Killing Time; My Beloved

    

    Killing Time has the honor of being of one the most sought-after and controversial Star Trek novels. If you were not aware, Killing Time was first published in 1985 but was edited and reprinted later on, as it was deemed to have too much gay subtext between Kirk and Spock. I was gifted an uncensored copy of Killing Time by a dear friend, and after reading it I can confirm that for the 80's there is a fair bit of subtext in this novel. Now, I do own the later edited edition of the novel, although I have not read it nor do I plan to. Now, let's dive in to the controversy...

The Premise

Normally I am not a fan of time-travel/time manipulation in media, and this book was no exception. I will be honest, if this book was not so notorious its plot would be nothing special. The book begins with Kirk aboard The Enterprise, complaining about mysterious dreams that have been plaguing him and other officers. In these dreams, Kirk is an ensign and Spock is the captain of Enterprise. Suddenly (and without a great transition) we are thrust into this world. The Romulans have been messing with time, trying to stop the Federation from having been created. What will our heroes do? How will they set things straight? To make matters even worse, there is only about a week before the entire galaxy goes insane from the messed up timelines AND Spock is suffering from the effects of Pon Farr. 

Initial Thoughts

I found this book incredibly well-written for what it is. I was pleasently suprised by the level of care and craft in the prose of this book, and it was not a chore to get through. I found that the characters were all in character, although out of the original cast we only really see Spock, Kirk, and Bones. There are two new characters introduced: Richardson, a bridge officer whom Ensign Kirk befriends, and Katallean, an alien quadruped of a species never mentioned in the show. Both characters are fun, and Katallean in particular was a nice touch, as her uniqueness helped to remind me that I was in fact reading about Star Trek, whichI believe gives the author more creativity. The Romulan characters, were compelling, and I found both well rounded, although the book relied heavily on past knowledge of the Romulan empire. While the time manipulation was a bit vague I honestly enjoyed that they did not dwell too much on trying to over-explain the mechanics. Something interesting about the uncensored edition is that Kirk's addiction to drugs is downplayed. I'm truly curious to see how much it is mentioned in later copies because I felt it was barely touched on in this edition, I think that the author should have either gone farther on that or just dropped the thread entirely. It offered little follow-through and I think only existed to make Ensign Kirk edgier, and to emphasize his trauma from the Roman torture machine.   

Subtext

Of course, the reason we are all here. So, how gay was it? It exceeded my expectations. I don't want to spoil, but there are time where a s*x scene would have fit a little too well (there is a rumored first draft with such scenes included). In the brief time we have aboard the normal Enterprise we get Kirk taking Spock to the gardens to discuss their feelings, where they touch each others shoulders, and Kirk thinks about how sad it is that Spock has no wife and no lover. In the altered timeline the power dynamic shifts, as Kirk is now an Ensign. At times it read just like a fanfiction from an overindulgent straight girl would; he is called to Spock's quarters to find him shirtless, where they talk about Kirk's duties and Spock helps save him from an abusive roommate. When (Spoiler Alert) the Romulans decide to force Spock to help them save their planet they kidnap Kirk to blackmail Spock. On this planet where Kirk and Richardson are dumped, Richardson constantly pokes fun at Kirk by calling him 'Juliet', so it seems that even the book is aware of its intimacy.

Weirdly enough, after reading more Star Trek novels this whole thing isn't out of the ordinary. Every single TOS novel I've read has elements of this kind of relationship, and I think this novel in particular is so well known only because it was called about by Gene Rodenberry himself, and subsequently censored.