Hey, (TOS) Star Trek Fans

[Sequoia]

I've never read a ST book but this one's cover struck my fancy and it's about Kirk and Spock when they first met as teens. I needed a brain break from serious non-fiction. Actually, this is pretty well written, but it's hard to imangine them as teens.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

1. Alas, they never would have met as teens

I'm a big ST fan, though not as big as some, so forgive me if I recall incorrectly, but it was always my impression that Spock was considerably older than Kirk, by about 30 or 40 years, Vulcans being a long-lived species.

[Sequoia]

2. Well, maybe because of Earth's 365 1/4 days he might be a teen?

Talk about raining on someones parade...let's just ignore that little fact about Spock being that much older.

[Orrex]

3. Also, if Vulcans live two or three times as long as humans

Then it's entirely feasible that their "teen" years might last until they've reached 30 or 40 Earth years.

"Teenagers" in this context might simply refer to that phase of a Vulcan's maturation that's most directly analagous to a human's teen years.

[shimmergal]

4. I think you're right about that.

Don't know if it's canonical or just standard in fan-fic, but I've definitely heard/read that Vulcans don't go through puberty till their fifth decade or later.

[Tesha]

9. "Jason, stop mind-melding with that poor cat! And Ktewdiiesjy, stop giving your sister death grips!"

Vulcan teenagers!

[pokerfan]

6. Spock is only three years older

According to http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Main_Page">Memory Alpha, keepers of the Star Trek canon.

[KatyMan]

5. That was a fun read

a bit silly, but fun. I've read a couple of The Shat's ST novels, and they're pretty good.

[hedgehog]

7. Going back to the veeeeery beginning, it was canon that Spock

had been Pike's Science officer, and that Kirk had wanted his buddy Gary Mitchell as First Officer. There is a bit of Spock/Kirk friction going on in the early episodes. The implication was that Kirk met Spock for the first time upon taking command of the Enterprise.

[Orrex]

8. I agree with you, but "Star Trek Canon" is a nebulous target

And Roddenberry himself famously pissed all over it every chance he got. Just about the only standing rule is that the novels aren't canon, except when they are.

According to reports (Wiki has a lot on this), Roddenberry routinely abandoned earlier "facts" in favor of whatever was on the screen at a given time. Also, he never specifically endorsed any of the films as canon, just to make it even more convoluted.

But there's no way I can believe that Spock's just three years older than Kirk, no matter what the fansites say! :P