"Yesterday's Son" by AC Crispin: A Treat for Star Trek Fans

The "Star Trek" franchise will never die - especially through the use of novels based on the series. In the classic series of the 1960's, three seasons were just not enough. But the best of the "Star Trek" books that have come out since the show's demise read just like one of the episodes, as if they were the novelization of a script that the original series never got around to making. "Yesterday's Son" by A.C. Crispin is just such a book. It originally came out in 1983 and has gone through many reprints since then.

Sound Familiar?

If the title sounds a little familiar to fans of classic "Star Trek", then the familiarity is deliberate. This is a sequel to one of the most beloved of the original episodes - "All Our Yesterdays". That's the one where Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock have been stranded in the Ice Age of a dying planet and meet an incredibly beautiful woman named Zarabeth (played by Mariette Hartley).

Just how far back in time have they gone? Long before the cult of logic reigned on Spock's home planet, Vulcan. After a day or two, he quickly reverts to the ways of ancient Vulcans - by quarrelling, eating meat and having sex with any available pretty women. Of course, the pair gets rescued and goes back to the Enterprise, but it does leave you wondering - what ever happened to Zarabeth?

This book is the answer. According to A. C. Crispin, Zarabeth gave birth to Spock's son. Spock finds out when an archeological team discovers drawings of a Vulcan on the dead planet. Spock knows he has to go back in time to try and rescue both Zarabeth and his son. Not the logical thing to do - but the right thing to do.

Seems Like Old Times

Ann Carol Crispin novels are a real treat to read for fans of a particular science-fiction universe. She is not only written bestselling "Star Trek" novels, but also books in the "Star Wars" and the "V" universes, as well as the novelization of the movie "Alien: Resurrection" (1997). She's also written her own stuff.

But what makes "Yesterday's Son" such a treat? Crispin has been able to not only understand the main "Star Trek" characters thoroughly, she also is a fan herself and thus, knows what the expectations are and what the history of the series is. She knows how the characters talks and also keeps the continuity of the television series intact.

Some authors of the "Star Trek" or "Star Trek: The Next Generation" novels just haven't a clue as to what made the series so good. Their versions of the Enterprise crews talk in ways they never talked in the series, so that they seem even more alien than the creatures they encounter. "Yesterday's Son" avoids that entirely.