Wow, there is some hate going on around here for my favorite series. I think the series has had a lot of nice variety so far. The first book was a political / action adventure and the necessary follow-up to Nemesis. The Red King (which I'll grant is probably the weakest of the bunch, but IMHO not bad at all) is a follow-up to The Sundered, and (as I saw it) thematically foreshadowed their ultimate mission of exploration. Orion's Hounds, my favorite of the bunch, worked on a lot of levels: the incredible worldbuilding done by Christopher regarding the races and cosmozoans (sic?), its scope, and- being Titan's first exploratory mission- the thematic links back to the first TNG episode, "Encounter at Farpoint." I recently finished re-reading Sword of Damocles, and having enjoyed it the first time around, I enjoyed it even more the second time. I'm a sucker for time travel / paradox stories, and I was happy to see one this early in the Titan series. The Orishan society, and the concept of the Eye, were just fascinating. Lots of emotional impact (the Riker / Troi tension; Vale, Troi, and company finding the wreckage; the scene with Riker and the Orishan from the ship and its last words; the flashbacks to Jaza's life; and that ending...). Yep, love this series, and can't wait for Destiny to arrive to read more of Titan's adventures.
Sword of Damocles totally smacked me in the brain, and I wasn't expecting it at all. I knew Orion's Hounds and, to a lesser extent, the other two would be awesome because of what I'd read of the authors previously; Thorne was new, and I'd heard some kinda iffy things, so I wasn't expecting anything great. I totally loved it. Untangling the language, the timelines, the backstory, it was all just so damn intricate and fascinating and viscerally important. I think Thorne has the most unique writing style to hit trek lit since Peter David; if he ever writes another one, I'd be able to tell you it was him after reading a couple pages, and that's not really true of any of the others except maybe KRAD. I know opinions differ, and there's a lot of "meh" about the book in this thread in particular, but I think it's hard to make something that unique and challenging without a lot of people hating it. I just wanted to counteract that by saying that it's definitely my favorite Titan, and I hope Thorne gets another crack at a Trek novel in the future.
You're funnier than most of the rest More specifically, I haven't studied writing or written myself enough to be able to make sense, but the best way I can describe it is that it seems to me like most Trek writers try for prose that is more or less invisible, writing that's not juvenile but just simple, without any distracting flights of verbiage. And that's pretty consistent. You and PAD like to play with the language a little more humorously, but Thorne is one of the only ones I've seen lately that really plays with the visceral, immediate imagery of scenes in interesting ways. If that makes any sense at all.
For me, it's the continuity porn... done well. You can put in references to like EVERYTHING that ever happened in Trek's past and still make it not seem like low quality fanfic, and make it believable that all of those things do indeed fit the story at hand.
Hey, some stories have Klingons and baseball! (Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment, Q & A, Articles of the Federation, and A Time for War, a Time for Peace). Actually, here's a KRADlist (pat. pending): Star Trek tales by Keith R.A. DeCandido that have no Klingons or baseball in them: Novels Demons of Air and Darkness The Brave and the Bold Book 1 Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed Novellas Fatal Error Cold Fusion Invincible Books 1-2 Here There Be Monsters War Stories Book 2 Security Short stories "The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned" "Letting Go" If we discount stories in which Worf is the only Klingon who appears by virtue of him being a main character, we can add the Perchance to Dream comic book, Many Splendors, "Broken Oaths," and "Revelations." (Of course, that still leaves 13 novels, 4 novellas, one comic book, and 3 short stories that have Klingons and/or baseball............)
i was thinking the same thing... an untold tale of Worf the Ambassador as he introduces baseball to Qo'nos!
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, live from Mad'sen Sq'ar GahDin, the first game of the season, between the Qo'noS Councillors and the Brotherhood Batleths..."
I don't think I even want to know what Klingons would do to you when you get struck out or don't make it to the bases.
Take me out to the ball game Take me out with the crowd Buy me some targ heart and fresh live gagh Don't take my seat you worthless petaQ Let's hope, hope, hope that our team wins If not, it's a good day to die For there's no honor in losing at home At the old ball game
Picturing a Klingon baseball game, the baseball scene from "Hook" comes to mind... "The petaQ was trying to steal second base behind the pitcher's back. I put him down like the thief and coward that he was." Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman