Cream Cheese, Hold the Vinegar

Perhaps Talking Stick/Circle is a classic because there is so little well-written fanfic that it stands out. Perhaps because Voyager fans find the series as aired wanting in characterization. Perhaps it's really a classic. Or, perhaps, there are people who really like it and keep recommending it to the rest of us, who are too busy to read the whole long braided novel written back in the nineties when the series was a couple of seasons old, and we fall in with the consensus rather than appear to have committed the mortal sin of not reading it.

Whatever the reason, in Star Trek fanfic circles, Talking Stick/Circle pops up on recommendations lists time after time. This Reviewer has spent quite a bit of time perusing the stories at Taberna Redux, the current online home of the series and other fics by Macedon, as well as his essay on the craft of writing. Macedon and Peg have long since left the realm of fanfiction. I believe Peg was published in the Strange New Worlds contest Paramount continues to run, and went pro writer. They leave behind them some good fiction.

The thing is, like 'good' food, 'good' writing is relative. It's not to everyone's liking to read fic that crawls along so slowly that progress can be measured in epochs. (I am exaggerating, but it does feel that way sometimes.) "Talking Stick" was meant to stand alone. No sequels were planned, and then along came Peg to throw in Janeway's point of view, and some time later there was this sprawling "braided" novel that dealt with the issues of Maquis vs. Starfleet and being lost in the DQ with much more character development and no reset button syndrome. Original characters abounded alongside the familiar crew members. All of the characters are painstakingly drawn with great care and love -- Macedon (Joseph Little Otter) wrote "Talking Stick" as a way of refuting the Hollywood Medicine Man they made Chakotay. He and Tuvok have a quiet clash of character that constitutes the storyline, which is resolved by Chakotay instituting the Talking Stick Circle, a story circle to which all crew are invited to come and tell the stories of themselves, their families, their heritage.

On Macedon and Peg's Voyager we find Jews and Bajorans, a French lady Maquis who gives Janeway a run for her credits, a pregnant Kes who carries her infant in a natal pouch over her shoulder and who gives birth to a lovely little half-Talaxian with a roached blond mane. I have no idea how many of the details liberally sprinkled throughout the story are canon and how much is not. I never kept up with the series enough. But, I do know that the people in this story are all strong and intelligent, that they all have roots, that they are aware of them and of the mistakes made by their ancestors, that the problems they face and the way they face them are believable. Naomi has a different name. The aliens are here, there and everywhere, and unlike most of the episodes I have seen, largely indifferent to Voyager and her plight, rather than trying to hunt her down or take her over or destroy her. The Borg are not the major issue. Seven is nowhere to be found. TS/C is more faithful to the Roddenberry vision of Star Trek than Voyager itself, in that not all the aliens are out to get the heroes and the characters show ethnic diversity.

This is not a series of stories that caters to the whims of demographics or merchandising. The inception was not planned; the authors did not go back and edit until everything was knit together and the plot solid from first page to last. It takes 441k of story to get the main plot (if you can call it that) started, and then the final two sections are 441 k apiece, but they're also the ones with the most action, and the J/C element, which has gotten off to such a slow start, finally kicks into high gear.

If this was a pro manuscript being submitted for publication, you can bet the first third of it would be either pruned entirely or heavily edited to a fraction of its length. Because it's fanfiction, the writers obviously didn't feel the motivation to go back and rewrite as heavily as needed. As a result the other stories at Taberna Redux have a much more concise and put-together feel. Macedon writes understated, lyrical prose, relying heavily on showing and not on telling. As a result it takes him a long time to get the story told -- scenes developing the characters over time will always take up more space than "Chakotay loved her. Janeway wasn't sure. Then she thought about all they'd been through, and loved him back." The first story on the page, "Wisdom and Beauty," gets a bit heavy-handed at points but is mostly a wonderful love story between two original characters, and won me over much more than Talking Stick/Circle.

Which is not to say TS/C isn't worth reading. For those with the time and a yen for intense and thorough character development, it's wonderful. All of Macedon's work in the fanfic realm make my recommendation list, in fact, for a variety of reasons, which do not include "a quick read" or "just like watching Star Trek." For fanfic readers who really want to learn how to write fanfic well, reading Macedon's essay on writing is very worth it, especially since he slants it to fanfic authors. His three-part series about Jake Sisko is quite good, and I've already mentioned "Wisdom and Beauty." His Vulcans are Vulcan, and all aliens receive similar treatment -- the differences are drawn plainly from the inside out. It's obvious that Macedon likes to be meticulous about his characterizations. So much so, in fact, that I don't doubt there are some who read "Talking Stick" and get too bogged down. I found myself skipping paragraphs at times. Peg's contributions move along more briskly, and in the final co-written installment her influence is obvious.

The Talking Stick/Circle series is the cheesecake of Voyager fanfic. Dense, subtly-flavored with characters of all species and personality, executed with flair and attention to detail, and much too much to take in at one sitting. It would be a good Voyager fic for those not well acquainted with the series; remove the Star Trek characters and rewrite a little, chop off the 441 k of wandering leading into it, and this could be a decent science fiction novel. But, if you prefer the fast food of adventure, full of punch and short sentences and heavy reliance on canon, you may wish to check the shorter works of Macedon and/or Peg before deciding to attempt the whole cheesecake.

A list of summaries of the stories in TS/C

Taberna Redux, home of TS/C

Lori is usually found writing Star Trek TNG and trying to break into other fandoms, but mostly frustrated in that regard. She denies having any age or other designation which might lead someone to recognize her and tell her mother what she's up to.