TNG: Indistinguishable From Magic by McIntee Review Thread (Spoilers)

[shanejayell]

SEnt a PM. No major spoilers.

[Rosalind]

JB2005 wrote:

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If anyone feels like lending a poor Brit a hand...what happens to Geordi?

I'm sure you can find a copy in UK, I got it in Australia.

As for Geordi, I think David would probably prefer us not to say so soon after the book come out, so I think I'll err on the side of caution and not say anything for a couple of weeks.

[JB2005]

Fair enough! I'm waiting on Amazon to dispatch! Had it on pre-order for months! Hopefully won't be too long now...

Gah, it's still saying May 12th!

[Lonemagpie]

JB2005 wrote:

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If anyone feels like lending a poor Brit a hand...what happens to Geordi?

Stuff.

But, on balance, good stuff

[JB2005]

Sounds good!

[shanejayell]

I'm about 5/6th through, and should be done tomorrow. Overall I've really liked it, good book, kinda a stealth 'Starfleet Corps of Engineers' book.

Some minor gripes:

The editing wasn't as good as it could be. Not MAJOR flubs, but enough errors to be noticeable.

I also thought that Scotty's illness seemed rather unrealistic. All these things going wrong, all at the same time... it really struck me as a plot contrivance. It might have worked better if you had established he had health problems earlier in the book, maybe. Had a yeoman reminding him to take medicine? Or some such.

[Lonemagpie]

shanejayell wrote:

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I'm about 5/6th through, and should be done tomorrow. Overall I've really liked it, good book, kinda a stealth 'Starfleet Corps of Engineers' book.

Some minor gripes:

The editing wasn't as good as it could be. Not MAJOR flubs, but enough errors to be noticeable.

That'd be bad luck with the timing, and it going through the editorial system at the peak of the changes of editorship... It had something like three editors in the space of a few weeks.

I also thought that Scotty's illness seemed rather unrealistic. All these things going wrong, all at the same time... it really struck me as a plot contrivance. It might have worked better if you had established he had health problems earlier in the book, maybe. Had a yeoman reminding him to take medicine? Or some such.

I considered that, but...

I didn't want doing that to signpost what would happen later too much. Also, I figured most people would at least subconsciously assume that someone of his age would be having treatment for something, and, most importantly, the real problems are brought on by the injuries sustained in the story, so I felt they sort of have to come out as a twist rather than a pre-established situation.

I'm liking the scores on the doors so far...

[elaithin]

Well, I was one of the 'outstanding' votes. I quite enjoyed the book. A little rough around the edges, but rather charming. Given the editorial difficulties, the rough spots aren't surprising.

I would have appreciated a little bit more screen time for the Geordi & Leah Brahms developments. I feel like I missed something, but now I'm wondering if what I missed happened in the Genesis books. Regardless of the outcome, it was good to see. Should the way the book ended indicate they got married?

I really loved the way this was handled. I realize you had to give an 'out', but I like the way you did it. I really, really enjoy the idea of there being biological consequences for spending 70 years in a transporter buffer.

I also wonder - do you come from a script-writing background? I noticed a lot of the scenes tended to be very short. They'd be perfect television scenes, with a lot of quick cuts at some parts. It's unusual enough among Trek writers that it stood out.

[Lonemagpie]

elaithin wrote:

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Well, I was one of the 'outstanding' votes. I quite enjoyed the book. A little rough around the edges, but rather charming. Given the editorial difficulties, the rough spots aren't surprising.

I would have appreciated a little bit more screen time for the Geordi & Leah Brahms developments. I feel like I missed something, but now I'm wondering if what I missed happened in the Genesis books. Regardless of the outcome, it was good to see. Should the way the book ended indicate they got married?

Yeah, there was stuff in the Genesis Wave books in between.

As for the way it ended... it's left open. I'd like it to go that way, but there are options in case it would have interfered with future plans that I don't know about. But I hope that the other writers will take it that way.

I also wonder - do you come from a script-writing background? I noticed a lot of the scenes tended to be very short. They'd be perfect television scenes, with a lot of quick cuts at some parts. It's unusual enough among Trek writers that it stood out.

Not really as a background, but I've done a fair bit of audio play scripting, and most of what I've done over the past three or four years has been comics scripting, so I think that shows. And to a certain extent, because it's a TV series tie-in, I did have an element of trying to give it that feel, of TNG's onscreen direction and editing. Just to try to keep the mood that this is part of a well-loved screen franchise.

And thanks for the "outstanding" - I don't know what vote I'd give it if I was going to vote, cos you always want the next one (if there is one) to better, so the top score is out of the question!

[elaithin]

Well, it got the 'outstanding' because it's simply a fun book, and that should never be overrated.

[Lonemagpie]

elaithin wrote:

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Well, it got the 'outstanding' because it's simply a fun book, and that should never be overrated.

Indeed- fun's the plan!

[Warp Coil]

Finally got my hands on a copy this morning (I guess Borders really is a stickler about holding the books until the official release date... I've been a couple of times over the past week and they didn't have them available until today). I'm about 50 pages in so far. Enjoying it, but the Intrepid NX-07 mystery raised a whopping "red alert!" due to the fact that reminds me so much of the Columbia NX-02 element from Destiny. Granted, the book draws that comparison and doesn't shy away from it, so I assume that this is going somewhere and that it'll be worth the read. But my first impression was "oh geez, not another long-lost NX-class disaster mystery".

[Lonemagpie]

Warp Coil wrote:

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Finally got my hands on a copy this morning (I guess Borders really is a stickler about holding the books until the official release date... I've been a couple of times over the past week and they didn't have them available until today). I'm about 50 pages in so far. Enjoying it, but the Intrepid NX-07 mystery raised a whopping "red alert!" due to the fact that reminds me so much of the Columbia NX-02 element from Destiny. Granted, the book draws that comparison and doesn't shy away from it, so I assume that this is going somewhere and that it'll be worth the read. But my first impression was "oh geez, not another long-lost NX-class disaster mystery".

The original idea, of course, was developed before Destiny came out, and when that series came out I assumed it would mean this story wouldn't get commissioned (at least not without major changes requested) and so got on with pitching other stories... Then this got commissioned out of the blue, without such changes requested, to my surprise!

But at least I thought to address the similarity!

[Truth]

Got it today and just happed to cheat and skip to the back.. loved the ending.. about time a writers took a bold step . I loved seeing the old faces and the new ones. I,m 88 pages in right now.. the only gripe i have is the return of you know who as a love intrest. that is so boring, i feel like the writer took the safe bet instead of beening bold on that front( then again maybe im just bais since i have never liked that person).

[Truth]

There is something i want to ask but i dont know how to do the spolier thing