Boldly Reading Book Club #6 – Matters of the Heart

Boldly Reading Book Club #6 – Matters of the Heart

Our next Boldly Reading Book Club selection is M C Pehrson’s Matters of the Heart. The story is rated T.

Introducing Matters of the Heart

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The story opens with the aftermath of the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Lauren Fielding’s beach house needs repairs, as do a lot of other places, after the damage done by the mysterious probe (spoiler for the film: the probe was eventually stopped by whale song).

Lauren thinks back to someone she misses. That person turns out to be Spock.

At the same time, the post-resurrection Spock is thinking of someone. That person turns out to be Lauren.

The book takes place within the Original Series film universe, after Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and more specifically within the writer’s own Star Trek: Beyond universe. It is a middle story within a much larger arc.

The Characters

The cast is small, and easy to follow. There are three original characters. Aunt Doris is Amanda Grayson’s sister, a woman who Spock recalls as having sided with her own sons when bullying him as a child. Then there’s T’Beth, Spock’s troubled daughter. Doris offers to have the girl live with her. And there’s Lauren Fielding, a former lover, who is jealous of Gillian Taylor’s proximity to Spock. Lauren and Spock both miss each other. But neither of them seems to be able to break through their pride enough to admit that to each other. It’s like a chess game, but no one seems to know who should make the first move.

The original characters are joined by canon characters. Kirk, McCoy, and Rand make very brief appearances. Taylor is seen in a few short scenes. Chapel is mentioned in passing. The spotlight belongs to Spock.

Talking Points

Lauren holds back because of what, exactly? Pride? Jealousy of Gillian Taylor? Did her reasons make sense?

What about Spock’s reasons for holding back? How has he changed, post-resurrection? Were his changes believable?

What should happen to T’Beth? Do you think Spock should hand his child over to his aunt?

Vulcan (Star Trek) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Can Doris be trusted not to just turn T’Beth into a full-blown human type of person? Or will T’Beth’s Vulcan heritage be respected?

What was the climax of the story? Did it devolve to a satisfactory conclusion?

What happens right after the curtain comes down on the story? Where would you take these characters – and this ship – next?

Sequel

The next story in the series is Shadow World. Does that direction make sense for these characters?