Destiny: Mere Mortals by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[David Mack]

Trent,

Thank you, as always, for your very detailed and thoughtfully considered review. I'm sorry that so much of Mere Mortals did not work for you, and I hope that you find Lost Souls more to your liking. I look forward to reading your thoughts regarding the trilogy's conclusion.

~ David Mack

[bluedana]

Hi, there. I just finished the Destiny trilogy last night.

I totally need a cigarette.

I know that this is technically a Mere Mortals thread, but it makes no sense to me to separate the books – they are seamless and wonderful. I plunged headlong from one to the other (yay for Kindle, download the next book in under a minute!).

I have to say I haven’t read any of the previous Trek Lit (sorry, KRAD, et al.) since I stopped reading TOS books in the late 80s. I’m familiar enough with TNG (stopped watching the series when I decided the crew was freaking irritating, didn’t “get” the movies), not so much DS9 (I like it but haven’t made it past the end of Season 2 yet) or Voyager (can’t seem to catch it from the beginning on Spike). I’ll admit my real Trek obsession is ENT (stop laughing) and I only picked up Gods of Night because I was desperate for an ENT novel that wasn’t part of the TGTMD relaunch. Erika Hernandez’ story was the closest I could get, so I figured it would be worth the cost of the download.

I devoured it, and Mere Mortals and Lost Souls as well. It’s been a while since I’ve read any novel or series that was THAT GOOD. Like seriously torn between wanting to race to the end and never wanting to reach the last page GOOD.

(Thank you, Mr. Mack, for including those lovely passages where Erika attempts to contact her "lost love" Jon Archer as she reaches his time, and fails. I actually teared up. I know, I’m ridiculous.)

Even though I came in pretty ignorant of most of the characters (both screen and novel), I had no problem following the plot or caring about the different crews. Even Picard and Troi (both of whom I’d gladly airlock on a normal day) melted my cold heart. Yes, I most likely missed a lot of inside references, but the characters were so well presented that I didn’t notice. And I thought the whole “destruction of worlds” idea was handled beautifully. Most of the characters I’d never met before, yet I still grieved with them. I wasn’t burnt out on the Borg, and I saw the end coming by mid-Lost Souls, but that was because it was such an elegant solution and made so much sense.

As soon as I finished Lost Souls, I downloaded Glass Empires (as I said: desperate for ENT-related stuff) in large part because David Mack is one of the authors. I got a real charge out of Nan Bacco, so Articles of the Federation is next on my to buy list.

I probably will read the entire trilogy again, from beginning to end, before the end of the summer.

Yeah. That good.

[Ood Sigma]

bluedana wrote:

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I got a real charge out of Nan Bacco, so Federation is next on my to buy list.

Not sure if this was a typo, but the book you want is called Articles of the Federation. The book Federation is also a great read, but has nothing to do with Nan Bacco.

[JD]

Yeah, Federation is TNG/TOS crossover that takes place during the series (or at least TNG, I haven't read it myself).

[bluedana]

It was a typo, of sorts. Thanks for the correction. I already have it in my "Save for Later" queue, so I'd have ended up with the right book. But I've corrected the above post, so that the author gets proper credit.

[David Mack]

bluedana wrote:

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Hi, there. I just finished the Destiny trilogy last night.

I totally need a cigarette.

I know the feeling. Of course, that's just because I'm a reformed smoker. (Thanks to my wife.)

I devoured it, and Mere Mortals and Lost Souls as well. It’s been a while since I’ve read any novel or series that was THAT GOOD. Like seriously torn between wanting to race to the end and never wanting to reach the last page GOOD.

Thanks, very kind of you to say. I'm always happy to hear from a satisfied reader.

(Thank you, Mr. Mack, for including those lovely passages where Erika attempts to contact her "lost love" Jon Archer as she reaches his time, and fails. I actually teared up. I know, I’m ridiculous.)

Now that the trilogy is out there, and has been widely read, I can probably say now without spoiling anything: Even though it has ships and crews from the 24th century, Star Trek Destiny is actually Erika Hernandez's story. It would have been impossible to market it that way, but if I'm to be honest, that's what it is.

As soon as I finished Lost Souls, I downloaded Glass Empires (as I said: desperate for ENT-related stuff) in large part because David Mack is one of the authors.

I hope you enjoy my short novel in that volume, The Sorrows of Empire. And you might be interested to know that I am currently working on expanding it to double its original length with new material; the full-length expanded edition of The Sorrows of Empire will be out in January.

I probably will read the entire trilogy again, from beginning to end, before the end of the summer.

Yeah. That good.

Again, too kind. Thanks!

[KRAD]

bluedana wrote:

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I have to say I haven’t read any of the previous Trek Lit (sorry, KRAD, et al.)

No need to apologize. One of the hopes for Destiny was that it might serve as a gateway drug for some.

I got a real charge out of Nan Bacco, so Articles of the Federation is next on my to buy list.

Cool! Do let me (well, all of us) know what you think of it!

David Mack wrote:

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Now that the trilogy is out there, and has been widely read, I can probably say now without spoiling anything: Even though it has ships and crews from the 24th century, Star Trek Destiny is actually Erika Hernandez's story. It would have been impossible to market it that way, but if I'm to be honest, that's what it is.

Was that supposed to be a secret?

[David Mack]

KRAD wrote:

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Was that supposed to be a secret?

Not a secret, per se. Just a bit more truth in advertising than I was able to share when Pocket was first trying to market the books.

[flemm]

KRAD wrote:

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Was that supposed to be a secret?

Reading the novels certainly leaves no doubt I gather she appears in Enterprise at some point. I'm watching that series on DVD currently, but I haven't encountered her yet. Now I'm looking forward to it, though, because the tale of her long solitude and eventual transformation was a thrilling one.

Beyond that I was most impressed by the sheer mass of continuity that had to be digested and interpreted to compose this story. The revelation concerning the Borg actually manages to plausibly explain many of that adversary's multiple incarnations over the years, while revitalizing them to the point that they are intimidating once again, which they have not been for some time.

The accumulation of Trek continuity may well have become a liability in the wider market, but I was pleased to see it can still be a strength in these pages.

I appreciated the attention to detail. Even characters that were not and could not be the focus of this tale were vivid at times. Geordi's decision to stand up to Picard, for example, and Worf's reaction to his choice. "It was an act of great honor," or words to that effect.

Thanks