n James Blish's brief novel Spock Must Die!, the
Enterprise crew clashes with an old adversary, the Klingon Empire,
and revisits the mysterious Organian race. As the story opens,
hostilities have finally erupted between the Klingons and the Federation,
despite an end to aggression previously forced upon them by the Organian Peace
Treaty.
The Organians, near-godlike pacifist beings who are made of pure thought, had
maneuvered the two cultures into a stalemate. But now the Klingon Empire is
making incursions into Federation territory, and it appears that the
Organians have either departed or been exterminated. And because of the flood of
Klingon attacks, the Enterprise is cut off from the aid of any
other Federation ships, which must scurry to protect space nearer to home.
Determined to solve the mystery of the Organian's disappearance, the Enterprise slinks
through Klingon space on a heading to Organia. But the planet is far away,
and every light year the crew travels brings them closer to danger.
Inspired by some earlier scientific banter, Spock and Scotty devise a
revolutionary plan to use tachyon particles in the transporter process to
enable Spock to beam to Organia, even though the Enterprise is still millions of miles
away.
The plan misfires, resulting in the creation of a second Spock. The two Vulcans are
inimical to each other, and both announce that they are the real Spock. They each declare
that the other must be destroyed. Convinced by the weight of their
inexorable dual logic, Kirk agrees, but which one is the original and
which is the simulacrum?
Meanwhile, other problems have multiplied as well. The Klingons are alerted to their
presence and the Enterprise has a lot of war dogs on its tail.
A quirky classic
Although the title of this book must have launched a thousand classic
jokes, Spock Must Die! actually deserves classic status, arguably
aided by its melodramatic title. Although franchise
literature is frequently substandard or downright cheesy, Blish
writes the Trek characters well, keeping them true to form and, in the
case of Uhura (whose character was always somewhat neglected on the series), even fleshing
them out a bit.
The plot is sound, the pace is brisk and the novel brief. It's an
enjoyable, if not engrossing, jaunt, a typical Trek adventure that is
as easily imagined as a genuine, unfilmed episode. The science is a bit more
involved and better entwined in this novel than it usually is in the
series, and Blish even manages to use the literary giant James Joyce
in a minor plot point.
However, the most disappointing aspect of this adventure is what is
supposed to be its major pull--the twin Spocks. The psychological
impact of the two Vulcans is jettisoned in favor of a mostly scientific
treatment. Blish whets readers' appetites with the intriguing premise of
all that could be impacted by this duality, yet readers ultimately go hungry, for these
issues are dealt with either not at all or in ways that are unsatisfying. Most unconvincing is
the explanation for the motivations of the duplicated Spock which, when they
are revealed, leave the tale flat.
This is an extremely short read, though, and if Trek fans feel compelled to read
just one piece of franchise literature, this wouldn't be a bad choice. As
an extra bonus, readers would then be entitled to strike up conversations
with the phrase, "I've recently read Spock Must Die!"
