Killing Time (Van Hise novel)
A recalled Star Trek novel with Kirk/Spock romantic undertones.
Killing Time is a science fiction novel by American writer Della Van Hise, part of the Star Trek: The Original Series franchise and published by Pocket Books in 1985. It is notable for its original manuscript containing Kirk/Spock slash fiction elements, which led to a recall of the first edition after 250,000 copies had been printed. The first edition subsequently became a collector's item, with more than fifty changes made to a revised version.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Della Van Hise
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Science fiction
- Publisher
- Pocket Books
- Released
- July 1985
- Format
- Print (Paperback)
- Pages
- 311
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The crew of the USS Enterprise begins having strange dreams while on patrol near the Romulan neutral zone. Captain Kirk and Spock admit to each other that they are both dreaming of a reality where Spock is captain and Kirk is a low-ranking ensign. Kirk tells Spock that Starfleet intelligence has learned the Romulans are experimenting with time travel, and additional ships are being sent to investigate. Kirk then falls asleep and wakes up as Ensign Kirk, a drug-addicted ex-convict who has only been on the VSS ShiKahr for one day. The ShiKahr otherwise resembles the Enterprise. The Romulans tried to go back in time and destroy the Federation, but instead created a Vulcan-dominated one. They shielded one of their ships from the timeline change, compared the two histories, and realized they needed to undo the alteration. On the ShiKahr, Captain Spock becomes protective of Ensign Kirk but is wounded during an away mission. Doctor McCoy performs mental scans, and the crew understands that history has been rewritten. The Romulans plan to use Kirk to force Spock to pretend to be their leader. Spock mindmelds with Kirk, and both recognize their original timeline identities. Romulan agents board the ShiKahr and kidnap Kirk. Spock goes along with their demands and travels with them. During the journey, Spock enters pon farr, feels a bond with Kirk, but mates with a Romulan named Thea to get through it. They free Kirk and learn the kidnapping was a trick to send both of them back in time to stop Romulan agents from preventing the Federation’s creation. They succeed in disabling the agents, but Spock is mortally wounded. As reality shifts again, Kirk and Spock mindmeld, and the original timeline is restored.
Development
The initial draft of "Killing Time" contained hints of Kirk/Spock slash fiction, a type of fan-written, same-sex unofficial stories about those characters that began in the 1970s. Author Della van Hise had previously written such fan fiction. When Pocket Books submitted the manuscript to Paramount Studios for approval, the pages with these overtones were flagged for removal. The manuscript came back, but Pocket Books was in a transitional period with editors: Mimi Panich had recently departed, and her successor Karen Haas had not yet started. At some point, someone went through the manuscript and marked the pages Paramount wanted cut with "STET," a Latin proofreading term instructing the printer to ignore previous edits. Pocket Books then printed 250,000 copies for the first run. After release, Gene Roddenberry's assistant Richard Arnold got a letter from a reader claiming the book implied a romantic connection between Kirk and Spock. Arnold passed it to Roddenberry, the Star Trek creator, who reportedly became furious. He complained to Pocket Books, leading to a recall and destruction of the first print run. By then, between 100,000 and 150,000 copies had already reached stores. When word got out, fans rushed to buy the books before they could be pulled, expecting the first edition to become a collector's item. Van Hise later remarked, "If someone went looking for 'questionable material', in Killing Time, they could find it... Just as beauty is in supposedly in the mind of the beholder, so is questionable material." Over fifty alterations were made before a second edition was published. After this controversy, Roddenberry's staff, led by Arnold, tightened oversight of Pocket Books novels. This caused confusion later, as comments sent back sometimes left it unclear whether they came from Roddenberry or Arnold. These notes rejected story developments that strayed beyond the television series' boundaries. Rumors later circulated about a more explicit alternate manuscript with additional Kirk/Spock slash content, but Van Hise denied this.
Critical reception
Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer, writing for Tor.com in February 2013, called Killing Time "incredibly romantic" and said it reminded her of 18th century literary Romanticism, which suggested morality lay in nature and civilization was a corrupting influence. She noted it could be seen as a trivial piece of fluff or a call to action requiring readers to examine their relationships and actions. Elizabeth Woledge, in an article for Extrapolation, described the novel as "erotic but not sexual" and said Spock and Kirk both combine masculine and feminine imagery. She suggested it was not the romantic overtones but this gender-blending that caused the reaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Killing Time (Van Hise novel) published?
Killing Time was published in July 1985.
Which book follows Killing Time (Van Hise novel)?
Killing Time is followed by Dwellers in the Crucible.
More in Novels Based on Star Trek: The Original Series
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