“Captain, this is not a vessel… it is a life form!” (190).
There is a longstanding fan theory that Gene Roddenberry’s novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first novel in Simon & Schuster’s Star Trek Pocket Books line, was actually ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster (celebrated science fiction and media tie-in author who penned the initial story treatment for The Motion Picture, several Animated Series short story logs, and also ghost-wrote the novelization for Star Wars: A New Hope among many other works). However, some four decades after the novel’s publication there is little evidence to support this theory. Pocket Books Editor David Hartwell has claimed Roddenberry wrote the book himself (as quoted in Jeff Ayers’s compendium Voyages of Imagination). So it seems The Great Bird of the Galaxy, himself, wrote Pocket Book #1 (his only contribution to the Trek litverse). Perhaps the most surprising thing about this fact is just how well it is written for someone who was not primarily a novelist.
The Motion Picture is a short, concise Trek novel that moves along at a fairly brisk pace, covering all the major beats of the film (a film which some fans have dubbed “The Slow Motion Picture” owing to its glacial pace). But if you are a fan of the film (as I am) you will enjoy many aspects of this novel. It is an especially welcome departure for me, having just finished reading all the somewhat clumsy Wild West early Bantam era of the Trek litverse. However, The Motion Picture is still a jarring, somewhat strange artifact in the history of Star Trek literature. It is filled with all manner of eyebrow-raising Gene Roddenberry-isms, including new concepts that appear entirely out of left field (like the apparent evolution of a race of “new humans” in the 23rd century), chapters told from different perspectives, ranging from Kirk and Spock to even the nemesis “Vejur,” and perhaps it goes without saying that Roddenberry packs this novel full of all manner of ridiculous sexual innuendo (as he was often wont to do). Everything is sexualized in this novel, from attractive young lieutenants to even Kirk’s first sight of the Enterprise (which is likened to naked Aphrodite).
Roddenberry introduces two interesting prefaces to the novel, one written by himself and the other written by Captain Kirk as if he were a real person. In it, Kirk briefly reflects on his life, his upbringing, the 94 crewmen who died during the historic 5-year mission of the Enterprise, and the surprising futuristic state of humanity. He recalls the origins of his name, which was apparently from his mother’s “love instructor” (whatever that means), and he explains his middle name of “Tiberius” was given as a result of his grandfather Samuel’s fascination with ancient Rome. But the most shocking claim Kirk makes is that humanity has now evolved into two key groups, regular humans and “new humans,” the latter of whom are far more intellectual and less emotional. This little throwaway idea is only mentioned one other time in the novel, yet it raises all sorts of interesting questions about humanity’s future as well as Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek (perhaps it was his basis for The Next Generation). Still, I appreciated both of these fascinating little prefaces. Roddenberry’s love for Star Trek comes across strongly, especially his affection for James T. Kirk, as Roddenberry has Kirk state in his own preface that he edited and approved of Roddenberry’s manuscript for this novel. It reminded me a bit of the playful realism employed by John Phearson in his Authorized Biography of James Bond (click here to see my full review).
The first half of The Motion Picture portrays the story of a now-deskbound-Admiral James T. Kirk as he returns to lead the Enterprise. While touring the Egypt-Israeli Museum of Alexandria with a Libyan scholar (one of the most extraordinary museums on earth) Kirk suddenly receives a strange vision of a trio of Klingon vessels under attack (new K’tinga class heavy cruisers) near the deep space Starfleet outpost station, Epsilon Nine. We learn that Kirk once received a “senceiver” implant in his brain by Starfleet which was intended to be used for giving alerts only for the gravest emergencies… so apparently none of the prior emergencies warranted the activation of this implant. At any rate, further exposition reveals that the threat is not actually from the Klingons, but rather from an enormous cloud-like formation that has easily enveloped the Klingon ships. It is moving quickly through space and is heading speedily toward earth.
Thus, Kirk is dispatched back to the Enterprise which has been refitted and is now under the command of William Decker, son of Commodore Matt Decker (who famously sacrificed himself in the classic episode “The Doomsday Machine”). In fact, Captain Decker was recommended for the role by Kirk. The O.G. crew of the Enterprise are now all scattered, so Kirk finds a way to reassemble the original crew as best he can –Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, McCoy, Janice Rand, and eventually even Spock (who was interrupted from his “Kolinahr” ceremony on Vulcan which would “unburden himself of his human half, which he believed responsible for his pain”). But Spock only rejoins the Enterprise crew after a transporter mishap occurs, in which two crewmen are gruesomely killed: a Vulcan named Commander Sonak (Kirk’s initial choice to replace Spock) and an attractive woman named Lori Ciana. She is a former zeno-psychologist in charge of Starfleet’s relationships with non-human species, and she has apparently been in a one-year sexual arrangement of sorts with Kirk, which he later realizes was pre-arranged by Admiral Nogura in order to exploit Kirk in his new role (and keep him behind a desk in order to preserve his image as a legendary figure in Starfleet). Nevertheless, Kirk does seem to have genuine affection for Lori. At one point, Kirk’s inner monologue reflects: “…her lips seemed to caress his name as she spoke it… He could almost catch the scent of her body fragrance, and he could feel the slight pressure of his genitals responding to those memories” (19). This is an amusing little bit of detail that is completely absent from the film and it helps to expound upon her death as a serious tragedy.
Likewise, we also learn a bit more about the Deltan species when Ilia is brought onboard the Enterprise as an expert navigator. Ilia is a hairless Deltan woman, a species that apparently emits strong pheromones that trigger hormonal responses and sexual arousal in humans and other similar creatures (cue the numerous passages in the novel of sexual excitement when she appears). Sex with a Deltan is described as a unique, wholistic union of body and mind. Ilia is also the former lover of William Decker (naturally). But since her presence on the ship could pose problems for the male members of the crew, she has taken an “oath of celibacy” which is apparently enough for Starfleet (are there no other competent navigators available for such a critical mission?)
Anyway, with the whole crew united, the Enterprise can finally fly off and confront the massive cloud that brings “green death” to all in its wake. From here, the plot picks up speed and largely mirrors the beats of the film: Spock faces the cloud and attempts to mind-meld with it, a plasma energy beam explores the Enterprise, we learn its name is “Vejur” (as spelled phonetically in the novel), and then Vejur captures, kills, and creates an exact replica of Ilia, right down to her Deltan abilities. From the Ilia replica we learn that Vejur holds humans in very low regard, referring to the crew of the Enterprise as a mere “carbon unit infestation,” and we also learn that Vejur intends to make haste for earth in order to meet its creator. Why? Well, as the Enterprise passes through numerous visuals of brightly lit stars, “sensor bee” swarms, memory crystals, and a wormhole effect inside the giant cloud, the ship eventually arrives at Vejur’s glittering nucleus where there exists Vejur’s founding building block, a worn down piece of ancient earth technology reading “V’ger Six,” or Voyager Six, one of the early Voyager probes launched by NASA (in reality only two Voyager probes were launched, not six, both launched in 1977). Vejur is actually an evolved organism, a living machine that originally formed out of NASA’s Voyager program. Now it seeks to return home, to meet its godlike “creator,” but when confronted, something happens to Vejur. The Ilia replica and William Decker decide to reignite their love. Decker and Ilia have sex and in so doing, they join their consciousness together to transcend and form an entirely new being, on a higher plain of consciousness, so that Vejur can travel onward and explore the far reaches of the universe, rather than threaten earth anymore.
“It would seem to me, Captain, that the dimensions of creation make our future choices almost limitless” (235).
Final Thoughts:
Despite all the sexuality oozing off the page of this one, along with various odd moments of characters behaving strangely (like when Kirk suddenly blurts out “shit!” or the infamous footnote in which Kirk addresses the “Spirk” slash fiction that permeated early Trek books), I enjoyed The Motion Picture far more than expected. There is an interesting techno-optimist, trans-humanist theme about humanity evolving away from its “primitive” state in this book. Overall it serves as a nice bridge from the raucous, free-wheeling Bantam era to the more official pseudo-canonized Pocket Books era of Star Trek literature. The Motion Picture is a wonderfully unique, serviceable novelization that I quite appreciated, even with all its quirks. It comes recommended from me.
Roddenberry, Gene. Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Gallery Books, New York, New York (reprint of the 1979 edition). Based on the screenplay by Harold Livingston which was based on the story by Alan Dean Foster.
I remember reading this before I saw the movie in the theater way back when. I also thought it was a fact that Alan Dean Foster wrote the novel. If not, I still don’t believe Roddenberry wrote it. More likely, D.C. Fontana wrote it and he put his name on it.