Spoilers VAN: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread

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

?

Rate Storming Heaven.

  1. Outstanding

    68 vote(s)
    71.6%
  2. Above Average

    24 vote(s)
    25.3%
  3. Average

    2 vote(s)
    2.1%
  4. Below Average

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Poor

    1 vote(s)
    1.1%
  1. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2003
    Location:
    New York, NY
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    ^ Glad you enjoyed it. Did you like the allusion to The Great Gatsby in the epilogue? :D
     
  2. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2002
    Location:
    Montgomery County, State of Maryland
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Gracias, seƱor.
     
  3. rfmcdpei

    rfmcdpei Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2008
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Allusion? Honestly, I was just digesting everything.

    But well. All I'll say is that Lord Acton was right, and everyone was lucky.

    (What's the code for spoilers, again?)
     
  4. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2003
    Location:
    New York, NY
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    ^ Not everyone. But don't give it away. Shhhhh.... ;)
     
  5. rfmcdpei

    rfmcdpei Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2008
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Seriously, what's the BB code for spoiler discussions?
     
  6. T'Bonz

    T'Bonz Romulan Curmudgeon Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2000
    Location:
    Across the Neutral Zone
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    How'd you get that book so quickly? I thought it didn't release 'til Tuesday?
     
  7. Sho

    Sho Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2006
    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    ^ Some bookstores seem to put books up on their shelves up to a week early, that's why we open these review threads on the Monday one week before release.
     
  8. Sho

    Sho Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2006
    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    It's SPOILER, but it requires an option, i.e. SPOILER="foo" to open and /SPOILER to close.


    Some bookstores seem to put books up on their shelves up to a week early, that's why we open these review threads on the Monday one week before release.

    Edit: Crud, I meant to edit rather than double-post. I'm very sorry for the noise.
     
  9. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
  10. Defcon

    Defcon Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    May 9, 2003
    Location:
    Germany
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Re: Spoiler code:

    You either type it out <Spoiler="What the Spoiler is about">Your spoilerish text here</spoiler>. (Use [ and ] instead of < and> )

    Or you just type the spoilerish text, highlight it and then click onthe final pic above the window you write your post in (the smilie with x for its mouth). There should be a pop up where you can write what the Spoiler is about. Then click OK.
     
  11. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2012
    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Now I wish I had not pre ordered the book on my kindle. I could have gone to B&N and picked the paperback up early.
     
  12. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2006
    Location:
    Star Trekkin Across the universe.
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Yeah its more integral to the Mirror Universe books. Especially the extended version of The Sorrows of Empire.
     
  13. rfmcdpei

    rfmcdpei Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2008
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    If I can summarize, on multiple occasions during the Federation's investigation into the Shedai, the Federation accidentally unleashed the mental energies of the Cthulhoid Old Ones--real Old Ones, remembered in the Tholian collective consciousness, they who had uplifted the Tholians into consciousness so as to enslave them--onto the contemporary Tholians, on the final time accidentally inflicting a mental violation equivalent to agonizing rape on the entire species. (This while using the enslaved Shedai to annihilate a planet.)

    The Tholians sent only a fifth of their fleet to destroy Vanguard and the Shedai contained within? Such moderation.


    Honestly, especially given the multi-generational continuity of the Tholian collective consciousness, I'm not surprised that the Tholians are as strongly anti-Federation as they are. There's a very good case to be made that the Federation did many terrible things in the Taurus Reach, would have done very many more had things not broken, and that the Tholians' dispatch of an armada to destroy Vanguard and its captives was actually a good thing. I won't say that the Tholians were the good guys, but it seemed clear enough to me that if the Tholians hadn't assaulted the station sooner or later the Shedai would have gotten out with disastrous results.

    (We thought the Borg invasion of 2381 was bad? The Shedai conquest of 2270 would have been so much worse.)

     
  14. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2003
    Location:
    New York, NY
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    ^ Yeah, that about sums it up. ;)
     
  15. T'Bonz

    T'Bonz Romulan Curmudgeon Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2000
    Location:
    Across the Neutral Zone
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Well hell, dude, it says "SPOILERS" in the title, so one should assume that one will have things spoiled coming in here. I think spoiler code, while nice, is overkill given the warning in the title.
     
  16. Sxottlan

    Sxottlan Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    May 7, 2001
    Location:
    Stealing Lu Bu's Horse
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Picked up my copy at the grocery store tonight!
     
  17. Mage

    Mage Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2007
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Hey guys, how many pages is this one? Check out Amazon.com and it says 368, but accoriding to bol.com, it's 304??
     
  18. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2003
    Location:
    New York, NY
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    The story ends on p342, and then there are the usual 3-4 pages of back matter. So they're both wrong.
     
  19. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2012
    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Just downloaded to my kindle. Cannot wait to dive in and then cast my vote:D
     
  20. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2005
    Location:
    On the USS Sovereign
    Re: Vanguard: Storming Heaven by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

    Time to look for it at a B&N tomorrow.