#the entropy effect

[idontwanttoboldlygo]

woah. Also on Spanish they specifically say that Spock caressed Kirk's cheek!! Which, technically, is the same as here, but you should have seen my reaction. I screamed silently

[warpfactor9]

finest officers in the fleet, everybody

[fantasy-the-final-frontier]

“Spock,” he said, “you aren’t saying you haven’t had any sleep in six weeks, are you?”

“No, Captain.”

“Good,” Kirk said, relieved; and, after a pause, “Then what are you saying?”

“It will not be six standard weeks until day after tomorrow.”

- Vonda N. McIntyre, The Entropy Effect

[self-made-purgatories]

I just finished the first chapter of The Entropy Effect, the second book in the Star Trek novels series. So far in this book:

1. Kirk and Spock make a plan for a meeting with a person of some importance. In the middle of the meeting, Spock improvises a complete 180* change to their previous plan. Kirk follows his lead and just backs him up, no hesitation, trusting him to explain it later. (Perfectly normal captain - first officer bestie behavior, I'm sure.)

2. Kirk is reunited with a woman he used to have a crush on many years ago, and the two of them seem to be having some flirty chemistry. In the middle of their time together, Spock suddenly calls Kirk with a very mundane non-urgent request and Kirk basically goes, "Ope, my husband Spock needs me to go do something, guess I better drop everything and go, k byeeeeee"

3. Kirk and Spock have this adorable exchange:

"Mysteriouser and mysteriouser." He glanced at Spock, expecting a questioning gaze in response to his poor grammar. Kirk did not feel up to trying to explain Lewis Carroll to a Vulcan, much less Lewis Carroll misquoted. But then Spock said, straight-faced, "Curious, sir. Most curious, sir." Kirk laughed, surprise allowing him a sudden release of tension.

4. Bonus: Most of the crew is on shore leave. Bones is drunk.

5. Bonus bonus: Sulu has long hair and a (female) love interest. He is teaching her to fence, she is teaching him judo. She is "straddling his hips" (giving him a massage) by page 9. THEN she asks his first name. They are just friends!! for now. but, based on vibes, my guess is they are about ten pages away from fucking on the gymnasium floor. or maybe I've been reading too much fanfiction

This is all in chapter one.

Based on the image on the front cover (and the fact that the first novel in the series is the novelization of The Motion Picture), it appears this is a just-post-TMP-era story. The fact that this is older and wiser Kirk, Spock, and Sulu (and, in my headcanon, married Spirk) up to these shenanigans just warms my heart.

[lichqueenlibrarian]

Someone call the HR department.

[thewomancallednova]

reading The Entropy Effect (which is excellent so far) and it just fucking throws out there that Kirk‘s biggest regret is not joining his then-gf‘s polycule and also he said he could have loved everyone in it so this is a huge win for bi kirk

[jadziacore]

i just finished reading the 1981 TOS novel The Entropy Effect by Vonda N. McIntyre! the plot is a sort of time-travel mystery, which i always lose track of at some point, but i really loved the OCs - mainly Mandela (coolest woman ever) and Hunter, plus some new aliens! (i love when writers can invent species without the constraints of practical makeup) ((the really tall one and the cat-like woman were implied to be girlfriends i'm pretty sure?? please tell me someone else saw it too)). sadly they weren't that involved in the main plot, which focused mainly on Spock and McCoy. Kirk was out of commission for most of the action but he still had some bangers like the polycule he regrets not joining and a very intense mind meld with Spock. i also enjoyed how Starfleet was not that utopic and had bunch of problems, mainly shown through Hunter. there were different POVs throughout and Spock's was so fun it felt like the "Vulcans don't lie" he lied thing the whole time lol. anyway the infirmary scene at the end was clearly inspired by the one in Amok Time. i also liked Bones in this, he acted so done with all the shenanigans but in the end always trusted and helped Spock. the Sulu sideplot was great and i'm so glad everything worked out for him in the end. in general the relationships portrayed in this book were all interesting and different from one another. but now i wish the show had Mandela as security officer too...

[lightshiningforth]

The Entropy Effect is such a good story that I forgive Vonda McIntyre for giving Sulu a mustache.