 Cover | |
| Author | Jean Lorrah |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
Publication date | November 1984 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 278 |
| ISBN | 0-671-72367-7 (first edition, paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Tears of the Singers |
| Followed by | Uhura's Song |
The Vulcan Academy Murders is a science fiction novel by American writer Jean Lorrah, part of the Star Trek: The Original Series franchise.
Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy travel to a hospital facility on Vulcan to acquire treatment for a badly wounded Enterprise crew member. Kirk encounters Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson, and Spock's father, Sarek, and soon becomes heavily involved in Spock's personal life.
Then people begin to die. Kirk, trying to solve the case, is hampered by some Vulcans' belief that it would be illogical for murder to be happening on their home world, and that the deaths are therefore accidents. But he knows criminal behavior when he sees it, and presses on.
Lorrah decided to write a script for Star Trek: The Original Series after seeing the first episode, [1] but found that she couldn't due to issues with Hollywood agents. She decided afterwards to write a Star Trek novel, but shelved the idea at first as Pocket Books were only accepting submissions from published authors at the time. After she published First Channel and Savage Empire , she decided to give a Star Trek novel, describing the story as one that "grew out of my fannish stories in the Night of the Twin Moons universe." [2] She wrote a sequel which was published in February 1988. Entitled The IDIC Epidemic , she described it as another story taken from the universe of her other novels. [3]
The Vulcan Academy Murders reached 12th place in the New York Times Bestsellers list in November 1984. [4] Jordan Hoffman read the book as a test case as to see whether or not he should read and review the non-canonical Star Trek novels for his blog. He got halfway through the book before discarding it, calling it a "waste of my fucking time!" [5] Lisa Evans, while writing for the Daily Kos blog, described the novel as "not only is mediocre Trek but a mediocre mystery". [6]
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He first appeared in the original Star Trek series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise as science officer and first officer and later as commanding officer of the vessel. Spock's mixed human–Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character's appearances. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films. After retiring from active duty in Starfleet, Spock served as a Federation ambassador, and later became involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova, leading him to live out the rest of his life in a parallel universe.
Nyota Uhura, or simply Uhura, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. In the original television series, the character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who reprised the role for the first six Star Trek feature films. A younger Uhura is portrayed by Celia Rose Gooding in the 2022 prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, while an alternate timeline version of Uhura has been portrayed by actress Zoe Saldaña in the feature films Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Star Trek Beyond (2016).
Sarek is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock. The character was originally played by Mark Lenard in the episode "Journey to Babel" in 1967. Lenard later voiced Sarek in the animated series, and appeared in Star Trek films and the series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Saavik is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She first appeared in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) played by Kirstie Alley. Robin Curtis took over the role for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
"Unification" is a two-part episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation which features Leonard Nimoy as Spock. The first of the two episodes earned a 15.4 household Nielsen rating, drawing over 25 million viewers, making it one of the most watched episodes in all seven seasons of The Next Generation's run.
"The Infinite Vulcan" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek: The Animated Series. It first aired on NBC on October 20, 1973, and was written by Original Series cast member Walter Koenig. It was the actor's only involvement in the series, as he had not been hired to voice Pavel Chekov in the animated version due to budgetary limitations. With "The Infinite Vulcan", Koenig became the first member of the Star Trek cast to write an episode for the franchise. As with the rest of the first season, the episode was directed by Hal Sutherland.
Star Trek: Rihannsu is a series of interlinked novels, written by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, published by Pocket Books from 1984 to 2006. The series name was retroactively applied to the first novels with the release of new installments in 2000. A fifth novel was published in 2006.
Mission to Horatius is a novel based on the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was published in 1968 by Whitman, and was the first original novel based on the series; the first novel for adult audiences, Spock Must Die!, was not published until February 1970. Mission to Horatius details the adventures of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise investigating where a distress signal had originated, resulting in them engaging with several different human colonies.
Spock Must Die! is an American science fiction novel written by James Blish, published February 1970 by Bantam Books. It was the first original novel based on the Star Trek television series intended for adult readers. It was preceded by a tie-in comic book line published by Gold Key and the novel Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds, all intended for younger readers.
Star Trek: The New Voyages (1976) is an anthology of short fiction based on Star Trek, edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. Although published professionally, the collected stories were written and submitted by fans. Many of the stories were previously published in fanzines, or collected in fan-published anthologies. The New Voyages was commissioned by Frederik Pohl following his acquisition of Star Trek Lives!, which featured essays on the growing Star Trek fandom, and a chapter on Star Trek fan fiction.
Spock, Messiah! is the second original novel based on television series Star Trek intended for adult readers, written by Theodore R. Cogswell and Charles A. Spano, Jr. It was preceded by Spock Must Die! (1970), and Mission to Horatius (1968). However, Mission was intended for young readers.
Vulcan! (1978) is a science fiction novel by American writer Kathleen Sky, a tie-in of Star Trek: The Original Series. The book is an adaptation of an unproduced spec script by Sky.
"The Pirates of Orion" is the second season premiere episode of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek: The Animated Series, the 17th episode overall. It first aired on NBC on September 7, 1974. It was directed by Bill Reed and written by Howard Weinstein. The episode was Weinstein's first professional sale at the age of 19, making him, as of 2023, the youngest writer of any Star Trek TV episode.
Star Trek: Sarek is a novel by A. C. Crispin, set in the fictional Star Trek universe. It is set shortly after the motion picture Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan discovers evidence of a complicated plot to cripple the United Federation of Planets; he must work to find out who is behind it while also coming to terms with the death of his human wife, Amanda Grayson. A secondary storyline follows the adventures of Peter Kirk, nephew of James T. Kirk, who inadvertently becomes caught up in the enemy's schemes.
Vulcan's Glory is a Star Trek: The Original Series novel written by D.C. Fontana. Fontana was a writer and producer on the original Star Trek television series and was primarily responsible for writing much of the backstory surrounding Spock's Vulcan heritage. This was the only Star Trek novel written by her to be published in her lifetime.
Killing Time is a science fiction novel by American writer Della Van Hise. Part of the Star Trek: The Original Series franchise, it was published by Pocket Books in 1985. The original manuscript had Kirk/Spock slash fiction elements, and these were requested to be removed by Paramount. However, they were not removed, and 250,000 copies were printed. These romantic undertones between Spock and James T. Kirk were brought to the attention of the office of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, who made Pocket Books recall the first edition. This edition subsequently became a collector's item, with more than fifty changes made to a revised version.
The Pandora Principle is a science fiction novel by American writer Carolyn Clowes, part of the Star Trek: The Original Series. It features the origin story of Saavik, and how she came to know Spock.
Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion (2006) is a reference work by Jeff Ayers published by Pocket Books. The book contains entries on the production and publication of Star Trek tie-in novels published from 1967 to 2006. Included are brief synopses of plots for each featured novel.
Sondra Marshak is an American science-fiction writer. She is most well known for her work co-written with Myrna Culbreath. She was a co-writer of Star Trek Lives! (1975), with Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and television producer Joan Winston. She was an early promoter of Star Trek fan culture, and a publisher of fan fiction.