Books › Killing Time
Killing Time
320 pages
A feverish, emotionally charged alternate-reality trip that tests the absolute limits of an iconic sci-fi partnership.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like stepping into a tense, emotionally heightened fever dream. The narrative thrusts you into a disorienting alternate reality where familiar dynamics are inverted, creating a pervasive sense of psychological unease that slowly gives way to profound intimacy. The prose is unabashedly melodramatic, focusing intensely on the interior lives and psychic connections of its protagonists rather than just the mechanics of time travel. It is a story less about saving the universe and more about the gravitational pull between two people whose bond transcends altered timelines and rewritten histories. Fans of subversive, character-driven sci-fi that explores the deep, almost telepathic devotion between partners will find this an utterly gripping, legendary read.
- Mood
- feverish
- disorienting
- intimate
- tense
- Tone
- earnest
- melodramatic
- subversive
- intense
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- inevitability of connection · altered destinies · psychological intimacy · identity and memory · the weight of command
- The writing
- The prose is emotionally heightened and deeply interior, leaning into melodrama to emphasize the psychological stakes of its characters.
- The arc
- The narrative shifts from a disorienting sense of wrongness and isolation to a desperate, emotionally charged reaffirmation of an unbreakable bond.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave intense, character-driven alternate universes and live for exploring the profound, borderline-telepathic connections between iconic sci-fi partners.
Content notes
- drug addiction
- mind alteration
- sexual coercion
- violence
About the book
The USS Enterprise is on patrol near the Romulan neutral zone and the crew is experiencing unusual dreams. Captain James T. Kirk and Science Officer Spock both confess that they are having dreams that Spock is Captain of the ship and Kirk is an Ensign. Kirk informs Spock that Starfleet intelligence has discovered that the Romulans are attempting to use time travel and are sending more ships to investigate. Captain Kirk goes to sleep, and awakes as Ensign Kirk on the VSS ShiKahr, which appears to otherwise be the Enterprise. The Ensign is a drug addled ex-convict who has been on board for only a day.
The Romulans had attempted to travel back in time and destroy the Federation, but they instead created a Federation dominated by Vulcans. They shielded a ship from the changes and compare the differences, realising that it needs to be reversed. Meanwhile, Captain Spock begins to act protectively of Ensign Kirk, but the Captain is injured on an away mission. After Doctor McCoy conducts a series of mental scans, the crew of the ShiKahr realise that history has been altered. The Romulans plot to use Kirk to force Spock to impersonate their leader. Spock mindmelds with Kirk, each realising their personas from the main timeline.
Romulan agents board the ShiKahr and capture Kirk. Spock agrees to their demands and travels with them. Whilst en route, Spock enters pon farr and finds that he is linked to Kirk, but mates with the Romulan Thea to allow it to pass. They retrieve Kirk, and discover that taking Kirk and Spock was a ploy to have them both travel back in time to stop the Romulan agents from preventing the formation of the Federation. They travel back in time and disable the agents, but Spock is seriously injured and dying. Kirk and Spock mindmeld as reality shifts once more and restores the original timeline.
Description from Open Library.
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