There's a preview of The Klingon Art of War up on StarTrek.com, which includes all of Chapter 1 of the book. There'll be an interview with me on the site very soon....
Nah, nah, that ain't how you do it: Answer or suffer a bat'leth up thine arse! You go to do it Klingon-style! Got this strange notion in my head that this is one of two books, but clearly not, wonder where that came from? Wishful thinking perhaps?
Let the blood of the warrior run hot on this, the day of glory! Long shall it be remembered in song, and the name of KRAD spoken with honour! I will slay my first foe in combat this very night, in honour of the teachings and revelations contained within. Yours imperiously, The Speaker of Death. (Who would have thought that a book about Klingon warrior honour would also mention the Nasat afterlife? Still, K'Ratak? Bah, we all know The Dream of the Fire was his only decent novel!)
Tor.com is holding a sweepstakes for The Klingon Art of War. Five people who comment on the linked post will win a free, autographed copy of the book.
Is Sho or anybody going to open a review thread? It's not a novel but book is book. Two non-spoilery questions: Kortar's mate is called Baka in this book. Is it the same one as Lunob from Losing the Peace, or Kortar's second mate? Only indirectly related to the book; has it ever been established who punished Kortar after he and his mate slew the gods?
My own humble opinion is that it should have its own review thread, but that's trampledamage's call.... I had no idea that LTP came up with a different name for Kortar's mate. However, since Kortar's story is mythical anyhow, I'm perfectly happy to chalk it up to the inconsistencies that crop up across different oral traditions across an entire planet. Not that I'm aware of. I always thought that was a silly notion, anyhow, since the impression created by both Worf's comment in "Homefront" and the marriage ceremony text in "You are Cordially Invited..." indicates that killing the gods was a good thing, so I never understood why they established in "Barge of the Dead" that Kortar got made into the Klingon equivalent of Charon for that.
Makes sense to me. Most humans would agree that Prometheus giving fire to humanity was a good thing, but Prometheus was still punished for it. Not every mythic tradition assumes that good deeds are rewarded. Some are built more around the assumption that the universe is intrinsically uncaring and stacked against us. Which seems like the sort of mythology the Klingons would embrace.
Maybe the gods were so mighty (and thus such worthy foes to Kortar in a manner that proves his honour) that they'd created the equivalent of a curse, so that fate itself would punish Kortar for his daring? His being punished might be a reflection of how things naturally work, and not a diminishment of him. Maybe Kortar is a small piece of comfort to those who sail on the Barge of the Dead, or (alternatively) a shameful reminder of what the dishonoured dead turned their back on? If not even the mighty and honourable slayer of gods can avoid his fate or the dictats of the Natural Way of Things, then the wretched dishonoured know that there's no hope of their escape from the equally unavoidable destiny (of eternal suffering in Gre'thor) that they have so deservedly earned?
B'Elanna saved her mother and/or herself from Gre'thor in "Barge of the Dead", so it might not be as hopeless.
Kortar must be annoyed. "Oh, so she gets to go back, because her daughter comes to redeem the family honour. What about me? Hello, mighty slayer of the gods here? The First True Klingon? No? I don't get off?"