Star Trek: Discovery: The Way To
The Stars by Una McCormack
While I have enjoyed all of the
four Discovery tie-in novels released to date, I think this one is my
favorite. Una McCormack's novel, The Way To The Stars is Tilly's story.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Discovery, Tilly is a
talkative young woman who is also quite brilliant in her own right. She is also
the first character to ever drop an f-bomb on a Star Trek show. There
are no f-bombs in the novel though, just a great story about a young woman who
is trying to find her own way in life.
In her quarters on board the Discovery,
Tilly tosses, turns, and sighs repeatedly until her cabin mate, Michael Burnham
asks her what her problem is. Tilly is at first reluctant to burden Burnham
with her worries, but after a little goading, Tilly tells Burnham that she is
very worried about beginning the command training program the next day. Burnham
is a little confused as to why this is a problem for Tilly, and with a little
more encouragement, Tilly tells the story of her past.
16-year-old Sylvia Tilly lives in
Paris with her grandmother, Adele, and step-grandfather Quinn. For the most
part, Sylvia is a happy young woman who does pretty well in school showing an
aptitude for math and science. Her grades are adequate, but unfortunately not
up to the standards imposed on her by her mother, Siobhan. Sylvia's mother is
an up and coming star in the Federation's Diplomatic Corps and envisions Sylvia
following in her footsteps. Sylvia has attended numerous diplomatic functions
with her mother and has little to no interest in pursuing a career in that
area. Despite this, Siobhan enrolls Tilly in a school that specializes in
training diplomats.
Being an intelligent young woman,
Sylvia does pretty well in school while continuing to pursue her own interests
in science. When Siobhan learns of this, she forbids Sylvia to do anything but
study the school's diplomatic curriculum. She will not listen to any arguments
and, as a result, Sylvia experiences a number of failures. At the end of the
term, Sylvia 'escapes' from school to strike out on her own to find out who she
is and what she wants to do with her life.
The rest of the story is the
several adventures that Tilly finds herself involved in leading to an
appointment to Starfleet Academy.
Oh, the things we do to our
children, even when our intentions are good.
Unfortunately for Tilly, she has
been instilled with a ton of self-doubt by a mother that is overbearing.
Siobhan will not even listen to her daughter and consider what her talents and
interests are. Tilly's father is a very gentle man and is always full of
encouragement, but he isn't around enough to counter the bullying that Tilly is
subjected to from her mother. What this does, in effect is undermined
everything Tilly is about and fills her with insecurity and a fear of failure.
Every new situation that this girl faces is about pleasing someone else, mostly
her mother in this story. I feel so bad for this young woman that it hurts. Left
to her own, and given the proper encouragement, Tilly would probably become an
incredible scientist, making great strides in whatever field she chose. On Discovery,
we see some of what she is capable of. McCormack did a brilliant job channeling
Tillly's character as we see her on the show, and placing her in the book.
McCormack's story is a fun read
providing deeper insight to Tilly's character. The author is also sensitive to
what parents can do to their children when the parent's agenda is to control instead
of nurture. In the story, once Tilly is outside the influence of an overbearing
mother, she shows a lot of personal growth that could take her in numerous
directions. In the case of Tilly, getting out on her own was probably the best
thing that could happen for this young woman. All is not easy for Tilly when
she gets away from her mother's influence and away from the diplomatic school,
she is forced to prove herself and does a great job of rising to the occasion
numerous times.
When her father finally comes on
the scene, Tilly gets a great deal of encouragement and advice to standing up
to her mother. Alas, it is too late and the damage has already been done
though. Tilly will spend the rest of her life having to prove to herself that
she has what it takes to do whatever she sets her mind to. It is also important
her dad explains something that Tilly has blamed herself for a number of years,
only adding to her self-doubt.
Outside of a good character
study, the story is immensely engaging and well-paced. It is an easy read
despite the complicated relationships between characters. The story focuses on
Tilly, but develops several characters to the point that a reader can relate to
them all, even Siobhan.
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Most of the stories so far from
the Discovery timeline have been character studies giving we readers
some backstory and a deeper understanding. This is an excellent look at what
might have gone into the makeup of Tilly, one of my favorite characters on the
series. I recommend this book to fans of Discovery as a way to better
understand one of the most energetic characters on the series.
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
I've never watched or read anything from the Discovery timeline, but it does sound interesting. I grew-up with the original series, and haven't cared for the others that followed. Maybe I'll give this one a shot.
ReplyDeleteUna McCormack is an amazing author. I have never been disappointed with her publications.
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