Star Trek - Sanctuary

'Fascinating,' remarked Spock.  'Apparently, the purpose of this society is to make people feel welcome.'

Star Trek Sanctuary (1992) (#56 Titan, #61 Pocket) is a novel by Star Trek veteran John Vornholt; he does not disappoint with this installment.  Sanctuary, presses all my buttons.  It's very well written, multiple narratives, good pacing and dialogue and also, the story itself is unusual.  If I had to try and put a finger on the influences, I'd say it's a weird hybrid of Brave New World and The Island of Doctor Moreau (it took me a while to pin down why I felt so familiar with the book, there might be something else I'm missing).

The cover, is pretty beautiful but unfortunately doesn't have the third person of the trinity on it (like the Holy Spirit, McCoy is often forgotten) which is surprising because he is also one of the main players in the story.  It's also pretty disappointing,  as this painting is really pretty and I would have loved to have seen McCoy rendered with Kirk and Spock here.  That's just a personal gripe though, it's just the cover!

The initial premise is deceptively simple.  The Enterprise is in pursuit of a dangerous criminal 'Auk Rex', the chase brings them into a sector of space previously unexplored by Starfleet and a planet, previously only considered a myth, called Sanctuary.  This planet is considered the last refuge of the persecuted, renowned amongst the criminal underworld.  Auk Rex flees to the planet, closely pursued in a shuttlecraft by Kirk, Spock & McCoy.

Upon entering the atmosphere of Sanctuary, communications are lost, however Kirk continues the high speed chase with Auk Rex, until finally the pirate crashes into the mountain side, ejecting escape pods at the last moment.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy land their shuttle in an effort to look for survivors, however, after searching for the rest of the day, it appears that Auk Rex has, for the time being, escaped.  Returning to the shuttle's landing site, they find that it has vanished.  A white robed figure greets them - Zicree - and introduces himself as a 'Senite', a race of androgynous beings who inhabit Sanctuary.  Although initially pleasant, even in its refusal to return their shuttle to them, it soon becomes hostile when it learns that the landing party are Persecutors, and not the Persecuted and promptly disappears.

Meanwhile Scotty, who has been left in charge of the Enterprise in Kirk and Spock's absence is contacted by an old Klingon commander whose ship is one of several orbiting Sanctuary.  The Klingon commander informs Scotty that the landing party is lost to them, since there is an impenetrable shield surrounding the planet which allows no communication or ship back through.  Scotty is shocked to hear that Kirk, Spock & McCoy are stranded on Sanctuary, but bluffs, trying not to let the Klingon commander know how ignorant the Enterprise crew are of the situation.  The Enterprise maintains orbit with the Klingon ship and the other bounty hunters.

Vornholt manages to maintain two interesting narratives.  One is the narrative on the surface of the planet with Kirk, Spock & McCoy, and the other is up on the Enterprise with Scotty in command;  I think this is where Sanctuary is head and shoulders above Ice Trap.  Vornholt manages to weave an interesting narrative for the stationary Enterprise while its commanding officers are absent and the action is else where.  In Ice Trap  the Enterprise is cut off from contact with the landing teams due to electrical interference, which is very similar to Sanctuary however, Ice Trap does not give us any insight to the drama or work being done in orbit, there is not the slightest bit of narrative.

I rather liked Scotty's story.  We get to see him playing the diplomat and building relationships with a Klingon commander and a female bounty hunter, and trying to give Kirk, Spock & McCoy enough time to find a way back while Starfleet is trying to call the Enterprise away to another mission, accepting that the landing party is lost.  This part of the story just gave the whole situation more urgency and also allowed Scotty to have some much needed attention.

The main narrative, as I mentioned before, ticked all my boxes for an enjoyable read.  I can tell you that for once, I didn't expect the shocking reveal.  I feel like I really should have, because the narrative is so familiar, which makes it pretty frustrating!

The events of the novel do actually take some time, perhaps about a week in total (without reading it again and making a note of the days passing, I can't say for sure) as there is a lot of time lost travelling from point to point and it takes some time for the landing party to get their bearings.  During the course of the novel we meet several different groups of people living in their own communities: the wildmen in the mountains, the isolationists, the revellers on the coast, the 'intellectuals and women' on their idyllic island, the Senites and the pioneers at the ship graveyard.  Each group either accepts of rejects the hedonistic ideals of Sanctuary; this is where I get the biggest jolt of familiarity.  If you've read Brave New World you'll understand where I'm coming from.

On the surface Sanctuary is the perfect... sanctuary, in that, not only are the people who flee there permanently free from their persecutors, but they are also cared for by a, for want of a better word, monastic cult who don't appear to want any payment in return for their services and aid.  Those who have sought sanctuary are encouraged to live a hedonistic lifestyle, the Senites even provide themselves as prostitutes to sate the predominantly male population of Sanctuary (at the coast).   The Senites use pleasure and hedonism and consumption to stop their charges from thinking. However, Kirk, Spock & McCoy do meet other groups who do no trust the Senites.  The first group is a small group of criminals who reject the Senite hospitality and prefer to live their lives in the mountains, keeping to themselves.  Another group are isolationists, who refuse contact with those outside their hidden community.  There is also another group which get skimmed off by the Senites, all women and intellectuals who perhaps are seeking political asylum or are born on the planet live in comfort on an island which also the location of the Senite monastry.  Finally, there is a group of people living away from society in the 'ship graveyard' who live to try to find a way to escape Sanctuary, using the husks of ships they are left with after the Senites remove essential components.

The big twist (skip this paragraph if you don't want spoilers) is that the Senites, drug and then process the criminals in order to 'reproduce'.  They can't reproduce themselves, so they physically alter the criminals, castrating them, chemically and genetically altering them to create the illusion of unity, or a species.  They also brainwash them so they all think the same too.  Any individual too unlike themselves gets terminated during processing.  The processing plant is a particularly harrowing situation, especially since our three favourite officers are completely dependant on outside help.  The whole idea of this processing plant really disturbs me, and I couldn't help thinking how utterly miserable Kirk would be post castration (and I doubt any brainwashing would work on him anyway!).  The scenes from the Senite factory, really are horror material and stick in my mind most vividly.  Sensationalist, yes.  Enjoyable (in a macabre way)? Certainly.

This processing of sentient beings and the stratification of the society based on intellectual ability, the travelling from society to society together with the hedonism and consumerist ideology is why I associate this instalment so strongly with Brave New World.  The horrendous events in the Senite factory makes me think of The Island of Doctor Moreau, and the vivisection of the animals, making them something other than they are.

All the characters a brilliantly written,  Kirk, Spock & McCoy are all on point, as is Scotty.  The new characters introduced all have a life of their own; I couldn't help liking the Klingon commander or Billiwog or Renna or really disliking the Senites!  There are of course many more, there are a lot of characters introduced, sometimes for only a short while but all pretty believable.  Even each Senite retains a little bit of personality and you can't help but laugh at their frustration at Kirk, Spock & McCoy.

I could just keep going but I'd end up forensically analysing this book and killing it for anyone else.  I can't really fault it, it's good fun, it's interesting and worth the time spent reading it (and in my case, reviewing it),  Just read the book, go now and get it, before I start nattering again.  Shoo!

Essential shelf addition - 5/5