"Revenant" Questions/Discussion - Spoiler Alert

[Thrawn]

No, it has nothing to do with Greater Than The Sum at all. Totally separate.

[Dancing Doctor]

I feel bad, but I'm going to just ram through this entry in Seven Deadly Sins.

[DevilEyes]

ProtoAvatar wrote:

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It is certain that the group from 'Revenant' did not become standard borg - their behaviour is significantly different from the main collective's.

Of course, they did not remain "basically the same as they were, psychologically, only united in the mini-collective, without wanting to assimilate anyone further".
They still felt that hunger.

But it's also true that their main objective (which appears to be even above assimilation) - revenge - would be instantly qualified as 'irrelevant' by the main collective.
And their unusually pacifist behaviour from the end is further proof of their uniqueness.

In my opinion, making this mini-branch of the collective exhibit a behaviour different from the borg proper (perhaps more ambiguous, morally-wise, than the pitch-black borg) has much more potential - essentially, is more interesting - story-wise.

Well, they certainly are going to be different, but the question is how exactly. I will assume that whoever contracted Carson and planned the whole thing (possibly Section 31) was not a complete idiot, and that - if they actually planned to create the Borg they could use as a weapon - they had or thought they had some means to control them/use them, to an extent at least - which would mean making them different from the regular Borg, I presume. Which might not really work, but it would be interesting to see it clash with their desire for revenge... In any case, it would be great to see what happened with them later on.

I have a question about something I don't understand - who or what was it that attacked and assimilated Harlow? Was one of the Borg drones still alive - and if it was, why didn't we see it afterwards? The way it was depicted in the story, it seemed almost like it was the ship itself or some sort of mysterious force. But who/what was it, really?

CaseyF wrote:

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I also liked that Marc D. Giller used Locarno, although I sort of was hoping he wouldn't even have mention the events of "First Duty" directly, just to be even more subtle with his inclusion.

I disagree. Trek lit writers should not assume they write for the audience that already has the knowledge about the canon background from the TV shows and movies, even if that's the case for the majority of the readers. Any literary work should be able to stand on its own. The story should be understood by a potential reader who hasn't seen the episodes where the characters originated from (in this case, TNG "First Duty") or doesn't remember them anymore, rather than just the people who have re-watched every Trek show several times or regularly visit Memory Alpha and Memory Beta.

[CaseyF]

DevilEyes wrote:

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I disagree. Trek lit writers should not assume they write for the audience that already has the knowledge about the canon background from the TV shows and movies, even if that's the case for the majority of the readers. Any literary work should be able to stand on its own. The story should be understood by a potential reader who hasn't seen the episodes where the characters originated from (in this case, TNG "First Duty") or doesn't remember them anymore, rather than just the people who have re-watched every Trek show several times or regularly visit Memory Alpha and Memory Beta.

I agree with your general point, but I don't think an understanding of this story relied upon knowing Locarno's backstory. It adds an understanding of where his character is coming from, which can add depth to the story. But whether this story stands on its own doesn't depend on a reader's knowledge of the events of "First Duty." Or if somehow it does and I'm failing to recognize it, I still was hoping as I read that this would be an instance where a one-off character was being used without the writer spelling out the events of his life that transpired in the one episode we originally saw him in. More like an Easter egg for those who recognize the character, but not one that diminishes the enjoyment and understanding of the story for those who don't know Locarno was in an ep of TNG. I don't know. Not that big a deal in my enjoyment of the story - just something I thought as I was reading it.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

DevilEyes wrote:

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which is why Thayer only wanted to kill Carson and didn't want to assimilate her

Thayer? Any relation to...

Kiona Thayer?

[CaseyF]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Thayer? Any relation to...

Kiona Thayer?

From what I can recall of Revenant, I don't think there was any particular indication of a relation between the two.

[marcusgee]

Hi, guys! I'm glad you enjoyed my contribution to the Seven Deadly Sins. You certainly hit it on the head when you describe it as a horror story--that's exactly the vibe I was going for, and I'm happy that came through.

In answer to some of the questions, "Revenant" isn't directly tied to any other TREK lit. Marco Palmieri did send me an outline of DESTINY so that I could keep the story current with that series, but that was about it.

As to who snagged Harlow down in the hellhole, that was actually Carson. As she hinted later when she got caught, she needed to accelerate assimilation of the crew before Starfleet got there.

And about ending--I deliberately kept that a little vague because I saw a real possibility in continuing the storyline, if Pocket chooses to do so. The idea of a rampaging new Borg species tearing up the galaxy seeking revenge was too juicy to resist. If you like that idea too, drop a line to Pocket or post around and let the editors know. It would be loads of fun to expand the idea into a full-length novel.

Cheers!

[JD]

Hey, welcome! It's always nice to get a new author posting here.

[marcusgee]

Thanks! It's nice to be part of the gang!

[Thrawn]

To be honest, I'm a little Borged out after all the Borg stories in the TNG series and Destiny lately, but I loved your writing style and the different take on Trek. Star Wars has been doing horror novels lately; I'd certainly be interested in reading a full-length novel of yours with a similar tone. I'm just not so sure that I'd go for Borg again.

Definitely nice to have you posting though. Welcome

[marcusgee]

Yeah, Marco had that in mind when he signed me on to write the Borg story (I believe he said that VOYAGER had "done them to death" or something to that effect). That was why I took a different approach, going for the whole dread feeling rather than an epic space opera with big battles, etc.

Glad you enjoyed the writing style, though. I have a couple of original sci-fi noirs, if you want to check those out. The first is HAMMERJACK, and there's a sequel called PRODIGAL--both are pretty dark, which is pretty de rigueur for me (God knows why--I'm such a happy guy!).

[Thrawn]

Huh, interesting. I may add those to my summer reading list. Cool.

[DevilEyes]

marcusgee wrote:

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Hi, guys! I'm glad you enjoyed my contribution to the Seven Deadly Sins. You certainly hit it on the head when you describe it as a horror story--that's exactly the vibe I was going for, and I'm happy that came through.

In answer to some of the questions, "Revenant" isn't directly tied to any other TREK lit. Marco Palmieri did send me an outline of DESTINY so that I could keep the story current with that series, but that was about it.

As to who snagged Harlow down in the hellhole, that was actually Carson. As she hinted later when she got caught, she needed to accelerate assimilation of the crew before Starfleet got there.

And about ending--I deliberately kept that a little vague because I saw a real possibility in continuing the storyline, if Pocket chooses to do so. The idea of a rampaging new Borg species tearing up the galaxy seeking revenge was too juicy to resist. If you like that idea too, drop a line to Pocket or post around and let the editors know. It would be loads of fun to expand the idea into a full-length novel.

Cheers!

Cheers! I'd love to read a sequel to the story.

So it was Carson - that's the only thing that made rational sense, come to think of it, I guess I was just fooled by the way it was described in the scene, where it seemed like he was snatched by some almost faceless force. Well, that certainly makes Carson even more hateful, particularly with the way she did it, gouging his eyes - it was the nastiest scene in the story. Kind of ironic, when you think about it, that in a horror story about the Borg, the creepiest and most hateful person is a non-Borg Human!

[marcusgee]

DevilEyes wrote:

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Well, that certainly makes Carson even more hateful, particularly with the way she did it, gouging his eyes - it was the nastiest scene in the story.

To be honest, I'm surprised they let me get away with that! Guess you never know until you try...