#StarTrekTAS log: The Slaver Weapon
This is classic sci-fi, written by Larry Niven, adapted for Trek. The idea of these time capsules from an ancient civilisation is cool. However, I noticed two big plot holes: first, Spock explains their whole plan with the Kzinti in the room, second the energy absorption mode of the titular weapon should have deactivated the crew's life support belts and killed them.
So while it had some cool ideas, the final result wasn't the best.
#Kzinti are #StarTrek canon aliens!
Niven has written (on the official Star Trek site) that he sees this as a separate universe where Kzin exist but don’t necessarily have the same history with humanity.
He’s also written that he views the Caitians as a related species that settled on another world and have much more of a scientific and technological society. While he made the comparison to Romulans and Vulcans, it’s also obvious that the Caitians women are not treated as sub sentient. Like that it’s Uhura that confounds their sexism in this episode.
@AlsoPaisleyCat That's cool stuff! I may have been too harsh on this episode, I do really like what it does for the Trek world building. I hope more of it is used by Trek in the future.
There was indeed a strong anti sexism statement made here too, which was awesome!
A #Kzinti ensign appears as a recurring supporting character in #LowerDecks & a young Caitian girl becomes a hero in #StarTrekProdigy
#vfx costs were prohibitive for a #Caitian live-action guest star in #Picard, according to Jonathan Frakes who directed the S1 episode in question.
This underscores one of the true value-adds of #animation in #StarTrek and #Scifi more generally - it can bring authors’ imagining of truly alien species to screen.
@AlsoPaisleyCat I hadn't noticed the Kzinti in LD! I didn't know about them when I was watching it. Though the Dr. T'Ana being a Caitian was one of the reasons I wanted to watch TAS. I'm looking forward to seeing Prodigy!
I'm really appreciating what animation can do, indeed. Coming to TAS straight from TOS I'm enjoying the scale and type of stories they're able to do because of it, and it's making me appreciate LD all over again.
Of course, I should have mentioned T’Ana!
I’ve always wondered if she’s considered a bit of a throwback to more Kzinti aggressiveness. Definitely has a no nonsense attitude to medical science.
It would be very cool to have more backstory on the history between two species beyond Niven’s own musings. Lower Decks definitely could give us some of that.
@AlsoPaisleyCat Ooh, that's a cool idea!!
I've also been thinking about how the female Kzinti are considered animals. If that's true, then there's some serious sexual dimorphism going on that would have to go back pretty far in evolutionary terms, probably before a split with Caitians. Of course, T'Ana and M'Ress are both women, so I wonder if the Kzinti can be trusted here. Their government is literally called the Patriarchy. Imagine a season about overthrowing the patriarchy!
I don’t think that the Kzinti women are non sentient. Just that their patriarchy kept them completely separate.
The males weren’t even given names until they’d proven themselves. So it seems more a legal than biological fact in #Kzinti society.
I’ve wondered if what’s actually going on in that female Kzin live in their matriarchal prides and toss the males out when they hit puberty and get disruptive. The Kzinti Patriarchy would then be a society of all the tossed out males trying to gain status.
@AlsoPaisleyCat Yes, that's a great idea!
Trek hasn't engaged with this much, but I wonder what happens to gender non-conforming Kzin in that society. Maybe there are AMAB Kzin who never get kicked out of the matriarchal prides, or AFAB ones who do.
Getting stuck into how people actually relate to their alien societies is something LD does really well, like with Tendi and the Orions. Even if it's not with the Kzinti, I hope they continue to do that.
CJ Cherryh touches lightly on this, or at least in nontraditional gender roles, with her Chanur novels. Matriarchal felinoid traders DON’T allow males on ships - until of course they do.
@not_gagarin
‘Pride of Chanur’ is the first in that series of 4 books.
But #CJCherryh is a top #sciencefiction author, & is considered one that can write the most credibly alien aliens. If you’re not familiar with her work, strongly recommend.
@AlsoPaisleyCat I really like the sound of her books, I'm going to check them out!
I'm currently reading The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers, which is doing a great job of writing alien characters, and the interactions between various species and cultures is a core part of the storytelling so far.
CJ Cherryh is in a very different style. Definitely not the cozy space opera of Chambers.
She leans into the alienness of aliens, and the impacts of differing biological imperatives. I’d say Adrian Tchaikovsky is closer to her in that.
Her early books were quite dark, and she has a few horror/Scifi crossover experiments that her publisher encouraged in the 1970s.
Her main series in the Alliance-Union universe has gotten somewhat more optimistic as time goes on, but her brand has a lot of suspense, trauma and genuine misunderstanding of those different than us.
The conflicts shown in The Expanse owe a great deal to Cherryh’s ‘Company Wars’ books, and it’s one reason that I found the ‘Corey’ books very derivative (even though I thought the show was great).
@AlsoPaisleyCat Well, if Cherryh's books had an influence on The Expanse that's very interesting! I'm not very far through either the books or the show, but I've enjoyed them a lot.
Honestly it's not that surprising that they're a bit derivative in some aspects; the world was originally meant to be the setting for an RPG, and there isn't really an expectation of originality in those.
My own recommendation is to start Cherryh’s #AllianceUnion books with her 1980 Hugo winner ‘Downbelow Station’ which is somewhat mid timeline but also the book that really kicked things off.
There also very deep prequel ‘Alliance Rising’ with her partner Jane Fancher which is the most recent edition, and could be a good entry point.
The huge novel ‘Cyteen’ is often recommended as a starting point, but it’s also a huge spoiler for ‘Downbelow Station as it dives deep into the Union side society, and takes place after the turning point that is the focus of that book.
The Chanur books exist in the same universe it seems, but don’t really interact with the Alliance-Union ones.
Then there is another very long running ‘Foreigner’ series, separate again, which is focused on a human colony marooned on planet inhabited by in indigenous sentient civilization. It’s focused on diplomacy and social interactions.
Would be interested to hear your take on / review of ‘Downbelow Station’.
I first read it shortly after it won the Hugo, and read all the subsequent ones in publication order.
I still find it a great read, but like #TOS wonder how it would resonate for a first-time reader now. I also always wonder why it hasn’t been given a streaming treatment. (Like Dune, it always seemed too big and too complex for a single film.)
NotGagarin
AlsoPaisleyCat 🇨🇦