Book Review: A Deep Dive into the Background of ST: DISCO Character Sylvia Tilly

 Star Trek: Discovery

The Way to the Stars by Una McCormack

This is the first Discovery book I’ve read. I felt a bit of trepidation before I started reading because some TV-Tie In books fall flat and miss the mark. I’ve read enough of them to know that sometimes it seems authors only have a passing acquaintance with the shows upon which their novels are based. 

Not so with Una McCormack who has written numerous books in the Star Trek universe and has certainly proven her talent as she’s expanded the existing canon. 

One of the main reasons I chose this book first is because I adore the way Mary Wiseman portrays Sylvia Tilly on the Paramount+ original series. 

Wiseman’s scenes are always my favorite, and her choices in how she presents the character are always brilliant and make for compelling viewing. I had my doubts whether anyone could capture the depth of the character on the page. 

Una McCormack did it.

The story takes place within the series on the night before Tilly is about to begin the Command Training Program. Unable to sleep, she regales Michael Burnham with the story of how she ended up in Starfleet. Tilly’s hinted at some of this onscreen, but the details make for an engrossing coming-of-age tale that makes the reader want Tilly to succeed.

Tilly’s backstory is engrossing, and her family (mother, father, maternal grandmother and maternal step-grandfather) are strong, successful, and complex people. Tilly’s dealing with a lot of things—her parents’ breakup and divorce, her father’s long-term assignment on a Starfleet research vessel, and her mother’s expectations.

That last is the hardest for her because it colors everything she does. Living her life as her mother wants her to means giving up the things she finds the most engrossing. Her flair for science and math are at odds with her mother’s ideas of how Tilly should spend her time.

Given Tilly’s personality and insecurities she’s not really able to advocate for herself. 

To her credit, Tilly embraces her situation and tries to make the most of it. Like most people, she wants her mother to be proud of her. Her intelligence and her enthusiasm enable her to make friends, and even begin to flourish. Plagued with the notion that people are more interested in her somewhat famous mother than in her, she still manages to carve out a niche at the school earning the respect of her peers and of her teachers. She’s almost happy until—okay, I’m not going to tell you what happens. I hate spoilers, and worry I’ve already given away too much.

What I will say is that McCormack manages to capture Tilly in so believable a series of events that it’s easy to imagine Mary Wiseman playing these scenes.

McCormack shines a light on Tilly’s family life, her character, her choices, and how much she had to go through just to find her way to Starfleet to such a degree that I wish there were a series of books dedicated to seeing how Tilly’s Academy days progress and how she ends up on Discovery.

The details, the realities of interstellar travel in the days before Captain Kirk ever commanded the Enterprise did get a little jumbled for me, as there is mention of a holodeck that I’m thinking couldn’t have existed at that time, but I’m willing to admit I could be wrong. I’m trying to recall any use of such a thing on Discovery, but I’m going to have to rewatch the series to be sure. (Oh, darn!)

A few passing comments bring to mind Tilly’s future on Discovery, and the reader can’t help but think back on various scenes now that there’s some context for them. I was sorry to come to the end of the book, and found myself wanting more.

I can only hope McCormack finds herself writing another book focusing on Tilly sometime soon.