Greater Than The Sum Review *** POTENTIAL SPOILERS ***

[DarKush]

It took me a while to purchase this novel because I was really disappointed with Before Dishonor and the general direction of the TNG relaunch. I had pretty much decided that this book would be the make or break one for me regarding the relaunch, and after finishing it, I will continue with the TNG relauch.

I liked this book quite a bit. Mainly for the Picard-Crusher marriage, which I thought was a long time coming and the pregnancy was icing on the cake. In the Trek universe, even in our own, Picard's age wasn't too old to start a family and I'm glad the writers, or Mr. Bennett recognized that.

I also thought the crew was starting to gel much better. I don't know if it was by design now, but I appreciate the growing pains experienced by Picard as he tried to put together a new crew in Resistance, Q & A, and now Greater than the Sum, to finally arrive at an interesting group that seems to be meshing together.

T'Ryssa is a love or hate character, but I like her. She's pretty atypical and a nice change of pace without resorting to T'Lana's icy nastiness. Though I did like T'Lana. T'Lana was one of the few people on the ship that didn't go along. She pushed Picard, challenged him, and I think that's necessary, but I also think that PAD made into too much of an obstructionist.

I'm glad this novel pushed things forward by getting rid of T'Lana and Zelik Leybenzon, though I wished it had went for the trifecta and gotten rid of Kadohata too. She's the one relaunch character I really don't like, because she has been depicted as a pretty boring character so far. So what she has children, that doesn't make her a readable character to me. That conflict has been touched on to some extent in Trek before, and the idea that she was on the E-D doesn't do anything for me either since she wasn't on screen or in a previous TNG book before the relaunch to my knowledge.

Leybenzon came across somewhat as a gung ho clone of Worf, without the honor, Sara Nave was a Mary Sue, T'Lana was made overly difficult, Battalgia was axed before much was done with him.

However, I do like how this novel at least gave Kadohata an interesting relationship angle with T'Ryssa.

I also like how this novel at least addressed Geordi's desire to be in a relationship. His character growth has often totally been overlooked in the movies and the many of the novels, and at least Mr. Bennett touches on it. Now, it remains to be seen if the other writers will follow that somewhere. I mean, Elfiki's on board and Aquiel Uhnari, Astrid Kemal, or Leah Brahms are somewhere out there.

This novel wisely pulled back on showing the Borg. They were in the background and retained a menace of aura unlike in Before Dishonor when we were given Borg overkill. The return and sacrifice of Hugh was nice too, but sad. I always liked him.

The entity was also well written, and I really got a feel for its alienness. I'm glad that it didn't talk or have an evil agenda or anything like that. And it's reluctance to allow the E-E to blow the Borg to hell led to a great Picard speech, which have been far too lacking in the books, and also in the TNG movies.

Overall, a very solid book.

Though my major gripe is a familiar one. I'm tired of the Borg. TNG, and 24th century Trek have other great villians that are dying for some attention.

Guys like the Breen, Tholians, Gorn, Tzenkethi, Sheliak, Jarada. Also, there are the Son'a, Talarians, Nausicaans, Orions, "Schims" aliens, Sphere Builders, and Chalnoth that could all be made into more major threats. Not to mention the Vaadwaur, Species 8472, Voth, or Hirogen.

The Trek universe has an overabundance of good adversaries. I would love to see more of them in future works.

CB, a nice set up for Destiny. You have restored my faith in the TNG Relaunch.

[Christopher]

DarKush wrote:

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I liked this book quite a bit. Mainly for the Picard-Crusher marriage, which I thought was a long time coming and the pregnancy was icing on the cake. In the Trek universe, even in our own, Picard's age wasn't too old to start a family and I'm glad the writers, or Mr. Bennett recognized that.

Well, sure. Beverly's age is a bit trickier, though. She's 56 as of Greater Than the Sum, which would be post-menopausal for most (though not all) women today. We can assume, though, that she used medical means to prolong/restore her fertility. There are already such techniques around today, I believe, at least to an extent.

I'm glad this novel pushed things forward by getting rid of T'Lana and Zelik Leybenzon, though I wished it had went for the trifecta and gotten rid of Kadohata too. She's the one relaunch character I really don't like, because she has been depicted as a pretty boring character so far. So what she has children, that doesn't make her a readable character to me. That conflict has been touched on to some extent in Trek before, and the idea that she was on the E-D doesn't do anything for me either since she wasn't on screen or in a previous TNG book before the relaunch to my knowledge.

Yeah, I'm hoping there will be some further series-era TNG books, stories, or comics that will allow authors the chance to retcon Kadohata into the E-D crew.

The entity was also well written, and I really got a feel for its alienness. I'm glad that it didn't talk or have an evil agenda or anything like that. And it's reluctance to allow the E-E to blow the Borg to hell led to a great Picard speech, which have been far too lacking in the books, and also in the TNG movies.

Overall, a very solid book.

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[KRAD]

Christopher wrote:

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Yeah, I'm hoping there will be some further series-era TNG books, stories, or comics that will allow authors the chance to retcon Kadohata into the E-D crew.

Already done: Kadohata appears as a relief ops officer in Slings and Arrows.

[Christopher]

Cool.

[Turtletrekker]

KRAD wrote:

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Already done: Kadohata appears as a relief ops officer in Slings and Arrows.

Isn't Slings and Arrows set on the E-E?

[KRAD]

Turtletrekker wrote:

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Isn't Slings and Arrows set on the E-E?

Yup, it is. *looks back at the older posts* Oh, he said E-D, didn't he? Whoops.....

[Stephen!]

Christopher wrote:

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Also, I was hired to write an 85,000-word novel, not a 100,000-word one.

Is the numbers of words an approximation when writing a novel? Or does it have to be that exact number?

[Christopher]

It's a very rough target, a general indicator of the desired "weight class," so to speak, of the book. As long as you don't come in ridiculously over or under it, it's not a problem. My Buried Age contract said 100,000 words and it came out 132,000. Conversely, my Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder contract said 85,000 and it came out 71,000. If it had been the other way around, like getting contracted for 85K and turning in 132K or giving them only 71K for a 100K contract, that would be a problem. My other books have all been closer to their targets, but naturally what's best for the story is going to take precedence over arbitrary mathematical exactitude. Especially since any word count is a rough estimate anyway.

[Jack Bauer]

Christopher...another homerun! T'Ryssa is a great addition to the TNG series.

[Sxottlan]

A very good book. The best of the TNG-R so far.

Now admittedly, it doesn't take much to be the best of the TNG-R so far, but that doesn't take away from the book.

More later if I can think of anything.

[jjh19]

I finished reading Greater Than The Sum this morning and it was a terrific book. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought Christopher L. Bennett did a wonderful job bringing in threads from multiple Star Trek sources and setting up the monumental Destiny storyline. I felt like the balance between classic TNG'ers and new crewmembers was spot on.

I'm relatively late to the game as far as post-Nemesis TNG books but that is something I really enjoyed about GTTS. I've obviously missed some great TNG stories but GTTS got me up-to-date and prepped for the stories to come.

I got lucky and was handed a copy by Margaret Clark at Comic Con. She told me this would be a great read and would get me ready for what is to come. And boy was she right. I've already got the three Destiny books pre-ordered and I can't wait to read them.

I lost Star Trek Books for a while but I'm glad I'm back. Thanks to Margaret and Christopher for pulling me back in.

[Caleuche]

Finished it today. Enjoyed it, but not as much as Orions Hounds. Second best book of the TNG-R behind Q&A. It suffered slightly as it had to deal with Before Dishonors fall out and set-up Destiny. The fall out of Before Dishonor was dealt with well. T'Lanas apology made sense. Kadohata and Worfs sudden personalty shifts were explained in a logical way. Leybenzon sulked off to a bloody death. Bit worried if Kadohatas first instinct after argueing with her husband is to flirt with crazied security chiefs though.

Trys (it that said tris or tries?), I found myself indifferent to. She came across as a cross between Buffy (quippy, daddy issues) and Lyra from His Dark Materials (not always truthful, lets her imagination run away with her). Didn't buy her and Konyas romance/attraction, they seem a little ill suited. The only moment she stood out for me was with her confrontation with Kadohata, where Kadohata got to justify why she has left her children behind.

There did seem to be a undercurrent of mother/child abandonment. Mothers either left their children (Kadohata, Guinan, Rebekah, Captain La Forge) or got left by them (Crusher, Antigone Chen). In fact no one in the book seemed to have a relationship with their mother/child that was heathly, which in a book about family seems a little strange.

Like the new crew, Choudhury, Elfiki, Hegol Den and Faur, even if they didn't get much page time. Nice to see Konya back as well. This book was much more fun than the rest of TNG-R simply by having a crew that worked together well and liked each other.

Choudhury stood out the most as something a little different, though her habit of crying when she has to shoot someone could prove to be a liabilty in a Security Chief.

Excellent Ending. Best About the Author, I've seen as well.

Apparently there were Borg in the book as well. Thankfully they didn't turn up too much. Planets than are brains are a lot more interesting.

[KRAD]

Caleuche wrote:

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Like the new crew, Choudhury, Elfiki, Hegol Den and Faur,

Faur isn't new -- she first appeared in Q & A.

[Caleuche]

KRAD wrote:

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Faur isn't new -- she first appeared in Q & A.

Did she? Sorry, My bad. Would be nice to see more of her then, as the personality-limited Conn officer was one of the more annoying aspects of the later seasons of TNG.

[Christopher]

jjh19 wrote:

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I finished reading Greater Than The Sum this morning and it was a terrific book. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought Christopher L. Bennett did a wonderful job bringing in threads from multiple Star Trek sources and setting up the monumental Destiny storyline. I felt like the balance between classic TNG'ers and new crewmembers was spot on.

Thanks!

Caleuche wrote:

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Trys (it that said tris or tries?)

Rhymes with "Chris."

, I found myself indifferent to. She came across as a cross between Buffy (quippy, daddy issues) and Lyra from His Dark Materials (not always truthful, lets her imagination run away with her).

Not familiar with the latter. And T'ryssa's bio is essentially that of a gaming character I created in 1996, before Buffy premiered as a TV series.

Didn't buy her and Konyas romance/attraction, they seem a little ill suited.

How so?

The only moment she stood out for me was with her confrontation with Kadohata, where Kadohata got to justify why she has left her children behind.

There did seem to be a undercurrent of mother/child abandonment. Mothers either left their children (Kadohata, Guinan, Rebekah, Captain La Forge) or got left by them (Crusher, Antigone Chen). In fact no one in the book seemed to have a relationship with their mother/child that was heathly, which in a book about family seems a little strange.

Never thought of it that way, and it seems an odd way of looking at it. Neither Rebekah nor Silva La Forge "left" their children (at least not the first time in Rebekah's case), and Kadohata hasn't left hers, she just spends a lot of time away from them. And Guinan's many children probably grew up and went off on their own rather than being "left" by her. So I think this is reaching to find a pattern.

Like the new crew, Choudhury, Elfiki, Hegol Den and Faur, even if they didn't get much page time. Nice to see Konya back as well. This book was much more fun than the rest of TNG-R simply by having a crew that worked together well and liked each other.

Choudhury stood out the most as something a little different, though her habit of crying when she has to shoot someone could prove to be a liabilty in a Security Chief.

I couldn't disagree more. Anyone who's too hardened to grieve at the necessity to take life is someone that I wouldn't trust with the power to do so. Choudhury is more than capable of doing what she has to do and saving her grief until afterward, so it doesn't get in the way of her doing her job. And her regard for life means she won't use any more force than strictly necessary, and that's exactly how it's supposed to be done. TV and movies have spoiled us with images of action heroes who can kill without remorse, but in reality, it isn't that easy. Police officers who have to kill in the line of duty generally need therapy to cope with the grief. It's not an easy thing to be responsible for taking a life. It never should be an easy thing. Even when it's a necessary evil, any decent human being should still be able to mourn the loss of life. Compassion is not a weakness, and its absence is a pathology.