Krista Sivertsen during her internship. Until her posting aboard Enterprise, she worked at Aldebaran.
- Lee Kelso
Delphinus crew[]
- Jason Nyere
- Captain
- Melody Sawyer
- First Officer
- Henry Moy
- Ensign
- Reeta Patel
- Lieutenant
References[]
- AeroNav
- The military arm of United Earth for a period of time after the Third World War. It is a partially combined military service embracing all aerospace and naval forces (with Ground Forces apparently having a separate command), and is identified as an organization that, eventually, evolved into (or provided an inspiration for) Starfleet. The Delphinus was one of its combat/patrol ships, which operated out of an AeroNav base at Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the South Pacific.
- M-155
- Argo III
- Tang farm in the Pacific Ocean.
- Kiev
- Capital city of Ukraine. Tatya has an aunt working as a news correspondent in Kiev.
- Starbase 6
- McCoy visited Starbase 6 in 2265, with Dr. Piper taking his position as chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise during this trip.
- Carl Sagan
- Melody jokingly speculated Carl Sagan once said aliens look like petunias.
- T'Sri
- T'Sri is a healer specializing in psychology. She was the only expert close enough to Earth, but was on a 17-day remote to Rigel XII.
- T'sai
- The Vulcan master who guided Spock through kolinahr.
- The name was taken from the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
- Commander Kyle
- Former transporter chief of the Enterprise originating from Australia. Kirk had not seen him since Kyle's transfer to the Reliant.
Timeline[]
- Note
- The timeline of this book was originally based on the Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology.
- 1823
- Savar is born.
- 2028
- Melody Sawyer participates in the tennis finals on Goddard Moonbase and finishes second.
- 2045
- The Vulcan scoutship crash-lands on Earth.
- 2048
- The Icarus arrives in the Alpha Centauri system.
- 2055
- Major breakthrough in warp technology research.
- 2065
- The Amity rescues the crew of a disabled Vulcan ship in the Solar system. This marks the official first contact.
- 2265
- Kirk, Spock, Kelso, Mitchell, and Dehner beam down to M-155.
- 2284
- The novel Strangers from the Sky is published.
- The time difference between "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is originally given as fifteen years, because that was the same time used in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Voyages of Imagination therefore sets the first part of the book a year before the events of Star Trek II.
External links[]
- Strangers from the Sky at Wikipedia
- Strangers from the Sky at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Strangers from the Sky at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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