Am I the only one who likes Captain John Harriman and wants to see more of him in future books? I really liked the Lost Era Novel Serpents Among the Ruins by David R. George III and I would like to see more of Harriman. I believe one of the books established that he Captained the 1701-B for many years, so there is plenty of room for stories. What do you all think?
Serpent Among The Ruins is one of my all time favorite books! It redeemed Harriman as a character and proved he truly was Starfleet material. I would be happy for more Harriman books but I would prefer that David R. George III write them. Kevin
I would speak in defence of The Captain's Daughter by Peter David as helping to set the stage for Serpent Among the Ruins. Were it not for Peter's work, admittedly focused as much on Hikaru and Demora Sulu as on Harriman, the latter novel would not have worked nearly as well.
I'm not sure as I agree with your assessment DEWline. I actually read Serpent long before I read Captain's Daughter and although I do see how it could set the stage and make it a more focused read Serpent certainly worked for me without having read a single word of Captain's Daughter. And although I thoroughly enjoyed Captain's Daughter I do not think it is as strong of a narrative as Serpent. Kevin
As long as there is Captain Hikaru Sulu on Excelsior they can write about other captains of the era as well.
I liked both Captain's Daughter and Serpent Among the Ruins. I wouldn't mind seeing books set between the two, showing how Harriman eventually earned the respect he had by the time of Serpents. It could be a fascinating journey. The time period right after Star Trek VI is still pretty ripe for exploration.
I don't think the point is that it set the stage in terms of the reading experience, but in terms of the writing. The Captain's Daughter introduced a great many of the ideas that Serpents then built on. It was the book that redefined Harriman as a capable captain, established his backstory, developed Demora as a character, etc. So regardless of whether or not you can enjoy SAtR without having read TCD (which of course you should be able to), the point is that SAtR would not be the book it is -- and might not exist at all -- if TCD hadn't come along first and so ably rehabilitated Harriman.
Just by the by, I do know that Captain John Harriman will appear in a Trek story that will be published in 2009.
Seconded. PAD laid the groundwork for the rehabilitation of John Harriman following his less than impressive debut, and I dare say there probably would not have been a Serpents if there had not been a Captain's Daughter. ETA: I'm am getting very, very frightened by how often Christopher and I are echoing each other on this board...
I liked Serpents Among the Ruins, but I would rather see books set in this time period focus on Captain Sulu or expand on what happened to characters like McCoy, Chekov and Uhura . That said, I wouldn't mind Harriman popping up occasionally.
Having thoroughly enjoyed Serpents, I would definitely be interested in more Enterprise-B/Harriman stories. Personally, though, I've always wanted to see the end of the Enterprise-B. It's the only NCC-1701 up until the E that we don't know it's ultimate fate.
I thought Rabbit was pretty cool in Star Trek Generations, and loved his part in the "Lost Era" novel that featured the Enterprise-B. I love that ship and more about it would be awesome.
I'm up for it, though admittedly I haven't yet finished his other novels. I am three chapters into The Captains Daughter, coincidentally, and what I like so far is the characterization of Harriman as not quite the Captain we're used to. I like his inner thoughts and second guessing so far. It is much different than any Enterprise captain so far. Does he stay that way? I get the feeling that Serpents Among the Ruins portrays him as more like a Captain we might expect to see in command of Enterprise. I always thought it would be cool to have a series where the Captain isn't all that great and so his staff has to kind of pick up the slack.