“There is no one who cannot be bought at the price of the Phoenix” (7).
The Fate of the Phoenix is the Star Trek sequel that no one asked for. This is hands-down the most convoluted, befuddling Star Trek novel I have encountered. While at least it mercifully manages to tone down some of the “slash” nonsense in the previous book (The Price of the Phoenix) it is still rife with plenty of erotic subtext, romantic yearning, and explicit desire for “domination.” Somehow, the hulking “alpha male” Vulcanoid who was killed in the previous book has returned! The Fate of the Phoenix picks up right where the prior book left off. The crew has left Omne’s Black Hole planet, and the duplicate Kirk from the last book (known simply as “James”), has been cosmetically changed to resemble a Romulan before he is led away by the female Romulan Commander (the same character from the classic TOS third season episode “The Enterprise Incident“). In this book, the Romulan Commander’s name is eventually revealed to be: Di’on. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she and James fall in love (indeed, there is even an unspoken love triangle that emerges between them and Spock) as the novel contains many lengthy passages filled with unspoken longing glances and absurd sexual tension. At one point, Di’on walks in on James who “was all but naked and wearing a strip-towel wound around him… Both her rear view and several front angles in the mirrored doors showed that the narrow towel did not quite cover the territory” (16). Di’on then decides to “claim” James with a kiss and she starts calling him her vulnerable young “princeling” as they venture forth on a misadventure to a planet called Thorva where Di’on officially battles for James in an arena fight.
Meanwhile, the real Kirk is back aboard the Enterprise for a mission to the Voran Dynasty Hegemony, a key system for the federation, which will now be recognizing a new regent. The Enterprise has been ordered to attend, observe, and hopefully prevent the secession of Voran. Since Voran contains the largest group of planets in the Federation, secession from could be destabilizing. For this mission, Kirk has been appointed Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the Voran Dynasty Hegemony Conference. And upon arrival –wouldn’t you know it?—the next appointed Lord Regent of Voran is inexplicably the fearsome Vulcanoid with a “wolf smile” named Omnedon (or simply “Omne”). “There was a low, odd murmur as some delegates recognized a dead man… Omne” (87).
Where did this Omne come from? How did he manage to suddenly get himself appointed Lord Regent of the most important group of planets in the Federation? How did Omne, who was killed in the previous novel, use the Phoenix Process to resurrect himself? And what exactly does Omne want now? What is he hoping to accomplish?
Very few answers are given but it seems clear that Omne plans to sow chaos for Kirk and the Federation. In fact, the whole plot is further burdened by a confusing number of characters. There are the two Kirks (Kirk and his duplicate “James”) as well as Omne and his duplicate “Other” who appears in Spock’s body (thus making it difficult to discern who is who between Kirk, Omne, and Spock). Apparently, Omne has perfected the use of the Phoenix Process, even from a distance. And there are now strange telepathic “links” between various characters that are never really expounded upon (the limits of Omne’s powers are never quite clear) and later the “Other” kidnaps James and takes him through an unexplained vortex leading to an “Anomaly,” or a strange interdimensional world filled with giant slothlike creatures, nepenthe plants, and other prehistoric beings. The rest of the characters join together to rescue him. However, during this odd adventure together Kirk somehow outsmarts Omne by feigning amnesia before, in the end, leaving Omne stranded on the other side of the vortex like Napoleon on St. Helena. Then the false Kirk (“James”) suddenly disappears and we are led to believe he now remains with Omne on the other side of the vortex, a phenomenon which Spock notes will not open again for another 53.725 years. Or at least I think this is the gist of this novel.
Apparently, when Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath were finishing up The Fate of the Phoenix, Gene Roddenberry had some concerns over the canonicity of the novel since the idea of duplicate Kirk conflicted with the then-upcoming release of the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The editors were pushing for the duplicate “James” character to be killed off, but Marshak and Culbreath resisted. The whole story is nicely described in Voyages of the Imagination by Jeff Ayers (a guidebook I recommend for all Trek readers).
At any rate, The Fate of the Phoenix is a lengthy, convoluted, tedious, and mostly incomprehensible novel. Between numerous meandering plot threads, a staggering number of confusing characters, and a laborious amount of forgettable dialogue, this one barely managed to retain my attention. I’m sorry to say this was an absolutely dreadful Star Trek read and I would not soon recommend it to anyone.
Marshak, Sandra and Myrna Culbreath. The Fate of the Phoenix. Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1979. This book is dedicated to a few people, including Aliza Tornheim Brown and Rebecca Tornheim Shulkes.