Michel Siskoid Albert's Reviews > Yesterday's Son

I must have been 12 years old or so when I read Yesterday's Son, my first Star Trek tie-in novel. Ann Crispin offers a slim volume (only 140 pages) that serves as sequel to the episode "All Our Yesterdays", revealing that Spock gave Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley) a son in that story. By introducing elements from other stories, including the Guardian of Forever and a known Romulan from the TOS era, she skirts quite close to fanwankery, but I think mostly manages to avoid it, making each reference simply a good use of the established world. Obviously, the draw is seeing how Spock would deal with having a son, and it goes about how well you think it would, with the climax providing a chance for bonding and, amusingly, Spock giving Zar "the talk". The story could have been expanded fairly easily, as some of the action happens offscreen, but it doesn't feel too short. The three main characters are well characterized and Crispin also gives Uhura more to do than usual. A pleasant episode sequel I didn't mind revisiting, in preparation for my reading ITS sequel. Stay tuned.