If you know me, you know I love science fiction. Furthermore, if you know me, you know I love Star Trek. Does it surprise you that I found a way to include Star Trek in my latest book, Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins?
Here is an excerpt (page 215) of the part of the book where I link Star Trek, Vulcans, biology, and elephants. Curious?
Here goes:
“The fictional universe of Star Trek has influenced our real world for fifty-plus years. There have been other fictional universes: some of them darker, some of them more idealistic or, on the other hand, more realistic; some of them funnier and more fantastic. Although I am a fan of many of these other universes, the universe of Star Trek has a special place in my heart, and I know that I am not alone in this. One of the most beloved characters in this universe is Mr. Spock, the science officer of the USS Enterprise. As the story goes, Mr. Spock was the offspring of a human mother and a Vulcan father. In Star Trek lore, the Vulcans are an alien species that essentially had to embrace logic or die—they were a rather violent race, a trait that proved especially dangerous because they were also highly intelligent, technically adept, and physically powerful thanks to evolving on a rather inhospitable planet. Thus, on the verge of killing one another off, from a certain point in their history onward the Vulcan society adhered to a strict code of logic, suppressing their emotions in order to preserve their species. Their logic-led existence had one lone exception: a recurring period in the life of every Vulcan when, let’s just say, biology rules. More specifically, according to Star Trek canon, approximately every seven years or so Vulcans undergo pon farr, a period of physiological instability that results in a mental imbalance directly related to reproductive matters. During pon farr, Vulcans, male and female alike, experience an extreme and hard-to-control—you might say irrational—urge to mate (it is a tad more complicated than that, but this suffices for the purposes of our story).*
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten we are supposed to be talking about elephants on drugs. It just so happens that male elephants experience a physiological phenomenon that in my mind is reminiscent of the fictional pon farr. This phenomenon is called…”
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Mwahahahahaha!!!!!!
I know, shameless self-promotion, and evil cliffhanger.
BTW, if you want to check my book (s) out, I will not be offended.
Also, if you have read it and would like to leave a review or rate at the “-azon” site, that would be lovely. Constructive criticism welcome and appreciated.
*Please see Greven (2009) Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek: Allegories of Desire in the Television Series and Films. ISBN: 978-0786444137. Also, A great source of information for all things Star Trek is memory-alpha.fandom.com.
Picture credit: Wikimedia Commons
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