Chapter By Chapter> Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders chapter 30

Chapter By Chapter (usually) features me reading one chapter of the selected book at a time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as a read-along book club.

In our last chapter, Daniel became my favorite character in the book not part of the original cast as they prepared for the Vulcan version of a trial. This chapter sadly will not continue that but it should be good. I’ve made my biggest issue with the novel clear enough, that the murder plot and character drama could have been better mixed throughout the novel than what we got. Getting past that I have been enjoying the book. No work is perfect but we can see the flaws in good works and the good moments in bad works. It’s what my site launched on declaring and it holds true now. I can even see elements that Ncuti Gatwa and even Jodie Whittaker could have been good Doctors had the right steps been taken. They weren’t.

This is why my comic reviews for example have a “got right/got wrong” format most of the time. With a few exceptions I haven’t seen a comic that didn’t have some redeeming quality despite being terrible, or a story so good there were no flaws. Both have happened, and that’s true for novels, TV, and anything else this franchise has gone into. This book has made one mistake that as a reviewer I have to point out but as a reader hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the book. With that, let’s see what Kirk is up to. Oh right, his date. If my suspicions are true, this may not go the way Kirk wants it.

Yes, it’s Kirk’s date with Eleyna, and whether or not what happens to him is a result of my suspicions or exactly what it looks like we’ll find out in the next few chapters. And there are enough chapters left that this story may not be over. Eleyna talks Kirk into going into the desert to watch the desert moon rise, and there are warning signs Kirk should have caught. I know he has a reputation as a “ladies man”, a rep I’ve found to be rather exaggerated when you actually run the official numbers without adding novels, comics, or other media beyond the show and movies. Granted, he’s had the most romances of the crew but practically everyone on the main and supporting regular cast has had some kind of romance on that show, even for one scene. Also, Eleyna should have thought to bring a first aid kit and water but didn’t. She’s lived on this planet longer.

So when the two get tipsy and he falls off of a small rock ledge that probably hurt more due to Vulcan’s gravity than the trip to the ground, she has to go off back to town to get help. It’s rather suspicious. Remember, she went from “no” to “go” when it came to Kirk asking her out before, and only seemed to care when Kirk started his investigation. Kirk brought a knife Eleyna doesn’t know about, hearing about carnivorous plants with grabbing vines, a sci-fi staple in jungles usually, but here its in the desert. I guess there’s the Sarlacc from Return Of The Jedi.  However, the chapter ends with the roar of a beast. We know from Star Trek: The Animated Series that there are some dangerous animals out there, and that Spock even lost his beloved pet when it saved him from one such beast, the le-matra. Even then young Spock had to be saved by his cousin (actually a time-displaced Spock because he does that now and then, as seen in the Kelvin timeline and another novel I may get to in the future, Strangers From The Sky).

We know that Lorrah has awareness of the franchise, but unlike some modern works her references actually benefit the story rather than being just nostalgia bait for whatever nonsense they’re dropping at the time. We also see more of her building up Vulcan society with histories and foods that aren’t from the show and probably wouldn’t be acknowledged in any of the three timelines that exist now. It’s a fascinating bit of lore building, but I always wonder about the benefits, if any, of creating original lore for an existing fictional culture that won’t be considered canon. It kind of muddies things a bit.

It’s possible Kirk is in real trouble, but did Eleyna really make some odd mistakes for someone who has been on this planet for years…or is Kirk the next murder victim? We may get some answers next time, as a skim tells me they’re ready for that Verification ceremony. If Sendet’s innocent, Kirk’s in trouble considering who he’s expecting to find help.