Ishmael (Star Trek)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Ishmael'' is a novel by Barbara Hambly, set in the ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' fictional universe.


Plot

Spock Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...
travels back to the time and place of '' Here Come the Brides'', a 1968-70 ABC television series loosely based upon
Asa Mercer Asa Shinn Mercer (June 6, 1839 – August 10, 1917) was the first president of the University of Washington, Territorial University of Washington and a member of the Washington State Legislature, Washington State Senate. He is remembered primar ...
's efforts to bring civilization to 1860s
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
by importing the marriageable Mercer Girls from the war-ravaged East Coast of the United States. The show's premise was that eldest brother Jason Bolt bet his entire logging operation that he could persuade one hundred marriageable ladies to come to Seattle, and that all of them would be married or engaged within one year. Much of the dramatic and comic tension revolved around the efforts of their benefactor Aaron Stemple to thwart the deal and take control of the Bolts' holdings. Spock discovers a
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
plot to destroy the Federation by killing Aaron Stemple before Stemple could thwart an attempted 19th-century alien invasion of Earth. During most of the story, Spock has lost his memory and is cared for by Stemple, who passes him off as his nephew "Ishmael" and helps him hide his alien origins. Spock identifies one of the women in the story as likely to be one of his ancestors (on his mother's side).


Spock's family name

The book ends with Kirk accessing the personnel record of his first officer, which reveals that Amanda Grayson's middle name is Stemple and that she was born in Seattle, Washington, thereby suggesting that Spock's mother is a descendant of Aaron Stemple; as a result of Spock being with Aaron Stemple, Stemple falls in love with Biddy the plainest of the girls. He asks her to marry him just before the Klingons arrive to try and kill Stemple. The same personnel record gives Spock's full name as S'chn T'gai Spock and his father as S'chn T'gai Sarek. Spock's family name has never been revealed on screen and only referred to as "unpronounceable" to humans (in the episodes " This Side of Paradise" and "
Journey to Babel "Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967. In the episod ...
"). As with the forenames for
Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...
and Uhura, first proposed in other Pocket Books ''Star Trek'' novels of this period (Hikaru and Nyota respectively) which were accepted as canon by Paramount in the 2009 feature film, Spock's full name became canon with the release of promotional materials for '' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'' in 2022.


Cameos, References, and Meta

Numerous other
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and science fiction characters make
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
s throughout the book. In
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, Spock plays chess with a gunfighter dressed in black, which matches the description of Richard Boone's character Paladin in the TV series '' Have Gun Will Travel'' (pages 180-182). Star Trek creator
Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...
is credited for writing 24 episodes of this series. The British TV series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' is referenced at least four times: the Fourth Doctor is described on page 13, Metebelis crystals from the serials '' The Green Death'' and '' Planet of the Spiders'' are mentioned on page 57, the
Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...
is described on page 154, and Kirk recalls legends of a planet of stagnant time-travellers in the Kasteroborous galaxy on page 200. Page 13 features
Han Solo Han Solo () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'', and later appeared in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''Star Wars: The F ...
("a scruffy-looking spice smuggler") from ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
, ''as well as
Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
and Starbuck from ''
Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...
'' ("a pair of brown-uniformed pilots from some down-at-the-heels migrant fleet"). Pages 153-154 feature Little Joe Cartwright and his brother
Hoss Cartwright ''Bonanza'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-runnin ...
from ''
Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' ("a good-looking boy in the dusty clothes of a trailhand just in from Virginia City, and his oxlike older brother") and Bret or Bart Maverick from '' Maverick''. Emperor Norton and his dogs also appear. Matt Dillon (''
Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
''), Lucas McCain (''
The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...
''), The Rawhide Kid ('' Rawhide''), and the
Man With No Name The Man with No Name () is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: '' A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), '' For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), and '' The Good, t ...
also make appearances. Several actors from ''Here Come the Brides'' had also appeared on ''Star Trek''. Mark Lenard played Aaron Stemple, whom the novel implies was Spock's ancestor. Lenard also played the role of Sarek, Spock's father, in the original ''Star Trek'' TV series and in Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as a Romulan commander in the episode "Balance of Terror" (the first time the Romulans are seen in the series) and the Klingon Commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first "new" Klingon to be seen, and the first Klingon to be heard speaking their language. The actor playing Jason Bolt (the eldest brother) was Robert Brown who played "Lazarus" in the ''Star Trek'' episode "The Alternative Factor." The actor playing Joshua Bolt (a younger brother) was David Soul who played "Makora" in the ''Star Trek'' episode "The Apple." Another reference is Florinda's Place, referenced on page 181. Florinda Grove, a character in Gwen Bristow's novel ''Jubilee Trail'' was an adventuress in Los Angeles who, when she first heard that gold had been discovered, headed to San Francisco to open a gambling palace. When asked by her friends how they could find her, she said "Ask anyone for the best place in town." When asked, "Why will it be the best?" she calmly replied, "Because I'll be running it."


References

*
The Official Barbara Hambly Page: Books
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080221100304/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/herecomebridesseason1.php DVD Verdict review: Here Come The Brides: The Complete First Season
Review of "Star Trek: Adventures in Time and Space" & interview with Mary P. Taylor


External links

{{Memory Alpha, Ishmael (novel) Novels based on Star Trek: The Original Series American science fiction novels 1985 American novels Novels by Barbara Hambly Novels about time travel