The Autobiography of Mr. Spock: The Life of a Federation Legend (Star Trek Autobiographies Series)

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MR. SPOCK by Una McCormack is going to be something that I suspect will be controversial and yet rewarding for all of those audience members who choose to enjoy it. It is a book that is heavily tied to STAR TREK: DISCOVERY and if you have not experienced all three seasons of that show then you will miss out on a large number of details that may or may not make maximum sense.This includes the attempts on Sarek's life by "Logic Extremists", the 'Red Angel' plotline, and the ultimate fate of the Romulans and Vulcans as revealed in the episode "Unification III." The "Romulan Warrior Nuns" from Picard (forgive me, I'm terrible with Trek names) also play an exceptional role. Those who restrict themselves to only TOS and the TNG era will find much of the book mystifying. Given that I am a die-hard DISCO and NuTrek fan, I have little problem here and think one of the best Star Trek books of all time was STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: THE WAY TO THE STARS by the same author.The premise is that Mr. Spock is writing his memoirs (using a Vulcan word for them) in the last days before he takes off in the Jellyfish to attempt his plan to save Romulus from a destructive supernova. The result of this event was detailed in the also-controversial (but very popular) Star Trek (2009). Basically, this is a book that homages and celebrates the past two decades as much as the previous thirty before that.As I've mentioned before, I think Una McCormack is someone who is able to provide depth and context to characters as well as situations that might otherwise lack it. THE LAST BEST HOPE is something that I have repeatedly said should have been the first two episodes or pilot of Picard. Here, she provides a fascinating (no pun intended) look at Spock's childhood relationship with Michael Burnham and even incorporates the much-maligned Sybok into the narrative in a way that is organic to making the universe's most famous Vulcan into the man he became.Much of this book is devoted to Spock's childhood on Vulcan and his unhappy relationship with his father Sarek that provides much of the narrative. I suspect this will provide most old school Trek fans their favorite parts of the story as well. In simple terms, Spock never gets on with his dad and even when they make up, they never make it last.One of the funniest in a black comedy sort of way scenes is where Spock talks at great length of how making peace with Cardassia was a fool's errand, that they were a brutal dictatorship, and they would never honor any treaties. His father was disgusted and it became the second great fight of their lives. This despite the fact that Spock was working on his Reunification movement (with Sarek's disapproval) and both of them had worked to make a lasting peace with the Klingons.Another thing to note is that this novel retcons the retcon of The Autobiography of James T. Kirk that postulated Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was an in-universe movie created by the people of the Roman planet in "Bread and Circuses." Here, the events of the film obviously happened and, furthermore, Una McCormack is able to salvage a coherent (even tragic) narrative from the underdeveloped Sybok's story.In simple terms, Spock and his elder "know him in a Vulcan Christmas Card sort of way" half-brother were both outcasts unfulfilled by Vulcan society. Whereas Spock was psychically contacted by V'Ger and developed a profound insight into the nature of the universe, Sybok ended up making contact with the "God" entity who misused his trust and led him down a dark path that resulted in his death. I've always believed TFF was a bunch of good ideas executed badly and the author shows how they might have played them.I do think there's some areas that could have gotten much attention like what happened to T'Pring after the events of "Amock Time" and the fact that Spock is portrayed as never marrying despite the fact Picard met Sarek at his son's wedding (and Sybok presumably died on Sha'Ka'Ree). Still, she manages to fill in a lot of narrative holes. I was particularly impressed by her incorporation of Saavik's backstory as well as expansion on the character of Valeris. The latter isn't sympathetic at all but impressive in displaying all the nastiness that Spock admits underlies the Vulcan character.In conclusion, this is a great book but if you're not up on DISCOVERY and PICARD then you will miss out on a lot. Fans of the old-school Trek will possibly even think that Captain Kirk and McCoy were short changed as the book glosses over the TOS period. I don't think that's the case and we have massive amounts of information on their relationship from other sources but those looking for that may leave disappointed. I, however, salute her ability to tie classic Trek in with the new.

Although Spock is indeed logical, this reading is a bit illogical. Why illogical? Spock mostly talks about his relationship with his father, Sarek. A difficult and perhaps painful relationship at best. I was, however, taken aback by his lack of reminising his relationship to several fellow Starfleet officers; Captain James Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy. Both are mentioned but not a lot. Spock is a legend in his own unique and logical way. Indeed one of a kind. I enjoyed reading this autobiography and encourage others to do so as well. Live long and prosper.

This book purports to be Spock’s examination of his life as he nears death. It’s divided into sections which are each identified by an important person in that period of Spock’s life: Michael, T’pring, Sybok, Surak, Pike, Bones, etc. The book is mostly narration, with only its most important moments rendered in scenes. Also Spock spends a substantial amount of space examining his life in philosophical terms. I suspect that someone whose not already familiar with the character will find the book hard going, but if you’re a Spock fan, you should enjoy this close look at him and the people who mattered to him.

I heard Spock speaking although interestingly enough he was the same as his father not speaking totally until he was old. Is that the thing about older people - we (including myself in this) don't think we have a voice / thoughts, opinions, emotions and realities worth listening to?This book totally explores that very dilemma of what makes me interesting / what makes the life I have lived interesting?Very well written and very much enjoyed 😊

The publication of this book has been delayed at least twice in recent years. My original hope was that it would have been a reflection upon the events of classic Star Trek episodes and movies, with some attempt to stitch together the gaps of what between been shown about Spock on screen. But the final product really is not for someone who shares that hope, as there is--astonishingly--reference to maybe a handful of classic episodes at most--primarily "The Menagerie" and "Amok Time," and those chiefly to talk not about the voyages of Kirk's Enterprise but of Spock's relations with Captain Pike and T'Pring. The book's chief figure outside Spock himself is, much to my chagrin, Michael Burnham. This is why the book was delayed, to allow for updates based upon the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. I don't entirely begrudge this editorial decision, but here much of Spock's life enters into the shadow of an intellectually superior older adopted sister, and it's frustrating regardless of what one thinks of Discovery because it rewrites Spock's whole life path when in reality Discovery was desperate to cash in on the popularity of Star Trek's greatest character after a poorly received first season, and it doesn't seem right to recast the whole direction of Spock's life because of a sequel series that has divided reception at best, leaving the original legendary series barely discussed. The greatest disappointment of all is how little of the book mentions James T. Kirk. There is some nonsense at the end about how Kirk's presence is to be understood on every page, and despite how Star Trek VI actually ends with Kirk admitting his prejudice and teaming up with Spock once again to save the galaxy, the Spock of this book remains estranged from Kirk after the events of TUC and barely reconciles with Kirk after the Klingon peace mission before Kirk dies (though there is no mention of the Enterprise B), and it reads more like the final months of Nimoy/Shatner than anything on screen of Spock/Kirk. In this book, Spock explains to the reader, who is Jean-Luc Picard, that enough has been written elsewhere about the voyages of the five year mission, and that's it, even though the premise of the book is Spock's sharing of wisdom from his whole life. I found the take on Sybok to be interesting and, unlike Burnham, it does not threaten to override the chance to talk about what a buyer of this book probably really wants, which is to talk about Spock's reflections on the episodes and movies with Leonard Nimoy. But so, so little of that is there. I can't recommend this book to someone who comes to it as primarily an original series fan. Some of the attempts to fill in gaps are okay; some are not. There is no reference to how Spock became Captain, for instance. And there is too much attention in some places, like Spock's regret over the mind meld with Valeris. I have never thought that was an assault; it seemed more to me like a body search as would happen to any prisoner to find contraband, although it should have been done privately and not on the bridge. But if one takes the approach that Spock violated Valeris, which this book does, then should one at least expect Spock not to describe what it was like going inside her mind? Yet he does, actually describing her mind as cool; compare that to invasive assault of a different nature and ask if a genuinely repentant assailant would describe sensations of the experience. The tone of JJ Abrams' Spock "Prime" fills the latter pages when Spock considers himself a failure for not helping Romulus as much as he wanted, though this is unwarranted, as it is no fault of his at all. The book often, especially early and late, has Spock referring to things he loved, which simply does not sound like Spock, not even the post-V'ger Spock who found "this simple feeling" of friendship. Saavik plays an interesting role; some might wonder if Spock says she did carry his child from Genesis, but she did not (which is fine with me). I knew some authorial license was necessary to pull off this book, and I was particularly interested in how it would fill the gaps between the series and TMP, TMP and TWOK, TFF and TUC, TUC to TNG, and then TNG to the '09 film. Some of these gaps are better filled than others. But the final word for me is that while the author's afterword claims hope of the reader "hearing" Leonard Nimoy's voice throughout, I heard that so very seldom, especially in the sections in which Spock uses the word "love" so casually. I wanted to like this book. I know it could not have been easy to write. Those who pick it up after coming to Star Trek after 2009 may like it much better than I did. I probably would have liked it more if it would have come out before Discovery, which forced childhood dyslexia, recurring visions of the Red Angel a hospital escape and sibling envy upon the younger Spock, which in my mind was just too much for canon to hold. But this Spock is not the one who has mattered so much to me for so many years. If you think I'm too worked up over a fictional character, by all means enjoy.

Mr. Spock has always been one of my heroes. Nice to read something new.

¿Alguien duda de los sentimientos de Spock? Yo... Y me dejó callada de varias maneras... Sigo pensando en Amanda, siempre fue mi personaje querido, excelso y respetado. Bones fue mi sorpresa principal, lo quiero mucho pero esto no me lo esperaba. Y bueno, James Kirk, no hay nada que decir...

The other two biographies I have read in this series Picard and Kirk are great. They sound like the characters we have come to live from the shows, movies and wider cannon. Charming and full of at pace more adventures. Also giving a spy hole in to the minds of those. This I am afraid is way off the mark. It doesn't at all come across as Spock talking, the over use of words that you can't ever imagine Spock using is annoying. His reliance on asking questions and leaving judgement is boring. Just totally off the mark.

But frequently sweet (I'm especially glad that Michael and Sybok are around, and the chapter on Kirk is lovely) while still sounding like an older and wiser Spock. Glad I bought it, and the people who are downvoting it because they don’t like Discovery should have read the blurb. Of course Michael was going to be included, it would be insulting not to.

Sorry, but this book is absolutely dreadful.No redeeming qualities whatsoever.Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life in here....

Just no. Don't do it. I know you're tempted but it shall just make you sad inside.