Spoilers TP: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Sho, May 19, 2012.

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Rate Plagues of Night.

  1. Outstanding

    59 vote(s)
    51.3%
  2. Above Average

    38 vote(s)
    33.0%
  3. Average

    11 vote(s)
    9.6%
  4. Below Average

    5 vote(s)
    4.3%
  5. Poor

    2 vote(s)
    1.7%
  1. Thestral

    Thestral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Honestly, I'm not a fan of naming ships after individual people anyway, at least not until a looong time has passed. Admittedly that's colored by the US Navy's obnoxious carrier-naving habits.
     
  2. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    All two of them? ;)

    Maybe, maybe not. Star Trek tends to be inconsistent about whether or not a ship named in honor of a person gets that person's full name or just his/her surname. We've seen examples of both. Most of the canonical Starfleet vessels are only named after the surname, but then there's the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy. In the world of the novels, we've seen both -- good recent examples of both practices being the U.S.S. Bhutto (named for the late former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto) in Christopher L. Bennett's Greater than the Sum, and the aforementioned U.S.S. James T. Kirk in Rough Beasts of Empire. And on top of that, Rough Beasts also established that it's common for ships that have been given the full names of an individual to be referred to only by the surname, even if that's not the ship's full name -- the U.S.S. James T. Kirk was on several occasions referred to colloquially as the U.S.S. Kirk in Sisko's internal monologue.

    But, yeah, it's also possible that the Robinson is named for multiple people named Robinson -- hence my curiosity about whether whom she had been named for had been explicitly established anywhere.

    ETA:

    To be fair, I think the Federation Starfleet has a much better case for naming a ship U.S.S. James T. Kirk or U.S.S. A.G. Robinson than the United States Navy does for naming a ship U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. ;)
     
  3. Stoek

    Stoek Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    While in universe I tend to imagine that the Robinson is most likely named for the astronaut played by Phil Morris but part of me can't help but wonder if it's not meant to be a sly nod to Trek's old nemesis Lost In Space.
     
  4. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    That would be John Kelly.
     
  5. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Maybe it's USS James T. Kirk because there's already a USS Kirk named after his daddy? Possibly later renamed USS George Samuel Kirk to help differentiate when the James T. was commisioned?
     
  6. Elias Vaughn

    Elias Vaughn Captain Captain

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    That ship should be the protagonist ship in the next series just so we can call it Star Trek: James T. Kirk.
     
  7. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    maybe there is a ship named after him to commemorate his relatively recent death?
     
  8. shanejayell

    shanejayell Captain Captain

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Are the Shatner-verse novels canon? Because he's alive there...

    Tho I guess you could mean to the Federation at large he's thought to be dead from the events of Generations.
     
  9. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Since we're talking about a ship that only exists in the novel continuity, "canon" isn't even relevant to the discussion. I think you mean to ask whether the Shatnerverse novels are counted as part of the main novel continuity. They are not; the third Shatnerverse trilogy contradicts the novel continuity on numerous points, such as when Bajor joined the Federation, when Titan began its exploration mission, and whether Admiral Janeway was alive after 2381. As far as the main novel continuity is concerned, James T. Kirk died on Veridian III in 2371.
     
  10. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    I prefer to think that the "U.S.S. [Surname]" convention is just shorthand, and that every ship we hear of named after someone actually carries his/her full name -- i.e., she wasn't the U.S.S. Kirk, she was the U.S.S. James T. Kirk; she wasn't the U.S.S. Bhutto, she was the U.S.S. Benazir Bhutto; she wasn't the U.S.S. Archer, she was the U.S.S. Jonathan Archer; and that she's not the U.S.S. Robinson, she's the U.S.S. A.G. Robinson; etc. But that's just what I like to think; the actual canonical and non-canonical evidence contains both practices.
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    ^Yeah, normal practice in real life is to give a ship the full name of the person it's named for, and to refer to it in shorthand by the surname. But I guess onscreen evidence (ship names written on hulls or in Okudagrams) often indicates otherwise.
     
  12. Paris

    Paris Commodore Commodore

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Too bad this board was not a very nice place to be for DRGIII last time he wrote for us. It would be nice if he was still here, so he could let us know what he intended...:sigh:
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    ^I believe he can still be contacted through Facebook.
     
  14. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    In any case, I've gotten what I consider fair answers all to my questions and concerns re: the ship name in question. Consider those concerns and questions settled.
     
  15. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    I don't use Facebook (not a fan). So if any of you drop him a line about the book, tell him thanks for me:bolian:
     
  16. MatthiasRussell

    MatthiasRussell Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    I agree on this. I much prefer ships names not named for a particular person or place.
     
  17. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    I really like seeing both, particularly ships named after fictitious people and places. It's a reminder that the Federation is its own culture with its own history and its own geography, not just America In Space.
     
  18. WarsTrek1993

    WarsTrek1993 Captain Captain

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Agreed. There's nothing wrong with a little diversity in a ship's name.
     
  19. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Next ship name...USS Unknown
     
  20. WarsTrek1993

    WarsTrek1993 Captain Captain

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    Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    USS Question Mark.