Review: Star Trek: The Original Series – Living Memory
Let’s cut to the chase: If you want to read one of the best Star Trek: The Original Series-era novels, then Christopher L. Bennet‘s Living Memory is for you. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed this delicately crafted science-fiction tale, in no small part because the story centers on Nyota Uhura, one of Star Trek’s most underutilized characters who is nonetheless ripe for discovery.
Living Memory was published in 2021 by Bennett, who is no stranger to formulating Original Series stories. Bennett’s most recent Star Trek work includes 2020’s The Higher Frontier (which is sure to be next on our reading list, considering how impressed we are with Living Memory), and The Captain’s Oath, although that’s certainly not the entirety of his notable bibliography.
As Living Memory’s cover eludes, this book is mainly an Uhura story, something fans probably aren’t used to. The Enterprise’s communications officer, brought to life onscreen by the late, great Nichelle Nichols, was rarely in the spotlight, even when it came to the TOS-based movies. It’s thanks to Celia Rose Gooding’s portrayal of Uhura in Strange New Worlds that the character has seen a resurgence in popularity; Living Memory came out just before that resurgence.
TOS fans will remember how Uhura was quite unlucky in the episode “The Changeling,” when the interstellar probe called Nomad effectively wiped her memory. The aftermath of this traumatic event for Uhura was never explored until Bennett thankfully decided otherwise. In a creative narrative twist, Bennett explores the aftermath of Uhura’s trauma a dozen years after the fact, tying in her inability to remember her previous life with the urge for all living beings to be remembered long after they are gone.
Living Memory takes place between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan, and mysterious micro-wormholes – termed “vacuum flares” by our protagonists – seem to be attacking Federation space. Through no small amount of investigation and reasoning, our heroes realize the attacks are mimicking locations Uhura visited in her pre-memory-loss past. It’s easier said than done, then, when Uhura and the combined former crew of the Enterprise desperately determine why these attacks are happening and how they are tied to the communications officer.
We say former crew because the bridge crew we know and love are in disparate places at this point. Admiral Kirk is the commandant of cadets at Starfleet Academy. Spock is captain of the Enterprise, which is mainly a training ground for cadets. Sulu is an instructor at Starfleet Academy, Chekov is stationed on the Reliant, and Scotty and Uhura are serving on another Federation ship. Much of Living Memory sees these people rally around Uhura, their longtime friend and crewmate, as she figures out how and why the attacks are related to her history.
As you might deduce, Bennett uses this plot to delve into Uhura’s character more than any television episode or movie ever did. You see, Uhura can’t remember things she did or people she knew before Nomad, so it takes some digging into her past through former crewmates, Starfleet Academy friends, and family to shed light on the current crisis. The communication officer’s family, long-estranged following the Nomad incident by Uhura’s own choice, is brought back into Uhura’s life in an emotionally traumatic way – although it’s not all bad, as Uhura learns much about her family’s history, learns the important place she used to occupy in her family, and discovers the chance at rekindling relationships with her loved ones.
The conclusion of Uhura’s story in this book reflects a theme that was later tackled twice by Strange New Worlds: music is one of the strongest bonding forces, no matter your species. Remember, SNW tackled this in the Uhura-centric “Children of the Comet,” and then later in “Subspace Rhapsody.” In Living Memory, Uhura uses song to communicate with aliens who lived in the first minute or two after the Big Bang; what a neat concept to try and wrap your head around. Bennett deserves major props for tying the universality of music into humans’ quest for understanding and communication.
Framing Uhura’s journey of self-discovery and the Federation’s management of the ever-growing vacuum flare crisis is a situation at Starfleet Academy, which naturally involves Jim Kirk, but also Lenard McCoy and a new character, Ashley Janith-Lau. Janith-Lau, who is sweet on the good doctor, is the leader of a protest group that is concerned about Starfleet’s growing militarism. The presence of a group of genetically engineered Arcturian soldiers, collectively known as the Warborn, complicates matters for our protagonists – and that’s even before a well-respected commander stationed in the academy is murdered, with a Warborn as the primary suspect.
In true Star Trek fashion, Bennett engineers this Warborn conflict as an excellent catalyst for sensitive and thought-provoking conversations about Starfleet peacekeeping ideals. Has the organization strayed too far from those ideals? Perhaps more importantly, if one is bred for war but elects to serve a peaceful organization, how would one tackle living a meaningful life? It’s an excellent exploration of the human condition, and yes, we get one or two monologues from Kirk and McCoy ruminating on this complicated issue. Bennett sure does know how to write for these characters.
This isn’t all to say other cast members don’t get a chance to shine. We get to explore a bit of Sulu’s newfound parentage as he spends time with his daughter, Demora, who of course we later see serving on the Enterprise-B in Star Trek: Generations. Chekov’s posting on the Reliant, as first seen in The Wrath of Khan, is begging for exploration, and we get some of that here. Scotty’s traumatic experience with Nomad is brought to bear as he helps Uhura tackle her lingering angst from the ordeal. McCoy gets a shot at casual romance as he develops a relationship with Ashley Janith-Lau. Kirk, of course, gets his moments to shine, such as when he confronts hostage-takers and delivers a quintessential Kirk speech about being a soldier in a generally peaceful galaxy.
We highly recommend checking out Living Memory. Bennett remarkably serves Star Trek, expanding Uhura’s story better than anything else we’ve read or seen on screen. His dedication to the character is clear, not only in his storytelling but also in the lengths he went through to parse out Uhura’s life. As he notes in the acknowledgments section, much research was done in Afro-centric cultures and bits and bobs of Uhura’s life in other Star Trek publications. The effort is commendable.
The TOS cast is served well in Living Memory, and you’d be well served to read it.
You can check out Living Memory on Amazon now.
Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Section 31, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Prodigy, and more.